Apostolic evangelism . . . always led to baptism and entrance into the church. Baptism was a physical sign and seal of conversion, of turning away from a wrong way of life, of trusting in Jesus. It was no empty symbol, but an act that was a necessary aspect of conversion. The message was repent and be baptized. The doctrine of justification and the doctrine of baptism were all of one piece, in a holistic sense.
-Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999), 147.
