Who is baptism for

It is the belief that grants salvation and the failure to believe that causes condemnation. Water baptism is certainly important, however, the New Testament does not teach that baptism is necessary for salvation.

Excerpt from Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation? What is the difference between infant and adult baptism? Let's take a look at how infant baptism began and why it's important for adults to take the symbolic step of baptism. Infant baptism arose from the teachings of some early second and third-century church fathers that baptism washed away sin.

This meant that if you died without being baptized then you died with your sins unforgiven and thus went to Hell or purgatory as that concept developed over time. With the high infant mortality rate in the early centuries, the concept of baptizing babies as soon as possible came into vogue. Since it is not necessarily good to push baby heads underwater, the idea of sprinkling took hold. Throughout the years of the Church, baptism by immersion has taken several forms. Others use the Jewish model for baptizing Gentile converts into Judaism.

The initiates wear white robes and are dipped three times forward and three times backward. The most common mode of baptism is once backward to portray the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. According to Romans , baptism pictures at least three things:. Being sprinkled or having water poured over your head when you were an infant, or too young to understand, missed the point of baptism on all three levels.

The Bible teaches that commitment to Christ always precedes baptism. In fact, baptism is your testimony of surrendering your life to Christ. The New Testament order is not be baptized and then receive Christ. It is always first you receive Christ and then you get baptized. If you were not aware of submitting to the Lordship of Christ then it is impossible to think of your baptism as a personal commitment to Christ. Roger Barrier. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.

At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. If John was baptizing for repentance and Jesus was without sin, why would he have to be baptized? Being raised up out of the water expresses our new life in Christ and our union with Him. If the meaning of baptism could be boiled down to one word, that word would be identification. Baptism speaks primarily of a personal, public identification with Jesus Christ.

In Romans the Apostle Paul puts the matter this way:. Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ 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.

Notice the strength of the expressions—"baptized into Christ" and "baptized into his death" and "buried with him in baptism.

That's true, but at the very least, water baptism is in the background of this passage. How important is your baptism? It is your personal identification with the greatest act of human history—the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Baptism doesn't save you—salvation comes by faith alone Ephesians Your guilt before God is removed the moment you trust in Christ. But baptism is your personal testimony to, and the inward assurance of, your passage from the old life to the new life When you are baptized, you are in fact visually preaching the gospel. As you stand in the water waiting to be baptized, A, you symbolize Jesus dying on the cross.

As you are lowered into the water, B, you symbolize Jesus buried in the tomb. As you are raised from the water, C, you symbolize Jesus rising from the dead. And since you personally are being baptized, you are also saying, "I died with Jesus Christ, I was buried with him and now I am raised with Christ to brand-new life.

In short, in your baptism you are preaching a sermon without using any words at all. And your sermon in your baptism will be more effective with your friends than any sermon the pastor preaches on Sunday morning—more effective because it comes directly from you. Basic Christian Doctrine, p.

Baptism requires water. Matthew Baptism required plenty of water. John Baptism requires going down into the water. Acts Baptism requires coming up out of the water.

Matthew , Acts Furthermore, the figures of speech used by the Apostle Paul accord well with immersion. Finally, the testimony of church history is that immersion was indeed the mode of baptism practiced in the early church. Do you fully understand it, though? Baptism is an ancient practice — one that Jesus himself underwent — but there are still varied understandings about what it means today. Baptism is an outward expression of an internal change — a demonstration of faith that showcases our trust in Christ.

When we re-emerge from the water, it symbolizes our birth into new life in Jesus… and offers us a wonderful reason to celebrate! He knew that we were sinful, and he was baptized as an example of how we should pursue confession, repentance, and renewal in our lives.