Here Is Water: The Requirements for Baptism

by    Rev. David Johnson                                                                                                                         Vol. V, No. 6, November 1992

In our brief review of baptism we have considered four different aspects: The Roots of Baptism, The Relationship between the Baptisms of the New Testament, The Ritual of Baptism (why immersion), The Reasons for Baptism (why be baptized, our previous article). In this article we will ask, Who Should Be Baptized? or:

The Requirements for Baptism

The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that there is only one requirement for baptism and that requirement is belief. Baptism is only for those who have heard and responded to the gospel message, who have believed that Jesus went to the Cross to pay the penalty for their sins, died in their stead, rose again for their justification, and gave them eternal life, and who have received Him as their own personal Savior and Lord. Only such have any right to be subjects of baptism. Baptism follows belief in Jesus Christ: this simple but very important principle is stressed again and again in the New Testament. We must be converted to Jesus Christ before we can think of confessing Him in baptism; otherwise we put the cart before the horse.

Having said that belief is the prime requirement for baptism, we note that in the Greek the word ‘believe' is a verb and signifies an act of commitment and not mere passive credence. Paul never uses the noun but always the verb in his description of a Christian, thus emphasizing the act of commitment illustrated by the act of baptism. This being the case, we note that baptism is a putting into practice, a making public what we believe in our hearts.

Thus in baptism there is:

1. An Indication of Willingness to Confess Christ as Savior Publicly. It is literally an illustration of the fact of belief; it is an act of identification with the Lord Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection, and represents symbolically the new life that is the believer's. This being so, one should be willing to confess faith in Christ as Lord and Savior publicly.

2. An Act of Dedication. The two ordinances universally celebrated by the church are baptism and the Lord's supper. Baptists reject the word ‘sacrament' since it long ago came to mean that grace is somehow given when either of these ordinances is practiced. However, the original meaning of the word ‘sacrament' comes from the Latin word ‘sacramentum,' which was the Roman oath of military allegiance. Literally, a recruit in the army of the Roman Empire promised three things when taking this oath: (a) a declaration of absolute loyalty and obedience, (b) willingness to serve under the direction of another, and (c) a preparedness to pay the ultimate sacrifice. Surely this is the concept of true discipleship and a public display of willingness to obey the command of Christ. Because of the misuse of the word sacrament, Baptists prefer the word ‘ordinance,' which simply means order or command.

3. Symbolic Putting Away of the Old Life. In the New Testament we find the concepts of baptism and repentance very closely linked. Conversion in the biblical sense comprises two elements, namely repentance and faith. The New Testament is very clear that Christian baptism was administered only to those who had confessed repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because of the experience of a growing church in a pagan world where converts had no background whatsoever, by the third century the church developed a full-blown procedure for admittance into the Christian community. This procedure consisted of three basic elements:

a) Preliminary Enquiry: The candidates were questioned concerning their motives and were given initial instruction in the basics of the Christian faith.

b) Pre-Baptismal Instruction: The initial instruction given during the preliminary enquiry period was continued and broadened to include teaching on the Christian mode of living and what baptism meant in the life and experience of the believer, i.e., their identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.

c) Post-Baptismal Instruction: This in essence was a continuation of all that had gone before in the development of the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

There is still much to be said for an expansion of this practice rather than its contraction. Care is still needed lest people mistake the sway of emotion for faith or suffer from the misunderstanding that only intellectual knowledge that Jesus is Lord is required, and not an active, positive implementation of this new faith in every aspect of their lives. We need to recognize that the baptismal candidate of today needs as much preparation as the candidate of the early church.

Thus we would conclude that, along with the basic requirements of repentance and faith, there is still need for preliminary examination, pre-baptismal instruction, an understanding of the meaning and practice of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and a baptismal service which conveys the true import and meaning of baptism in today's society.