Mark 1:1-11 says:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

To understand Baptism, we need to understand a few words that are taught in scripture and churches:

An

is a decree or command given unto believers to follow and keep.

A

is to believe the act of obedience then inputs grace into the believer.

We believe the bible teaches that Jesus gave baptism to His church not as a sacrament but as a symbol of salvation.

We observe this ordinance because Jesus told us to do so. Although we keep this ordinance, it DOES NOT bestow grace upon the one who is participating or even the people in the congregation that is observing. Grace, as we learned before, is received from the Lord in salvation, and not executed in a work by the believer.

WHAT IS BAPTISM?

Baptism in its

definition would be the immersion of a believer in water as a symbol of their faith in Jesus Christ.

Baptism in its

definition is “An outward profession of an inward possession”.

Baptism in its

definition is how we participate in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as a believer.

HOW SHOULD WE BE BAPTIZED?

WE SHOULD BE

Mark 1:10 says:
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

We use this word, “Baptize” in our English from the Greek word – “

” which means: submerse in water, to put under or dip entirely in water. Baptize is a transliterated word from the Greek language found in the Bible. Instead of translating it, they used the same word across languages.

In understanding the word we use for baptism, and in the illustration given unto us in the Gospel of Mark, it is very difficult to think that sprinkling and partial immersion fulfill the NT definition of baptism.

IN THE NAME OF THE

Matthew 28:19 says:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Baptism is a Trinitarian act, reminding us that our salvation has been:
1.

by the Father
2.

Reveal Answer

by the Son
3.

Reveal Answer

by the Holy Ghost

WHY SHOULD WE BE BAPTIZED?

Baptism pictures the

,

Reveal Answer

, and

Reveal Answer

of Jesus Christ in the life of the believer.

Jesus died on the cross for sins, was buried to put an end to sin and defeat Hell, and was resurrected to give us eternal life.

We are baptized to show that we have died to the sins that Jesus died for, buried in a watery grave to put an end to the old life, and are resurrected to walk in a new life.

Romans 6:1-4 says:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 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.

Baptism is the first step in believer’s obedience. We read of no believer in the NT who refused or rejected baptism when told to do so. We see in this scripture

baptism should take place.

Acts 2:41 says:
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Scripture teaches that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, through the Grace of God, and it alone can save someone from Hell. No water could ever take the place of the blood shed.

Romans 5:8-9 says:
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Water baptism is an important first step of obedience in following Christ. Believers should be baptized but baptism is the result of salvation not a contributor to it. —Steve Abney