Washed with Pure Water

The doctrine of believer’s baptism is rich and wonderful. Sadly, many, even among Baptist pastors and teachers, haven’t taken the time to appreciate its beauty and importance. Some treat it as one of the rituals believers observe (often doing the same with the Lord’s Supper) without pausing to contemplate its powerful significance. Others ignore it altogether, neglecting a gift given by our Lord Jesus Christ. In reality, it is a blessed act to be deeply appreciated and cherished by God’s people.

The argument of this book does not follow the typical paths Baptists use in support of their views. This is not because of disagreement with these trails, but rather it seeks to view them as supplemental to stronger arguments from the Bible. In many cases, Baptists have been simplistic and perhaps even naïve in their support of the doctrine. Because they have undervalued its importance, they have tended to rely on a few verses to support their practice. This book shows that there is a deep and profound theology of credobaptism in Scripture and exploring it will bring great blessings to churches and the believers in their membership. Studying baptism is worth great effort.

This book is not intended to be an exhaustive academic treatise on the topic. It is an introduction. It opens up themes but does not take time to probe into them in depth. Perhaps, it may serve as a basis for new and more extensive treatments of the subject by the Baptist authors. Students and pastors, take heed! There is much for you to add to this discussion.

There is a simple presupposition underlying the arguments on these pages: the New Testament Scriptures teach the doctrine of believer’s baptism. This book is an introductory investigation into how the Word of God demonstrates that fact.