Baptism

The Command

Baptism is not a denominational invention; it is in the Great Commission itself: "make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). From Pentecost onward it is the immediate, normal response to faith — three thousand baptised the day the church was born (Acts 2:41).

What It Signifies

• Union with Christ — the central picture: "buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that... we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4). Going under and rising is the gospel enacted: His death mine, His resurrection mine.
• Washing — sins forgiven and cleansed (Acts 22:16), the reality being Christ's blood, not the water (1 Peter 3:21 — "not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience").
• Identification and entry — the public oath of allegiance to the King and visible entry into His people: "baptised into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13). The ancient world understood: baptism was the point of no return.

The Views, Honestly

• Believer's baptism (Baptist, Pentecostal, many independents): administered on profession of faith, typically by immersion — the New Testament's explicit examples.
• Infant baptism (Reformed, Presbyterian, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist): children of believers receive the covenant sign, as circumcision was given to infants (Colossians 2:11-12), with faith to be professed later.

Both camps agree on the essentials: baptism is commanded, meaningful, unrepeatable, and no substitute for personal faith — the water saves no one; Christ does.

Kingdom Connection

Baptism is the Kingdom's naturalisation ceremony — old citizenship renounced, new allegiance sworn in public, the King's triune name placed on you. It is meant to be remembered the way a soldier remembers an oath: I died in that water, and the life I now live is His.