(1)  BAPTISM IS AN ORDINANCE OF THE LORD

• We believe that baptism is a command, and ordinance, of the Lord Jesus
• (by which those who have repented and come to faith express their union with Christ in His death and resurrection, by being immersed in water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit)
• to be performed in making disciples until Christ returns at the end of the age.  (Matt 28:19; Acts 2:38; 10:46-48; 19:1-6)

(2)  BAPTISM EXPRESSES YOUR UNION WITH CHRIST

(Rom 6:3) Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  (Rom 6:4) We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life. 

• Faith is the means by which we are united to Christ and justified. 
• But we show, say, signify and symbolize this faith – with the act of baptism.
• In baptism, by faith, we are united with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

BAPTISM DRAMATICALLY PORTRAYS WHAT HAPPENED SPIRITUALLY WHEN YOU RECEIVED CHRIST: Your old self of unbelief and rebellion and idolatry died, and a new you of faith and submission and treasuring Christ came into being.

• The burial of the old life means the cutting off of the past.  (Rom 6:4-7).  
• Acts 2:38-39 also teaches us that baptism is the separation between the old and the new life.  (Also read 1 John 1:7,9; 1 Pet 3:21; Acts 8:36-38).
• We are commanded to put to death or put aside any aspect of the old self that might appear in our lives.  (Col 3:5, 8.  Read Col 3)

THIS IS AN OUTWARD SIGN OF WHAT ALREADY HAPPENED INSIDE YOUR HEART (Col 2:11-15)

• The overcoming life begins with death of the old sinful nature that is crucified and buried with Christ symbolically through the water baptism.
• Every Christian experience a death to sin, a death to their old life and old nature and then a resurrection to a new life in Christ. (Rom 6:8-11) You are now alive for the things of God and your relation to sin is broken.
• A prerequisite to live a life of victory is to sanctify yourself which means to be clean, dedicated and purified.  (Rom 6:12-13)  
• This means that sin no longer has a hold on you. You are full of God, walk in His will, don't compromise with sin, don't covet, and are totally committed to Christ.

(3)  BAPTISM IS IMMERSION IN WATER

• The word baptism in Greek means dip or immerse. (Rom 6:3-4)
• This is most naturally understood to mean that you are buried under water and then come out from the water to signify rising from the grave.

(4)  BAPTISM IS IN THE TRINITARIAN NAME

• (Matthew 28:19) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
• There is a holy appeal to God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to be present in this act and make it true and real in what it says about their work in redemption.
• There is no salvation without the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

(5)  BAPTISM IS FOR BELIEVERS ONLY

• Baptism is an expression of the faith of the one being baptized and therefore only for believers. 
• Thus not for unbelievers or infants.

• It was uncompromisingly commanded by the Lord Jesus.
• It was universally administered to Christians entering the early church.
• It was uniquely connected to conversion as an unrepeatable expression of saving faith.

Rom 10:17; Rom 6:13

Baptisms are very intentional for us. We want it to be a memorable and meaningful event. 

We interview those who are being baptised and require them to complete Life Class and Encounter Weekend, because of their faith as expressed through baptism is a public declaration of a new association with Christ.