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 (ESV)
A local congregation is a body of believers in Jesus Christ who have been baptized upon a credible profession of faith and have voluntarily united in a special covenant relationship to practice God’s worship, truth, ordinances, and discipline according to the Scriptures.
The Scriptures picture the local assembly of believers as a body with many parts working together to fulfill all that the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ, has given them to be and do (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12: Eph. 4:16). They are in a special relationship with one another connected to Jesus, the Head of the Body. Believers enjoy a rich fellowship in worship and service as they share their very lives together through all the ups and downs of life and ministry. Being a member of the body requires a commitment to be faithful and accountable to one another.
The two special activities of worship Jesus gave to the church are called “ordinances” (because he ordained them to be practiced). Baptism and the Lord’s Supper were deposited to the care of the church, are administered by the church, and are designed for the holiness and health of the church. These ordinances are visible representations of the vital central truths of the Gospel, of our personal belief in these truths, and of our personal experiences of these truths.
Baptism is the public declaration that a person has experienced death to sin and a new life in Christ through uniting with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are no longer dead sinners, but living saints in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:3,4; Col. 2:12). Immersing a person under water properly pictures this person’s death to sin and the burial of their old life, Their rising from the water declares they have been raised to a new life in Jesus Christ.
Baptism is the public act of separating the converted from the world to stand with God’s people. There is no state of limbo between the world and the church (a called out assembly). Acts 2:41,42,47; 8:12; 16:15,32 (the beginning of the Philippian church)
Baptism is the testifying of a committed and obedient discipleship to Jesus Christ. This cannot be conceived of scripturally apart from participation in the covenant community of the local Body of Christ as an active member. (Acts 4:32; 5:12-14; 14:21-23; Rom. 12:4-8; I Cor. 12:12-31; Col. 2:12,19). The Apostles practiced baptism and church membership together, not separately. Baptism to them was the rite and door of admission into the church (Acts 2:41-47; John 3:26-4:2; Acts 18:25,26; 19:1-5).
If a person has been baptized after their conversion in an evangelical church, they are not required to be baptized again in our church.
Any person who is a believer, but has not been baptized, is encouraged to speak with one of our elders about baptism. It is important for every believer to come to the place where they affirm their need to publicly declare their faith in Christ and their commitment to love, honor, and obey him the rest of their lives in this ordained ordinance.