WHAT IS BAPTISM?
Believer’s baptism is a public declaration of a person’s faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. It is an outward expression of what has already taken place on the inside. Only faith in Jesus will save you. (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Greek word baptizo literally means “to immerse.” Baptism is an act of obedience illustrating the Lordship of Christ—we are the Lord’s from head to toe.
WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BAPTISM?
Believer’s baptism is a public declaration of a person’s faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. It is an outward expression of what has already taken place on the inside. Only faith in Jesus will save you. (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Greek word baptizo literally means “to immerse.” Baptism is an act of obedience illustrating the Lordship of Christ—we are the Lord’s from head to toe.
WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?
- To follow the example of Jesus
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.” Matthew 3:13-15
- To obey the command of Jesus
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
- To publicly identify with Jesus
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BAPTISM?
- A symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
“…having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12
- A symbol of the new life of a believer
“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.” Romans 6:4
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
- A symbol of the washing away of sin
“And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” Acts 22:16
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5
- A symbol of entrance into the Body of Christ, the Church
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13