Next Steps

First, every instance of baptism in the NT was done by immersion. From John the Baptist at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:6) to Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:36-38), every instance of baptism in the NT happened by full immersion.

Second, the word in Greek (baptizo) literally means “to immerse.” It seems as if the translators of the NT into English could have more strictly translated passages like Acts 8:36 as “[…] The eunuch said, ‘Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being IMMERSED?'”

First, we would encourage you to carefully study the instances of baptism in the New Testament, noting carefully who was baptized and the nature of their personal faith. We are convinced these passages clearly support the baptism of believers after their personal profession of faith.

If you were baptized as an infant, we would suggest that you should be baptized again as an adult, as your infant baptism was a symbol of your parents’ faith, not your own. In so doing, we would also encourage you to honor your parents and to express thankfulness for their desire for you to have faith in Christ.

If you were previously baptized by personal choice, but later have come to the conclusion that you were not truly born again when you were first baptized, we think that is an answer that should be approached carefully and with wise counsel.

We totally understand the fear of public speaking. However, we believe that identifying with Christ in baptism is meant to be a very public celebration for you personally and for the church corporately. Even if it’s very short, we encourage everyone getting baptized to give voice to their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. 

We would love to set up a meeting with someone from our staff team to help you think through God’s hand in your life. We hope that will stir your faith and help you to prepare to share your story!

Absolutely! If there is a person who has been formative in your decision to follow Christ, we want you to feel freedom to have them baptize you. Due to the size of our baptism tank, we’d encourage those getting baptized to invite no more than two people to baptize them. And if no one comes to mind, someone on our Ambassador team will be able to baptize you!