More Than Just Water: Exploring the Presbyterian View of Baptism

The first Sunday after Epiphany commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan river and Christians have celebrated this event on the first Sunday after Epiphany. This event is important for us for a number of reasons:

Firstly, it is the revelation of Jesus as the Son of God as emphasised when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove followed by a voice from heaven declaring, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with You I am well pleased." Secondly it signified Jesus' acceptance of His mission to bring salvation to humanity marking the start of his public ministry, where he would preach, teach, and perform miracles. Thirdly, this becomes a model for Christian baptism which symbolises purification, the cleansing of our sins, and our reception of the Holy Spirit. So this Sunday becomes an opportune time for us to reflect on our own baptism and the commitment it represents, maybe even to reaffirm our faith and dedication to Jesus and what He taught.

I thought that we might take the opportunity to delve a little deeper into what we as Presbyterians have believed and understood about Baptism and address some of the common questions, misconceptions and differences we have with some of our other denominational brothers and sisters.

You see, this practice has often sparked much debate. In early times, even bloody debate, and so we will explore a Presbyterian perspective on baptism delving into the biblical and historical reasoning behind our convictions. Although I haven’t fully mapped out how we might work through the various aspects, I hope that we might answer some of the common questions about our beliefs and practices such as:

Why do Presbyterians baptise infants? What about the Great Commission to baptise everyone? Do we have to be baptised to be saved? How much water do we actually need to be baptised? Well, I was Christened as a baby, do I have to be fully immersed now that I’m older and believe? Don’t we have to believe before we are baptised?

There’s a lot there to cover, so it might take two or three Sundays (at least) to cover it, but I’ll do my best to keep it “concise!” In the meantime, take a moment to read Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 (The Baptism of Jesus), as this is more of a topical reflection, we’ll probably be looking at a number of different texts as we move through this. 

Blessings

Josh