Am I Ready to Be Baptized?

How do you learn?  Because we are humans, we learn through seeing, tasting, touching, hearing, and smelling.  God created and designed us this way, and meets us where we are, using His creation for spiritual purposes to help us learn.  Jesus gave us ways to tangibly learn and remember what He has done for us: baptism and the Lord’s supper.

Baptism is a beautiful picture of what happens to someone when they start their faith journey.  The spiritual reality is that we are dead in our sins (Eph. 2) and when we center our lives on Jesus, He resurrects us into a new life (Romans 6).  This is exactly what baptism pictures.  When we are under the water it represents our being dead and then joining Christ in His death for us, then rising from the water, we rise picturing a new person that is joining with Christ in His resurrection.

One might wonder, does it really matter if I get baptized?  On the one hand, baptism doesn’t play a role in the saving work of Jesus, and the thief on the cross (Luke 23) was with Jesus in eternity but never baptized.  But at the same time, Jesus commanded His followers to be baptized for a reason.

1. Baptism Preaches

We all need to the hear, see, smell, taste, and touch the power of the gospel.  When someone is baptized it preaches to all who are there what has happened in the heart of the baptize and acts as a reminder to those who have been baptized and invitation to those who don’t know Jesus.

2. Baptism is Public

Christianity is not a secret society.  It is a group of people from every walk of life that have joined a new mission and a new purpose.  That mission is joined publicly for all to know and see what has happened to the person being baptized.

3. Baptism is Personal

Baptism is a personal commissioning to be salt and light (Matt. 5) in the world.  As the Father sent Jesus so now we are being sent into the world to share the news with others so that they might experience a spiritual and physical baptism too.

If you have never been baptized we would love to talk with you more about it.  Please connect with our discipleship minister DJ Pittmann, dj@thesummitstl.com.