Heresy in the church 2 - Baptism is optional

Baptism is optional

In evangelical circles, baptism has been relegated to a ‘nice to have’ thing to do. It’s totally up to the convert if he wants to be baptised or not.

After all, a person is saved by grace through faith.

Well, the New Testament knows no time gap between conversion and baptism. Remember the Ethiopian eunuch. Also the jailer. They were baptised immediately.

If a convert hesitates about being baptised immediately, you wonder if he is actually converted?   If the Holy Spirit has started the work in his life and has convicted him of sin, and he has repented and put his trust in Jesus, he’ll want to be baptised.  Any hesitation tells me he is not ready. Not ready to be received as a Christian.  Many pastors do not check if the conversion is genuine – either they don’t know themselves or they are more interested in adding numbers to their local establishment (aka church) so lets not frighten the covert away.

I’m not saying that baptism is required for salvation. The dying thief on the cross tells me otherwise. If the jailer died just before he got baptised, he would be in heaven, just like the thief on the cross who repented.

However the New Testament knows no big time gap between a person’s profession of faith and baptism. Once a person is converted, he should be baptised immediately.  His desire for baptism is an indication of the genuineness of his faith.

Mode of baptism

There has been so many church splits over the mode of baptism, often forgetting what the purpose of baptism is.

I found this writing very useful; it is from an early Christian manuscript called the Didache, written around the mid first century:

7:1 Concerning baptism, you should baptize this way: After first explaining all things, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in flowing water.
7:2 But if you have no running water, baptize in other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, then in warm.
7:3 If you have very little, pour water three times on the head in the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
7:4 Before the baptism, both the baptizer and the candidate for baptism, plus any others who can, should fast. The candidate should fast for one or two days beforehand.

Hopefully this would reduce the silly fights over the mode of baptism.