Chapter 29: Of Baptism

1. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him; of remission of sins; and of giving up into God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.

2. Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance. 

3. The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

4. Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance. 

In 1677, Reformed Baptists anonymously published the Second London Confession of Faith. This was a confession based upon the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Savoy Declaration. The baptists used these contemporary confessions as a basis for their own for two reasons. One was to show their unity with the reformed branch of the church, the other was because of the clear, beautiful, and biblical articulation found within. In 1689, greater freedom was given to dissenting ministers in England and the Second London Confession was republished and signed. It is called the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, or the Second London Confession as it was the second confession published by Reformed Baptists in London.