By Steve Higginbotham
The headlines read, “Thousands of Baptisms Invalidated.” Apparently, a Catholic priest in Arizona used the words “we baptize you..” instead of “I baptized you…” resulting in the invalidation of thousands of baptisms, according to the Catholic Church.
This news story raises a couple of questions that I have heard Christians sometimes ask.
Are there specific words that must be spoken at the time of one’s baptism? While we almost always say something when baptizing someone, the truth of the matter is that there is no formula that must be stated when one is baptized. The expression, “I baptize you into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” is what we are to do, not what we are to say! There is not a single verse in the Bible that gives instruction concerning what the one administering the baptism must say.
Can the administrator invalidate one’s baptism? For instance, what if he says something wrong, as in the news story? Or what if he is secretly a charlatan and not a genuine disciple of Jesus? Again, the Bible places no importance on the administrator of baptism, but upon the understanding of the one being baptized. Imagine what it would require to have security in one’s own salvation if the character of the baptizer was essential. If this were true, I would need to know the genuine character of the person who baptized me, as well as the person who baptized him, and follow that line all the way back to Pentecost! Consider this line of reasoning…
1. It is possible for one to know he is saved (1 John 5:13). 2. However, it is impossible for the one being baptized to know the genuineness of
the one doing the baptizing. We can’t know what is hidden in another man’s heart (1 Corinthians 2:11). 3. Therefore, the genuineness of the one doing the baptizing is not essential for one to know that he is saved.
The important thing in baptism is what the one being baptized understands. He must have “faith in the operation/working of God” (Colossians 2:12) and “obey from the heart” (Romans 6:17). As for the administrator, God’s word gives no instructions as to who this is to be and what he must say or know.