3. HOLY BAPTISM DOCTRINE AND MODE

Introduction

Calvary Bible Presbyterian Church (BPC) is a fundamental Bible believing church. As such we practise only two sacraments: the Lord's Supper (once a month) and baptism. This is not a treatise arguing against other beliefs and modes of baptism that differ from Calvary's. This paper seeks to explain, with the necessary and basic reasons, Calvary BPC's belief and practice of the sacrament of baptism.

As the name of the church suggests, Calvary BPC is Reformed, i. e. Reformed in our Theology. We believe in the Reformed Faith as expressed in the historic Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Shorter and Larger Catechisms. The questions and answers which succinctly describe Calvary BPC's understanding on baptism are reproduced below:

Shorter Catechism, Q 95, "To whom is baptism to be administered?"  A. "Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptized. "

Westminster Confession of Faith, XXV 2, "The visible church... consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, and of their children..."  

Larger Catechism, Q 62, "What is the visible church?"  A. The visible church is a society made up of all such as in all ages and places of the world do profess the true religion, and of their children. "

Believer's Baptism

Baptism of the adults will be administered only to those who have professed their faith in Christ. This is seen in every instance where water baptism is mentioned in the book of Acts (cf. Acts 2:38-39 ; 8:1-13 , 26-40 ; 9:18-19 ; 10:1-48 ; 16:1-35 ).

Water baptism does not in any way contribute to the person's salvation. The person's salvation depends entirely upon the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31 ). Water baptism does not save at all. This does not mean that water baptism is not important. Every born again believer must seek baptism. He does so as an act of obedience to his Lord Jesus Christ's command (Matt 28:19-20 ).

In Calvary BPC, under normal circumstances, every person has to go through twenty Basic Bible Knowledge Classes before he or she is baptized. These classes help crystallize the person's belief and confession because he will be taught the very basic cardinal doctrines of the faith.

Infant Baptism

The sacrament of water baptism is not limited to adults only. Calvary BPC, in accordance with the Reformed Faith, practises infant baptism. To the objection that the Bible mentions only examples of adult baptism, the explanation is that:

when Christianity was new it was to be expected that most baptisms would be those of adults. The same is true in any pioneer mission field against the opposition of their families and relatives. These adults are baptised.

It is also noted that all the adults who were baptized in Acts did not have Christian parents. They were not part of the visible church before water baptism.

The Westminster Confession of Faith, I 6, rightly states that

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture…

Some of the doctrines in the Bible are not explicitly stated. They are deduced from Scripture. Two notable examples are: the participation of women in the Lord's supper; and the doctrine of the Trinity. When Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper just before His death, no women were present at all, only His disciples. Yet women are allowed to participate based on inference, though not on any explicit statements or commands of Scripture. The Bible explicitly teaches that there is one God; that the Father is God; that the Son is God; and that the Holy Spirit is God. But...

that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons, equal in power and glory, yet one in substance, is nowhere explicitly stated in the Bible. As Trinitarians, we hold that this is indeed implicit in the Bible, and that it is necessarily derived from the Bible by valid logical inference. But we should realize that the Bible does not explicitly teach it.

The doctrine of infant baptism is an implication of two doctrines of the Bible. They are: the doctrine of the Covenant of Grace; and the doctrine of the visible church. Any church which is weak in these two doctrines is bound to become weak and unsure on the doctrine of infant baptism. The same is true of the individual believer.

What is the covenant of grace? The covenant of grace was first announced in Genesis 3:15 . This covenant came into operation the moment Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:15 contains "all the rest of the Bible in germ form". God could have struck Adam and Eve dead but He chose not to do so. Instead God sets His plan of salvation for man-kind into motion. Through the many sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, Seth was chosen by God through whom the Saviour would ultimately come. After the global flood, out of the three sons of Noah, Shem was chosen. From the descendants of Seth, came Abraham. The covenant of grace was progressively revealed by God to the ones whom He had chosen. The covenant was formally established with Abraham as recorded in Genesis 17 . The sign formalizing the establishment of this covenant was circumcision. Isaac was next in line followed by Jacob through whom the nation of Israel was formed.

From then on, the nation of Israel constitutes the visible body of God's people on earth. Throughout the years of human history God chose to work out His plan of salvation through the nation Israel. Israel was given the Laws of God, the privilege of building God's tabernacle and temple, the prophets to declare God's oracles, etc. And finally, God's plan of salvation for mankind culminates in the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And everyone who believes in Christ enters into a covenant of grace with his God.

In the Old Testament, circumcision was instituted as a sign of God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants that the LORD will be their God (cf Gen 17 ). Circumcision, therefore, was a sign of membership that the children of Israel were part of the covenantal family of God, the people of Israel. Of course, not every child who was circumcised was regenerate.

In the New Testament, water baptism replaces circumcision. Colossians 2:11,12 supports the comparison of baptism with circumcision.

It makes no difference whether the baptism here referred to was intended figuratively i. e. water baptism. The comparison of baptism with circumcision is absolutely inescapable.

The genitival construction of the phrase "the circumcision of Christ" should be understood as a Genitive of Description, that is, a circumcision related to Christ or a Christian circumcision. The verse may be paraphrased to mean,

In Him [ Christ ] you were circumcised with a circumcision, not the manual operation in the putting off of the body of flesh [ that is, not with the physical operation of circumcision ]; you were circumcised by Christian circumcision; you were circumcised by being buried with Him in baptism. In Him you were also raised up by faith in the power of God who raised Him from among the dead.

Thus the meaning of the word "baptism" cannot and should not be restricted to only believers' baptism. Infant baptism, like the circumcision of infants, is not about salvation but about the covenantal relationship. The Christian parents enter into a covenantal relationship with God when they believe in Jesus Christ. This covenant requires that parents nurture and bring the children up in the fear and knowledge of God. They are to pray with and for them, study the Bible together, and grow in the Lord together. Throughout the Bible, the family, not the individual, is the basic social unit.

Children are born into a social environment which involves a covenant standing and covenant obligations. Parents exercise faith and take vows for their children in a representative capacity.

Therefore just as the infants of the people of Israel were circumcised as a sign of the covenant that they belong to the visible body of God's people in the Old Testament, the children of believers are baptized as a sign that they belong to the visible church. We baptize infants NOT that they might join the church but because they are already part of the visible church. When they become adults and believe in Christ as their Saviour then they go through the rite known as RE-AFFIRMATION. They will not be baptised again.

Mode of Baptism

The only mode of baptism practised in Calvary BPC is sprinkling. We do not say that this is the only right and acceptable mode of baptism.

Whether it is by immersion or pouring or sprinkling, the important factor to bear in mind is that water must be used. The quantity of water and the manner of contact between the water and the person baptized is not the emphasis. The reason we have such a view on the mode of baptism is that we believe the Scripture does not substantiate one single mode of baptism as THE ONLY correct mode. We adopt sprinkling as the acceptable and official mode from the perspective of tradition and convenience rather than from an entirely theological viewpoint.

The Greek word for "Baptism" is "baptidzo". In both the Old (Septuagint) and New Testaments, this word does not always signify immersion or the complete submerging of the object in a liquid (cf. Lev 14:6 , 51,52 ; Dan 4:33 ; 5:21 ; Matt 3:11 ; l5: 2; Mk 1:8 ; 7:2-5 ; Lk 3:16 ; 11:38 ; Acts 1:5 , 8 ; 2:17 , 33 ; 11:16 ; Heb 9:10-23 ; etc). As Buswell rightly explains,

The word for baptism when used literally does not always imply submerging or immersing. As a matter of fact, the meaning we find most common on a scriptural usage, both in the Septuagint and in the New Testament, is the action of dipping and pouring or dipping and sprinkling. We have no objection to the thought that baptism may properly be performed by immersion, but we do not find in the New Testament even one instance in which it is used that immersion was the mode used, nor do we find in the Old Testament ceremonial washings one instance in which immersion is implied.

Conclusion

Calvary BPC regards water baptism as one of only two holy sacraments instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ. Every born again believer must seek water baptism in obedience to our Lord's command. This is the believer's baptism.

Infants are also baptized because they are already part of the covenantal family of the visible church. The parents of the children enter into a covenant of grace with the Lord when they believe Jesus Christ as their Saviour. As the children's representative they seek infant baptism. By this act, the parents confess before God that they will bring up their child in the fear and knowledge of God both in word and in deed. The Old Testament parallel would be the circum-cision of the children of the people of Israel (cf. Col 2:11,12 ). May God help Calvary BPC to please Him in every way by obeying God's holy ordinance that we may glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.