Why is baptism important? For thousands of years, the ceremony of baptism has been, and continues to be, an emotionally powerful depiction of positive change in a person’s life. While it extends beyond Christianity, for the Christian there are at least 7 reasons why baptism is important: Jesus modeled it, Jesus commanded it, it’s a public confession, it signifies a new name, it represents a new life, it establishes a new identity and it unifies the faith.
In the book Understanding Four Views on Baptism (Zondervan, 2007), editor John H. Armstrong says, “From the earliest days of Christianity baptism has been a rite of initiation. By this watery sign, made in the triune name of God, people are openly admitted into the life and community of the church. All agree that baptism is the symbolic door into the church.”
What Is Baptism?
The English word “baptism” derives from the Greek word baptisma and denotes the action of washing or plunging in water. Ancient pagans had ceremonial cleanings, but its Christian origin is primarily traced to Old Testament Jewish ritual purifications.
Its imagery is rich in Hebrew Scripture, as in Psalm 51:1-7 “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin….Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” In his commentary, Warren Wiersbe says, “’Wash’ (vv. 2, 7) refers to the cleansing of dirty clothing (Isa. 1:18; 64:6). In the Jewish society of that day, to wash and change clothes marked a new beginning in life (Gen. 35:2; 41:14; 45:22; Ex. 19:10, 14), and David made such a new start (2 Sam. 12:20).”
The Old Testament story of Naaman, the commander of the king of Aram’s army, is another precursor to the concept of baptism, where the prophet Elisha told Naaman to wash 7 times in the Jordan river as the method God chose to heal him of his leprosy and demonstrate God’s life-changing power and far reaching love, even to those outside the Israelite fold (2 Kings 5:1-14).
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptizer used this Jewish imagery in his work where the people’s confession of sin, and their repentance and forgiveness, was ratified by baptism. The New International Encyclopedia of Bible Characters on Bible Gateway Plus says, “The use of water rituals was not uncommon in Judaism. Cleansing from the impurities of sin was certainly one of the ideas conveyed by this ceremony. However, in view of the associations of water with Noah’s Flood and the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, John’s baptism was probably intended also to remind the people that sin requires divine judgment (1 Peter 3:20-21).”
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What Are the Forms of Baptism?
Here are abbreviated descriptions of Christian forms of baptism from the Encyclopedia of the Bible on Bible Gateway:
- Baptist view: baptism of the professing regenerate by immersion. “The outward rite confirms and seals to recipients their inward faith.”
- Reformed view: infant baptism of children of the covenant. “Parents eligible to receive baptism for their offspring are only such as are faithful in their confession and in the discharge of their covenant obligations. Those who do not give evidence of the union with Christ which baptism signifies cannot claim the grace and promise extended in this institution.”
- Sacramentarian view: infant baptism by sprinkling as a regenerative act. “The Spirit as the Lord and Giver of life is believed to regenerate the child and to make him a living member of the body of Christ, the family of God. This is sacramental because it is seen in faith and not empirically, and it is believed to begin a process of growth in grace which carries the new creature into his eternal destiny.”
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Why Is Baptism Important?
“From the earliest days of Christianity baptism has been a rite of initiation (Acts 2:41),” says Armstrong. “By this watery sign, made in the triune name of God, people are openly admitted into the life and community of the church.”
A person’s baptism is a proclamation that her sins are washed away by the blood of Christ and that she is now united with Christ by the Holy Spirit in the newness of Christ’s resurrection life.
Here are 7 reasons why baptism is important.
1. Jesus Modeled Baptism
• Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. (Matthew 3:13)
• At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. (Mark 1:9)
• When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. (Luke 3:21)
2. Jesus Commanded Baptism
• Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
3. Baptism Is a Public Confession
• Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
4. Baptism Signifies a New Name
• So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29
5. Baptism Represents a New Life
• Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.Romans 6:1-11
• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
6. Baptism Establishes a New Identity
• I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
• In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:11-12
7. Baptism Unifies the Faith
• There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6
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