Believer鈥檚 baptism is when a person who is to be baptised is already a Christian and, therefore, older than at infant baptism.
At the end of Matthew 28 Jesus tells his disciples:
... go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
In the New TestamentThe second part of the Christian Bible containing 27 books consisting of four types of literature: letters (epistles), gospels, history and prophecy. the Greek word for baptism is baptizo, meaning to dip or submerge. This points to baptism by full immersion under the water, rather than simply sprinkling or pouring water on the head.
On the day of PentecostA period 50 days after Easter to celebrate the day on which the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. The birthday of the Church., the PeterDisciple of Jesus and leader of the Apostles. Catholics see him as the first Pope. told those present to 鈥淩epent and be baptised鈥 (Acts 2:38). This points to people being believers before they were baptised 鈥 it is the model explicitly referenced throughout the whole of the Book of Acts.
Those who practice believer鈥檚 baptism believe that the idea of household baptisms (when the Apostle PaulAlso known as Saul of Tarsus, Saint Paul the Apostle spread the teachings of Jesus across Europe and Asia in the first century AD. baptised whole households) does not mean that infants were definitely baptised. It is perfectly possible that these households had no infants, only adults.
The most important argument for believer鈥檚 baptism comes from the writings of the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:
Or don鈥檛 you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
鈥 Romans 6
This points to baptism symbolising an old way of life dying and a new way of life being raised as someone goes down into the water and then back up from it.
The dying of an old way of life is only possible when a person has decided to become a Christian.