“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  - Matthew 28:19

“Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” – Acts 2:38

“Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.” – Acts 18:8

THIS PHOTO ILLUSTRATES different steps in a typical Maranatha baptism service, as the three groups pictured are each at different stages in the baptism.   First, (see the group in the rear on the left) the pastors give a word of instruction to the new believer, and may pray with laying on of hands.  Then the pastors lower the person backward into the water, just for a second or two, as in the scene in the front.  The Lord usually gives some visions or revelations for the believer (especially promises about their spiritual life or God’s plans for them), and the pastors explain these and consider the interpretation of the visions, as in the group to the far right, in back.   This photo is from Brazil, where our seminar facilities (but usually not our individual churches) have special outdoor pools designed for baptisms like this.

The Word refers to three types of baptisms (Acts 19:1-6): John’s Baptism, Baptism in the Name of Jesus (or the name of the Trinity), and Baptism with the Holy Spirit. We believe that Baptism is an ordinance from the Lord Jesus for those who believe (Matthew 28:19).  The Lord delegated to the disciples the authority to baptize. (John 4:1- 3).

IMMERSION – In the Bible, baptisms took place in a body of water, like a lake or river.  The Greek word for “baptize” means to submerge under water, to dip beneath the surface.  We almost always baptize with immersion, except in a few special cases where we cannot baptize the person in water (like someone in a hospital bed who cannot go to a body of water).  

Because baptism is a sign of repentance – a very serious choice to become a faithful, permanent servant of Christ – we should not baptize small children or infants.  We should baptize only those who are old enough to make a serious decision about what kind of person they will be.  When churches started baptizing babies, a few hundred years after the Apostles, it caused them to lose the concept of conversion and salvation.  Once everyone was a baptized Christian from birth, nobody thought about the need for repentance, personal relationship with Christ, or a conversion experience.   Baptizing babies removes the personal choice element from baptism, and makes everybody into “cultural Christians” instead of real believers.  Infant baptism eventually eliminates all understanding of salvation through faith.

We always baptize members “in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” exactly as Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:19-20.  This is very clear and there is no reason to do otherwise.  We want to obey him.  

Some other churches insist on baptizing “in Jesus’ name” instead.  They point to Acts 2:38 as the justification for this, but this is an excerpt from Peter’s evangelistic sermon, not a description of how they conducted the baptisms.  Peter was making a point about the need for his Jewish audience to accept Jesus as the Messiah.  He used the phrase “repent and be baptized…for forgiveness of sins” to show that John’s baptism of repentance (which everyone there knew about) had to be connected to Jesus from then on.   In actuality, the churches that insist on baptizing “in Jesus’ name” do not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity at all.  That is the real reason they are afraid to utter the words that Jesus told us to say when we baptize, because it so clearly invokes the Trinity.  They search and strain for Bible verses about “Jesus’ name” and try to say that “Jesus” is the name of the Father and the name of the Holy Spirit.  This is unconvincing – it would make no sense in that case for Jesus to tell us to baptize “in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Baptism should always be done in connection with a local church, or a local group of churches that function as a Body (see 1 Corinthians 12:13).  It is a mistake for evangelists do baptize lots of new converts after a crusade with no regard for where they will receive fellowship in a local church Body.  It is better for local churches to baptize new converts when they have become members of the church by attending regularly.

How do we conduct a baptism in Maranatha? - First, the pastors give a word of instruction to the new believer, and may pray with laying on of hands.  Then the pastors lower the person backward into the water, just for a second or two, as in the scene in the front.  The Lord usually gives some visions or revelations for the believer (especially promises about their spiritual life or God’s plans for them), and the pastors present explain these mean.

Unfortunately, some churches teach a false doctrine that water baptism is necessary for salvation.  This makes our salvation dependant on an outward action or “work.”  Yet the Bible teaches we have salvation by grace through faith.  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Our salvation does not depend on any of our good works, including the good work of getting baptized.  Baptism is good, but we should not distort the biblical doctrine of salvation by suggesting that it is a prerequisite for entering heaven.  

Jesus wants all his disciples to get baptized.  This is clear from Matthew 28.  We should do this out of obedience, and we receive a spiritual blessing when we do.  Even so, a person who surrenders his life to Christ is saved at that moment, even though he has not yet been baptized.  If a new convert dies before his baptism, he will still go to heaven.  Remember that the thief on the cross next to Jesus had no opportunity to get baptized.  Yet Jesus assured him, “Today you will be with me in Paradise (heaven).”  (Luke 23:43).  Baptism should be part of “working out” or implementing our salvation (Philippians 2:12), part of the Christian life.