Colossians
2:9-12 For in him the whole fullness of deity
dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and
authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without
hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having
been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through
faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Baptism is a sacrament of
the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ. By baptism a person is solemnly
admitted into the visible church. Baptism is also a sign and seal of the
covenant of grace, of the believer’s engrafting into Christ, of rebirth, of
remission of sins, and of the believer’s yielding to God through Jesus Christ
to walk in newness of life. By Christ’s own direction this sacrament is to be
continued in his church until the end of the world.
The physical substance to be
used in this sacrament is water. The person is to be baptized in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ordinarily by a lawfully called
minister of the gospel.
Dipping the person into the
water is not necessary. Baptism is correctly administered by pouring or
sprinkling water on the person. Not only those who actually profess faith in
and obedience to Christ are to be baptized but also the infants of one or both
believing parents.
Although it is a great sin
to condemn or neglect this sacrament, baptism is not inseparably connected with
God’s grace and salvation. One can be saved and reborn without baptism, and, on
the other hand, everyone who is baptized is not therefore unquestionably
reborn.
The effectiveness of baptism
is not tied to that moment in time in which it is administered. However, by the
correct use of this sacrament the grace promised in it is not only offered but actually
embodied and conferred by the Holy Spirit to everyone (adult or infant) to whom
that grace is given, according to the purpose of God’s own will and in his
appointed time.
The sacrament of baptism
should be administered only once to a person.
The Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith