Believer's Baptism: Short Review of Its Rationale and History

The movie OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? popularized the Appalachian hymn DOWN TO THE WATER TO PRAY, with its celebration of baptism. Incredibly, the movie’s protagonist (George Clooney) dismissed baptism, scoffing at the notion of eternal life, and saying he had bigger fish to fry. Hardly!

We have scheduled baptism for Resurrection Sunday, April 12, as part of our Easter service. The early Christians always celebrated baptism at Easter because it so dramatically depicts the resurrection. Those being baptized are lowered into a watery grave, and then raised up to live out their new lives in obedience to Christ.

What is baptism? Is it an act that gets you heaven’s eternal reward (as the character in the movie claimed)? Is it something which must be done to infants to keep them from hell in case they die? Is it like a kindergarten graduation ceremony or a birthday party to make someone feel special? Baptism is often misunderstood and underappreciated by the Church, even by us Baptists who carry its namesake (the 2008 Baptist Hymnal, for example, lists but two baptism hymns!).

The earliest generation of Christians offered baptism only to believers. They tested the new convert, they explained salvation to them, and only then were they baptized.

Early Christians were understandably concerned about the salvation of their infants, especially since infant mortality rates were so high. Early in the history of Christianity, there arose a pervasive misunderstanding of baptism which led people to think that baptism confers a saving grace on the person being baptized; this led them to infant baptism. This view depended on the dubious interpretation that baptism is the New Testament equivalent of circumcision. Israelite baby boys were “born into the covenant” by virtue of their descent from Abraham, and parents circumcised them to demonstrate their allegiance to God. The coming of Christ and the New Covenant put an end to this. Children are not born “in Christ” or into the New Covenant. A person can only be born again in Christ through faith. This is why Baptists baptize only believers, and assert that babies (and those with mental disabilities) are already in a state of grace until they reach a certain maturity (“age of accountability”).

Churches that practice infant baptism do so in order that the parents might demonstrate their own faith, and promise to raise the child in the nurture of the church. For Baptists, this is the essential meaning of baby dedication. Biblical baptism says nothing about other people’s faith. Rather, baptism is about the faith of the one being baptized. Baptists offer parents the opportunity to dedicate their babies to the Lord as an expression of the parents’ faith.

 During the Middle Ages, there was an essential unity of Church and State. Every person in the king’s realm practiced the king’s religion. In Christian states, everyone (or nearly everyone) was baptized, whether or not they were believers. Everyone claimed to be a Christian simply because they were baptized, even if they lived like the devil. This practice was profoundly contrary to Jesus’ command to go, make believers, and then baptize them (Matt 28:18-20).

As Christians had better access to the Bible in their own language, the Baptist movement emerged. The core issue that distinguished Baptists from others was the “Believer’s Church,” and that only those who have professed a genuine faith belong to God’s Church. For this doctrine, Baptists were regularly persecuted (even in America during and after colonial days; see the image of Obadiah Holmes being whipped for his Baptist faith). Some were actually drowned as a mock re-baptism. Baptists were so convinced that only believers should be baptized that they were willing to die for their doctrine.

For our part, Baptists believe that the first urgency—the first order of business for a new follower of Jesus, is to obey his command to be baptized. Baptism is not optional. Nor is it to be deferred for the sake of one's personal feelings or preferences. If one fails to be obedient to this first command, what is the point of following Jesus at all?

Yet, baptism is not something which saves. Rather, the person who is already saved is called to be baptized. That is, baptism is for those who have already decided to follow Jesus. Indeed, baptism is a person's declaration to the world: "I am a Christian. I follow Jesus. I pledge my life and devotion to him." As such, baptism is not a private event. It is a public event, to be undertaken before many witnesses.

Moreover, baptism is a multifaceted symbol: 1) the washing away of sins through faith in Christ; 2) the death and burial of the old life, and the beginning of the new life; and 3) the placement of a person into the family of God, the Church.

If you are already a believer but have not received believer's baptism, we invite you to come down to the river to follow Christ in baptism.