What is Baptism?
A central part of our faith
The act of baptism or baptising is a central part of the Christian faith.
For many it marks the official beginning of a lifelong journey of faith and an important decision point. As the Apostle writes in Romans 10.10, “one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.”
Describing baptism
Baptism is an explicit command of the Lord Jesus to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19-20).
This is what we do in the act of baptising.
As a sacrament, baptism is ‘the outward sign of an inward truth.’ In other words, it is a visible action that expresses an unseen truth. In this case, it’s the spiritual washing or cleansing of a person and the receiving of the Holy Spirit into their cleansed body.
What does baptism mean?
The word baptism is rooted in the Greek language, which contains many maritime words as a water bounded and seafaring nation. The maritime word ‘baptism’ was used where a boat or ship was overwhelmed by a wave and was said to be ‘baptised’ (or in literal terms, ‘drowned’).
This imagery captures the common form of early baptisms which were by full immersion – the person was
in a sense ‘drowned.’ The imagery is extended to mean that the old, sinful person has drowned and a new, purified person ascends from the water.
Or, to use the words of the Apostle Paul again in Romans 6.3-4: “Do you not know that all of us who have
been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by
baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too
might walk in newness of life.”
The resurrection
In the act of baptism, we are also re-enacting the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus: the
central belief of the Christian faith. The Filling Station Trust believes in, supports, and encourages this act of faith – baptism – where attendees wish to express their decision and commitment to follow Jesus.
By Rev Brian Streeter, who is an experienced church leader. He is currently a Church of England Vicar, leading several parishes in the South Lakes, and is our Regional Consultant for the North of England.
