Q: Pastor Paul, what is the purpose of baptism? I’ve heard a lot of different opinions, but I want to know what the Bible says. Thanks! Dave

A: Dave, thank you for your sincere question. Sometimes it isn’t easy to separate tradition and opinion from Bible truth, but I hope to give you a sufficient, biblical answer.

In the Old Testament baptism is not seen. It is an ordinance that is unseen until the ministry of John the Baptist as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

In John’s ministry, Matthew says that he was preaching repentance in the wilderness, near the river Jordan. When people would hear John’s message and believe that message, they would be baptized. “And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.” Matthew 3.6

The purpose of John’s ministry was to pave the way for the Lord Jesus Christ and His public ministry. As he announced that the Lamb of God was coming near, people who believed were baptized to demonstrate their faith publicly. They were not baptized in order to wash away sins, they were baptized because their sins had been forgiven and now they wanted to identify with the forgiver, Jesus.

The proof of this is found later in the same chapter. While John the Baptist was preaching Jesus and His followers came to see him. While He was there, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. This was astounding to John, and everyone else. Why would the Saviour, the Messiah, the Lamb of God want to be baptized by John? Jesus had no sin to wash away, He had done no wrong!

Jesus was not baptized in order to wash away sin, He had no sin. No, Jesus was baptized to identify with the preaching and ministry of John the Baptist. In effect He was saying, “I agree with what John is preaching and teaching. I agree with his ministry.”

The question then is, who are we identifying with when we are baptized? The answer to that is found in Acts 2 in the account of the day of Pentecost.

We don’t have time to get into Pentecost and what all it meant to the Jews, but it was a time of gathering for the people. In Acts 2 we have men of all different nations and languages represented when the Apostle Peter gets up to speak. He preached the Gospel, every man heard in his own language, and several thousand accepted the message of salvation by grace through faith. 

When the preaching was over and the people had made their choice, these new believers were baptized. “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:” Acts 2.41a

The question of identification is answered for us in the latter part of the verse, “…and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Acts 2.41b These new believers were identifying with, and joining to, the church in Jerusalem. That is the “them” that they were added to. 

When a person gets baptized, they are identifying with two distinct things. The first is the message of salvation by grace through faith found only in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The other group we are identifying with is the church in which we are getting baptized. In baptism you are not only saying that you are now a Christian, but you are also saying that you agree with the church that is baptizing you. You are making a statement agreeing with their doctrine and practice. This is why so many churches require a person to be baptized in either that church or a church of like faith for church membership. 

So now we know the purpose of baptism, to publicly proclaim your faith in Jesus Christ. We see the identification of baptism, identifying with Jesus as Saviour and also the church. What about the mode of baptism? Who is qualified to be baptized?

These next two parts are some of the most hotly debated issues in history. Countless Christians who believed what I’m about to present to you have been persecuted and even killed for their strongly held beliefs concerning the proper mode and qualifications of baptism. 

To figure out the proper mode of baptism, we simply have to look at the earliest account of baptism in the Bible found in Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, and John 1. A simple word search of baptism will take you to the Greek word baptizo, which of course is the root word. Baptizo is literally translated, “to immerse, to submerge, to overwhelm.” In the account of Jesus’ baptism we read, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.” Matthew 3.16 We know from the previous verses that John was baptizing in the Jordan River. We read in this verse that Jesus was down in the water and had to come up. The need for a large amount of water is also seen in the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. 

From the literal definition of the Greek word baptizo and the accounts of baptism in the New Testament, we must conclude that baptism was, and should be, by total immersion.

Now on to the question of who should be baptized. In every account of baptism in the New Testament, the person being baptized is a person who has made a conscious decision to accept Jesus as their Saviour and identify with their newfound faith. There are no instances of anyone getting baptized by coercion or before they can make the personal choice to accept Jesus.

The key passage to this is found in Acts 8. Philip is transported to the desert by the Holy Spirit and there he meets a very respected, educated man. This man was a personal attendant to Candice, the Queen of Ethiopia. We don’t know his name but we call him the Ethiopian Eunuch.

The Ethiopian Eunuch believed in the God of the Old Testament and had been in Jerusalem to worship. Philip finds him reading from the prophecies of Isaiah and contemplating Scripture. Confused by what he was reading, Philip is able to take that passage and show the man his need for salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. As they travel they come across a body of water and the man wants to be baptized. Notice Philip’s answer, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” Acts 8.37 The man confirms that he believes Jesus to be the Son of God and is baptized right then and there.

I know this has been a long article, but I hope you’ve seen the purpose, identification, mode, and qualifications for baptism. In baptism you are making your faith in Jesus Christ public, you are identifying with Christ and the church, it should be done by immersion, and is for the believer.