Baptism

You don’t need to be baptized to be saved. The New Testament teaches that a person is saved by repentance from sin and faith in Christ. “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). In Luke 23, the thief on the cross recognized who Jesus was, reached out to him, and Jesus promised him salvation. That dying thief had no opportunity to be baptized.

Baptism is a public profession of your faith. Baptism is done before a group of people who witness your confession of faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is not the only way we profess to be a Christian, but it is an important way.

Baptism symbolizes your cleansing from sin, what separates you from God, all that is good, beautiful and right. Baptism in the New Testament indicates that a person has “repented” or turned away from their own ways, and turn toward God’s saving grace. The apostles often referred to the fact that believers were washed from sin. Peter stated that the water in baptism symbolized not the cleansing of the body from dirt, but the cleansing of the conscience. (1 Peter 3:21)

Baptism symbolizes your union with Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection. When you become a Christian you die to sin and your old way of life, and you begin a whole new life. Romans 6:8 states, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” The very act of baptism (being immersed in the water and coming up out of the water) is a picture of what happens to you spiritually.

Midtown Vineyard believes that people should be baptized by immersion as opposed to sprinkling or pouring. The term “baptize” literally means to immerse. This was how people in the Bible were baptized. Also, immersion best symbolizes what happens spiritually when you become a Christian.

You should be baptized as soon as possible after you have personally trusted Christ for salvation and have been “born again.” Remember, you are not baptized in order to become a Christian. You are baptized because you are a Christian. We should not put off baptism, since it is a command of Jesus.

Midtown Vineyard holds baptisms periodically throughout the year.

Among orthodox Christians there are different perspectives on infant baptism. Some denominations and traditions (such as Episcopal, Presbyterian and Catholic) baptize infants while others (such as most Baptists) do not. Perhaps you were baptized as an infant. How should you view that baptism?

You certainly want to show respect to your parents and their viewpoints, as well as be grateful to God for any spiritual influence they had in your life. However, our understanding of what the Bible teaches is that baptism is an action that follows conversion. So, if you have not been baptized since you decided to trust in Christ, we would recommend that you get baptized.

As long as you were born again when you were baptized, and as long as the other church was a Christian church, then you should not be re-baptized. If however, your baptism was merely a church ritual done prior to your conversion or if the church was outside of the mainstream of Christianity, then we would encourage you to be validly baptized for the first time.

Absolutely, as long as they thoroughly understand what they are doing. Here is a helpful guide to having a conversation with your youth.

We recommend that you wait until your children can make an intelligent profession of faith that is their own. We certainly believe that a young child can be saved, but the older a child is, the more they will understand and the more meaningful baptism will be for them. Remember, they do not need to be baptized in order to be a Christian.

At Midtown Vineyard, we do not baptize infants as some denominations and traditions do. Instead, we dedicate infants to the Lord and call parents to commit themselves to raise their children for Christ. We do this based on the model seen in scripture of infants being dedicated to the Lord: Samuel in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 1:21-29) and Jesus in the New Testament (Luke 2:21-24).