What is baptism?

Baptism in the Bible

While how baptism is practiced and what it is practiced for is highly debated amongst scholars and denominations, there are several facts about baptism that all Biblical churches will agree upon. 

  1. Jesus was baptized (Mark 1:9-11). 

While Jesus was not a sinner (2nd Corinthians 5:21), He still showed us that baptism is to be practiced. 

  2. It was a practice of the early church (Acts 2:38-41). 

After the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were sent to ____ to pray and wait for the "comforter" that Christ promised. There, they would receive the Holy Spirit, and spoke to the crowds in Jerusalem about the resurrection of Christ. The command from Peter to the people was simple, repent and be baptized. 

  3. Christians today are to be baptized (Romans 6:4).  

In Romans, Paul the Apostle makes it clear that baptism is to be practiced, recognizing its representation of our death to sin and resurrection to walk in a new way of life in Christ. 

Baptism at Pleasant Hill

At Pleasant Hill, we believe that baptism is an outward expression of an inward faith. This means that, while baptism does not save you (Ephesians 2:8-9), it serves as a public declaration to the world that you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. We also believe that, through baptism, you are asking to be held to a Biblical standard of accountability by fellow believers.

Our baptism services are typically held alongside our combined services, but that is not the only time we practice this sacrament. We baptize by immersion (full submersion under the water) as a way to symbolically represent the death and burial of our old life of sin, alongside the resurrection into a new life under the banner of Christ.