Little Red Book Ministry

F. How is baptism to be performed?
Wherever we have a clear example of how something is to be performed in the scriptures, we ought to use it. In the case of baptism we have a couple of them and they both indicate immersion in the water as the proper method of baptism.

“And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:38–39).

The entire story above can be found in Acts 8:26–39. It clearly shows the entire concept of baptism (Matthew 3:16). Therefore, a typical baptism goes like this: The candidate for baptism is usually instructed as to the meaning of the ceremony to be sure he (or she) truly understands what he is doing. The candidate then enters the water with the person who will baptize him. Since this is almost always done in the presence of other believers, the candidate is then asked to publicly verify that he has indeed been born again and, sometimes, to describe the event.. Upon verification, he is then immersed in the water as the baptizer typically quotes from Matthew 28:19, using a phrase such as this: “Based upon your profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, my brother (or sister), I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” The ceremony is often concluded with a congregational “Amen!”