Apologetics: Why Baptism is Important.

A little bit ago when I was announcing that I was getting baptized, I said that I would do a blog post about why it’s important. So, here’s the somewhat short answer as to why, if you’re a Christian, you should get baptized.

The most important thing to know about baptism is that it’s not the thing that saves you (sorry, but as cute as infant baptisms can be, it won’t save your child). In fact, one of the questions that one of the other kids who was being baptized had to answer was whether or not he understood that baptism is not what saves you, but it’s Christ that saves you. Baptism is simply a symbolic way of showing that you’re a Christian, with it being a representation of you being cleansed from your sins. It also represents the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, which is then mirrored in us dying to sin, being buried, and being raised to follow Christ with our new lives.

This leads me to my next point, which is: “Why should I get baptized in the first place.” Though baptism is not a requirement to be saved, as a Christian, you should get baptized because it’s a public declaration of your faith. It’s making it known to everyone witnessing it that your allegiance is with Christ, not the world.

Another reason why you should get baptized as a Christian is because it’s a biblical practice that’s been going on for a long time, first becoming part of the Christian experience with John the Baptist, the forerunner to Christ. In fact, Jesus even tells his disciples to baptize new followers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, if you’re a new Christian, you should consider getting baptized.

However, though baptism is a very important part of Christianity, there are different ways that it’s performed. Of course, the main way that has been around the longest is to be emersed in the water, then brought up again. I find this one to be preferrable as it best portrays Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Another way that some denominations perform baptism is to sprinkle the person with water. While it’s somewhat less messy, I’m not a fan of this one since, once again, baptism is supposed to portray the death and resurrection. But does that mean that it’s a bad thing to not be fully emersed in the water? In my opinion, no. Though I’m biased, I think that it really depends on where your heart is.

Until next time,

M.J.