Baptism
WHAT IS BAPTISM?
The word baptism means to immerse, and the Bible says that when we repent of our sin and turn to Christ, the Spirit of God baptizes us into His body - we are literally immersed in Christ Jesus and into His death so that we can experience abundant life through Him.
If you have truly entrusted your life to Christ and have believed that His sacrifice on the cross is sufficient to pay for your sins - you’ve confessed with your mouth that He is Lord and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead - then the Bible teaches (Rom 6:3-6) that you have been immersed into Christ.
Physical baptism, then, is a picture of the death of our selves and our old way of life and slavery to sin - it is an outward picture of this inward reality that, as Colossians says, we have died and we are hidden with Christ in God.
“Baptism is a symbol of faith in that it is an expression with the whole body of Christ’s lordship. It seems fitting that since the lordship of Christ lays claim to our whole body, we should express our acceptance of that lordship with an action of the whole body. Baptism gives expression to our faith that we are His from head to toe.”
We have been immersed into Him and He into us so that, now, you don’t live so-called life like you used to, but you are now walking in His new life, that which is life indeed — life abundant — and you are walking by the power of His Holy Spirit inside of you.
WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED?
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commands his disciples to make other disciples, and he gives them specific instructions about how they were to go about doing that: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Jesus tells them that they ought to make disciples, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. According to this text, baptism was to be an essential part of following Christ. Through baptism, a believer illustrates their submission to Jesus as King and embraces their new identity as part of His family. Furthermore, it signifies the fact that we are now inextricably linked to Christ as the Head, and the Body as a whole.
“But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
When you are baptized, you publicly declare your place in the global family of God and are welcomed with joy by this local body!
WHAT’S YOUR NEXT STEP?
We’re here to help.
Get Baptized
If your testimony is like Paul’s in Galatians 2:20, then this is to be a celebration; a moment for the church as a whole to rejoice with you as you publicly claim Christ Jesus as Lord.
Talk with a Pastor
If you still have questions or if you’re not sure that you’ve come to the end of yourself and placed your faith in Christ, one of our pastors will be happy to talk with you more before you take this step.