Water Baptism

This is one of the Sacraments of the Christian Faith and i see it fitting that i should put up a post about it for those that may have questions and not willing to ask anyone or non-Christians who are just curious. This is only a basic outline which can easily be fleshed out with a whole lot more details and illustrations. If you have any questions or disagree with anything feel free to bring it up. The floor is open!

Water Baptism

Why Baptism?
From before the time of Jesus in the bible, baptizing had already begun. The Prophet John the Baptist, Jesus’ predecessor, was already on the trail preparing the way with a call for the people to repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand(Matt 3:2). Jesus was also baptized not because he had sins to repent of but as a forerunner for his followers. The most important reason for Baptism would be Christ’s own command that his followers baptized in his final word on earth in the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). Therefore I believe baptism is an important sacrament for the Christian faith although I do not believe it is essential for salvation, Eph 2:8-9“ 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

So what is Baptism?
The name baptism is derived from the Greek words bapto, baptizo, baptizmos which mean to fully submerge or immerse and in this context to make fully wet. This raises up several questions as to the mode of baptism which I will discuss further in the paper. As stated before Baptism is a sacrament; the word sacrament comes from the Latin root word sacramentum which was a military oath of obedience as administered by the commander. Another way to explain a sacrament would be ‘A physical act with a spiritual blessing’ as Ps. Bruce Fidler put it.

Baptism therefore, is a physical act of obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ symbolizing the death of Christ as we go down into the water and his resurrection as we come up out of the water as new creations (Rom 6:1-6). This type of water symbolizing new life isn’t new nor is it foreign to the Old Testament as several times water was a symbol of what God was doing. From the very beginning water was the most prominent symbol of new creation, new life and new beginnings as is seen in the whole of Genesis 1. Other examples or types of baptism in the OT involve that of Noah and the flood (1 Pet 3:20-21), and Moses and the Israelites (1 Cor. 10:1-2) crossing the red sea separation their old life from their new life, from bondage to freedom.

So who can get baptized?
According to scripture the only prerequisites for Baptism was for someone to repent and believe. John the Baptist preached repent and believe, the apostles in the book of Acts (2:38,41; 8:12) also preached Repentance and belief in Jesus Christ and then one could be baptized. The bible however isn’t clear and there is no record of the apostles addressing the issue of whether infants should be baptized. Scripture however is clear on the prerequisites of baptism and these are repentance and belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the two conditions are met then one can be baptized but for a baby this is hard to justify as they lack the mental capacity to listen and understand the gospel and repent from their sins. How about those that were baptized as infants? I believe it was a great act of faith from the parents but that person needs to be able to follow the pattern in the bible which is to Repent, Believe and be Baptized.

How is it done? And when is it done?
Having established what baptism is, why it is important and who can be baptized it is also important to discuss how it should be done. Earlier in the paper I discussed where the word baptism came from and what it meant, baptizmos= immersion or submersion so it is only logical following the use of the word in the New Testament baptism has to be fully body immersion. So what of sprinkling you may ask? Well sprinkling came about as a result of scarcity of water in the early church so it wasn’t practical for people to be baptized in such a priceless commodity. So what about someone who has been baptized by sprinkling, are they truly baptized and should they be baptized? I believe that one should prayerfully consider full immersion baptism but I don’t think they’ll be condemned to hell if they don’t get re-baptized in full immersion.

In conclusion, the person being baptized needs to be fully aware of what they are doing and what it signifies before they partake of the sacrament. They need to have repented from their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Baptism is an act of obedience to our Lord, so even if it didn’t mean anything we would still do it because Jesus said so.

John 14:15 “If you love me you will obey my commands”

Sacre Bleu 2 New beginings!


This is the second of my blogs. The first one aptly named Sacre Bleu. Sacre Bleu 2 however will serve a different purpose. This blog is dedicated to questions from Christians and Non-Christians with questions about God, Christianity, Life, Doctrinal Issues, Theology, Missiology etc and anything that is of major interest to anyone who reads it. If you have any questions feel free to drop them in my cbox or leave a comment and i will gladly take time out to answer them.

The purpose is to help Christians Know what they believe and why they believe it.
To help Non-Christians find the truth that they're lives so depend on whether they are aware of it or not.

Enjoy!

Fungai Mwanawshe