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Why Are People Baptized?
| "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 |
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Baptism is the statement we make that Jesus has changed our lives. In some ways it's like a wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony is a public commitment that two people want to join their lives together in marriage until death. The baptismal ceremony is a public statement that the Holy Spirit has given you a new birth, and you want to join the body of Christ, His church. When you go under the water it symbolizes the death and burial of the old sinful life you have abandoned. When you come up out of the water it
Baptism comes from a Greek word that means to dip under the water. The New Testament was written in the Greek language, and the word they used was baptizo. If you should go to Greece today, I’m told candy makers still use the word to describe what they do when they dip candy in chocolate. They baptize them. Acts 8:36-38 describes how Philip baptized the Ethiopian. Both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptized him, he dipped him under the water, then they both came up out of the water.
A Symbol of New Birth
Paul compares baptism to death and burial. When a person is converted, his old self dies, is buried under the water, and the new one is born as they come up out of the water (Romans 6:4).
A person may choose to be re-baptized if they have turned away from the Lord after once joining the body of Christ. It's a statement that they want to make that they are returning to Him.
Sometimes people desire to be re-baptized if they were very young and didn't understand the real meaning and significance of the ceremony. Still others desire to be re-baptized if they have accepted important new truth, and desire to demonstrate their commitment to this new way of life.
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