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What Is Baptism For?
What is baptism for? In the article called Where Does the Bible Command Baptism?, we saw that God commands us to be baptized. If God commands baptism, then we must willingly and lovingly obey him and be baptized. While it is good to know these things, we also need to know why God commands baptism.
At first this might seem trivial, but if we are doing the right thing for the wrong reason then we really aren’t obeying God. For example, if we give a large sum of money to help feed the poor, which is something that God desires, then it seems like we are being obedient and pleasing God (Luke 14.13, Luke 19.8-10). However, if we have been generous only to gain something for ourselves, like public recognition, then we are not pleasing God at all (Matthew 6.2). God desires generosity to be motivated first by our love for God and secondly by our love for others. Generosity for any other reason is not obedience to God and does not please him.
What is baptism for? What is the reason God gives for our getting baptized? Just like with generosity, the reason that we are baptized can affect whether or not we are really being obedient.
Baptism is “For the Forgiveness of Sins”
When Peter commanded a large crowd to be baptized in Acts 2:38, he also explained the reason for getting baptized: “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” After reading that verse, what is baptism for? Peter said we should “be baptized…for the forgiveness of [our] sins.” Baptism is for the forgiveness of our sins, and if we honestly look at the words Peter spoke, there is no other way to understand what he said. In fact, the simplest form of his sentence would be, “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins.”
Basically, Peter’s message was that everyone has to believe in Jesus as the Son of God (Peter called on them to repent of their disbelief) and everyone has to be baptized in Jesus’ name. If we do both of those things, then we have the promise that our sins will be forgiven. It is not that we earn God’s forgiveness but that God has placed conditions on receiving his promises. If we will not believe that Jesus is the Son of God or if we refuse to be baptized, then we will never have the forgiveness God offers.
This matches perfectly with what Jesus said in Mark 16:16a: “Whoever believes and has been baptized shall be saved.” The first step in both Mark 16 and Acts 2 is belief in Jesus as the Son of God. Without this fundamental belief in the good news about Jesus, nothing else matters. Before we ever discuss baptism, repentance or anything else, we must first talk about Jesus and understand who he is.
The next step that both Jesus and Peter mention is baptism. Jesus connects baptism directly with salvation! “Whoever…has been baptized shall be saved.” Peter says baptism is “for the forgiveness of sins”. We need to be baptized so that God will save us from our sins. If we refuse to be baptized into Jesus Christ, then we will never have the forgiveness that he offers.
Wait a minute – does this mean all we have to do is believe the good news about Jesus and be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins? Yes, it does! This is incredibly simple and incredibly easy to do because God desires everyone “to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). There is more we need to learn and do after we are saved, but these are the only things we must do to become a Christian.
Let’s recall our working definition of faith: faith hears what God says, believes what God says and does what God says. If you have never been baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, then you have the opportunity to fulfill your faith in God. Maybe you didn’t know Jesus said we need to be baptized. Maybe you didn’t know the reason for baptism. Whatever hindered you in the past, now you have the chance to hear what God says, believe what God says, and do what God says. The decisions we made yesterday don’t matter right now; all that matters today is our obedience to what we know today. If you have never been baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, then you should do that today!
Baptism is Not a Work of the Law
Sometimes people will object to being baptized because they feel it would be earning their salvation. God clearly tells us that we cannot earn our salvation (Romans 3:20, 28). Amen. We are saved by God’s grace through our faith because of the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 5:8-11). Amen again.
How do baptism and salvation fit together? If we have to obey the commandment to be baptized, then doesn’t that mean we are earning our salvation? No, and God tells us that this is not the case. Just like choosing to believe doesn’t save us, choosing to be baptized doesn’t save us either. Everything depends on Christ, his sacrifice on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. Baptism and faith are merely the things that connect us to Jesus and his powerful grace.
Baptism Connects Us with the Death of Christ
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
-Romans 6.3
Notice that God tells us we are “baptized into Christ Jesus” and that we are “baptized into his death”. Baptism is not merely getting dunked in water; it is the event that connects us to Jesus. Specifically, Paul said we are baptized into the death of Christ.
This is incredibly significant! It is the death of Christ on the cross that makes forgiveness possible! The price for sin has always been blood, and Jesus paid for the sins of the entire world by shedding his blood on the cross. If we want to be forgiven, then we need to contact the blood of Christ. How do we contact it? We are baptized into his death.
Would salvation be possible without the blood of Jesus? Absolutely not! It was Jesus’ sacrifice that makes forgiveness possible. The Bible does not tell us another way besides baptism to contact the blood of Christ for the very first time. If we want to be saved by the blood of Christ, then baptism is necessary because that is how we are connected with the death of Jesus. It is not our decision to be baptized that saves us; it is the blood of Christ.
Baptism Connects us with the Resurrection of Christ
“Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
– Colossians 2.12
Salvation is more than just the forgiveness of sins; salvation is the hope of an eternal life in heaven with God. The death of Jesus on the cross made forgiveness possible, but the resurrection of Jesus gives us hope in eternal life (Romans 5.10). We can have this hope in eternal life only if we have been raised with Jesus.
Baptism is necessary because it connects us with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If we want to live eternally, then we must be united with Jesus in both his death and his resurrection. According to the Bible, baptism is the only way that we are connected with both of these things.
Notice that all this occurs through our faith in God’s powerful work – it does not depend on our power or ability. We know that God will do what he promises, and he has promised to raise us to eternal life if we have been united with Christ in baptism. Baptism does not earn salvation. In fact, baptism is done because we trust in the power and promises of God and not our own abilities.
Conclusion
Baptism is important because it unites us with both the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. This is not because of anything we do, but because of the death of Jesus on the cross and the power of God displayed in raising Jesus from the dead. When we are baptized into Christ, we are united with both the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is this connection with Christ that makes our salvation possible and, according to the Scriptures, the only way we can be connected with Christ is through baptism.
All of the spiritual blessings (including salvation!) that God has in store for us are found in Jesus (Ephesians 1.3). If we want to have those blessings that we have to be “in Christ”. The Scriptures clearly teach that people are baptized “into Christ” (Galatians 3.27). If we are baptized into Christ, specifically into his death and resurrection, then baptism is something that we must do if we want the promise of forgiveness and eternal life in heaven with God.
If you have been or would like to be baptized into Jesus Christ, please use the contact form below so we can rejoice with you and send you more information about baptism or how you can be baptized right away. If you have any questions or concerns about the information presented in this article, you can use the same form below. Our goal should always be to glorify God by reading through his word, listening to what he has to say, and then doing what God tells us.
May God bless us all as we study the Scriptures together!
