Believer’s baptism (Baptist Church)

Believer’s baptism is when a person who is to be baptised is already a Christian and, therefore, older than at infant baptism.

At the end of Matthew 28 Jesus tells his disciples:

... go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

In the the Greek word for baptism is baptizo, meaning to dip or submerge. This points to baptism by full immersion under the water, rather than simply sprinkling or pouring water on the head.

On the day of , the told those present to “Repent and be baptised” (Acts 2:38). This points to people being believers before they were baptised – it is the model explicitly referenced throughout the whole of the Book of Acts.

Those who practice believer’s baptism believe that the idea of household baptisms (when the baptised whole households) does not mean that infants were definitely baptised. It is perfectly possible that these households had no infants, only adults.

The most important argument for believer’s baptism comes from the writings of the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? 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

This points to baptism symbolising an old way of life dying and a new way of life being raised as someone goes down into the water and then back up from it.

The dying of an old way of life is only possible when a person has decided to become a Christian.

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Sacraments and ordinances - CCEABeliever’s baptism (Baptist Church)