Why Do We Baptize?

There’s been a lot of talk about baptism lately, so I wanted to take a minute and give a brief overview of why we baptize. This will be a quick overview, but for more info you can contact us.

First, let’s understand the word baptism. The New Testament of the Bible was written in Greek, the international language of the time. We have english translations like the KJV, NKJV, NIV, NASB, ESV, etc. Just grab any Bible you have and see what translation it is! Anyway, the word we translate into ‘baptize’ comes from the word ‘baptizo.’ If we look at the meaning of ‘baptizo’ we see that is means ‘immerse, dip, or submerge.’ By purely looking at the original word used in the New Testament, we can only conclude that baptism should be by immersing, dipping, or submerging. All of the stories of baptism include going into water. That’s why we immerse when we baptize, because it clearly represents Scripture.

Next, we ask who can be baptized. It’s pretty clear throughout the book of Acts that baptism was for believers. See Acts 2, 8, 9, 10, and 16 for starters (though there are many more). Never did the apostles or Christians baptize unbelievers, or infants. Immersion is for those who have faith in God, and want to have their sins washed away.

That’s exactly what baptism does. It washes away our sins. See Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16. It is the place that our sins are forgiven. It’s also the place where we receive the Holy Spirit. Again, Acts 2:38 (as well as Romans 6) talk about this. We are united with Christ in baptism, and we receive the same spirit in our baptism. Speaking of Romans 6, it beautifully describes what happens when we’re immersed. We are buried in the water (death with Christ), and raised back up (resurrection with Christ). Baptism unites us.

Last, Peter tells us that baptism saves us (1 Peter 3:21). It is at our baptism that we have the assurance of salvation. There is no prayer that can bring this, nor is there any act that was done to us without our knowledge or faith (see Colossians 2:12). It is only at baptism that we can have the forgiveness of sins and receive God’s spirit.

The Bible teaches that all of these things are equally important in becoming a follower of Christ – faith, repentance, confessing Jesus as Lord of your life, baptism, and faithful living. Baptism is no more or less important than any of these. They are all equally important.

And that’s why we baptize. For more information, email us at info(at)dasselchurchofchrist.com or give us a call.

Pastor Dave