Christians today hold differing views regarding the meaning and practice of water baptism.  Some view it as having saving merit, others believe it is a symbolic yet important step of obedience, and some do not practice it at all.  Many churches baptize infants, and others maintain that only believers should be baptized.  The Baptist denomination is known for baptizing by immersion only, while many other churches practice affusion (pouring) or sprinkling.

The meaning of baptism

The early Christians believed that when a person repents of sin and commits to follow Christ, he/she should be baptized for the remission of sins.  In baptism, the person’s past sins are forgiven, he/she is “born again,” and the soul is regenerated to God.

• “Blessed are they who, placing their trust in the cross, have gone down into the water. . . . We indeed descend into the water full of sins and defilement.  However, we come up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear of God and the trust in Jesus in our spirit.” – Barnabas (c. 70-130)
• “He was born and baptized so that by His passion He could purify the water.” – Ignatius (c. 105)
• “Before a man bears the name of the Son of God, he is dead.  But when he receives the seal, he lays aside his deadness and obtains life.  The seal, then, is the water.  They descend into the water dead, and they arise alive.” – Hermas (c. 150)
• “Christ has redeemed us by being crucified on the tree and by purifying us with water.” – Justin Martyr (c. 160)
• “But there is no other way than this: to become acquainted with this Christ; to be washed in the fountain spoken of by Isaiah for the remission of sins; and for the rest, to live sinless lives.” – Justin Martyr (c. 160)
• “When do we bear the image of the heavenly?  Doubtless when he says, ‘You have been washed’ [1 Cor. 6:11], believing in the name of the Lord, and receiving His Spirit.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “[Scripture] says, ‘And he dipped himself seven times in the Jordan’ [2 Kings 5:14].  It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized. Rather, this was a symbol for us.  For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean from our old transgressions by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord.  We are spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, just as the Lord has declared: ‘Unless a man is born again through water and the Spirit, he will not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5].” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “In the same way, therefore, we also repent of our sins, renounce our iniquities, and are purified by baptism.  Thereby, we speed back to the eternal light as children of the Father.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life. . . . We, like little fishes, after the example of our ichthus, Jesus Christ, are born in water” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “‘Unless a man has been born again of water and Spirit, he will not enter into the kingdom of the heavens’ [John 3:5].  These words have tied faith to the necessity of baptism.  Accordingly, all thereafter who became believers were baptized.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “In the baptism of water, there is received the remission of sins.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “The blessed apostle sets forth and proves that baptism is that by which the old man dies and the new man is born, saying, ‘He saved us by the washing of regeneration’ [Tit. 3:5].” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “By baptism, the Holy Spirit is received. . . . The Lord speaks to the Samaritan woman, saying, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.  But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will not thirst forever’ [John 4:13-14].  By this, He signified the very baptism of saving water, which indeed is once received and is not again repeated. . . . The Lord, when He came, manifested the truth of baptism . . . in commanding that this faithful water – the water of life eternal – should be given to believers in baptism.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “If he was not baptized, neither are any of us baptized.  Yet, if there is no baptism, neither will there be any remission of sins.  Rather, every man will die in his own sins.” – Disputation of Archelaus and Menes (c. 320)
• “He who out of contempt will not be baptized will be condemned as an unbeliever.  He will be reproached as ungrateful and foolish.  For the Lord says, ‘Unless a man is baptized of water and of the Spirit, he will by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5].  And again: ‘He who believes and is baptized will be saved.  But he who does not believe will be condemned’ [Mark 16:16].” – Apostolic Constitutions (c. 390)

The early Christians universally understood baptism as being for the remission of sins.  Theophilus (c. 180) wrote of “remission of sins through the water and bath of regeneration.”  Cyprian (c. 250) referenced “sins being put away in baptism” and being “spiritually reformed into a new man”; and Lactantius (c. 304-313) spoke of having been “purified in the heavenly bath.”

Baptism in the New Testament

One of the key verses referenced by numerous early Christian writers is John 3:5: “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’”  The early Christians believed that being born of water referred to water baptism, and being born of the Spirit meant receiving the Holy Spirit.

• “We are spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, just as the Lord has declared: ‘Unless a man is born again through water and the Spirit, he will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “‘Unless a man has been born again of water and Spirit, he will not enter into the kingdom of the heavens.’  These words have tied faith to the necessity of baptism.  Accordingly, all thereafter who became believers were baptized.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “[Those who are to be baptized] are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were regenerated ourselves.  They there receive the washing with water in the name of God (the Father and Lord of the universe), of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit.  For Christ also said, ‘Unless you are born again, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’” – Justin Martyr (c. 160)

As seen in the previous quotations, the early Christians understood the teachings of Jesus and the apostles to mean that baptism was truly for the forgiveness of sins.  They also quoted verses such as these:

• “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 2:38
• “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” – Acts 22:16
• “He saved us . . . by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” – Titus 3:4-5
• “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word . . .” – Ephesians 5:25-26
• “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” – Hebrews 10:22
• “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 3:21
• “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” – Mark 16:16

Did anyone believe otherwise?

The early Christian understanding of baptism as being for the remission of past sins was the prevailing view of the church for hundreds of years.  However, there was a group of people during the early centuries of Christianity who held to a different view of baptism.  These were the Gnostics – the primary heretical group that the early Christians faced.

• “But there are some of them [Gnostics] who assert that it is unnecessary to bring persons to the water.  Rather, they mix oil and water together, and they place this mixture on the heads of those who are to be initiated.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “When we come to refute them [the Gnostics], we will show in its proper place that this class of men have been instigated by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration to God.  Thus, they have renounced the whole faith. . . . For the baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission of sins.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “Oh, miserable unbelief [of the Gnostics] that denies to God His own properties, simplicity, and power!  What then?  Is it not wonderful, too, that death should be washed away by washing?” – Tertullian (c. 198)

The Gnostics believed that the world was created by an inferior God; thus everything in the material world is evil and beyond redemption.  Because they believed that the body or flesh cannot be saved, they taught that Jesus did not come in the form of a man.  Thus baptism, being of the material world, cannot possibly regenerate a person.  They believed that baptism was only a symbol and had no saving merit.

Not only did the early Christians oppose the Gnostic teachings, but the apostles themselves wrote about these heretics in the pages of Scripture.  John called them deceivers and antichrists; and Paul said that they were accursed, having rejected the faith:

• “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.  Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” – 2 John 7
• “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.  But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” – Galatians 1:6-8
• “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.  Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge,’ for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.” – 1 Timothy 6:20-21

Those who have believed

The early Christians never viewed baptism as a rite that has saving merit by itself.  Rather, it is connected with faith, repentance, and the decision to follow Christ.  1 Peter 3:21 makes this point clear: “Baptism, which corresponds to this [the saving of Noah’s family from the Flood], now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Peter understood that the cleansing of the body has no saving merit by itself; rather, it is a completion of the salvation process as we repent of our sins, trust in Jesus Christ, and commit to follow His teachings.  It is not something to be treated lightly:

• “We, then, enter the font once.  Our sins are washed away once, for they should never be repeated.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “Matthew alone adds the words, ‘to repentance’ [Matt. 3:11], teaching us that the benefit of baptism is connected with the intention of the baptized person.  To him who repents, it is saving.  However, to him who comes to it without repentance, it will produce greater condemnation.” – Origen (c. 228)
• “It is clear that the devil is driven out in baptism by the faith of the believer.  And if that faith should fail afterwards, he returns.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “Our transgressions were taken away by . . . the baptism of the Word.  We are washed from all our sins, and are no longer entangled in evil.  This is the one grace of illumination, that our characters are not the same as before our washing.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “For Isaiah did not send you to a bath, there to wash away murder and other sins, which not even all the water of the sea were sufficient to purge; but, as might have been expected, this was that saving bath of the olden time which followed those who repented, and who no longer were purified by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of an heifer, or by the offerings of fine flour, but by faith through the blood of Christ, and through His death, who died for this very reason, as Isaiah himself said. . . . By reason, therefore, of this laver of repentance and knowledge of God, which has been ordained on account of the transgression of God’s people, as Isaiah cries, we have believed, and testify that that very baptism which he announced is alone able to purify those who have repented; and this is the water of life.  But the cisterns which you have dug for yourselves are broken and profitless to you.  For what is the use of that baptism which cleanses the flesh and body alone?  Baptize the soul from wrath and from covetousness, from envy, and from hatred; and behold, the body is pure.” – Justin Martyr (c. 160)

The thief on the cross

As seen in the preceding Scriptures, baptism is the means whereby former sins are washed away – under normal circumstances.  However, God is not bound by water baptism.  For example, the thief on the cross had no opportunity to be baptized, yet Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).  However, baptism is the means that God has ordained, under normal circumstances, for the forgiveness of sins.

How did the early Christians baptize?

The early Christians typically baptized by immersion.  John 3:23 mentions that John the Baptist baptized where “water was plentiful,” and Acts 8:38 says that Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch “went down into the water.”  Other writings indicate that immersion was the normal mode of baptism in the early church:

• “The apostles themselves also gave them the seal of the preaching [i.e. baptism].  Accordingly, they descended with them into the water and ascended again.” – Hermas (c. 150)
• “He commands them to baptize into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – not into a unipersonal God.  And, indeed, it is not once only – but three times – that we are immersed into the three Persons, at the mention of each individual name.” – Tertullian (c. 213)
• “With great simplicity, without pomp, without any considerable novelty of preparation, and without expense, a man is dipped in water . . . and then rises again, not much the [physically] cleaner.  Because of that, the consequent attainment of eternity is esteemed the more incredible.” – Tertullian (c. 198)

Although immersion was the typical mode of baptism, the early Christians allowed for other methods such as pouring or sprinkling if immersion was impractical:

• “Concerning baptism, baptize in this manner: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – in living [running or moving] water.  But if you have no living water, baptize into other water.  If you cannot baptize in cold water, baptize in warm.  But if you do not have either, pour out water three times upon the person’s head in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” – Didache (c. 80-140)
• “It makes no difference whether a man is washed in a sea or a pool, a stream or a fountain, a lake or a trough. . . . All waters . . . attain the sacramental power of sanctification . . . through [the Holy Spirit].” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “You have also asked, dearest son, what I thought of those who obtain God’s grace in sickness and weakness.  Are they to be considered legitimate Christians, for they have not been bathed with the saving water, but only sprinkled?  On this point, my shyness and modesty prejudges no one.  I prevent no one from feeling what he thinks right and from doing what he feels to be right.  As far as my limited understanding conceives it, I think that the divine benefits can in no respect be mutilated and weakened.  Nothing less can occur in that case where, with full and entire faith both of the giver and the receiver, what is drawn from the divine gifts is accepted. . . . In the sacraments of salvation, when necessity compels, and God bestows his mercy, the divine methods confer the whole benefit on believers.” – Cyprian (c. 250)

Fasting before baptism

The early Christians commonly fasted before baptism, following a command given in the Didache.  The Didache, or the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” was a short document compiled at the close of the first century so that new believers and church leaders would have a summary of the basic instructions of the apostles.  It was considered by many of the early Christians to be part of the New Testament.  Because of the instructions of this document, fasting prior to baptism became a common practice of the early church:

• “Before the baptism, let the baptizer fast, and the one to be baptized, together with whoever else can.  But you will instruct the one to be baptized to fast one or two days before [the baptism].” – Didache (c. 80-140)
• “I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had been made new through Christ. . . . As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their past sins.  The rest of us pray and fast with them.  They are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were regenerated ourselves.” – Justin Martyr (c. 160)
• “Those who are about to enter baptism should pray with repeated prayers, fasts, and bendings of the knee – with all-night vigils and with the confession of past sins.  This way they may express the meaning even of the baptism of John.  The Scripture says, ‘They were baptized, confessing their own sins.’” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “He who is to be initiated into His death should first fast, and then be baptized.” – Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390)

Should infants be baptized?

The question of infant baptism is not clear from either Scripture or the writings of the early Christians.  There are no clear cases of infant baptism in Scripture other than the possibility when entire households were baptized (Acts 16:15; Acts 16:31-33; 1 Corinthians 1:16).  Throughout history, valid points have been made on both sides of the issue, and the purpose here is not to present one side above the other or discuss related issues such as individual choice, original sin, or covenants.  The earliest writings do not lead to a dogmatic conclusion either way.

The Didache (quoted earlier) contains no mention of baptizing infants.  The instruction regarding fasting has led some to believe that infants and very young children were not baptized.

The earliest surviving reference to infant baptism is made by Irenaeus around the year 180:

• “He came to save all persons by means of Himself – all, I say, who through Him are born again to God – infants, children, boys, youth, and old men.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)

In 246, Origen indicated that the command to baptize infants came directly from the apostles:

• “The church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants.” – Origen (c. 246)

Cyprian and the Apostolic Constitutions likewise encourage baptism regardless of age:

• “Even to the greatest sinners and to those who have sinned much against God, when they subsequently believe, remission of sins is granted.  Nobody is hindered from baptism and from grace.  How much more should we shrink from hindering an infant.  For he, being lately born, has not sinned – other than, in being born after the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of the ancient death at its earliest birth.  For this reason, he more easily approaches the reception of the forgiveness of sins.  For to him are remitted – not his own sins – but the sins of another.  Therefore, dearest brother, this was our opinion in council that no one should be hindered by us from baptism and from the grace of God.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “Baptize your infants also and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of God.  For He says, ‘Allow the little children to come unto me and do not forbid them.’” – Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390)

By the 200s, infant baptism was commonplace in the Christian church.  However, Tertullian believed that the church was in error on this point:

• “Let the children come, then, while they are growing up.  Let them come while they are learning – while they are learning where to come.  Let them become Christians when they have become able to know Christ.  Why does the innocent period of life hasten to the remission of sins? . . . If anyone understands the weighty importance of baptism, he will fear its reception more than its delay.” – Tertullian (c. 198)

The historical record shows that the early Christians practiced infant baptism by the late second century.  However, there is no clear record of whether it was practiced between the apostolic era and the time of these writings.  The Didache may indicate that it was not, while Origen believed that it was a command from the apostles.  The earliest writings are inconclusive to lead to a dogmatic conclusion either way.

Conclusion

The early Christians understood baptism to be an important part of the salvation process, as a person’s past sins are washed away and he/she is “born again” of the heavenly kingdom.  This teaching flows logically from Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5), as well as the commands to “repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16) and the references to the “washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5; Hebrews 10:22).

The early Christians created no new doctrine of baptism; rather, they proclaimed fully and simply what they had been taught by the apostles.  Baptism has no saving power by itself; yet when combined with faith and repentance, it cleanses and regenerates the soul to God: “But there is no other way than this: to become acquainted with this Christ; to be washed in the fountain spoken of by Isaiah for the remission of sins; and for the rest, to live sinless lives” (Justin Martyr).