Making My “Baptism” Right

Response to an important question on baptism

Dear Friend,

We appreciate your interest in taking the Bible correspondence course, and know God will bless you as you seek him with your whole heart (Mat. 7:7). We’re thankful we can be of help to you in learning the will of God as revealed in his word, the Bible. It is truly a joy to work with precious souls like you who want to know God’s word and are willing to put the effort into studying the Bible to discover his plan for our salvation.

You recently wrote to us with a question concerning your baptism. You said that you, along with your first child, were sprinkled, but that now you understand that we are not to substitute sprinkling for immersion. You asked, “What would you suggest to make this right?”

I’m glad you asked that question, and it is good that you are examining yourself in light of what you are learning from God’s word. The only way we can know what God would have us to do about something like this is to examine his word. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). From his word we find the truth we need to be free from sin; it reveals all that we need to know and do in order to be saved and be pleasing to God (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The Bible commends those who “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). That is exactly what we need to do in answer to your question—search the Bible to be sure we know what the truth is about baptism.

You have learned that baptism is not sprinkling, but immersion. That is, in fact, the very meaning of the word baptism as used in the Bible. The New Testament was originally written in Greek, and the word translated in our English Bibles as “baptize” is the Greek term, baptizo, which literally means, “to immerse.” That is why we never find in the New Testament an example of someone being sprinkled. What we do find in the biblical record is that baptism involves going down into the water and coming up out of the water (Acts 8:38-39). It is described in scripture as a “burial” (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12) which requires going to a place where there is sufficient water (John 3:23). Therefore, sprinkling cannot be in any way a form of genuine, biblical baptism; sprinkling and pouring are not modes or forms of immersion. Sprinkling is an innovation, a practice introduced by men without divine authority and contrary to God’s will. This means, then, that those who have been sprinkled as a “form” of baptism have not actually been baptized at all—at least not according to God’s word.

Since your child was sprinkled along with you, we should consider as well that there is no example of infant immersion in the Bible. Faith and repentance are prerequisites to baptism (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38), and since babies or young children cannot believe, and have no sin of which to repent, they are not proper subjects for baptism.

Before knowing what to do about your situation, there is one other factor to consider. To be baptized biblically (that is, according to God’s will), we must be proper candidates for baptism—that is, penitent believers. And we must take the proper action, that is, immersion in water. But those things are not sufficient. We must also be baptized for the proper reason. The word of God clearly teaches that the purpose of baptism is “for the remission of sins.”

When Peter preached Jesus Christ as Lord, notice the response: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Here is Peter’s response: “Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (2:38).

After Saul saw the Lord and believed on him, he was told, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16) Baptism is the point at which we enter “into Christ” and begin to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-6). That is why Peter said, “baptism does now save us” (1 Pet. 3:21).

Now to your question. Given what we see in the, Bible, what should you do? Since you have not actually been baptized, you need to believe in Christ (Acts 16:31), repent of sins (Acts 17:30), confess him as Lord (Rom. 10:9-10), and be immersed in water for the remission of sins. By doing so, you will be born again into God’s family, which is his church (1 Tim. 3:15). Which church? It is the church of the New Testament, the one which Jesus built and died to save (Mat. 16:18; Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25). One of the way’s we can identify that church—the Lord’s church—is by what it teaches we must do to be saved. And as you can see from the word of God, Christ’s church teaches that to be saved, we must believe, repent and be immersed for the remission of sins.

Because that is what the Bible teaches, that is exactly what we teach hear at the Kensington Woods Church of Christ. We urge you to investigate the church in light of the teaching of God’s word. We are striving to do all things in accordance with the Lord’s will, to be simply Christians and Christians only—not a denomination, but simply the church we read about in the Bible. If you have any further questions, please let us know. We would love to sit down together with you and open the Bible to study further God’s word on this matter.

Again, we commend you for seeking God’s truth. Because of the grace of God and the love of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we can have forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life, if we will receive his word which “is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). We stand ready to assist you in being biblically baptized as soon as you are ready. It does not matter what day or what time of day or night you want to be baptized; we can arrange for you to be immersed the moment you are ready so that you can have your sins washed away by the blood of Christ and begin a new life in Christ as part of his body, the church. So please don’t hesitate to call on us at any time. There is no reason for you to remain in doubt or in your sins. Your soul is too precious.

Sincerely,

Tyler Young