If you haven’t read the first installment, you can do so by clicking here. We are into our final installment of a two installment discussion of baptism. We are discussing household or infant baptism and we will eventually get into the mode of baptism and its significance. Part and parcel of this discussion is the necessity of believer’s baptism. Only those who have trusted Christ are to be baptized.
Let’s reconsider the case for believer’s baptism made in the New Testament. Believer’s baptism contradicts the notion of household and infant baptism. When it comes to baptism coming after salvation, the baptism of Cornelius and others who embrace Christ through Peter’s preaching is instructive. Peter is summoned by God to go to the house of a Gentile (a Roman centurion) and preach the Gospel (Acts 10:1-24). Upon entering the house Peter meets Cornelius who tries to worship Peter (Peter prevents him) and explains to Peter that God called upon Cornelius to summon Peter to Cornelius’ home and hear a message (Acts 10:25-33). In verses 34-43 Peter acknowledges his own surprise that God has called Peter, a Jew, to enter a non-Jew’s house and share the gospel with them but fully embraces this call from God.
As Peter preached, God moved and people were saved. They even spoke in tongues, confirming for Peter their salvation. Peter’s reaction is instructive:
44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. (Acts 10:44-48)
What happened? Consider Peter’s observations and comments—and commands. Peter recognizes their salvation and in obedience to Christ’s commands (Matthew 28:18-20) baptizes them (vv. 47-48). They asked Peter to stay for a while (v. 48), which Peter did, no doubt fulfilling the third part of the Great Commission (go make disciples; go baptize them; go teach them to do all I commanded—Matthew 28:19-20).
What happened next? Upon Peter’s return to Jerusalem, Peter’s fellow Jewish Christians asked Peter to give an account of what he did (they weren’t so sure he did the right thing). Peter’s explanation and their response is instructive:
13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:13-18)
One can’t help but notice the similarities here between this event and the Philippian jailor. Notice that the household believed. Should we assume infants believed because of the statement, “you and your household?” Also consider the sequence of events leading up to the baptism: first belief, then baptism. That should make sense to the thoughtful reader given the sequence of events in Matthew 28:18-20:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Consider Jesus’ sequencing: evangelize; baptize; catechize. We tell people about Jesus. They come to faith (i.e. Go… make disciples). We baptize (their first step of obedience after salvation). We catechize: “teaching them to do all I have commanded you.” People get hung up on the word catechize. It only means to train or teach. Evangelize; baptize; catechize is the sequence we see throughout the New Testament. Baptism never precedes belief.
Baptism never precedes belief. Baptism always follows belief. This is the case with the Philippian Jailor. This is the case with Cornelius. This is the case with the Royal Official (some refer to as the Ethiopian Eunuch):
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah… 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him… 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. (Acts 8:26-38)
Philip shares the Gospel. The court official comes to Christ and is baptized (vv. 31-38). Evangelize… baptize… that’s the Bible’s sequence.
Consider the example of Lydia’s baptism. She comes to Christ and is baptized:
So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16: 11-15)
Some leapfrog over the sequencing of her baptism and try to make a case for—you guessed it—household baptism. The problem here is you must assume households were baptized—reading into the text infants were baptized without believing. No mention is made of infants or children. Frankly, it’s wishful thinking… wishful thinking particularly when you consider the mode of baptism.
What is the mode of baptism? What’s in a word like baptize (βαπτίζω--baptidzo)? What’s in a word like sprinkle (ῥαντίζω--rhantidzo)? βαπτίζω (baptidzo) is found nearly 80 times in the New Testament and in nearly all cases it is used to denote this act. No other word is used for this. It has a range of meaning including immerse, drown, sink, and dip under. So, what’s the big deal? There is a separate word for sprinkle (rhantidzo). Rhantidzo (ῥαντίζω) is found four times in the New Testament. (Hebrews 9:13, 19,21; 10:22). It means to sprinkle and is never found in the context of baptism.
What does baptism signify? This question is significant because of what baptism symbolizes relative the ‘fit’ of the mode of baptism.
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:3-5)
having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:12)
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5)
What do we see and learn here? Baptism signifies and symbolizes death (and resurrection) with Christ (Romans 6:3-5). Baptism pictures death with Christ and resurrection with Christ (Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:4). Now think with me… how would sprinkling fit into these? Which paints the clearer picture of the death, burial, and raising of Christ—baptism or sprinkling? If sprinkling is the mode, why not employ ῥαντίζω (rhantidzo)? Why use a word that means to immerse, drown, or dip under?
Immersion or sprinkling? What again? I know what you’re thinking… “Didn’t we just look at that?” Let’s return to the biblical record. What examples do John the Baptist, Christ and Philip provide us? In John 3:23 we read that John was baptizing where there was much water. Why would much water be necessary if he sprinkled people? Then we have the account of the royal official:
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:35-39)
Why not baptize with a canteen, jug, or bowl? Remember the context surrounding these events. The eunuch was traveling with a large retinue or caravan. Philip could have baptized him with water from the caravan (rhantidzo) unless, of course he intended to baptize by immersion (baptidzo): “and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.” It seems more than plausible that they had to go down into the water in order to facilitate immersion; otherwise, they would have dipped a pitcher of some sort into the water.
You see this same sort of practice with Jesus with John the Baptist. John could have dipped down into the water and sprinkled Jesus. But Jesus went down into the water with John to be baptidzo’d (baptized) rather than rhantidizo’d (sprinkled):
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3: 13-17)
Jesus was baptized by immersion. The Ethiopian eunuch was baptized by immersion. John baptized people by immersion. Much water was needed because much water was required to immerse; otherwise, a canteen or bowl could be used to sprinkle. Baptism follows the decision to surrender your life to God, Jesus as Messiah—doing the Father’s will (Matthew 3:17)—and others who surrender to Christ in salvation. Baptism is for those who’ve made a cognitive decision to submit to God.
What’s all this got to do with household or infant baptism? Infants can’t surrender their souls to God. They are too young to voluntarily surrender to Christ and receive baptism as the first step of obedience (like Cornelius, Lydia, the Philippian Jailor, the Ethiopian eunuch, and others who heard the gospel). Believers baptism is what Christ calls us to: (1) evangelize; (2) baptize; (3) catechize (Matthew 28:18-20). Baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and our being baptized into His death and being raised to life in Christ:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:3-5)
having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:12)\
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5)
Can you imagine an infant volunteering for baptism; can you imagine immersing that infant? Infant baptism is a holdover that is pre-Reformation. It cannot be supported from the Scriptures without doing violence to the text by imposing a set of circumstances upon the text that are not found in the text. There is not one incidence of sprinkling (ῥαντίζω--rhantidzo) an infant in the New Testament. There’s not one instance of baptizing (βαπτίζω—baptidzo) an infant in the New Testament. We do well to follow the text rather than bend it to suit our preferences or traditions. Baptism is for believers and by immersion.