Adapted and Inspired from Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna.
In the first century, baptism was the initial, outward confession of one's faith. It accompanied the acceptance of the gospel (Acts 2:37-41, 8:12, 27-38, 9:18, among many others). It was the New Testament pattern that marked a complete break with the past and a full entrance into Christ and His church.
It is typical in most contemporary churches for baptism to be separated from conversion by great lengths of time. How did this happen? In the early second century, Christians started to teach that baptism must be preceded by a period of instruction, prayer, and fasting. When you received the gospel, you became a "candidate" whose life was meticulously scrutinized until you showed yourself "worthy" of baptism. It became an act of works embellished with rituals from Jewish and Greek culture.
This evolved into a belief that only baptism forgives sins and therefore some people, like the emperor Constantine, waited until their deathbeds to be baptized!
In our day, the "sinner's prayer" has replaced the role of water baptism as the initial confession of faith, although this was never a method used in the New Testament. It was an invention of some well-meaning, but misinformed evangelists that was first employed by D.L Moody and became popular with Billy Graham's Peace with God tract and later with Campus Crusade for Christ's Four Spiritual Laws.
While there is nothing wrong with the "sinner's prayer," it should not replace water baptism as the outward instrument for conversion-initiation.
The 2nd man united blog summarizes and discusses great Christian books for those who wish they could read more. It is written by 2nd man united, a Christian pop/alternative band that educates its fans in the Christian life through music, the blog, podcasts, videos and more. Sign up now for the 2nd man united e-mail newsletter and receive FREE exclusive content for subscribers.
Comments