At Highland Park, we believe that “Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper” (from the The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (HPFBC).
There are a few important points to notice from that statement of belief.
1. Baptism is something that a person does as an act of obedience after becoming a Christian through faith in Jesus Christ. To put it differently, at Highland Park we practice “believer’s baptism.”
2. Baptism is by immersion. We believe that the New Testament form of baptism is by the full immersion of a person’s body under water. This is the best way to symbolize the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the believer’s death to the old life of sin and resurrection to new life as a follower of Jesus Christ (see Romans 6:4-6 and 2 Corinthians 5:17).
3. Baptism is necessary for church membership. A person does not have to be baptized at Highland Park to be a member here. However, we do require candidates for membership to have been baptized by immersion after becoming a Christian. If a believer has already been baptized, in this biblical way, we accept that. If a person has not been baptized, then we are equipped and honored to baptize believers as a part of one of our corporate worship gatherings.
If you have any further questions about baptism, please e-mail one of our pastors:
Matt McQueen (mmcqueen@hpfbc.com)
Jay Wollmann (jwollmann@hpfbc.com)
Ed Wasson (ewasson@hpfbc.com)