What does the Bible teach concerning baptism?
Acts 2:37–42 (CSB)
37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
“Brothers, what should we do?”
38 Peter replied,
“Repent and be baptized, each of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 For the promise is for you and for your children,
and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying,
“Be saved from this corrupt generation!”
41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
Emmanuel Church holds to Believer’s Baptism (credobaptism) by immersion in water. We believe baptism is reserved for the right subject, believers; by the right mode, immersion; and with the right meaning, a display of saving faith in Christ, identification with person and work of Christ and incorporation into His church, accompanied by a promise of a life of continued repentance.
Acts 2:38, 41; Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:11-12
Baptism is for gospel believers and incorporates them into a local body.
Peter’s command to those who had been convicted by the gospel was, first, to repent, to respond in faith to the message to be saved. Subsequently, Peter includes the command to be baptized in the name of Jesus. This is an important link that shows the expectation that believers will be baptized and is evident in numerous other passages in the book of Acts. Those who believed and were baptized were added to the number of believers (Acts 2:41).
Acts 8:12-13; 10:43-48; 16:31-34; 18:8; 19:4-5
Baptism is an external display of forgiveness received through internal repentance and faith.
Baptism is our public declaration that we have repented of our sin, trusted Christ, been forgiven of our sins and now intend to follow Christ in obedience (Acts 2:39-41). At Pentecost, of the thousands of people in Jerusalem who heard Peter’s gospel presentation, we see that about 3,000 believed and were baptized. This was their initial and public identification with the gospel teaching of Peter the apostle (Acts 2:41) and marked the beginning of their continued identification with the teaching of the apostles (Acts 2:42) and other believers. Baptism adds someone to the visible, local church as it is the initiatory oath-sign for New Covenant believers. It is a meaningful ceremony where a believer’s faith goes public.
Jesus’s Great Commission expressly commands baptism.
The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16-20 teaches two profound truths regarding baptism. First, just as Great Commission churches are obligated to teach converts to obey all Christ has commanded, they are also expected to baptize those who respond in repentance and faith to the gospel of Christ Jesus in the Name of the Triune God. Second, each believer is under obligation to be baptized in accord with Christ’s commands.
Emmanuel Church believes baptism is not essential for salvation, but that it is testimony to it, and essential for discipleship as it marks a person’s joyful willingness to follow Christ’s commands in the context of a local church. Except in extraordinary cases, Emmanuel Church will not baptize anyone not seeking church membership as the two are inextricably linked.
The New Testament assumes believers have been baptized.
Paul, writing to believers in Rome (Rom. 1:6-7) and Galatia (Gal. 1:2), refers to the common experience of Christians regarding baptism into the person and death of Jesus. This baptism was the declaration of conversion to Christ, union with Christ, dying to sin, being clothed with Christ, and having the promise of resurrection.
Romans 6:1-4; Galatians 3:27-28
The New Testament assumes believers are members of local churches.
Except for the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8, the New Testament authors assume believers are part of churches, submitting to specific elders, and in regular fellowship with other believers. Most New Testament letters are addressed to specific identifiable churches that are marked by specific leaders (elders, deacons) and to believers in those churches.
Emmanuel believes in the importance of meaningful church membership where baptized believers covenant together, before God, to commend the Gospel to all, to celebrate the ordinances of the church, to practice the “one another” commands of Scripture, to discipline (1 Cor. 5) and to aid one another in continuing discipleship to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).
Matthew 16:19; 18:17; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Heb. 13:17
Conclusion: While the Bible does not have an explicit command to be a member of a church, it is implied and assumed by the New Testament writers. Similarly, while the Bible does not have an explicit command that only baptized believers can be members of churches, it is implied and assumed by the biblical authors, and should be considered normative. While it is possible for churches to baptize those who are not truly regenerate, it should not be that the truly regenerate remain unbaptized.
Emmanuel Church requires believer’s baptism, by means of immersing in water, in response to saving faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ as a requirement for membership in the church. Emmanuel Church will receive for membership those who have been baptized in churches with a similar understanding of the gospel and of believer’s baptism. Those coming from churches with different beliefs (paedobaptist , sprinkling not immersion, baptismal regeneration) or new believers will be asked to be baptized as a requirement for membership.