Baptism
* Christian sacrament of the washing away of sins.
* Most Baptism are with infants.
* also includes the moment of justification or righteousness
  - means rebirth and renewal
  - symbolizes resurrection , and a walk characterized by newness of life
  - welcomes the baptized person to Holy Communion
* are central to formation and discipleship
  - occasions of great joy, both in the life of a family and in the life of the church
  - public events in the life of a Christian community
  - very important to Orcadian tradition
* beginning, a new creation.
* begins the flow of that cleansing blood.
* birth of water.
* burial and a resurrection
  - in water, and a resurrection therefrom, as is evident from Rom
* can also be in springs and seas
  - be a theology to some and to others an experience
  - help some people in their salvation
* causes rebirth.
* celebrates the new birth and represents a new beginning.
* ceremony rich in content
  - with water
* cleanses the baby of original sin
  - child of original sin
* combination of words, people, music, and pouring water.
* comes from the Greek word baptizo , which means to go down, dip or plunge
  - Jewish tradition of having a special bathe before important occasions
* command from Jesus
  - to be obeyed
* commemorates the burial and resurrection of Jesus.
* commitment to repenting.
* communal event.
* complete burial in water.
* consists of the processes of immersion, submersion, and emergence.
* covenant of mutual obligation
  - sign
* covenantal ceremony.
* daily dying to sin and rising to newness of life.
* death, burial and resurrection.
* deed of faith.
* dramatizes the death to the old nature, and life to the new nature.
* follows when one hears the gospel and believes it.
* foreshadows the eschatology of the last day.
* gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers.
* has a particular obligation on parents
  - significance in time and gives meaning to the end of time
  - something to do with blood, because baptism and blood are for the remission of sins
* includes instruction and nurture in the faith for a life of discipleship.
* indicates the foundation of our salvation.
* involves a physical act in a physical element
  - daily dying and rising
  - membership in the church
  - the pouring of water over the head, there is no immersion
* is about life and death
  - turning from an old life and accepting the infinite possibilities of a new one
  - water, and water is about all sorts of things
  - administered to infants of Christian families and to new converts
* is also a water that cleanses
  - an act of initiation
  - necessary for salvation, because justification an grace are conferred in baptism
* is also the form under which begins the work of sanctification
  - sacrament at which a person receives a 'name'
* is an act of both word and deed
  - confession that is done by a converted person able to profess faith
  - faith by which an adult makes a public declaration of faith
  - obedience and faith
  - trusting faith, gratitude, which is an outward expression of an inner reality
  - that symbolizes death and resurrection
  - action that suggests a total immersion
  - essential ordinance for salvation
  - external expression of an internal surrender to the love and leadership of Jesus
  - identification with the community of believers
  - immersion, a burial in water
* is an important event in the journey of life
  - part of finding salvation
  - step of obedience
  - integral part of New Testament theology
  - intrinsic part of discipleship because it demonstrates genuine faith
  - introduction into the life of the church
  - obedient act
  - ourward wymboloic act signifying salvation and cleansing of sin
* is an outward act which publicly testifies to the believer's faith and commitment
  - and visible sign of something that is spiritual
  - ceremony that points to an inner change
  - show of the new birth that has taken place on the inside
* is an outward sign of an inward spiritual change in a person
  - inward work
  - symbol of an inward grace
  - symbolic act signifying salvation and cleansing of sin
  - analogous to circumcision in the new covenant
  - appropriate for any age, though baptism of infants and young children is most common
  - as much a symbol of fellowship as it symbol of salvation
  - associated with belief
  - because of forgiveness of sins
  - birth into eternal life
* is by complete immersion in water
  - full immersion in water
  - immersion according to the Scriptures
  - pouring water over the disciple
  - celebrated by immersion in holy water or by pouring water over the candidate's head
  - commanded as the outward sign of the inward act of repentance
  - conditional on believing which comes through an intelligent hearing of the gospel
  - done for the purpose of removing our sins
  - either by immersion, pouring or sprinkling
  - equivalent to a vow of chastity
* is essential for maturity as a believer
* is essential to one's salvation
  - faith in action
* is for all believers, male and female, circumcision was only for the males
  - mature individuals who are old enough to make their own decisions
  - the forgiveness of sins
* is for the remission of our past sins
  - salvation of our souls
  - initiatings
* is like a burial and resurrection
  - the marriage ceremony
  - looked upon as a working of grace and is required for salvation
  - merely an outside sign of an inner work of the Holy Spirit in an individual's life
  - never a private act, and it never concerns only the individual being baptized
  - offered to people of all ages including infants
  - often a part of worship
  - one of most religiously profound rites that one experiences in religion early in life
* is one of the best ways to communicate the gospel to a non-Christian
  - factors to which the Bible ascribes salvation
  - only a figure or symbol of what has taken place in the believer's life
* is our beginning and our resurrection is the eternal ongoing fulfillment of that life
  - spiritual rebirth
  - part of the process of being born again
* is performed in the most expressive way by triple immersion in the baptismal water
  - practiced following the new birth, both being signs of the covenants they represent
  - preformed to expiate the sins of a human through a ritual cleansing of the soul
  - received only by adults by immersion
  - referred to as branding
  - religious ceremony
  - ritual drowning
  - seen as a central defining sacrament of the church
* is something associated with grief and repentance for sin
  - that is celebrated in a worship service with a community of faith present
* is symbolic and pictures certain Bible truths
  - of burial
* is the Christian sacrament of new life
  - Divinely ordained expression of faith
  - act of cleansing or purifying someone
* is the act that destroys the body of sin
  - washes away our sins
* is the beginning of Christian fellowship and growth
  - a new life
  - beginning, the initiation of the disciple
  - burial of the old life that died in repentance
  - church's sacrament of growth in the Kingdom of God
* is the first act of obedience
  - and fundamental consecration of the human person
  - of three sacraments that make up the sacraments of Christian initiation
  - ordinance of the gospel
  - step of faith taken by new believers in the book of Acts
  - focal point of salvation
  - foundation of biblical soundness
  - gift that keeps on giving
  - grave of the old man and the birth of the new
  - guarantee of the reality of our repentance
* is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called believers' baptism
  - line of demarcation between sin and salvation
  - mark of corporate, as well as individual faith
* is the moment of adoption into the Kingdom of God
  - initiation into a whole culture and way of life
  - natural progression of salvation
  - necessary condition by which one can enjoy the privileges of the church
  - occasion of salvation from past sins
  - only one of the steps that is obeyed at a single point of time
  - ordering for the servant ministers of the church
  - ordinance that initiates into the fellowship of the visible church
  - outward profession of the inward conversion
* is the outward sign of a new inward experience
  - having been saved
  - the inward change
  - primary sacrament
* is the public announcement and symbol of our personal salvation
  - confession of the commitment they have already made in their heart
  - confirmation that an inward change has already taken place
  - ritual that welcomes the individual into the church
* is the sacrament of Christian initiation
  - belonging
  - initiation and the door of grace
  - initiation, the sacrament of belonging
  - same everywhere in the world, and to everybody
* is the sign of belief in Jesus
  - reconciliation
  - source of true fruitfulness for every Christian vocation
  - spiritual antitype or fulfullment of the type
  - summary of the Christian faith and the history of salvation
  - to Christian life what the wedding ceremony is to a marriage
* is to be by dunking or dipping the person into water, that is, a submersion or immersion
  - wash away or cleanse one of sin and, thus, frees one from the bondage of sin
  - understood as an outward sign of an inward change
  - used to describe total conversion process
* life to be lived, a spirit to be filled with.
* literally means to immerse in water.
* makes use of water, enough water in which to be buried.
* marks the beginning of a new form of existence
* marks the beginning of the discipleship process
* means death to self, death to sin, death to death itself
  - going completely under the water
  - immersion in water, and is to be administered by one having authority
  - many different things to many different people
  - only an outward sign of an inward change
  - repentance from sin and forgiveness of sin
  - the daily, ongoing purification of thought and deed
  - to dip under water
* metaphor for what is important.
* new beginning like resurrection to begin a new life after death
  - beginning, a new way of life
* one-time event which is to be used daily
  - experience in life
* performs a spiritual work in the believer.
* picture, type, figure and symbol of our salvation.
* pictures our death to sin and resurrection to a new life
  - the washing away of our sin
* plays a very important role in the Gospel of Matthew.
* pledge of allegiance, a total physical commitment.
* possesses resurrection and redemption.
* practice for believers.
* public commitment to a life of corporate worship, fellowship, education, and outreach
  - confession made in the presence of others
* reflects true repentance in the heart.
* removes the old man, or the veil, from off the heart.
* representation, a copy, a type of something else.
* represents complete washing away of sin
  - three events in the life of the true believer
* restores supernatural life.
* ritual act of immersion in water
  - made up of questions and promises, prayer, and washing
* sacrament of continual beginnings.
* sacred symbol.
* seed to be nurtured by the parents and the parish.
* serves as the rite of initiation into the church.
* shows the death of the old self and the rising to life of a new self.
* sign of entrance into the Christian community, either as an infant or an adult
  - having been cleansed from sin
  - inclusion in the covenant relationship, both for infants and adults
  - which clarifies
* signifies our initiation into the divine family.
* spiritual cleansing when sins are confessed and repudiated.
* spiritual, unisex form of circumcision.
* still carries the magical power of life.
* symbol for cleaning.
* symbol of one's trust in Jesus
  - our deliverance from darkness to light
  - or sign
  - that the heart has changed
* symbolic dying and rising
* symbolises formally becoming a member of the church
* symbolizes a bath-a thorough cleansing
  - dying and a rising to new life
  - death, burial, and resurrection, and can only be done by immersion
  - our acceptance of that fact by faith
* symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
  - fact of regeneration
  - process of death and resurrection
  - replacement of the old man by the new man
* take place beside streams, in rivers, lakes, oceans, in backyard pools, even indoors.
* time of being set free.
* transliteration of the Koine Greek word baptidzo , which always means immersion.
* unites all believers.
* very important part of the salvation experience
  - step of obedience in the life of every true believer
* visible means of touching life with grace.
* washes away sin.
* word that gets a workout in the religious world today.
* works rebirth and renewal.
+ Assemblies of God, Beliefs: Christianity
  * The AG is Trinitarian. They view the Bible as divinely inspired. The Bible provides the rules of faith and conduct. Baptism by immersion is practiced. Baptism is understood as an outward sign of an inward change. The change is from being dead in sin to being alive in Christ. Communion is also practiced.