God wants His children born again. Physical birth can be a messy process and a newborn baby usually requires washing. There is an analogy here that can be drawn between cleaning a newborn baby and our baptism as believers.

Baptism is one of the most significant actions any believer can take. Jesus regarded baptism as being so important that, even though He never needed to be baptized, He set an example for all His disciples to follow and was baptized. Jesus’ last words to the twelve were, ‘Go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’

The word ‘baptism’ literally means ‘to dunk’. The same idea applies when you dunk a rusk into a cup of coffee - you immerse it in the coffee. Rich in symbolism, the idea behind baptism is that we are dunked in water, thus outwardly signifying an inward change. It is important to note that baptism is only for believers. The Bible makes it clear that a prerequisite to baptism is repentance and faith in Christ (Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, Acts 8:37). Perhaps you were baptized in water as a baby, and are wondering: ‘Am I really baptized?’ The question is simple – did you repent as a baby? Did you believe?

We have already suggested that the act of baptism is an outward expression of an inward change. Another useful idea to describe baptism is that of a funeral. When we are baptized, we attend our own ‘funeral’, and the water becomes our ‘grave’.

In Romans 6:3-4 the Bible explains what happens to us when we are baptized: ‘Or 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.

Into the water speaks of death.

As we enter the water, we symbolize our death. Our acceptance of Jesus as Lord means we have died to ourselves and are living for Him (Romans 6:8). Symbolically we are saying to everyone present at the baptism, both seen and unseen, that we are dead to sin in our lives (Romans 6:11), that is, we are not ashamed to be associated with Jesus.

Under the water speaks of burial

Jesus was buried in a tomb. In the same way, we are buried by going under the water. This completes the burial part of baptism. ‘We are buried with Him (Jesus) in death’. It is important to note that dead people cannot bury themselves. In the same way, you cannot baptize yourself.

Out of the water speaks of resurrection.

On the third day Jesus rose from the dead. Our coming up out of the water is a symbol of us being resurrected to new life in Christ (Romans 6:4). Outwardly we proclaim to both the seen and the unseen world that we are no longer living for ourselves, but for Jesus. We are alive in Him. We have passed through death and have entered resurrection life in Christ. Our new life in Christ makes us joint heirs with Him (Romans 8:17).

Tne Bible teacher describes baptism in this way: what God takes away from us, God also wants to add to us. This brings us to another baptism: baptism in the Holy Spirit.

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