Baptism and Church Membership
We believe that both baptism and being identified with a bible preaching evangelical church, are God’s will for Christians.
So whether you…
- Are a Christian who is looking to be baptised
- Have been baptised and are seeking church membership
- Have previously been baptised and/or a member of a church elsewhere but would like to join Bethesda
…we believe the following things are important:
1. What is a Christian?
2. Bethesda & Baptism
3. Bethesda & Church Membership
Being a Christian is the basic and non-negotiable requirement for anyone who would like to be baptised or become a member of Bethesda. If you are unsure if you are a Christian but would like to know more, then please come and speak to us.
What is a Christian?
Firstly, the Bible clearly teaches the existence of one Almighty God who created all things, and who in Himself consists of three equal but distinct persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – one God in three Persons. The Bible declares that humanity has no excuse for not believing in God since His invisible qualities and divine nature can be clearly seen and understood from what has been made.
[Romans 1:20]
Secondly, the Bible is God’s infallible, inerrant, and inspired Word to humanity. As such, it is our final authority for all Christian doctrine and beliefs.
We live in an age of real confusion about what it means to be a Christian – for example:
Some claim to be Christians because they believe in God.
Some claim to be Christians because they try to live a good life and do good to others.
Some claim to be Christians on the basis of church attendance and other Christian activities.
What the Bible teaches
At the heart of understanding why Jesus came into the world are these basic truths:
God is holy – He is the source and creator of everything that is pure, good and righteous. He made the world and humanity in perfection in order that people might know Him and enjoy a relationship with Him.
[Revelation 4:11; Isaiah 6:1-5; Genesis 1:31; James 1:17-18]
Humanity is sinful – this means that all men and women have turned away from God and rejected His rule. They do not live as they should – none even live up to the standards of their own conscience, never mind God’s standards of holiness. God’s goodness is not acknowledged, and His ownership of the world is ignored. Our lives and world are scarred by sin and the failure to give God His rightful place in our lives.
[Romans 3:9-19; Ephesians 2:1-3; Titus 3:3, Genesis 6:5-6, Jeremiah 17:9]
Because God is just, He cannot leave such rebellion without consequences. The sins of men and women will be held to account and punished. Men and women must face the judgement of God with the prospect of being cut off from God, in Hell, forever.
[Acts 17:30-31; Romans 1:18]
Christ died for sinners and rose again – despite humanity’s rejection of Him, God so loved the world that he sent his Son, Jesus, to save people from the consequences of their sin. At the Cross God was able to be just in punishing sin, and make it possible for people to be forgiven and brought back into relationship with Him. Jesus, who was without any personal sin, took upon himself the punishment that we deserved at the Cross – becoming the Saviour of those – and only those – who put their trust in Him.
[John 3:16; Titus 3:4-7; Romans 3:21-26 & 5:6-8; Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21]
A response is required – the Christian Gospel declares all of the above – humanity’s terrible danger and God’s loving solution. It is a message that demands a response: acceptance or rejection.
[Acts 2:37-38; Acts 17:30-31; Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 28:18-20]
Becoming a Genuine Christian
The Bible teaches that becoming an authentic Christian is the work of the Holy Spirit and involves three key things:
Repentance – Christians recognise that they have lived contrary to God’s will and His standards, that they have offended and grieved God by their actions and are sorry they have done so. Crucially it involves a change of mind, so that they turn away from a sinful way of living and seek to live God’s way. Repentance is more than just regret or sorrow (although these would be appropriate emotions to feel) – it is a decision to reject sinful ways and start living God’s way instead.
[Luke 5:32; Acts 2:37-38 & 17:30-31; 2 Corinthians 7:10]
Believing – Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that at the cross he took the just punishment for the sin of all who would believe and put their trust in him. Christians believe that only through Jesus Christ is there forgiveness for sin and reconciliation to God. So whereas Repentance is turning from sin – Believing (or faith) is turning to Jesus Christ. To ‘believe’ in Jesus Christ is to trust that through His death Jesus suffered the punishment for your sin, to put you right with God.
[John 3:16 & 20:31; Acts 16:31; Romans 1:16-17; Mark 1:14]
Confessing – Christians are people who declare/admit before others that they are followers of Jesus Christ. While this aspect of being a Christian is not referred to as frequently as Repentance and believing in the Bible, it was the expectation of the early church and is something that those who would be Christians must be prepared to do.
[Matthew 10:32-33; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 10:9-10; 1 John 4:15]
Repenting, believing, and confessing are the hallmarks of New Testament Christians. Believers’ baptism is a very public way of ‘confessing’ that you belong to Jesus Christ
[Acts 2:41]
Doubts and Assurance
It is sometimes the case that even when all of the above are true, they can still be unsure if they really are a Christian.
Our salvation does not depend upon us: – being accepted by God is not conditional on our reaching a certain level of goodness or commitment – it is a free and undeserved gift of God. Christians are accepted by God solely because of Christ’s work on the Cross – a work of sin-bearing that can never be undone and is fully sufficient to satisfy God.
[Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 10:10-14]
Look to facts not feelings: – the problem with feelings is that they are fickle; some days we feel confident about our faith and on other days we feel unsure. It is important to realise, therefore, that our status as Christians does not change with our moods, but rests on God’s unchanging promises.
[Hebrews 6:17-19; John 5:24; John 10:27-29; Ephesians 1:13-14]
The witness of the Holy Spirit – every Christian has God the Holy Spirit present in their life [Romans 8:9]. The Holy Spirit’s presence is a living and transforming one which we would expect to see worked out in several ways. For example, Christians have a greater sensitivity to sin – when they sin it troubles their conscience and grieves them, spoiling their relationship with God. Christians begin to have an affection for other Christians and a growing love for others; they experience new desires to know God and to serve Him. These evidences of the Holy Spirit in us grow over time as we open our lives to God – they are often more obvious to those around us than they are to ourselves.
[Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9-10; Galatians 5:17, 24-25; 1 John 4:7-8 & 13-16]
Growing as a Christian
The Christian life is an ongoing relationship with God in which we (helped by the Holy Spirit) seek to live lives pleasing to Him. There are a number of ways in which we are helped to do this:
Prayer – setting aside regular times to speak to God is key to a healthy relationship with Him. It is in these times that we can thank God for His goodness to us, pray for others, bring our needs to God and, lastly, confess our failures and seek forgiveness as we in turn forgive others.
[Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4:2; Acts 2:42; Romans 12:12; Matthew 6:5-15]
Reading the Bible, listening to it being explained, and obeying God’s word – this is the way that God speaks to us and where we find out about him and how he would have us live. God’s words are our spiritual food and without regular intake, we won’t grow as we should. On Sundays and at other meetings, we gather to hear the Bible explained and learn how we can obey him better.
[2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17; Psalm 119: 9-11; Matthew 4:4]
Remembering what Christ has done for us – Christians do this by regularly engaging in Communion together. Jesus Christ instituted this simple command and invites every Christian to take part.
[Luke 22:17-20]
Fellowship – as Christians we have been brought into the larger family of God’s people, the church. As part of this family we give and receive encouragement and support. We also identify ourselves with God’s wider work in the world and become part of it. Christians are commanded to meet regularly together.
[1 Corinthians 12:4-7; Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:46-47]
Service – as a Christian, God has given you gifts (your personality, talents, experience. etc.). These gifts are given that you might use them to glorify God, do good and play your part in Christ’s Church, building up other Christians and reaching out with God’s love to others. In this way we worship God in actions, as well as words.
[1 Corinthians 12:4-7; Galatians 6:2, 10; Titus 3:8]
None of these ‘practices’ make a person a Christian, but they are all hallmarks of a healthy Christian life and evidence of new life in Christ.
Bethesda & Baptism
Baptism – an outward sign of an inward faith
Becoming a Christian and being baptised are very closely connected in the Bible. One reason for this close connection is because baptism is symbolic of what happens to someone at conversion. In the early church it was common for new Christians to be baptised within a very short time after putting their faith in Christ.
[Acts 2:41 & 16:31-33]
Baptism is a visible act of witness that a person is a Christian and is committed to living the Christian life. It does not make a person a Christian but it is an act of obedience, ideally soon after professing faith.
Bethesda practises the baptism of believers by immersion.. We do this as we believe it best fits the Biblical picture of baptism and is in keeping with the accounts of baptism in the New Testament. Nevertheless, if health and frailty are a concern then other forms of baptism would be offered.
[Romans 6:3-4; Mark 1:9-10; John 3:23; Acts 8:36-39]
To understand what baptism means (or represents), we need to think about what happens at our conversion:
We start a new life in Christ: – baptism is a symbol of entering into the life of Jesus Himself – that is, His death becomes our death (the death of our old self), and His resurrection becomes our new life.
[Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27]
We are made clean by Christ – baptism symbolises that the guilt of our old life is “washed away” – giving us a clean conscience before God.
[1 Peter 3:21, Acts 22:16]
We become part of Christ’s body (his people) – when a person becomes a Christian, they become part of God’s family and baptism is a public sign of identification with the church. It is also a symbol of our union with Christ – we all enter God’s family in the same way.
[1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:4-5]
We put ourselves under Christ’s authority (obedience) – Jesus commanded His disciples to baptise – a command repeated by the apostles. Baptism is a way of showing our obedience to Jesus Christ.
[Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 10:48; John 15:14]
We confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour: – getting baptised is a very clear statement of your allegiance to Christ. At your baptism you will be asked, before witnesses, if you have confessed and turned away from your and trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
[Romans 10:9]
Becoming a Christian and being baptised are very closely connected in the Bible. One reason for this close connection is because baptism is symbolic of what happens to someone at conversion. In the early church it was common for new Christians to be baptised within a very short time after putting their faith in Christ.
[Acts 2:41 & 16:31-33]
Baptism is a visible act of witness that a person is a Christian and is committed to living the Christian life. It does not make a person a Christian but it is an act of obedience, ideally soon after professing faith.
Bethesda practises the baptism of believers by immersion.. We do this as we believe it best fits the Biblical picture of baptism and is in keeping with the accounts of baptism in the New Testament. Nevertheless, if health and frailty are a concern then other forms of baptism would be offered.
[Romans 6:3-4; Mark 1:9-10; John 3:23; Acts 8:36-39]
To understand what baptism means (or represents), we need to think about what happens at our conversion:
We start a new life in Christ: – baptism is a symbol of entering into the life of Jesus Himself – that is, His death becomes our death (the death of our old self), and His resurrection becomes our new life.
[Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27]
We are made clean by Christ – baptism symbolises that the guilt of our old life is “washed away” – giving us a clean conscience before God.
[1 Peter 3:21, Acts 22:16]
We become part of Christ’s body (his people) – when a person becomes a Christian, they become part of God’s family and baptism is a public sign of identification with the church. It is also a symbol of our union with Christ – we all enter God’s family in the same way.
[1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:4-5]
We put ourselves under Christ’s authority (obedience) – Jesus commanded His disciples to baptise – a command repeated by the apostles. Baptism is a way of showing our obedience to Jesus Christ.
[Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 10:48; John 15:14]
We confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour: – getting baptised is a very clear statement of your allegiance to Christ. At your baptism you will be asked, before witnesses, if you have confessed and turned away from your and trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
[Romans 10:9]
Baptism is for Believers Only
We believe that because baptism is a sign of a person’s new life and faith in Jesus Christ, it is only appropriate for Christians with real and personal faith. This is reinforced by what we see as the New Testament pattern of ‘baptism always following belief’.
[Acts 8:12-13; 18:8; 16:30-33]
At Bethesda we only baptise those who profess personal faith in Jesus. We do not practice infant baptism and would only baptise a young person with parental consent.
Bethesda and Membership
Worldwide and local church
The Church of Jesus Christ is made up of all Christians throughout the world. In this sense every Christian becomes part of the church at their conversion.
[Acts 2:46-47; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Colossians 1:6]
The local church is simply a gathering of Christians in a particular place. Bethesda Evangelical Church is a local expression of this greater worldwide Church just like the New Testament churches in Rome, Ephesus, and Thessalonica, etc…
The Church is People
The Bible takes it for granted that Christians will be part of a local church (the New Testament is predominantly written to churches or church leaders). God’s plan in salvation is to create a people, in Christ, who are reconciled both to Himself but also to each other. True Christianity is not therefore a solitary experience but a corporate one – there are no ‘lone ranger’ Christians in God’s plans.
[Ephesians 2:22; 1 John 2:19; Hebrews 10:25]
We can see this emphasis on being connected with other Christians in some of the ways that the New Testament describes the church.
A Body – Paul’s most common description of the church. We are united as one and just like parts of the body, we are dependent on each other to function healthily.
[Romans 12:5; Ephesians 4:4-5; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 12]
A Building – the picture is one of Christians built together to make a dwelling place for God.
[Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5]
A Family – we are united together as sons and daughters of God. This idea of being a family also affects how we relate to each other (e.g. respecting older Christians as we would our fathers and mothers, etc.).
[Galatians 6:10; 1 Timothy 5:1-2]
Why Membership?
We live in a commitment-phobic, consumer culture today. However, being a Christian is a call to take responsibility – for others and for God’s work in the world. While it can be tempting to ‘dip in and out’ of churches and church life, we need to remember that churches only exist because of those who have taken responsibility to keep them going week in and week out. No church is perfect, yet we believe it is important for Christians to join a church and commit to being a part of it.
Bethesda believes that becoming a formal member of a local church biblical and helpful for a number of reasons:
Who are we accountable to? Christians are to be mutually accountable to each other as they seek to live out their faith. This recognition of our interdependence is crucial if we are to support each other honestly and be genuinely open to the input and guidance of other godly Christians. Additionally, the New Testament puts an emphasis on respecting the authority of wise leaders who set an example and accurately teach the bible (elders). Elders have a responsibility to care for those in their churches. Being a member of a local church helps the elders to identify those who wish to be under their care.
[Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:1-5; Acts 20:28; Philippians 2:4; Colossians 3:16; Acts 20:28-29; 1 Peter 5:1-3]
Who are we responsible for? As part of God’s family, we have the great privilege of being cared for and supported by other Christians. Formal membership says, ‘These are the people I will take responsibility to encourage and support on a week-to-week basis’.
[Philippians 2:4; Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 10:24-25]
Who do we serve? The Bible calls us to use our abilities and gifts to serve God and others – in this we are following the example of Jesus Himself. Being a church member shows our commitment to serve others in the church and, by going through the Membership process, helps the leaders and other members to know us better and take our safeguarding responsibilities seriously for involvement in church activities.
[Mark 10:45; Philippians 2:1-5]
Who are we identified with? Being a member of a church is a way of showing our full commitment to Jesus and His mission on the earth, and demonstrates that we are happy to be counted among God’s people. Being identified with a local church is therefore a ‘must’ for Christians – and formal membership is a way of showing real commitment to the life of a church. It is only in gathering together with other Christians in such a committed and ongoing way that churches become real spiritual families. In turn, Bethesda is a member of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), a grouping of several hundred independent churches with more than 50,000 members across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. More about FIEC can be found here – Homepage – FIEC
[Hebrews 10:35-39 & 13:13]
Our key beliefs are contained in the FIEC ‘Statement of Faith’, elsewhere on the site. Those wishing to be members at Bethesda would be expected to share these core beliefs, and be willing to submit to the Bible in all areas of life and faith.
Bethesda is complementarian in its view of gender roles. That is, we believe that men and women are equal in worth and value before God, and that Christ’s work of salvation is open to men and women without distinction. Within this context we also recognise a biblical pattern that, among the various roles and duties given to men and women in the church, certain are given as male responsibilities, i.e. eldership and preaching to the whole church.
[Galatians 3:28; 1 Timothy 2:11-12; 1 Timothy 3; Romans 16:1-2]
We follow the teaching of the Bible that God created humanity both male and female and we therefore uphold the God-given pattern for human sexuality and marriage between one man and one woman.
[Genesis 1:27; 2:20-24]
Anyone wishing to become a formal member at Bethesda would be expected to share the church’s beliefs and practices. At the same time, we welcome people of all beliefs and backgrounds to join us at our meetings.
If you wish to know more, please speak to us!