The New Testament, in contrast, has two basic rituals: baptism and the Lord’s Supper —and there are no detailed regulations for either observance.

Why these two? In a religion in which faith is primary, why have any rituals at all?

How does baptism picture the central truths of the gospel? The apostle Paul wrote:

Paul is saying that baptism pictures our union with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. These are the primary points of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Our salvation depends on his life, death and resurrection. Our forgiveness—being cleansed of sin—depends on him; our Christian life and future depend on him.

Baptism symbolizes the death of the old self—the old person was crucified with Christ—died with Christ—buried with Christ in baptism (Romans 6:8; Galatians 2:20; 6:14; Colossians 2:12, 20). It pictures our identification with Jesus Christ—we cast our lot in with him. We accept that his death was "for us," "for our sins." We acknowledge that we have sinned, that we have a propensity to sin, that we are sinners in need of a Savior. We acknowledge our need to be cleansed, and that this cleansing comes through Christ. Baptism is one of the ways in which we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Baptism pictures even better news—in baptism we are raised with Christ so that we might live with Christ (Ephesians 2:5-6; Colossians 2:12-13; 3:1). In him, we have a new life, and are called to live a new way of life, with him as Lord leading and guiding us out of sinful ways and into righteous and loving ways. In this way we symbolize a change in the way we live, and that we cannot make this change in ourselves—it is done by the power of the risen Christ living in us. We identify with Christ in his resurrection not just for the future, but for life right now. This is part of the symbolism of baptism.

Jesus did not invent the ritual of baptism. It developed within Judaism, and was used by John the Baptist as a ritual of repentance in which the water symbolized cleansing. Jesus continued this practice, and after his death and resurrection his disciples continued to use it. It dramatizes the fact that we have a new basis for life, and a new basis for our relationship with God.

Paul saw further that salvation means more than being saved from the penalty of sin—it means being saved from sin itself. The old and sinful self must die, and this is pictured by baptism. We died with Christ. Paul was also inspired to add the connection with Jesus’ resurrection. As we rise from the baptismal waters, we picture rising to a new life—a life in Christ, with him living in us.

Peter also wrote that baptism saves us "by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21). Baptism itself does not save us. We are saved by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Water cannot save us. Baptism saves us only in the sense that it is "the pledge of a good conscience toward God." It is a visible representation of turning toward God, of relying on Christ for forgiveness and new life.

We are baptized not only into Christ Jesus, but also into his body, the church. "We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13). That means that people cannot baptize themselves—it should be done within the context of the Christian community. The biblical pattern is to confess Christ before other people, to make a public acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord.

Baptism is one of the ways in which Christ may be confessed, in which others may see that a commitment has been made. It may be a joyous occasion in which the congregation sings hymns and welcomes the person to the family. Or it may be a small ceremony in which an elder (or another authorized representative of the congregation) welcomes the new believer, rehearses the significance of what is being done, and encourages the person in their new life in Christ.

Baptism recognizes that a person has already repented of sin, already accepted God’s gift of salvation in Christ, and already begun to grow spiritually—is in fact already a Christian. Baptism is generally done soon after a person has made a commitment, but occasionally it may be done much later.

After a person has faith in Christ, he or she is eligible for baptism. This may be when the person is old, or when quite young. A young person may explain faith differently than an older person does, but young people may have faith nonetheless.

Will some of them eventually change their minds and fall away? Perhaps, but that happens with adult professions of faith, too. Will some of those childhood conversions turn out to be mistaken? Perhaps, but that happens with adults, too. If the person is repentant and has faith in Christ, as best as the pastor can determine, then the person may be baptized. However, we do not baptize minors without the consent of their parent or legal guardian. If the parent objects to the baptism, then the child who has faith in Jesus is no less a Christian for waiting until he or she becomes a legal adult to be baptized.

In the Worldwide Church of God, we baptize by immersion. That was the most likely practice in first-century Judaism and in the early church. We believe that immersion pictures death and burial better than sprinkling does. However, we do not make the mode of baptism an issue to divide Christians.

The important thing is that the person forsakes the old life of self-reliance, and has faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. To develop the analogy further, we may say that the old person died with Christ, whether or not the body was properly buried. Cleansing was pictured, even if burial was not. The old life is dead, and the new life is here.

Salvation does not depend on the exact mode of baptism (the Bible doesn’t give us many details on procedure, anyway) nor on the exact words, as if the words had some magical power of their own. Salvation depends on Christ, not on the depth of the water. A believer baptized by sprinkling or pouring is still a Christian. We do not require another baptism, unless the person believes it appropriate. If the fruit of a Christian life has been present for 20 years, for example, there is no need to quibble about the validity of a ceremony of some 20 years ago. Christianity is based on faith, not on performance of a ritual.

It is not our practice to baptize infants or children too young to express faith for themselves, since we understand baptism to be an expression of faith, and no one can be saved by their parents’ faith. We do not, however, condemn as unchristian those who do practice infant baptism. Let me briefly address two of the most common arguments for infant baptism.

First, scriptures such as Acts 10:44; 11:14; 16:15 tell us that entire households were baptized, and households in the first century normally included infants. It is possible that these particular households did not have any young children, but I think that a better explanation would be to observe in Acts 16:34 and 18:8 that entire households were said to believe in Christ. I do not think that the infants had faith, nor that they were speaking in tongues (Acts 10:44-46). "The entire household" is a generalization, not meant to include every single person regardless of age. All who were old enough to believe were also baptized.

A second argument sometimes used to support infant baptism uses the concept of covenants. In the Old Testament, children were included in the covenant, and the ritual of inclusion was circumcision, which was done on infants. The new covenant is a better covenant, with better promises, so surely children are included automatically and should therefore be marked with the initiatory rite of the new covenant, baptism, even in infancy. However, this argument fails to acknowledge the difference between the old and new covenants. A person entered the old covenant by genealogy, but a person enters the new covenant only by repentance and faith. We do not believe that all a Christian’s descendants, even to the third and fourth generation, will automatically have faith in Christ! Each person must come to faith himself or herself.

Arguments about the proper mode and age of baptism have gone on for centuries, and the arguments can be considerably more complex than what I have sketched above. More could be said, but it is not necessary to do so right now.

Occasionally a person baptized in infancy wishes to become a member of the Worldwide Church of God. Is it necessary for us to baptize the person? I believe that this must be decided on a case-by-case basis, based on the person’s preference and understanding of baptism. If the person has only recently come to a point of faith and commitment, it is probably appropriate to baptize the person. In such cases, baptism would emphasize to the person that a decisive step of faith has been taken.

If the person was baptized as an infant and has been living as an adult Christian for many years, with good fruit, then we do not need to insist on another baptism. Of course, if they request it, then we would be happy to do so, but we do not need to quibble about ceremonies of decades ago when Christian fruit is already evident. We can simply praise the grace of God. The person is a Christian whether or not the ritual was done in the "right" way or "right" time.

For similar reasons, it is permissible for us to share the Lord’s Supper with people who have not been baptized in the manner we are accustomed to. The criterion is faith. If we both have faith in Jesus Christ, we are both united to him, we have both been baptized, one way or another, into his body, and we may share in the bread and wine, even if we do not agree on every point of doctrine.

We should not get sidetracked by arguments about detail. It is our belief and practice to baptize by immersion those who are old enough to have faith in Christ, and we love those who have other beliefs.

Let us focus on the larger picture, provided by the apostle Paul: Baptism pictures our old self dying with Christ, our sins being washed away, our new life being lived in Christ and in his church. Baptism is an expression of repentance and faith, and a reminder that we are saved by the death and life of Jesus Christ. It is the gospel in miniature drama—the central truths of the faith being reenacted every time another person makes a public commitment to the Christian life.