The question about why a person who confesses to be a follower of Jesus
Christ should be baptized comes up occasionally in my line of work. That question
is asked because, over and over again, we hear from the pulpit and from various
religious leaders that baptism doesn’t save a person, only belief in Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior does. This statement is good and right, but also an over
simplification of what baptism is, and represents.
First of all, baptism stems from ancient near east traditions that involve
purification rituals. Water was seen as a way to make oneself clean not only
physically but spiritually. For the Hebrew peoples specifically, which is most
relevant to Christians, baptism stems from the practice of immersing oneself
(an act called tevilah) in a ritual bath called a mikveh in Hebrew. Because
a person bathes and removes all physical impurities before entering
the mikveh, the purpose of the mikveh is spiritual cleansing. The water
symbolizes life and is seen to cleanse a person of sin, purify the ritually
impure, and express rebirth to new life. This practice of mikveh comes
from commands in the Old Testament to cleanse oneself at certain times
and for certain reasons.
Just like the Old Testament immersion that symbolized cleansing of
sin, purity of the ritually impure, and a rebirth to new life, so too
the baptism of the New Testament symbolizes freedom from sin and the
new life in the Spirit that are only available through faith in Jesus
Christ and His saving work on the cross and in His resurrection.
John the Baptist came baptizing with water to prepare people’s
hearts for the coming of the Messiah, who John himself said would
baptize with the Holy Spirit (John 1:32-34). Jesus was baptized by John
because as He said in Matthew 3:15 “we must carry out all that God
requires” NLT, and the scriptures speak of baptism as a sign of our faith
in Jesus, a proclamation to the world of this fact, but more than that a
commandment based on true belief.
Acts 8:12-13 tells us this; “ 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. 13 Then Simon himself
believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he
was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.” NLT
Baptism is always predicated by belief in Jesus as the one who can
save us from our sins, and it is never disconnected from that truth, but is
instead an integral part of belief. The true believer seeks to be baptized
because they have come to know the glorious riches of Jesus and so
wants to honor the Father’s gift of grace through His Son by
acknowledging Him through baptism.
Baptism connects us intimately with Jesus, because as Romans 6:4
says, “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.” There is a real, spiritual truth to the power of baptism as it connects us
to Jesus Christ, honors His death on the cross, and helps us to live a resurrected life
in Him.
So though baptism doesn’t save you from your sins, it is an integral and
intimate part of salvation that connects you to Christ Jesus in profound ways. That
is why as a Christian community we celebrate baptisms so joyfully, because we
who have received the gift of salvation know the “sign” of baptism reads, “I am
alive in Christ and dead to sin”. And as Luke 15:10 proclaims, so we too celebrate
along with the angels in Heaven when even one sinner repents.
Baptism is important. Baptism is a command from Jesus Himself to the
disciples. Just read Matthew 28 and the great commission. But most of all baptism
is a loving response to Father God who loved us so much He sent His only
begotten Son to die to pay for our sins. Baptism says thank you Jesus, thank you
Father, thank you Holy Spirit, my life is now in your hands and that’s the best
place for it to be.