The Believer's Baptism
Who should be baptized?
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Only those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Acts 8:36-38 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
Acts 18:8 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. -
There is no place in Scripture where unbelievers were baptized. Therefore, infants were never baptized because they have not reached the age where they could understand the necessity of believing upon Christ as Savior and Lord.
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Why should believers be baptized?
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The Lord commanded baptism in the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
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What is the meaning of baptism?
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We identify ourselves with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
Romans 6:3-4 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
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What is the method of baptism?
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We practice the Biblical Method of Immersion.
Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him. -
Jesus gave us the example when He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.
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Why is baptism so important?
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When a Christian is baptized, he or she publicly witnesses to their faith in Jesus Christ. Through the act of baptism, we are telling those watching that we have been saved by the grace of God, and are not ashamed to proclaim Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.