An Evangelical Theology Of Baptism

The evangelical tradition is not monolithic in its understanding of water baptism. Furthermore, the importance that the Protestant Reformers gave to baptism seems to be diminished if not absent among many evangelicals. This diminished importance is perhaps due to revivalistic theology that supplanted the significance of baptism with the individual's conversion experience, which often occurred outside the church. The following article will note the divergences and the commonalities among evangelicals. As with other traditions, baptism in the evangelical tradition is related to the beginning of the individual's Christian life and the believer's initiation into the church (both the universal invisible church and the local visible church). It is performed and received as an act of obedience to Christ who exemplified the practice in his own life (Matt. 3:13) and commissioned his followers to baptize all people (Matt. 28:19). Baptism must always be connected with faith and repentance (se…