Baptism: Joining the Faith

YEAR 10 · UNIT 21: CHRISTIANITY — PRACTICES (PART 1) · LESSON 3

What You'll Learn

Understand infant baptism vs. believers' baptism and the significance of baptism in Christianity

Recall: Prayer and the Lord's Prayer

Time to recall Lesson 2
5:00

Take 5 minutes to recall what you learned about prayer in the last lesson.

What is prayer?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Direct communication with God

What does 'confession' mean in prayer?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Admitting sin and asking God for forgiveness

What does 'Give us today our daily bread' mean?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Asking God to provide food and essential needs

Who taught the Lord's Prayer?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Jesus taught this prayer to His disciples

What Is Baptism?

Baptism is a ceremony where water is used as a sign of joining the Christian faith and being cleansed of sin. Christians believe baptism is a sacrament—a sacred act that connects believers to God and to the Church community.

Key Scripture: Matthew 28:19 (The Great Commission) — "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Acts 2:38 — "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.'"

Romans 6:3–4 — Being baptized into Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life.

Infant Baptism (Paedobaptism)

Used by: Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and many Protestant churches

  • Who: Babies and young children, usually with parents and godparents present
  • How: Water is poured or sprinkled on the child's head; the child is named and received into the Church
  • Why:
    • Removes original sin—all humans are born with the stain of Adam's sin
    • Makes the child a member of the Church community
    • God's grace (unearned help) is given to the child
    • Parents promise to raise the child in Christian faith
  • Later: In many churches, the child is later confirmed—making their own personal commitment to faith as a teenager

Believers' Baptism (Credobaptism)

Used by: Baptist, Pentecostal, and many independent churches

  • Who: Only those who have made a personal decision to follow Jesus (teenagers or adults)
  • How: Full immersion in water (the person is dunked underwater). The act symbolizes death to sin and resurrection to new life in Christ.
  • Why:
    • Shows a conscious, personal choice to follow Jesus
    • Only makes sense if the person understands faith and agrees to it
    • Baptism is the outward sign of an inward spiritual change that has already happened
    • The Holy Spirit comes to the baptized person
  • No confirmation needed: The act of believers' baptism itself is the full initiation

Why Do Churches Baptize Differently?

The difference comes down to theology about original sin, consciousness, and grace:

  • Infant baptism tradition: Believes original sin is real and damaging; God's grace works even on infants who can't choose; baptism is God acting on the person, not the person acting on God.
  • Believers' baptism tradition: Emphasizes personal faith and conscious decision; argues that faith must be chosen, not inherited; sees baptism as the believer's response to God's grace, not a unilateral act by the church.

What both agree on: Baptism is serious and marks a real change. Whether infant or believer, baptism connects a person to Jesus Christ and to the community of faith. The water symbolizes washing away sin and the beginning of new life.

The Significance of Baptism

  • Forgiveness of sins: The act washes away sin (or in infant baptism, original sin)
  • New life: Dying to the old self and rising to a new identity in Christ
  • Reception of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit comes into the person's life
  • Membership in the Church: Becomes part of the worldwide Christian community
  • Obedience to Jesus: Jesus was baptized; Christians follow His example
Water is sprinkled on a baby's head Full immersion in water Only baptized if they make a personal choice Removes original sin Confirmation happens later as a personal commitment Happens at birth or in early childhood Shows conscious faith in Jesus Parents promise to raise the child as a Christian

Infant Baptism

Believers' Baptism

Evaluate (12 marks)

Question: "Only believers' baptism is true baptism." Evaluate this statement with reference to Christianity.

Guidance:

  • For believers' baptism: Requires conscious personal faith; matches Jesus's command to baptize disciples; baptism is the believer's response to God's grace; makes theological sense—how can an infant have faith?
  • Against/For infant baptism: Infant baptism is ancient Christian practice; original sin is real and affects all humans; God's grace works without human effort; children are part of the faith community; includes the tradition of confirmation as personal commitment later
  • Nuance: Both traditions believe in the power and importance of baptism. The question is when and how it should happen, not whether it matters.
  • Conclusion: Both are considered "true baptism" by their respective traditions. The difference is theological, not one being more valid than the other.

What is baptism?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: A ceremony using water as a sign of joining the Christian faith and being cleansed of sin

Give an example of a church that practices infant baptism.

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Catholic, Anglican, or Orthodox church

Give an example of a church that practices believers' baptism.

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: Baptist or Pentecostal church

What is full immersion baptism?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: The person is dunked completely underwater—symbolizes death to sin and rising to new life

What is original sin?

🔒Reveal answer

Answer: The sin of Adam and Eve that Christians believe affects all humans from birth