Why Should I Be Baptized? [Audio & Video]
By Tom Shanklin
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10, NKJV)
Often in our meetings and our ministry online, we lead people in a prayer to receive Christ based on this scripture from Paul’s epistle to the Romans. According to this verse, we receive salvation by what we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. When we believe the Gospel message that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, and we confess with our mouth “the Lord Jesus” (or as other translations say, “Jesus as Lord”) we are saved.
But then we have many scriptures from the lips of Jesus and others, who indicate that we are to be baptized in water. It begs the question, if I am saved by believing in my heart and confessing with our mouth, “why should I be baptized?”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Study Guide: Why Should I Be Baptized?
”And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16, NKJV)
There are several baptisms mentioned in the Scriptures: baptism into Christ (salvation), baptism in the Holy Spirit, and baptism of fire (persecution). But we are talking today about water baptism. The word “baptize” is translated from the Greek word “baptizo,” which means to dip, dunk, or immerse.” In fact, Worrell translation of the Bible translates “baptize” as Immerse and translates the phrase “John the Baptist” as “John the Immerser.” It is a totally accurate translation. To baptize IS to immerse.
However, even if we didn’t have the Greek translation, we could see from the Bible that baptism is an immersion.
“After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.” (John 3:22-23, NKJV)
Notice, John baptized in Aenon near Salim, because there was “much water there.” If John was baptizing by pouring or sprinkling, he would not need “much water.”
Also, notice Philip baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch:
“And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.” (Acts 8:38-39, AV)
They went down in the water and came up out of the water—immersion.
There are various ways to baptize by immersion. You can baptize in a baptismal in a church, a swimming pool, a stock tank, a creek, a lake, or a pond. Just get creative, and get ‘er done.
So, you ask, “Why should I be baptized? Well, let’s see what the Word of God says.
1. Because Jesus commanded it
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NKJV)
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46, NKJV)
Life with God begins with making Jesus Lord. But if you are not willing to do the first thing that he said for you to do, you are not really allowing Him to be Lord. He did not say, “Be baptized if it’s okay with your relatives.
When I was praying about sharing this message, I went to the Lord in prayer and asked Him, “What is the main thing on your heart concerning this message. Here is the thought that came to me: “If Jesus was willing to go to the cross and suffer a horrible death for our sins, and take upon Him the sins of the world, shouldn’t we be willing to obey His simple command to be baptized?” Think about it!
I remember when I first started teaching the Bible, I ministered to a woman who was about 70 years old named Minerva. She had been raised in a traditional church that did not teach believer’s baptism. She had born again during her confirmation. Not everyone is, but because she was sincere, she was born again when she took her confirmation vows. But when she saw believer’s baptism in the Scriptures, she was determined to follow the Lord in water baptism. I baptized her and her retired farmer husband in a stock tank in their garage.
2. Because Jesus Himself was baptized
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.” (Matthew 3:13-15, NKJV)
Jesus is our pattern. He said to fulfill all righteousness (to do all that is right) we should be baptized.
3. Because the early church baptized new believers
“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38, NKJV)
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2:41, NKJV)
“But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.” (Acts 8:12, NKJV)
See also Acts 8:36-38, Acts 9:17-18, Acts 10:47-48, Acts 16:29-34, Acts 18:8, and Acts 19:4-5.
In all these verses we see how the early church followed the Lord command to baptize new believers. What did they do? They baptized new believers. Nothing has changed. We should simply follow the same pattern today.
4. Because there is deliverance from sin in water baptism
“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:3-6, NKJV)
I believe Paul’s first reference here is to baptism into Christ, and secondly baptism in water. If someone is dead, you bury them. People say baptism is an outward sign of an inward work, but also there is power that is released through the act, by faith in the operation of God through water baptism.
“and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,” (Colossians 2:10-13, NKJV)
By “faith in the working (KJV, operation) of God,” we can claim our deliverance from the power of sin. Years ago, I was praying for a friend who was dealing with some areas of temptation in his life. As we were praying, the Lord said, “Remember your baptism!” I wonder how many Christians are living defeated lives because they have not been baptized … or because they do not understand the power of baptism. We must have “faith in the operation of God.” Baptism is important for your life on earth as a Christian. It is something you can always point to and know that you made a decision to bury the old man that you might rise up in newness of life.
5. Because there is deliverance from Satan and demons in water baptism
“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” (1Corinthians 10:1-4, NKJV)
The Old Testament is a shadow and type of the New Testament. In the Old Testament, Israel was baptized into Moses in the Red Sea. Israel received the Passover (the blood of the Lamb) and because of that, the death angel passed over them. But then they had to go down to the Red Sea to be baptized. It was then that they were set free of Pharaoh (a type of Satan) and his armies (a type of demons). Likewise, we must be baptized as a line of demarcation in our lives to demonstrate that Satan has no more power over our lives.
However, water baptism without faith in Christ will not save you! You must be born again. He said he that believes AND is baptized. Peter said repent AND be baptized. No outward act will save you without a change in your heart. Without faith and repentance, you will go down into the water a sinner, and come up a wet sinner.
You are the one that needs to make this decision. Not your parents or someone else. Maybe you were sprinkled as an infant or baptized because someone else wanted you to. But you need to be baptized as a believer by your own decision. In my own life, I was baptized when I was nine years old but did not make a true commitment to the Lord. However, when I was 27, I followed the Lord in water baptism and repented. That is when my life truly changed.
So, I encourage you to repent and be baptized. Find a church that believes the Bible concerning water baptism and ask to be baptized in water. If you cannot find a church, then find a committed believer or a minister who will baptize you. Then continue to follow the Lord in a life of faith and obedience.
God bless you!