Baptism is very simple. But the meaning of baptism is of vital importance.
One should want to be baptized because:
- baptism leads to salvation (Mark 16:15-16; 1 Peter 3:20-21)
- baptism leads to forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38)
- baptism puts one into Christ and His death (Romans 6:1-4; Colossians 2:12)
- in baptism one puts on Christ (Galatians 3:27)
- baptism is into Christ’s body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:13)
What Christ did to save man is shown by us in being saved. For example: Christ died for our sins, was buried in a tomb, and was raised up from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). When we are converted, we obey “a form” or “pattern” of teaching (Romans 6:17). Just as Jesus made the decision to die for sin, so man decides to die to sin (he repents). Just as Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a tomb, so—in the waters of baptism—the repenting person dies to sin and is buried with Christ. Just as Jesus was raised up from the grave, so is the one being baptized raised up from the “grave” of water. Just as Jesus was raised to die no more, so the one being baptized now rises to “live a new life.” (Please read Romans 6:1-4 and Colossians 2:11-12 carefully.)
Another word for “new life” is birth. Jesus told Nicodemus, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:5). Romans 6 shows that new life starts at baptism, while John 3:5 and Titus 3:5 link the start of new life (birth) with “water” and “washing” (also Ephesians 5:26). Clearly, the new birth involves baptism in water. This fact can be seen in Paul’s conversion. When Paul (Saul) met and spoke with Jesus near Damascus, he truly began to believe. In repentance, Paul fasted and prayed. He saw a vision, and was healed of blindness. Yet it was after all these things that the messenger of God told him, “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name” (Acts 22:16). His sins had not been washed away by his belief, by his amazing experiences, or by his prayers. His sins remained with him until washed away at baptism. Why? Because it is in baptism that one is placed “into” the death of Christ, where sins are washed away by Christ’s blood (Romans 6:3-4; 5:9; Revelation 1:5). Therefore it is not difficult to see—as Christians did for many centuries immediately after Christ—that the new birth takes place in baptism for forgiveness of sins.
Some have difficulty accepting that baptism is essential. They say that the “thief on the cross” was saved without baptism (Luke 23:39-43). They forget that the thief could well have been baptized already. “All” or most of the ordinary people had been baptized (Luke 7:29; John 4:1). One should also realize that the baptism practiced before the death of Jesus was a temporary kind of preparation (Acts 19:1-7). Full Christian baptism only began after the cross, from the time of Matthew 28 and Acts 2. This is so because Christian baptism is “into” Christ’s death (Romans 6:3). The thief could not be baptized into Christ’s death, for Christ had not yet died. Christian baptism has to do with Christ’s New Covenant (agreement). This New Covenant began when Christ died (Hebrews 9:15). The thief was before Christ’s death. Therefore he was before the Christian covenant and Christian baptism had come into effect. The New Covenant and its baptism could not apply to the thief. But they do apply to us, who have come after Christ’s death. Passages like John 3:16, which say we are saved by faith, clearly include in the meaning of faith its proper responses, such as repentance, baptism, and confessing faith in Christ. If a “faith” is unwilling to respond as God directs, it is not true, saving faith (see Matthew 7:21-23; John 12:42; James 2:26).
Have you been baptized as the New Testament describes? If not, and if you now understand the New Testament’s Gospel message, you should be baptized—today.
In the New Testament, those who heard and accepted the Gospel were baptized at once “… that day” (Acts 2:41); “… when they believed” (Acts 8:12); “… as they traveled along the road” (Acts 8:36); “… immediately” (Acts 16:33). The same question asked of Saul now is asked of you, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized…” (Acts 22:16).
Notice also that Saul (later known as the apostle Paul) was baptized by “a disciple” (Acts 9:10). He did not have to wait to be baptized by someone of great importance. When Paul preached, he often did not do the baptizing. Instead he let others do the baptizing (1 Corinthians 1:14-17). In this he was similar to Jesus (John 4:2). These scriptures make it clear your baptism’s value does not depend on who baptizes you.
In baptism you will be raised through faith in God’s working (Colossians 2:12). God is ready, and you should be too. Find a body of water deep enough for your body to be “buried” (Romans 6:4; John 3:23; Acts 8:36-39). Your friends and relatives will probably want to know more about baptism. You can explain to them why you are being baptized. You can help them to understand that the authority for baptism comes from Christ, not from man.