Why Are We Water Baptized?

Now that Jesus is the Lord of your life, the first command that He gives you is to be baptized.  The last thing He told His disciples was, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19 ESV).

​

Water baptism is sort of a “first step” for you as a new believer. It is a step toward what Christ called “discipleship”: “obeying His commands and following His example for the rest of your life.”

​

You may remember that Jesus Himself was baptized (Luke 3:21–22). If the Son of God was baptized, don’t you think we should be also? It is obviously not just some little religious ceremony; there is real power and deep meaning in the act of baptism.

In fact, one jailer in the New Testament received Christ in the middle of the night and “he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God” (Acts 16:33–34).
THAT’S POWERFUL STUFF!

 

What Does Baptism Really Mean?

Water baptism is a “physical act expressing a spiritual truth.” It is saying, in effect, that we are dying to our OLD life and beginning a NEW life. That’s it, plain and simple. We are totally identifying with Christ now in these ways:

 

1. As Christ died FOR sin, so now those being baptized proclaim that they, too, have died TO sin.

As they go into the water and are completely immersed, the burial of their old sinful life is what is being symbolized.

Romans 6:3–4 (NLT) teaches, “Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” Our old, sinful nature is left (buried) under the water, and we are then symbolically raised up to new life in Jesus!

 

2. In water baptism, the one being baptized is declaring that he or she will live for Jesus as His disciple.

Galatians 2:20 (NIV) says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” This means that the person being baptized is literally letting the whole world know that they are going to live for Christ alone!

 

Why Do We Do Full Immersion?

The main reason for full immersion (like the man in the desert Philip baptized by the side of the road) is that only full immersion can properly symbolize burial, that is, a watery grave. You are “burying” your old person into the “grave” of sin. By the way, the New Testament term for baptize means to “dip” or “immerse.”

​

Colossians 2:12 (NLT) says, “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”

 

When Should a Person Be Water Baptized?

The Bible accounts of baptism were that people were baptized as soon as possible after the moment of their receiving Christ as Lord. Here are three of many illustrations in just one book of the New Testament (Acts) where people were immediately baptized:

​

AT SAMARIA: “But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized” (Acts 8:12 NLT).



​

AT CAESAREA: “Then Peter asked, ‘Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?’ So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:47–48 NLT).



​

AT PHILIPPI: “As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She and her household were baptized” (Acts 16:14–15 NLT).


​

You are in good company when you follow the Lord in baptism just as these New Testament believers did!

 

A few last statements about baptism:

 

1. Baptism removes a guilty conscience. Some people wrongly teach that baptism actually saves you. It does not. You are saved by grace through faith (see the last lesson).  Baptism is merely your conscience wanting to be washed and clean. Peter told us that it does not “remove the filth of the flesh, but is the answer of a good conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21 NKJV).


2. Baptism is a public confession of your faith. There are usually witnesses of your baptism who hear you testify with your own voice that Jesus is now Lord of your life.



 

Here are a few things that baptism is a “confession” of:


• It confesses your belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”
(1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV).


• It confesses your belief that you are part of the church: “But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13 NLT).


• It confesses your belief that you now identify with Christ: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27 ESV).


 

Are you ready to “GO PUBLIC”?

 

No wonder that man in the desert asked Philip, “What prevents me from being baptized right here and now?”