Baptism into Accountability in Christ

Abstract

Abstract To analyse the notion of accountability in Christ within the church, this chapter turns to the sacrament of baptism. It proposes that baptism can be interpreted as a ceremony that formally initiates a person into a new relationship of accountability to God within the church community. Upon being baptized in the name of Christ, a person takes on the title ‘in Christ’, which marks them out as a member of the church, the body of Christ. Consequently, the baptizand is officially welcomed into the church family, wherein they are held to an account of who they are as a child of God in Christ.