What is the biblical understanding of baptism?

…By S. Michael Houdmann, Got Questions Ministries……I have to wonder if God laughed, or cried, when Paul wrote "├ö├ç┬¬one baptism" as recorded in Ephesians 4:5. Baptism, perhaps more so than any other issue, is definitely not something Christians have one viewpoint on. Every aspect of baptism is hotly debated.

Who should be baptized, infants or converts?

How should baptism be done, sprinkling, pouring, or immersion?

What does baptism mean?

Is it symbolically identifying yourself with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus?

Is it when the Holy Spirit is received?

Is it the initial act of obedience, after faith, that God requires before He grants salvation? The only thing that virtually all Christians seem to agree on is that believers in Christ should be water baptized.……So, where does all the confusion come from? To be honest, some of the confusion is due to certain biblical texts related to baptism not being entirely clear. Several of the key baptism verses can be interpreted in different ways. There is only one correct interpretation, don't get me wrong. I am just saying that the lack of explicit biblical clarity makes it easy for us to allow our traditions and presuppositions to impact our interpretations on the issue of baptism.……For example, several verses seem to indicate that baptism is necessary for salvation:

Acts 2:38…38 Peter replied, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.…Mark 16:16…16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.

1 Peter 3:21

21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from (Greek have put on Christ.) a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.…John 3:5

5 Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[a]…Acts 22:16

16 What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.'…Galatians 3:27.…27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes (Greek Have put on Christ) …We know from many other biblical texts that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone ……John 1:12…12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.…John 3:16…16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.…John 3:36…36 And anyone who believes in God's Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn't obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God's angry judgment."

Acts 16:31…31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household."…Ephesians 2:8-9…8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.… Either one of these sets of verses contradicts the other, or one of the sets is being misinterpreted. Since salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, is an absolute non-negotiable issue for us, the biblical baptism texts listed above cannot indicate that baptism is necessary for salvation.

They must speak to the importance and value of water baptism, or possibly to Spirit baptism, or possibly some other interpretation ├ö├ç├┤ but they cannot mean the obedience of baptism is a required work for salvation.……Another example is the debate over infant baptism.

For me, the issue is abundantly clear, the New Testament only describes believers in Jesus Christ being baptized.

Nowhere in the New Testament is an infant or unbelieving child baptized.

Some point to Acts 16 and the Philippian jailer's household being baptized, but again, the text does not mention children or infants.

Those who view infant baptism as the sign of the new covenant, do so based on:

Romans 4:11

11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous-even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith.…Colossians 2:11-12

11 When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision-the cutting away of your sinful nature. (Greek the cutting away of the body of the flesh.) 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

Basically, some in the Reformed tradition understand baptism to be the new covenant equivalent of circumcision. While Colossians 2:11-12 kind of seems to make this connection, why would such a crucially important doctrine only be covered, nebulously, in only one verse in the entire New Testament?……Also, for me, the idea that infant baptism places a person into the new covenant until the "age of accountability" is reached, just does not seem right.

Why would God allow an infant who was baptized before death into heaven while sending an infant who was not baptized before death to hell when neither infant had any control whatsoever as to whether he/she was baptized?

No, my conviction is that God, in His amazing mercy and grace, forgives the sins of all infants and children who die before the age of accountability.

While I understand the thinking behind infant baptism, and I definitely understand parents' desire to protect their children, I do not think infant baptism is necessary or biblical.……Then there is the mode of baptism. For me, this should also be a cut and dry issue. The word "baptize" literally means to "immerse."

There you have it, case closed! Yet, most churches that practice infant baptism, also practice baptism by sprinkling or pouring.

How a person can be immersed in water by sprinkling or pouring, I'll never know.

Further, if baptism is a picture of Christ's death (going under the water) and resurrection (coming out of the water), how does sprinkling or pouring illustrate those two symbols? But, still, those who believe in baptism by sprinkling or pouring will go to great lengths to argue for their viewpoint, including arguing that there could not possibly have been enough water for Philip to immerse the Ethiopian eunuch …Acts 8:26-40…26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, "Go south[a]down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and walk along beside the carriage."…30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"…31 The man replied, "How can I, unless someone instructs me?" And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. 32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:…"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.…And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,…he did not open his mouth. 33 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth." (Isa 53:7-8)…34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?" 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.…36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look! There's some water! Why can't I be baptized?" (Some manuscripts add verse 37, "You can," Philip answered, "if you believe with all your heart." And the eunuch replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.")… 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea. Really?…I truly wish there was only one baptism and only one view on baptism. …Sadly, that is not the case. Interestingly, I have been baptized at least four times. I was baptized as an infant. I was baptized at a youth event when I was around 8. I was baptized in a bathtub when I came to faith in Christ as a teenager. And, I was baptized as an adult when I became unsure that I had been truly biblically baptized. So, I guess I am covered no matter which viewpoint is correct!