Baptism marks a believer’s new birth into the Christian family. It symbolises the commencement of a new life under new management, where Jesus is Lord of all. It declares publicly that we desire to follow God from now on, leaving our old way of doing things behind.
Baptism of believers
All baptisms in the New Testament were of believers. Those baptised in Acts included: the believers on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-38) and in Samaria (Acts 8:12-13), Saul (Acts 9:18), Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:48), the Philippian jailer and his household (Acts 16:33) and Crispus and his household (Acts 18:8). In these cases baptism was performed only after people had heard the gospel and confessed the Lordship of Christ. Baptism was the seal of their faith.
In the full version of this article (Click here to download it), you will learn the following:
- Baptisms in the New Testament were by immersion
- Jesus’ baptism was at the start of his public ministry
- Jesus continued to teach baptism throughout his ministry
- There are four reasons why all believers need to be baptised