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WHAT WE BELIEVE
Believer’s baptism

Reuben Pauls

Several years ago, at the funeral of a family friend, a priest and I shared the service. As he introduced the deceased, he stated, “We know that our dearly departed brother is in heaven today because he received baptism as an infant and his sins were washed away.” Although I was to give the sermon later, that statement kept playing through my mind. How could a statement be so boldly made without regard for the life that the man had lived, most of which was away from the church – to the point that communion was not allowed to be served at the service?

This is not how Mennonite Brethren view baptism. Our Confession of Faith places restrictions on who qualifies to be baptized. For us, baptism (being immersed in water in the presence of the church community) is linked with and is a symbol of several other aspects of conversion. Those aspects include repenting from sin, accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour, receiving the Holy Spirit and being incorporated into the body of believers (the local church). We do not specify a time frame for these aspects, although a case could be made that in the New Testament they were all wrapped up into one event.

The problem we encounter today is that for some people who have grown up with Christian faith, we have separated the aspects of conversion and have built time delays into the system. After all, even if he or she has “accepted Jesus as Saviour”, is an eight-year-old able to understand “filling of the Holy Spirit” and “church membership”? Yet this means that we now have to deal with questions such as, “If we have separated conversion from baptism, why do we still link church membership with baptism?” In part, the problem arises because we are no longer a “first generation church”, where every believer is new to faith. But are we really not a first generation church? God has no grandchildren. Every believer must come to Christ on his or her own in a fresh and personal way. To be real, faith cannot be borrowed from a parent or anyone else. We see baptism as a sign that all the above mentioned elements (repenting of sin, personally accepting Jesus as Saviour and Lord, receiving the Holy Spirit and making a commitment to the church) have taken place. We go further to state that baptism is a voluntary event in the life of each believer. This is in contrast to some other denominations which demand baptism at a certain age.

In the first-century church, accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour meant that a person was declaring allegiance to someone other than the established religious system and the community of which that person was a part. In fact, accepting Jesus would often result in exclusion from the community. Hence, when a person experienced the new birth, being incorporated into a new covenant community, symbolized by baptism, was absolutely essential. To be baptized without becoming involved in the local church would mean that the person would be without any support network. Our Confession of Faith continues this practice, emphasizing that in addition to being a public sign that sin has been dealt with, baptism symbolizes the person’s desire to identify with the local church and his or her pledge to be actively involved in ministry. When I was baptized at age 12, my parents helped me to understand that I now had a responsibility to “support the local church”. Forty years later, that continues to be appropriate and important advice.

Our teaching on “modes” (or methods) of baptism has been relaxed from our earlier Confession. While immersion is our understanding of the meaning of baptism from the biblical text (symbolizing being buried with Christ and raised to new life, Romans 6:2-6), other modes (such as sprinkling or pouring), when based on adult confession of faith, are recognized. What we have not defined in detail is: “What is “adult confession”? Perhaps the closest we get to it is the statement under eligibility: “Baptism is for those who understand its meaning.” This still allows for individuals to grow in understanding after baptism. Using my own experience as an example, my understanding today is more solidly anchored in theology than it was 40 years ago, although my commitment remains the same.

Reuben Pauls is pastor of River of Life Church in Sorrento, B.C. and former executive minister for the Canadian MB Conference.

CONFESSION OF FAITH OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN CONFERENCES OF MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCHES Article 8

Christian Baptism Confession We believe that when people receive God’s gift of salvation, they are to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Baptism is a sign of having been cleansed from sin. It is a covenant with the church to walk in the way of Christ through the power of the Spirit. Meaning Baptism by water is a public sign that a person has repented of sins, received forgiveness of sins, died with Christ to sin, been raised to newness of life and received the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a sign of the believer’s incorporation into the body of Christ as expressed in the local church. Baptism is also a pledge to serve Christ according to the gifts given to each person. Eligibility Baptism is for those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and commit themselves to follow Christ in obedience as members of the local church. Baptism is for those who understand its meaning, are able to be accountable to Christ and the church, and voluntarily request it on the basis of their faith response to Jesus Christ. Practice We practice water baptism by immersion administered by the local church. Local congregations may receive into membership those who have been baptized by another mode on their confession of faith. Persons who claim baptism as infants and wish to become members of a Mennonite Brethren congregation are to receive baptism on their confession of faith. Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:2-6; I Corinthians 12:13; Colossians 2:12-13; Galatians 3:26-27; Ephesians 4:4-6. View complete Confession of Faith

 
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Last modified February 14, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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