📖 Biblical Definition
Believer’s baptism is the public immersion of a repentant confessor in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It pictures union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection: "buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4). Baptists insist the ordinance is for professing believers only and by immersion. Reformed paedobaptists, while affirming believer-baptism in conversion contexts (e.g., Acts 2:38-41; 8:36-38), also administer covenant baptism to the children of believers as the New-Covenant successor to circumcision (Genesis 17; Colossians 2:11-12; Acts 2:39).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The application of water to a person, as a religious rite or ceremony.
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The act of baptizing; the application of water to a person, as a sacrament or religious ceremony, by which he is initiated into the visible church of Christ. This is usually performed by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion.
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 28:19 — "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 2:38 — "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins."
Romans 6:4 — "We were buried with Him through baptism into death."
Acts 8:36 — "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Reduced to infant sprinkling or postponed indefinitely as a private opinion.
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Some traditions baptize unbelieving infants; others delay baptism for converts who have already professed faith. Both miss the apostolic pattern of believe, then be baptized, immediately. Every New Testament baptism follows confession of Christ. The order is fixed and the act is immersion, not a misted forehead.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek baptizo (to dip, immerse) is unmistakably plunged-under, never sprinkled.
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G907 — baptizo — to immerse, to dip, to submerge
G3101 — mathetes — disciple, learner, follower
Usage
"Believe first, then be baptized, in that order, without delay."
"Baptism is the disciple's first obedience, not his last."
"The water preaches what the lips confessed."