Baptism
Who Should Be Baptized?
At Grace, we practice believer’s baptism. This means that even if you were baptized as an infant, we believe that you should be baptized again as a believer in Christ. Infants are not old enough to make a conscious decision to follow Christ. Now that you have chosen to follow him, you should be baptized.
How Should We Be Baptized?
We believe in baptism by immersion, meaning you will be put completely under the water and then brought back up. It’s not as scary as it sounds, our pastors are pretty strong.
Jesus was baptized by immersion. Mark 1:10 says that “he came up out of the water.”
The Greek word for baptism in the New Testament is “baptizo” which means “to plunge, dip, immerse.”
What Does Baptism Mean?
It is a symbol of your total identification with Christ and allegiance to him. It shows that you have associated yourself with the death and resurrection of Jesus. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus 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.” (Romans 6:3-4).
It symbolizes your new life – that after you have accepted Jesus as personal savior, a new life will begin.
Baptism clearly pictures the death to your old way of life (going down into the water) and rising to a new kind of life (coming up out of the water). ”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (1 Corinthians 5:17).
Why Should I Be Baptized?
Jesus commanded it. “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
From the very beginning of the church, believers in Jesus have been baptized. ”What are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16).
Jesus himself was baptized (Matthew 3:13-17).
It is an act of obedience. You are demonstrating to the church that you have made a commitment to follow Christ.