| Can ANYONE perform a baptism?
Are only ordained ministers allowed to baptize? | | | |
| | Q. Can ANYONE perform a baptism? I have heard that only those who are ordained to the ministry can baptize a person. (Submitted by: A. J.) A. There is no Biblical specification as to who baptizes whom. After Peter and the other eleven Apostles finished speaking to the crowds on the day of Pentecost, they baptized a large number of people. "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. " (Acts 2:41, NIV) | | | | Peter started speaking at about 9:00 AM. (Acts 2:15). If his sermon took about an hour, there were only about eight hours left in the daylight hours. They counted days as running from sunset to sunset. That’s more than SIX baptisms per minute. (3,000 people divided by 480 minutes (8 hours) = 6.25/minute). Even if all twelve Apostles were involved in the baptizing, it would have been essentially impossible for them to complete that process by themselves in that time frame. It stands to reason that others, maybe even some of those that just got baptized, were helping to perform baptisms. | |  The Jordan River, where John the Baptist
baptized many as a sign of repentance and where Jesus was baptized to start his public ministry. | |
| The baptism of a believer should be done "in the name of Jesus", corresponding to Colossians 3:17 and all the other passages which use this term, including: "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Colossians 3:17, NKJV) "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that BY THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' Nor is there salvation in any other, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." " (Acts 4:8-12, NKJV) So long as that scriptural mandate is followed there is no other Biblical instruction as to how the baptizing is to be done or who does it. | | | Written by: Clay Willis |
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