Do I need to be baptized? -- Kyle

NOTE: In this answer, Kids 4 Truth understands "baptized" as the act of being physically immersed (dunked) into water. Kids 4 Truth understands that there is a spiritual baptism and a water baptism, and that these are two separate and individual events. Please see the answer to another question to understand this further: Is Water Baptism Necessary for Salvation!

The answer is "Yes, you should IF you have turned from your sin and trusted Christ," and here is why.

1. The Bible commands us to be baptized.

Matthew 28:19,20, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Mark 16:16, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

Colossians 2:12, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead."

Many people believe that baptism is necessary to go to heaven. But if someone is trusting in their baptism to get them to heaven, they are trusting in the wrong thing. Baptism cannot save anyone from their sin. Being dunked in water might cleanse the dirt away from behind your ears, but it cannot cleanse the sin away from your heart! Only Jesus (God) can forgive sin. I like to ask those people who think it is necessary to be baptized to go to heaven one important question:

Did the thief on the cross get baptized before he died? Jesus told the thief that he would be with Him in "paradise." (Luke 23:43) The thief was not physically baptized in water before he died and yet God still accepted him on the basis of his faith. The thief believed that Jesus was truly God! (Luke 23:42)

In many countries baptism is extremely significant because when someone is baptized they are telling their friends, neighbors, and relatives that they have forsaken their old life and are now a follower of Jesus Christ. Many times, when a person is baptized they are disowned by their family and loved ones because of what that person represents -- a changed life and new beliefs.

In the Bible we find out the pattern for new converts was 1. Hearing the Word of God, 2. Receiving by faith what was said, and then 3. Being baptized to show they had accepted what was said. If you have believed the Word of God and received Christ, then you should be obedient to the Scriptures and be baptized in a local church that preaches and teaches the Word of God.

2. Baptism pictures Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

When a person is baptized, he or she is telling others that he or she is a follower of Jesus Christ. As people are lowered into the water they are saying "just as Christ died for my sins, I am dying to the old way of life. Then as they are raised out of the water, they are saying that they have a new life in Christ just as Christ miraculously rose from the grave. Baptism does not help a person get to heaven! It is an outward picture of an inward transformation. The purpose for baptism is obedience and identification as a believer in Christ. (see Colossians 2:12)

If you haven't already acknowledged Jesus as your Lord and Savior and asked Him to forgive you of your sin, baptism really means nothing.

Look at it this way:

If it was important that Christ, who was perfect, be baptized, how much more should we follow in His footsteps and after His command?

Luke 3:21-22, "Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my believed Son; in thee I am well pleased."

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