26th April 2025 question-box

OK, today’s question is:

“Do you need to be baptised in order to become a Christian?”

Hey thanks for that question. I think it’s important to define what we mean by a “Christian.” Because people use the word “Christian” to mean different things.

In evangelical churches, like ours, when we talk about “becoming a Christian” we often mean “being saved” or “ being made right with God.” And so if that’s what the question means, then the answer to today’s question is “no.” Baptism doesn’t save you; the water of baptism itself doesn’t have the power to make you right with God. Rather, we are saved by faith. We are saved when we look to Jesus, and we say: “I trust you please save me,” and we rely on what he has done for us.

For an example of this, you might remember that when Jesus was crucified there were two criminals also crucified. And one of them yelled insults at Jesus, but the other seems to recognise who Jesus is, and so he turns to Jesus and says: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 2:42). And Jesus’ answer: “Truly I tell you today you will be with me in paradise.” And so for this guy, there’s no baptism, he literally can’t do anything – he’s nailed to a cross… And yet Jesus saves him. You could say he became a “Christian.”

However, there is another way that people use the word: “Christian.” Christian is a word that outsiders use to describe “someone who is part of the Christian community.” For example in modern Egypt, it’s stamped on your ID card whether you are “Christian” or “Muslim.” Now the government aren’t asking you what you believe in your heart, they are just wanting to know if you are part of the Christian community. And from that perspective, the the answer to our question is “yes” – baptism is what defines someone as a Christian. See the function of baptism is that it is like you are enrolled as one of Jesus’ disciples, you are identified as part of the church community. That what we have in Acts 11:26, where it says: “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” It’s a label that outsiders gave to these people who were getting together to worship Jesus.

I think it helps us to be clear if we recognise that different people understand different things when you use the word “Christian.” Interestingly, in the New Testament, the word “Christian” is only ever used in the context of how outsiders view us; followers of Jesus describe us as: “disciples,” “saints” or “brothers.”

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This question was originally answered in our evening service on 1 December 2025. I’ll aim to post another question and answer next week. You can read about how our question box works here.