"And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8)

One of the most important questions regarding the doctrine of Baptism is, “who should be baptized?”

This text in Acts (as well as many other we could analyze) clearly shows that there is a proper order for a Biblical baptism.

• 1. The person must hear the gospel.
• 2. The person must believe the gospel.
• 3. If conditions 1 and 2 are met, the person is a proper candidate for baptism.

First of all, a person must hear the gospel before he can be baptized. There is not a single example in scripture where this is not the demonstrated case.

The second condition is closely related to the first. The person must not only hear the gospel, they must believe its message. This condition immediately excludes infants and others who do not have the ability to comprehend or express comprehension in a statement of faith.

When John was baptizing in the wilderness, he did not baptize everyone that came to him. He justified this position by stating that the Pharisees’ lives did not show that they had repented and therefore had not believe the message John was preaching.

There are a multitude of other questions that arise from these points but the Bible clearly teaches that proper baptism is Believer’s Baptism.