Facts About Baptism

Baptism does not wash away sin, else Jesus Christ who was not a sinner would not have been baptized.  St. Peter stated that Jesus Christ “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth”.  (1 Peter 2: 21, 22; Matthew 26: 27, 28; Hebrews 9: 22) It is the blood of Jesus Christ which “cleanseth us from all sin” – 1 John I: 7

Baptism is an outward demonstration of one’s conversion and vow or agreement to serve God Almighty faithfully through Jesus Christ all the days of one’s life, until death but with the hope of resurrection. See 1 Peter 3: 21.

The person to be baptized should be an adult so as to be able to accept the faith and take decision by himself. Infants should not be baptized. Even our Saviour Jesus Christ was baptized at the age of 30. The appointment of godfathers and godmothers for the children does not in any way change the fact that children should not be baptized as there is no basis for that in the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus Christ only blessed children but did not baptize them. – Matthew 19: 13-15; Mark 10: 13-16; Luke 3:21-23.

All the examples of baptism in the Bible show that it should be by immersion, not pouring or sprinkling of water – the word being derived from the Greek word baptizo or baptizmo, which means  immersion or dipping in water. That was why John the Baptist “baptized in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there …” -John 3: 23; Acts 8: 36-38.

The water covering the person is a symbol of the burial of one’s sinful desires and also that one had agreed to do the will of God until death. In other words, the person had agreed to do the will of God all the days of his life until death. Being raised out of the water is a symbol of resurrection, or the new life which the person baptised has accepted by the grace of God. – Romans 6: 3-6; Colossians 2: 12.

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