1. Baptism does not save you.
Baptism is a symbol of your identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Salvation is through faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone.
Ephesians 2:8–9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Baptism is very important, but it does not save you. Rather, it shows that you have been saved, and that you are being obedient to Christ’s authority over you.
2. Baptism is for believers.
Faith and repentance come before baptism.
Acts 2:38 – “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
Acts 2:41 – “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
Acts 10:47 – “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
Acts 18:8 – “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.”
3. Baptism is an acknowledgement of one’s belief in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Matthew 10:32-33 – Jesus says, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Baptism is often referred to as a believer’s first act of obedience. Baptism is where believers officially profess their faith in Jesus Christ. Believers who refuse to be scripturally baptized will struggle with everything else in their walk with Christ. It is the profession of faith.
Baptism is the proper expression or profession of faith in Christ. Often times one’s belief in Christ is first expressed verbally in their church gatherings and there is no harm in that. Nevertheless, the Bible prescribes that believers acknowledge their trust in Jesus Christ by submitting to public baptism.
4. Baptism is by immersion.
When the Bible speaks of baptism, it often implies immersion.
Matthew 3:16 – And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
Acts 8:38–39 – “And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.”
The Greek word for baptize means immerse. Βαπτίζω literally means to immerse or dip. It means to go under water.5Βαπτίζω was not translated into English. If it were translated it would say Immerse or Dip. Rather, the Greek work was transliterated into an English word using English letters that sound similar to the Greek letters. The result is the word Baptize.
Immersion properly symbolizes the believer’s death and burial of their old life, and their resurrection into a new life with Christ.
Romans 6:4 – “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
5. Biblical Baptism does not need to be repeated.
If you 1) properly understood salvation, 2) your baptism was by immersion after salvation, and 3) it was performed in a church with likeminded beliefs, your baptism was valid.
Ephesians 4:4–6 – There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
6. Baptism means you are joining the church.
When you are saved and baptized, you become a member of the Universal Church that is made up of all believers worldwide.
5William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 164.
Acts 9:31 – So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
1 Corinthians 12:13 – “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
While salvation and baptism unites a believer to the universal church, every Christian is expected to have a specific group of believers to whom he or she is accountable, a specific group of elders to oversee their spiritual development, and a specific group of believers with which to gather regularly for observing the ordinances, worshiping, giving, serving, and organizing for missions. The specific group of believers is known as the local church.
1 Thessalonians 2:14 – “For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea….”
To which leaders would you submit if local church membership were not implied? For who are elders responsible if local congregations were not implied?
Hebrews 13:17 – “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
The local church that confirms your confession of faith in Christ and oversees your profession by baptism is the church to which you belong.
You belong to the local church that baptizes you. When you move or change churches, you transfer your local church membership to a new church.
7. Baptism should occur soon after belief.
Putting off baptism is like saying, “I will follow you tomorrow Lord.”
Acts 2:41 - So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Children – We encourage children to be old enough to understand their commitment to Christ and the significance of baptism before we baptize them.
We often have a First Steps Class for our younger believers and encourage them to complete the class before we baptise them. The class helps ensure they know what they are doing and why they are doing it.
Infants - Some churches practice a “baptism of confirmation” for children.
This ceremony is intended to be a covenant between the parents and God on the behalf of the child. The parents promise to raise their child in the faith until the child is old enough to make his own personal confession of Christ. This custom began about 300 years after the Bible was completed.
This is different from the baptism talked about in the Bible which was only for those old enough to believe. The purpose is to publicly confess your personal commitment to Christ.6
Ballardsville does not practice infant baptism or a baptism of confirmation.
Ballardsville Baptist Church requires its members to have been scripturally baptized by immersion after believing in Christ.