WHAT WE BELIEVE abOUT BAPTISM
BAPTISM
While recognising for other churches the right to practice infant baptism if it conforms to their interpretation of the Bible, we at ReChurch understand the Bible to teach that only professing believers qualify for baptism.
Bible teaching on baptism may by summarised as follows...
· Baptism is an act of obedience to the command of Christ, fulfilled by individuals who have submitted themselves to His sovereignty, or “lordship”. This can only ever be done as a conscious act.
· Baptism symbolises the spiritual cleansing through divine forgiveness and newness of life experienced by believers by virtue of their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection.
· Baptism provides an opportunity for believers to make a formal, public profession of their faith which is celebrated before the church.
· As a Biblical rite of initiation into the household of God, baptism of believers is considered a prerequisite for joining membership of the church.
· Baptism in and of itself does not make a person into a Christian. It is not a "magic formula", nor does it "save" anyone. It is the response of the believer to God in repentance and faith, and the gracious response of God that gives the experience of Baptism real power and value beyond the symbolic.
· Baptism illustrates the new life of a Christian. It shows that a person already believes. There is no other symbol used in the whole Bible, other than Baptism, which signifies that a person is a Christian. It is the outward symbol of the commitment you have in your heart to Christ. If there is no commitment in your heart, no belief in, or acceptance of what Jesus has done for you through the cross and resurrection, then all that Baptism does for you is make you wet - it means nothing at all.
Although the old covenant practice of infant circumcision is sometimes used to argue a rationale for infant baptism, the Biblical definitions of the functions of circumcision and of water baptism show that those two rites fulfilled entirely different purposes in their respective covenants. They are not the same thing. One cannot simply be replaced by the other without each losing their meaning and purpose. The equation is never made anywhere in the Bible between circumcision of male infants in the old covenant and the baptism of born-again believers, (much less of infants), in the new covenant.
However, ReChurch provides the opportunity for Christian parents to present their children for the ceremony of Child Dedication, whereby God's blessing is formally prayed upon the children, and the parents publicly commit themselves to raise the children in accordance with the teachings of the Bible. Child Dedication services are a special thanksgiving to God and are great times of family celebration.
ReChurch baptizes believers by immersion, the way Jesus was baptised. Baptism by immersion best symbolises the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to which a believer is joined when they commit their lives in faith to Him. It is by the grace of God, through faith, that God deems a believer to be joined to Christ in baptism and thus joined to all that Jesus has accomplished in His death and resurrection. That’s why baptism involves a decision by the believer. Such a crucial decision cannot be made on your behalf by anyone else.
Where to look in the Bible for teaching about baptism and salvation ...
"At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan." - Mark 1:9
Jesus said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." - Matthew 28:19-20
"... the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptised." - Acts 18:8
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day ..." - 1 Corinthians 15:3
"... having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead." - Colossians 2:12
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17
"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." - Romans 6:4
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by performances, so that no one can boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
"Only those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." - Acts 2:41
"But when the people believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptised. …” - Acts 8:12-13
And there are many more verses from the Bible you may wish to examine!