What is baptism?
THE BAPTIST FAITH AND MESSAGE
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead.
ROMANS 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Who should be baptized?
BELIEVER'S BAPTISM
Those who confess and believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior should be baptized.
ROMANS 10:9-10 ...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
How should people be baptized?
The Greek word βαπτίζω (baptizo) means to immerse
As the name suggests, and as the surrounding context of baptism in Scripture indicates, baptism is to be performed via complete immersion in water to best represent our union with Christ in his death and resurrection.
COLOSSIANS 2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
ACTS 8:38–39 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
