First, baptism is an act of loving obedience to the explicit command of our Lord. Christ commanded His disciples to be baptized. Secondly, baptism is a public testimony of one’s faith in Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, when a person received Christ, the person gave public testimony to that fact through baptism. Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 2:41; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15, 33

The Scriptures expressly state that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Why did Jesus submit to being baptized by John? Jesus was setting an example for His disciples to follow. Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-23; 2 Corinthians 5:21

Baptism is only for those who have made a personal declaration of faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. People who are genuine followers of Christ are to be baptized. This is what is meant by “believer’s baptism.” Acts 2:41; 8:37-38; 10:43-48; John 10:27; 2 Corinthians 7:10

First, baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. God’s great redemptive event of all history – the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ – is pictured and reenacted in the water baptism of every believer. Secondly, baptism symbolizes the present death, burial, and resurrection of the believer. Through baptism the believer shows that he has died to sin, that his old life has been buried with Christ, and that he has been raised to walk in the newness of life. Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 52

Immersion is considered the scriptural mode of baptism for several reasons: First, the word translated “baptize” in the New Testament (Greek, baptizo) means “to dip, to plunge, to submerge, to immerse.” Secondly, the two New Testament accounts of baptismal services clearly indicate that immersion was the mode of baptism employed (Jesus, Mark 1:9-10; Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8:38-39). Thirdly, immersion is the only method of baptism that pictures a death, burial, and resurrection.

First, Jesus instructed His disciples to baptize their converts in “the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” However, because of the alternate formulas found in the Book of Acts- “in the name of Jesus Christ” and “in the name of the Lord Jesus” – it is not mandatory that the Trinitarian formula be used. Secondly, we baptize “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” as a way of affirming the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; 10:48; 8:16; 19:5