We know baptism is a subject that is misunderstood by many and misinterpreted by some. So, below is a quick "theology of baptism" followed by some common objections. We hope that if you have not been baptized as a profession of your faith after becoming a believer you will soon!

Baptism has a specific purpose.  As Scripture repeatedly notes, baptism is an outward symbol of an inward commitment. Romans 6:1-4 talks of baptism as a symbol of death to the old life and resurrection to the new.  Colossians 2:11-13 ties baptism to the Jewish practice of circumcision, which was the external markings of the new covenant. Nowhere in scripture do we find proof that baptism is an act of salvation, but rather a symbol of our salvation. Matthew 28:18-20 indicates that baptism is the first step of obedience as a believer.

Baptism has a specific order. If baptism is a symbol of salvation, then it makes sense that it should happen after salvation, and this is what we always see in Scripture. In the early church (see Acts 2:41, Acts 8:35-39, and Acts 16:30-33) people were consistently baptized immediately after their profession of faith. Both of those words are very important. After: Nowhere do we see someone being baptized as a baby prior to their personal decision to trust in Jesus Christ. This is not to denigrate your tradition if you did it that way, just to point out what we see in the New Testament. Immediate: there was never a long delay between a profession of faith and the act of baptism.

Baptism has a specific method. Throughout the New Testament, the word for “baptize” is the Greek baptizo, which can only be translated one of three ways: to dip, to submerge, or to plunge.  (There are also two distinct words for “pour” and “sprinkle” in the New Testament, but neither is used in conjunction with baptism.) Whenever we see baptism in the New Testament, it is always by immersion (see, for example, Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, John 3:23, and Acts 8:35-39). As noted before, baptism pictures burial in Christ (Col 2:12). When someone is buried you don't sprinkle dirt on their head, you put them under the ground. Even John Calvin, the "father" of Presbyterianism, said in his Institutes, “It is evident the term ‘baptize’ means immerse and this was the form used by the early church.” The point is, Jesus was the one who commanded baptism, and modeled it by immersion.

Playing "whack-a-mole" with your OBJECTIONS:

Objection! "But I've already been baptized... when I was a baby!"  We have many people at our church who were baptized somewhere else—some in Baptist churches, and some in churches of other denominations. But what if you were baptized before you came to Christ? What if you were sprinkled as an infant? Why do we say that you should be “baptized again” before joining the church?

We do not want in any way to denigrate a special and significant moment you experienced in another church tradition. But think of it this way: baptism is supposed to be the confession of your own faith, not your parents’ faith. You can appreciate what they were trying to do for you, but being baptized after you have decided to follow Jesus publicly ratifies their decision as your own. When your parents baptized you as a baby, they were hoping that one day you would come to make this decision on your own, and you have! So why not publicly ratify their decision for you by being baptized--this time not as a symbol of their faith but of yours! The sweetest thing about a wedding ring is that you choose to wear it as a symbol of your love. In the same way, baptism is to be a symbol of your faith.

Objection! "But I'm already a sincere follower of Jesus... why do I need to go through this ritual?" I can understand this objection, but let's just put the question in perspective: Jesus commanded baptism very clearly as our first act of obedience to His Lordship (Matthew 28:18-20). It is not up to us to decide which commands are important and which are not. Think of it this way: if you will not even follow Jesus in this most simple act of obedience, can you really say you've come to terms with His Lordship?

Objection! "But I'll feel weird getting wet in front of strangers." Your whole life God is going to ask you to do uncomfortable things where you have to trust Him. So, this is a great place to start! And we're not strangers, we're family in Christ.

Objection! "But I don't want to waste water." Now you're just making stuff up.