Why Do Christians Get Baptized?

Last updated on: November 29, 2015 at 9:44 pm by Jack Wellman

Why Do Christians Get Baptized? 2015-11-29T21:44:08-06:00 Jack Wellman

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Why do Christians need to get baptized? What’s the big deal?

Baptized into What?

When a Christian is saved, they are supposed to get baptized but what are they baptized into? They are baptized in water and that signifies the death of the old self and raising up out of the water, the new person in Christ (2nd Cor 5:17). It is an outward expression of an inward conversion and belief. Paul looks at the Christian and says “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27) and to the church at Rome Paul asks the rhetorical question, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Rom 6:3)? Jesus’ commanded the disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:29) so what are all of these references about being “baptized into” all about? You are being baptized into or identified with Christ. You are not identified with the water because water has no redemptive value; Jesus’ blood does.

Why get Baptized?

Why should a Christian get baptized once they are saved? Jesus commanded it. Isn’t that enough reason? The Great Commission includes instructions to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations but to also baptize them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19). During Peter’s amazing sermon on the Day of Pentecost, he concluded it by saying “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36) and “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do” (Acts 2:37) and Peter’s answer was clear, “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). He would say the same thing to every person who has not yet been saved. A person is baptized because they are following Christ’s command given to the disciples or apostles and that’s what they commanded of all new believers too.

Jesus’ Example

John the Baptist also cried out for the need to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matt 3:2) for it was just after John the Baptist was put in prison and shortly after he was beheaded, “Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matt 4:17) and in fact the very first words out of Jesus’ mouth during His earthly ministries contained two requirements for eternal life; “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus was sinless but still chose to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness and so just before John the Baptist would be put in prison, it was written that “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:9-11). Initially, when “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John, John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me” (Matt 3:13-14) but Jesus replied “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15).

Baptized and Identified with Christ

Every person who’s been born again should be baptized. If you’ve been saved but have never followed that up with the believer’s baptism, then you are disobeying Christ’s command to be baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Why wouldn’t you want to be identified as being “in Christ” or “being baptized into Christ?” There is every reason to be and no good reason not to be baptized.

Conclusion

Have you ever bent the knee and humbled yourself and confessed your sin to God? Have you ever felt convicted by your sin and seen the need to repent and believe? If you have, then you probably should be baptized, if you haven’t done so already. The water’s not going to save anyone; Jesus alone saves but if He commands us to be baptized, I see no valid reason why we should not. When Phillip the Evangelist preached the gospel to the people of Samaria, they didn’t hesitate to be baptized, as it says they “believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12) and the same thing happened at Ephesus where Paul preached the gospel and “they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:5). So why shouldn’t every Christian get baptized?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

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