The baptism ritual in baptist churches
Baptists believe that Christian baptism is done through the immersion of a believer in water. This is an act of obedience for a believer that symbolizes his faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior. It is the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
The independent fundamental baptist believes that it would be inappropriate to baptize a child when it is still too young to freely choose its own path in life. This belief is perhaps the most obvious difference between baptists and other denominations. They reject infant baptism because for them, baptism is for believers only. For them, only those who can personally declare Jesus as Lord are allowed to be baptized.
The baptist churches Lexington believe that baptism is a rich symbol and in itself does not convey salvation or transformation. Baptists believe that it is a sign of what has happened in a spiritual sense to a new believer.The water that is used in baptism is not sacred, it is just a vehicle to enhance the symbolism of spiritual washing or regeneration. Baptism as a symbol conveys different levels of meaning for a believer. Baptists believe that this pictures in a most profound sense as a vivid form the gospel of Christ itself. The apostles even wrote in Romans 6:3-4 that a believer is said to be buried into Christ’s death, buried with Christ, and raised to new life in Christ. It is only through baptism by immersion portrays such spiritual transformation in the fullest sense.
Some baptist churches re-baptize those individuals who were baptized as infants in another Christian tradition, while others respect that various denominations do things differently. Because baptism is carried out by full immersion, most of the churches have a baptistery.During a baptismal servicethe minister and the person being baptized will enter the baptistery, more or less a pool that is about 4 meters by 3 meters. The minister will lay the person back in the water holding him down so that they are totally immersed and then bring them back up again. They believe that this practice is in line with the New Testament, the baptism as carried out by John the Baptist.
Theologically, salvation is a gift of God and it is not through human achievement. Baptism is God’s gift to the Church to allow the faithful a means of expressing their faith and gratitude for God’s redemptive work.