Baptism presupposes prior experiences of ____.

• A. obedience
• B. faith and repentance
• C. zeal
• D. regeneration

Answer: (B)

Baptism is an outward declaration of an inward reality that has already taken place in the believer. The believer has embraced Christ by faith and turned from sin in repentance. Because baptism testifies to this inner change, it presupposes faith and repentance as the preconditions; without belief and turning from sin, baptism would be mere ceremony. Regeneration refers to the Spirit’s work of new birth, which faith and repentance express and respond to, but baptism itself does not generate that new life. Zeal or mere obedience without genuine faith and repentance cannot substitute for the inward transformation baptism signifies. Hence, faith and repentance are the prerequisites that best fit what baptism presupposes.