We'll get you scheduled for a baptism class that will help prepare you for this exciting step of faith, then we'll make sure you are baptized at the next opportunity. Click below to drop us a note if you have additional questions or would like to schedule a time to be baptized at the Santa Maria Foursquare Church!
What's so important about being baptized in water? It's a public declaration that proclaims: "I am dead to my old life and have accepted Jesus' promise that I am alive in Him! Questions About Baptism Do I have to be baptized in water in order to be saved? Want to talk more about baptism? Click Here. Search for:. Well, water is scary. You go under water, you can't breathe.
It's a picture of death and of the grave, and always has been, Biblically. The flood, God floods the world, that is a baptism, Peter tells us in 1st Peter, chapter 3. God sends Jonah into the deep, into the water, it is his judgment upon Jonah. God ultimately baptizes the world with fire, and engulfs and immerses the world in fire.
So when Jesus says, "I want to be baptized," John is alarmed by this because this is the sinless son of God. And it makes no more sense than someone saying, "I really would like to be on the federal sex offender registry.
Why would you want to identify yourself with these snakes who are under the judgment of God? Not because he has sin, but because he's identifying himself with sinful people. So, when someone is going down into the waters of baptism, first of all, that person is confessing, "I deserve death. I deserve the judgment of God. This is exactly what you deserve, is death and the grave. There's a power that's coming from the outside, bringing that person up. So, that person now has identified with Jesus in his death, Romans chapter 6, in his burial, in his resurrection, the person also is acknowledging, "I was dead in trespasses and sins under the judgment of God, buried, but I am now raised to newness of life because I'm in Christ.
That's a physical, visible sign of that. And so what happens in baptism is that Jesus is claiming this person as his own through the church, and the church is announcing, "This is the boundary marker, this is one of ours.
This is our brother and our sister. Those who believe are baptized, and in the churches, the apostle Paul says that there's one lord, there's one faith, there's one baptism, one God and Father of all. So baptism is extraordinary important, this is the initial rite of the Christian's obedience, but it also is a sign that builds up the faith, not only of the person being baptized, but of the rest of the Church community, is they And the rite of water baptism is still a form of works, and as a result, cannot be accepted as being an essential or required part of the salvation experience with the Lord.
The second verse will then add some more meat to this revelation when it tells us exactly how we are to receive the gift of salvation — and that is by making a public confession with our mouths that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead by God the Father, and that He came down to our earth in the flesh to die on a cross for all of our sins.
In other words, we have to believe in our hearts who Jesus really is, and then be willing to confess out loud with our mouths the basics of our salvation as to who He really is, and exactly what He has personally done for us with His sacrificial death on the cross. The third verse is where some people get the mistaken notion that water baptism has to be an essential part of the actual salvation experience. I base my reasoning off the last two verses.
We thus need both the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in order to be able to be truly saved and born again in the Lord. The Holy Spirit needs something to work with to begin the sanctification process in your life — and that something is knowledge — and that knowledge can only be received by studying the Word of God. You do not need the water of water baptism to be able to be truly saved with the Lord. You need the Word and the knowledge of the Word.
You cannot accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior unless you have some basic information and knowledge as to what eternal salvation in Him is really all about. This born again verse is telling us that we need two specific things to be able to receive eternal salvation. We need basic, working knowledge from the Word of God on what it actually means to be saved, and then we need to receive the Holy Spirit into our human spirits at the moment that we are actually being saved.
In other words, we are saved through the knowledge that the Word will give us, and through the Holy Spirit who will come to live on the inside of us at the moment of our conversions to the Lord. Though we are not actually saved by water baptism, Jesus still wants all of us to include this rite as a part of the salvation experience with Him.
As you will see in reading these next set of verses, Jesus is specifically commanding all of us to baptize with water when we are working with others to get them saved. If Jesus is making sure to include this rite as part of the salvation experience with Him, then we should fully obey Him on this issue and make sure that we are either baptized with water at the moment of our conversions to Him, or make sure that we do it as soon as we can after we have been saved. Here are 9 very good verses showing that water baptism was always a part of the salvation experience in the New Testament.
Water baptism is also a perfect, symbolic act of our old man and old life dying with Christ and our new life resurrecting with Christ. In other words, our old man was fully put to death. As a result of our old man being fully put to death, the rite of water baptism, especially being willing to be fully immersed in a pool of water, is a perfect outward sign of our old man and old life being fully put to death in the Lord.
And just as Jesus fully resurrected on the third day from His death, in the same way the pastor raising us up out of the water represents us being fully resurrected into a new and better life in Jesus. And as a result of all of the old things in our lives having passed away, all things have now been become brand new.
In other words, we are now being given a brand new life with a brand new fresh start. This is powerful and profound revelation being given to us by our Lord in these next 4 verses. Again, going through the rite of water baptism where you are being fully immersed in the water is a perfect, symbolic act of dying and resurrecting with our Lord.
This is a very beautiful and powerful rite to go through and experience with our Lord. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, all of our past, present, and future sins will be fully forgiven. When you are being fully immersed in the water during the rite of water baptism, this is a perfect symbolic act that all of your sins have now been fully forgiven and fully washed away by the blood that Jesus has personally shed for you on the cross. Here is a very good verse that will specifically tell us that all of our sins have been fully washed away by Jesus, and that it is also directly tying in this divine act to being baptized with water.
Being willing to be fully submerged in water to symbolize the complete washing away of all of your sins is a very powerful statement to make before the Lord and anyone else who may be witnessing your personal baptism.
Another area of debate on this issue is whether or not to undergo a full immersion or to just have water sprinkled or poured on you. I personally believe that God will honor and accept all three ways. However, among the three options, I believe that the full immersion is the much better choice. The reason being is that when you are being fully submerged in water, it is a much better symbolic act of the physical death of Jesus, the death of our old lives and old man, and the complete washing away of all of our personal sins.
When Jesus died on the cross, His body was taken off the cross and His whole body was placed into a grave.
Note that His whole body was placed into the grave, not just His head or a part of His body. The second good reason to undergo a full immersion rather than just having water sprinkled or poured on you is that a full immersion is better symbolizing all of our sins being fully washed away at the moment of our conversions to the Lord. Having our bodies being fully submerged underneath the water is a much better symbolic act of all of our sins being fully washed away by the blood of Jesus rather than just having a few drops of water being sprinkled on us.
The third good reason to undergo a full immersion is that this also lines up better with our old man and our old life being fully put to death. Full immersion in the water thus symbolizes and represents a complete and maximum death of our old lives and our old selves.
Being baptized by either sprinkling or pouring does not capture or symbolize the above issues as well as being fully immersed into the water does. It is his judgement upon Jonah.
How Should Baptism Be Done? Should Infants Be Baptized? Is Baptism Enough for Salvation? The Great Commission and Baptism? Today on Christianity.
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