1) What is Baptism?

The basic definition: An acted out portrait of conversion (several aspects of conversion, to be exact). It is the outward expression of the inward transformation (conversion) that has already taken place.

#1 Baptism is a picture of how our sins were washed away by Christ.

#2 Baptism is a picture of our union with Christ.

#3 Baptism is a picture of our transfer from death to life with Christ.

#4 Baptism is a picture of our passing through the Final Judgment safely in Christ.

2) How a Christian should be baptized.

The person being baptized should be fully immersed in water, and then taken up out of it.

3) Why baptism is required for church membership, and everyone who is baptized should become a church member.

1. a) Only a local church is authorized to affirm who is and is not a genuine believer, thereby warranting baptism. (Mat. 16/18/28)

1. b) Without baptism, membership doesn’t really exist. ‘Church membership’ simply makes explicit what is already implicit in the ordinances.

A more fullsome Baptism definition: Baptism is a church’s act of affirming and portraying a believer’s union with Christ by immersing them in water, and a believer’s act of publicly committing themselves to Christ and his people, thereby uniting a believer to the church and marking off him or her from the world.

Appendix A: On Infant Baptism

Appendix B: A practical example of a messy case

*This lesson owes a plagiarizing debt to Understanding Baptism by Bobby Jamieson and a membership class assembled by Paul Martin for use at Grace Fellowship Church Toronto