The term 'Baptism' is derived from the Greek word 'Baptizein' and covers a wide area of meaning. In classical literature and in the New Testament it is used to signify 'to sink, to immerse, to wash, to cleanse'.

Baptism by water was administered in the ancient world among the Greeks, Romans and Indians, long before the time of Jesus. According to the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the change from ceremonial defilement to purity was accomplished by "divers washing" Hebrews chapters 9 & 10). In the case of Proselyte Baptism (the means by which gentiles converted to Judaism), the candidates were 6cleansed' from pagan uncleanness to become as newborn babes. The sect of the Pharisees also practiced baptismal washings at their ceremonies of initiation, which included children.

In time, however, the ritual of baptism became formal and meaningless and the prophets began to speak of an inner cleansing or purification of the heart: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, ancl cleanse you from all your impurities.....i will give you a new heart anci put a new Spirit in you..." (Ezekiel 36:25-26).

When John the Baptist first began baptizing, he was not doing anything new. Yet, deputies were sent from Jerusalem to ask him his reason for baptizing, since he did not claim to be the Christ, or Elijah, or one of the prophets (Luke 3:3). It would appear that their difficulty referred more to his authority to administer the rite, than to the nature of the rite.

John the Baptist summed up the prophetic tradition in his call for repentance. He spoke emphatically of the freedom of God to create a new covenant - people of His own, since merely to be called "children of Abraham" was not enough. In his preaching he pointed to the future, announcing that the Messianic Age was at hand, therefore he was "preparing in the desert a highway for the Lord". He proclaimed a baptism of repentance for remission of sins, and drew attention to his own baptism with water, and the baptism of the Corning One in Spirit and fire.

The validity of John's baptism was confirmed when he baptized Jesus in the river Jordan "to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:1 3-17). The accompanying descent of and His anointing by the Holy Spirit, together with the voice from heaven saying "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased", declared His Sonship. Christ, the beloved Son, through His perfect fulfillment of the covenant,, would now open the way to their adoption, as children of God, all who believe in Him. He also allows their participation in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Christ, and in His baptism on the cross. So that dying to self, they may rise with Him to eternal life.

Christian baptism therefore is rooted in the Baptism of Christ, and derives its significance from the ONE baptism of Jesus which reached its climax on the cross. The Christian rite points to this ONE baptism, and all baptisms are one in so far as the candidates are involved in the one baptism.

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THE INSTITUTION OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

The question has been raised concerning whether the Sacrament of Baptism was definitely instituted by Christ. This has been suggested by the Matthean account of its institution: "Therefore, go and make diciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the -Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19) The basic problem here is the use of the Trinitarian formula which seems to imply a later theological development. After much study of and debate on the matter it is now believed by a majority of scholars that the Trinitarian formula is the most authentic expression of the mind of Christ by the Church of Apostolic times. It is also felt that the Dominical Authority for baptism, affirmed by Matthew, was known from the first and that it began to be observed immediately after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Whether or not we have the exact words of Jesus, there seems to be no doubt that He commanded the Church to baptize. The unquestioned acceptance of Baptism in the early church is most simply explained by the assumption that its use was enjoined by our Lord, before or after His resurrection.

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SOME TEACHINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT REGARDING BAPTISM
All the Churches of the Reformed Family remind us that in the New Testament baptism is the sign of new life in Jesus Christ and that it unites the one baptized with Christ and with His people. They further remind us that the "New Testament Scriptures and the liturgy of the Church unfold the meaning of baptism in various images which express the riches of Christ and the gifts of His Salvation".

A) St. Paul recalls that before his own baptism, Ananias said to him, "Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name" (Acts 22:1 6)
B) The connection between washing and the death of Christ is stated in Ephesians 5:25ff. "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy ancl blameless "'
C) See also baptismal allusions in I Corinthians 6:1 1. Throughout the book of Revelation, there is continual reference to the faithful who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and in the Epistle to Titus 3:5ff., "not by works of righteousness... by the washing of regeneration ".

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A) St. Paul teaches that, through baptism, Christians actually participate in the death and resurrection of Christ and are thereby incorporated into Christ and set free from the thrall of sin (Romans 6:1 -4).
B) In baptism we put off sin and the old self and 11 put on Christ" (Galatians 3.-27). To "put on Christ" is the same as saying to be "in Christ", having passed f rom the old creation represented in Adam, into the new creation (Ephesians 4-24; Colossians 3:3).

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In the New Testament, baptism is connected with the conception of being "born anew" or "from above, or "of God". There are at least TWO passages which refer to the regeneration given in baptism: St. John 3:3-5; 1 Peter 1:3, 23. In John 3:3-5 the absolute necessity of regeneration as a condition of entrance into the Kingdom is announced. "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. "

Nicodemus was told that what he needed was more than instruction. His nature must be changed for "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit"'Baptism then is the sign and seal of this spiritual change, not the author of it.

Regeneration, however, having begun at baptism is not completed in a moment, but by continuous and sometimes even slow progress. It must therefore be followed by the giving of adequate and appropriate nourishment so that it may be completed when all things are made new.

Christians are described by St. Paul as having been sealed by God. It is believed that the expression contains a reference to baptism (See I I Corinthians 1:21, Eph. I: 13 V 4:30).

A seal is an attestation of ownership or value, and a guarantee of genuineness. Now, circumcision was the sign and seal of the old covenant denoting that those sealed were God's possession (Genesis 17:1 Off). As time passed, the prophets began to prophesy concerning the if circumcision of the heart" (see Ezekiel 36.26), which is also connected with the giving of the Spirit of God and with the promise of the New Covenant.

The New Covenant has been ratified to us in the work of Jesus Christ. Baptism in the New Testament is the fulfillment of the circumcision in the old, and, like the Gift of the Spirit, is a seal which God attaches to His people. Christians are therefore marked with the sign that they are God's property. This Baptism and the Holy Spirit are alike "guarantee of our inheritance".

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MODES OF ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM

Reformed Churches all affirm that Baptism is 'rightly' administered by clipping, pouring or sprinkling. The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 28, states that "dipping of the persons into the water is n6t necessary; but Baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person".

It must be admitted that, in the primitive Church, immersion or at least partial immersion was the common form. However, with the expanding influence of the Church into many areas where water was very limited, it became necessary that many changes be made in the worship and order. It was this position that the Churches of the Reformed family took. They felt free to modify the ritual of both baptism and the Lord's Supper, provided they remained true to the essential nature of the Sac- raments. Calvin wrote on this as follows:
Whether the person who is baptized is wholly immersed and whether thrice or once, or whether water be only poured or sprinkled upon him, is of no importance. Churches ought to be left at liberty, in respect, to order according to different countries (institutes 4.15.19).

Christianity is no longer confined within the limits of a few countries. What is suitable for one age and country may not be suitable for another, and Christianity is adaptable
to all situations. In the Lord's Supper, a morsel of bread and a few drops of wine make a feast; so in baptism the amount of water is not crucial.
What is really essential in Baptism is the use of the element of water, coupled with the baptismal formula, "I baptize... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost".
When baptism is thought of as dying and rising again with Christ, its significance is apparent in immersion. When baptism is that of God's cleansing from sin, sprinkling or pouring is adequate. The water itself is only a symbol of what takes place through the action of the Spirit of God.

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WHO ARE TO BE BAPTISED? The Westminster Confession of Faith states that, "Not only those who do actually profess faith and obedience unto Christ, but the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized" (chapter 28). There are many, however, who hold that infant baptism is contrary to the teaching of the New Testament, and that baptism is for believers only. They hold their position on the ground that the sacrament by its very nature requires that those who receive it should be able to grasp what it represents and so be able to enter personally into the engagement it involves.

Infant Baptism
Those who defence Infant Baptism do so on the following grounds:

The New Testament seems to take it for granted that infants are to be initiated into the New Covenant, as were infants into the Old Covenant. "This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised,... He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised" (Genesis 17:10-12). The privilege of infants being made members of the covenant community was never repealed and taken away under the gospel. In fact, the infants of Christians have the promise of the covenant of grace made with Abraham because that covenant is an Everlasting Covenant. "I will establish my covenant between ME and you and your descendants after you... for an Everlasting Covenant... "(Genesis 1 7:7).

Among several of the early Christian writings, baptism was regarded as taking the place of circumcision. If the children of believers were to be excluded from the corresponding Christian rite of baptism, surely there would be some statement to that effect either in the New Testament or in the early Christian writings. Surely there would be a prohibition stated somewhere.
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Baptism of Households
There are at least three accounts of the baptism of households in the New Testament
(1) The house of Lydia (Acts 1 6:1 5)
(2) The house of the Philippian jailer (Acts 1 6:33) (3) The house of Stephanas (I Corinthian 1 6:1 5)
Although women and children are not always specifically mentioned in the Bible in describing situations, though present, it is in accordance with biblical usage to speak of households as including children (see I Samuel 1:21 ; St. John 4:53).
It is more probable that children would form a part of the households mentioned above, than to conceive of their absence in all. When this fact is taken with the promise of the gospel to believers and their children (Acts 2:38-39), repeated by Peter, it is quite probable also that infants were baptized by the Aposties.

THE PRACTICE OF THE EARLY CHURCH
The testimony of several church fathers does imply that Infant Baptism was practiced by the early Church from the time of the Apostles. In addition, Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) taught that Infant Baptism was the "fulfillment of circumcision"; lrenaeus (140-202 AD) refers to our Lord's infancy as sanctifying children, and that "Christ came to save all sinners, who by Him are reborn to God, infants, little onc-s, and children, young men and old men". Origen, Cyprian, and Augustine all believed and stated that the Church had the tradition of giving infants baptism from the Apostles: "Infant baptism the whole church practices. It was not instituted by councils, but was ever in use" (Augustine).

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Children in the New Covenant

Peter's Pentecostal Sermon was followed by the question what shall we do?" The reply of Peter was:
Repent and be baptized everyone of you... for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are for off--for all whom the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:38) Here, 'children' (Greek 'teknoisl') refers actually to little children. Peter recalls the covenant, and "little ones" were included (see Genesis 17:8ff; Deut. 29:1 0-1 6).

"As many as the Lord our God shall call" In baptism God calls to Himself those whom He adds to the Church. Do we then deny that God calls little children, even infants? If we do, then we contradict scripture which records:

1) The Call of Samuel (I Samuel, 3).
2) Jeremiah ordained a prophet before he was born (Jeremiah 1-5 "Before you were born.... I ordained you a prophet").
3) John the Baptist was "filled with the Holy Ghost from the womb" (St. Luke 1:5)
4) St Paul was separated from his mother's womb by God and "called by God's grace" (Galatians
1:1 5).

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JESUS CHRIST'S TREATMENT OF CHILDREN

"Let the little children come to me cind do not hinder them for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these" (Mark 10:14). Clearly then even little children are included in the embrace of the Church. Having been brought to Christ they can begin their lives with Him. If little children are fit for the Kingdom of God, how are they not fit for the Church of Christ?
Children in the Epistles: St. Paul exhorts households including children, so that children also may become "believers and perform Christian duties". "Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right" (Ephesians 6:1) "Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord" (Colossians 3:20) "The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; else your children were unclean, but now they are holy" (I Corinthians 7:14) Since the children are holy, they must either have been made holy by baptism, or else they shared in the holiness of the believing parent. Since also the children of believers are already holy, they are within the covenant of grace, and therefore members of Christ, sharing in the grace of adoption which God has bestowed upon their parents.

Other points to support infant baptism:
1) Those who defend infant baptism, do so on the grounds that the individual is not the exclusive unit of God's dealings with persons in the covenant of grace. They also believed that, although infants are incapable of making their individual response, responsibilities may be properly assumed by their parents, as it was under the old covenant.
2) Withholding baptism would seem to imply that the gospel cannot be extended to us until we are actually capable of responding to it. But this is to impose a limitation upon God which we do not impose on parents. Parents do not withhold love from their children until they can reciprocate.

These arguments for infant baptism appear to justify the practice as both reasonable and scriptural.

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With respect to the meaning and purpose of baptism, the following points are commonly held by Reformed Churches:

I.' In the New Testament there are several examples of the administration of baptism to adults, who wanted to become followers of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the most memorable was that of the people whose response to the appeal of Peter on the day of Pentecost was "what shall we do? ", to which Peter replied "Repent and be baptizeci....Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38 39). We are told that "those who accepted his message were baptized" (Acts 2:41).
This occasion has provided the Church with a warrant for requiring that adults should profess Repentance and Faith before they are baptized. The Reformed Churches are united in holding that the rite is void of saving effect when these conditions are not fulfilled.

2. Both the baptism of infants and consenting adults are similar. They proclaim the same faith in the ONE God, incarnate in Jesus Christ, and who continues with us through the Holy Spirit. Where the baptism of infants is practiced, it points to our HELPLESSNESS and GOD'S INITIATIVE and GRACE on our behalf, and our initiation into the corporate Christian Life. Where the baptism of adults is practiced, it symbolizes our FREEDOM and PERSONAL OBLIGATION to respond to God's grace, and the help and guidance

3. In Infant Baptism the love of God comes to the child before he/she is capable of responding to it. Through the faith of the whole church the infant is supplied with that which he/she cannot supply- especially what is supplied by means of the faith of the Christian community into which he/she is received, and the loving care and Christian guidance of parents. Thus, from infancy, the child can become a recipient of God's grace and be trained in the household of faith.

4. It is at baptism that we become members of the church. However, it is at Confirmation that the initiation into membership is completed. In the early Church the rites were administered together, but as years passed the Western Church believed it to be wise that the young should wait until they reach years of discretion before they may be granted full entrance into the privileges of participation, especially in Holy Communion. So it was that baptism and confirmation became TWO separate rites- confirmation being the completion of baptism.

5. Baptism, whether of infant or believing adult must be accompanied by effective reception into the Christian community. The washing with water accomplishes nothing by itself alone. It is through Christian nurture that the grace of God reaches the child or the believing adult. If there is no caring for his/her Christian upbringing, then the outward ritual is not Christian baptism at all.

6. Baptism is the solemn admission into the ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, and APOLOSTIC Church; it is not the admission into a local or sectional group of Christians. Despite diversities of creed and ritual, baptism witnesses to the unity of the Church. "There is one bocly anci one spirit... one Lorcl, one faith, one baptism; one Gocl anci Father of all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). "There are different kincis of working, but the some Goci works all of them in all men" (Corinthians 1 2:6)

7. Baptism is a sign and seal of THE COVENANT OF GRACE, of our engrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of the giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life (Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 28).
Baptism is an act whereby God receives us into a covenant relationship with Himself, giving us the assurance of the help of the Holy Spirit (given at baptism) and guidance so that we may "walk worthy of our vocation" according to our capacity at the moment. The Holy Spirit is always ready to guide us as soon as we are able to use His aid and guidance. One may not use a gift immediately it is received. A gift to a child may not be used by the child for some time. However, the gift still belongs to the child. It is available for use by the child when he/she is old enough to use and understand it.

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IN ADDITION THE UNITED CHURCH BELIEVES AND PRACTICES THE FOLLOWING:

1. The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, like other Reformed Churches, maintains as alternate practices both the baptism of infants and the baptism of consenting adults. Neither is imposed arbitrarily or contrary to conscience. In the choice of modes of baptism and the time of life when baptism takes place, the convictions of the candidates), of the persons baptizing, or the person(s) sponsoring is respected.

2. In the United Church baptism follows a period of instruction and preparation of adult candidates, parents and sponsors. It is administered with water (by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion) in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. The rite includes a confession of sin and repentance, an affirmation of faith, a promise of continued life in the Church, and a life of obedience to Christ by the candidate(s)', parents and sponsors.
Normally baptism is administered by an ordained minister in the presence of the sponsoring congregation. It is, therefore, not a private transaction, but a corporate act of the Church under the authority of Jesus Christ, our Lord. At each baptismal service the faith of all the members is reconfirmed and renewed.

3. Baptism is the sacrament of constant union with Christ. It begins as life in the Church, the Body of Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus membership in the Body of Christ is seen not as a token association, but as a vital and organic participation in the life which transcends mortal life, and death, and is a foretaste of eternal life promised by Christ, and of entrance into His Kingdom.

4. We are normally only baptized ONCE because the COVENANT OF GRACE is founded on the faithfulness of God. Baptism is a sign of our entrance into the fellowship of the Church. Should we become unfaithful to the covenant into which we entered at baptism, but later repent of our sins and we seek to be restored, the same GRACE that first sealed us in baptism restores us to God's grace. Therefore, baptism need not be repeated.
However, where adult baptism will be of spiritual assistance to a believer, the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands will allow the believer to do so after a period of counseling.

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