WHY DO PEOPLE NEED TO BE BAPTISED?

Baptism is a church’s act of affirming and portraying a believer’s act of publicly committing himself or herself to Christ and his people, thereby uniting a believer to the Church and marking off him or her from the world. 

Baptism is our spiritual rebirth.  It cleanses us from head to toe and allows us the companionship of the Saviour through the gift of the Holy Ghost.  He will accompany each of us along the road of life.

The Bible teaches us that we are saved by grace, through faith, in Baptism, so that we can live a Godly life.  Baptism is essential for your salvation if you understand at the age of understanding and accountability.  Before one is a candidate to be baptized, one must first believe that Jesus is Christ the son of the living God and that he rose from the dead.   John 20:31.

One must also repent of their sins and turn to God. Acts 17:30.   Next they must confess before man that they believe Jesus is Christ, the son of the living God.  Romans 10:9.

Once they have accomplished the steps above, one is now a candidate to be baptized.

What are the things that happen to us when we are baptized and confirmed?

1. We become members of Christ’s Church and commit to following Him.
2. We have our sins forgiven.
3. It allows us entrance to the celestial kingdom.
4. It is a doorway to personal sanctification.  “We might say, we are made Holy”.

Let me give you three reasons.  My hope in laying these reasons is that you will find them not only persuasive but also inviting and compelling.  As you will see, Christ not only commands believers to get baptized, but baptism is also a gift he graciously gives for our benefit and blessing.

1. To obey Christ’s commands  – Matthew 28:18-20

Here Jesus addressed his disciples shortly after he died for our sins and rose from the dead.   He had accomplished salvation, and now he charged his disciples to proclaim the news of this salvation to every nation on the earth.  In verse 18, we learn that as a result of his saving death and resurrection, Jesus possesses “all authority in heaven and on earth.”  He is the supreme ruler of the Universe, the sovereign of sovereigns.   Jesus then gave his disciples – and by his implication all believers- one main command: “Make disciples” Matthew 28:19

Jesus commanded to make disciples.  He requires his followers then and now, to summon others to follow him.  He then gave three supporting instructions that show us how to “make disciples.” 

First, we need to go.  We need to go where the nations are, whether that means crossing the street, crossing town, or crossing an ocean.

Second, we baptize those who follow Christ and finally, he tells us to instruct new disciples to obey every one of his commands.   To become Jesus’s follower is to give your whole life to trusting Jesus, following Jesus, learning and obeying Jesus’s teachings, and following Jesus’s example.

Are you a disciple of Jesus?  Then you need to show it by baptism—–

That’s what Jesus said.  Jesus wants those who have trusted him as Savior and submitted to him as Lord to get baptized.  As you can see, then, baptism publicly identifies someone as a disciple of Jesus.  Baptism formally and publicly enrolls a disciple in the school of Christ.

God marks his people by Baptism.  By getting Baptised.  We are putting on a jersey that says, “Team Jesus”.   We are playing by his rules and following his commands.  By following Jesus’s commands to get baptized we are saying we’re committed to doing all that he commanded.

Baptism should be performed by immersion.  John 3:23; Acts 8 38-39

Romans 6: 1-4

To summarize Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 28-19, we can see that Baptism is the first item on Jesus’s list of “Everything I have commanded you”. Why should you get baptized? Because if you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, then, after repenting and believing Mark 1;15, the first formal, public act of following that Jesus requires of you is baptism. 

The Christian life is more than following the commands, but it certainly isn’t less.  So, after the command to repent and believe, here’s your first “to-do” from Jesus. All you have to do is declare your faith and lean back.

• To publicly profess faith in Him                            Matthew 28:19         

For example, when those who heard Peter preach on Pentecost were convicted of their sin, they asked him what to do, and he urged them to repent and be baptized Act 2:37-38

So, those who received his word were baptized, and were added that day about three thousand souls.” Receiving the word and being baptized went hand in hand. 

 And all those who embrace the gospel were baptized.  Baptism was how those at Pentecost publicly proclaimed their embrace of Christ, the crucified and resurrected Messiah.  And baptism is how you should openly declare that you trust in Christ. 

In Paul’s teachings Colossians 2: 11-12

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.            

Note:

How baptism and faith go hand in hand.  Addressing a congregation of baptized Christians, Paul says, that they were buried and raised with Christ in Baptism.  He even uses baptism as a shorthand to refer to the whole event of their conversion.

He does this because baptism is a visible, tangle-able, public, dramatic expression of faith in Christ.  It’s memorable and datable.  

You get soaked, and everyone present sees you disappear under the water and reappear up out of the water. 

Colossians 2:12

Paul assumes that faith was present at the time of baptism because faith was the reason for baptism.  Faith is the resurrection power of God is why those Christians presented themselves for baptism.

Why is it a good thing to publicly declare your faith in Christ?  Declaring your faith in Christ will deepen your faith.  Confessing your faith will confirm your faith, and sharing your faith will strengthen your faith.

Openly declaring your faith in Christ should be part of the regular fabric of your life from now.  One of the first things people should learn about you should be that you are a Christian.  That Christ is your savior should be most excited to tell people. 

Jesus warns that faith that stays a secret is no faith at all. 

“Anyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge him before my father.  But whoever denies me before me, I will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 10: 32-33.

• To commit to Christ’s people                                 Acts 2:41

All those who received Christ that day were received by the church.  And the way that the church received them was by baptizing them. 

In baptism, you step out of the world and into the Church.

You declare your loyalty to Christ.  You enlist in Christ’s company.  Your commitment to Christ’s people follows logically, necessarily, and immediately from your commitment to Christ.

The commitment that those who were baptized on Pentecost made with the Church was no mere ticking of a box. 

This new commitment To Christ’s people fundamentally altered the fabric of their lives. 

The whole Church in Jerusalem of over three thousand joined the Church by Baptism, and Pentecosts devoted themselves to the Apostle’s teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and to praying together.  Acts 2:42

They shared their lives and their possessions Acts 2:44. They even sold off their property to give the proceeds to believers in need Acts 2:45

They prayed together and ate together daily Acts 2: 46.

The fruit of their commitment to one another was rich, inviting communion with one another, a communion that inspired awe in outsiders Act 2: 43

How they committed to one another was baptism.  Those believers bound themselves to Christ and each other. 

Some people question whether being baptized into one body refers to the Universal Church or the Local Church. 

In baptism, two parties speak, and two parties commit.  In baptism, you ask for a welcome, and the Church extends it.  You pledge yourself to the church and the church pledges itself to you.  The Christian lie is not meant to be lived in private, nor it is meant to be lived alone.  Baptism brings your life into the light of the Church’s loving concern.  Baptism sets you within the strengthening and sustaining communion of Christ’s people.

I hope I was able to answer your doubts.  Your feedback is valuable.  God bless you all my brothers and sisters.  Thank you.