What is the meaning of Baptism?

Answer 1

Baptism is a command of Christ. He said, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” (Mark 16:16)

Many will tell you that someone believes, is saved, and then he shall be baptized. This is not the same thing Jesus said. It is not in the same order.

What would Jesus have said if he had meant, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved”? I believe he said what he meant and meant what he said. I believe Jesus! “He that believes not shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

Many agree that baptism is commanded by Christ, but they say it is not necessary for salvation. Hebrews 5:9 says, “He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.”

Acts 2:38 says that baptism is “for the remission of sins”, “unto the remission of sins” or “so that your sins will be forgiven”. (Depending on which translation you read.) I Peter 3:21 says baptism now saves!

In the conversion of Saul (Paul), Acts 22:16 says he was commanded to be baptized and wash away his sins. Can we be saved if our sins remain? The only thing that can wash away sins is the blood of Christ.

Romans 6:3-4 says we are “baptized into Christ”. Can we be saved outside of Christ? (See Gal. 3:27 also.) These verses in Romans also say we are “baptized into his death”. At Christ’s death is where his saving blood was shed and offered for our sins. We must contact His death to contact that blood! Can we be saved if we have not contacted His death?

Romans 6:3-4 also say that at baptism we “rise to walk in newness of life.” At a birth there is a new life. Can we be saved if we have not been “born again” to this new life?

In the New Testament after Jesus gave the command about baptism, every example of a conversion specifically mentions baptism. None of these converts ate, drank, slept, or continued their journey until they were baptized. It was always immediate.

Saul who I mentioned earlier, spoke to Jesus. He called Jesus “Lord” and he asked what he needed to do to be saved. Jesus told him to go into the city and it would be told to him what he “must do”. In the city he fasted for three days and he was praying. (Acts 9:9-11) Many would say he was saved at that point, but he still had not been told what he “must do”. Then he was told to be baptized and wash away his sins. Please note, even though he had not eaten or drank for three days, he was baptized before he took food. (Acts 9:18-19) This shows the urgency of baptism.

After one believes, repents and confesses Christ, baptism is the point at which we come “into Christ”. The act of being immersed in water and rising up out of the water symbolically recreates Christ's death, burial, and ressurection. It is this way God has appointed for us to contact Christ's death and be forgiven of our sins. Baptism is “for the remission of sins”.

Answer 2

Baptism predates Christianity and is a ritual purification using water. It is very close to the mikvah in Judaism.

Most Christians see it as necessary for salvation and some consider it being "born again." Others see it as dedication and adoption into the Christian family, while some groups believe that any meaning is spiritual only and do not require the actual act or use of water.

Considerable dissent has occurred within Christianity about what makes a baptism valid. Some claim that the intent, even without water is sufficient, others require specific wording, like including mention of the Trinity, and others require total immersion, sometimes three separate immersions into a body of water.

Some baptize infants as part of the process of becoming Christian which is then affirmed around puberty in Confirmation or some other act of joining the church. Other groups will only baptize adults or mature children. The Amish are not fully bound by the rules of the relgion (Ordnung) until baptized, and this is usually late teens or even early twenties.

Baptize, therefore, means different things to different people. In Christianity, the practice relates to John baptizing his cousin Jesus. However, since Jesus was theoretically without sin and the path to salvation, it's a theological puzzle why he would even be baptized,.

Answer 3

Baptism in the bible is a christian sacrament signifying spiritual cleansing and rebirth.
In Christianity it is a public testimony of your unity with christ.Some people think that when u become baptised the water used in the baptism ceremony has cleansed you of your sins.No,Baptism is an act and a symbol that u want to show to the public that it is "Official" that you have accepted Jesus Christ in your life,that you are Born Again through christ because we are born dead from our sins and transgressions,and that u have surrendered your life to him and let his will be done.

Now Christians...Doesn't practice baptism On newborns,Roman Catholic does.Because newborn babies are so innocent and pure so why would they need to be baptised if they havent even have any idea what sinning is.They havent sinned OR transgressed.
What Christian practice to newborns is called DEDICATION.
We dedicate our children to the lord and give him back the glory and blessings that he has given us which is our child.We dedicate our childs life to him because it is not ours it is his.

Answer 4

Baptism

Definition: The word “baptize” comes from the Greek ba·pti′zein, meaning “to dip, to plunge.” (A Greek-English Lexicon, by Liddell and Scott) Christian water baptism is an outward symbol that the one being baptized has made a complete, unreserved, and unconditional dedication through Jesus Christ to do the will of Jehovah God. The Scriptures also refer to John’s baptism, baptism with holy spirit, and baptism with fire, among others.

Answer 5

1 Peter 3:18-21

18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison

20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,

21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
NIV

Many would have you believe that baptism is ONLY symbolic. This scripture speaks to this idea. Here it says baptism saves. Here you will see it being compared to Noah's water WHICH SAVED. It says that NOAH'S water was symbolic not baptism. It is was symbolic in that "baptism THAT NOW SAVES YOU ALSO".

The writer knew this would be a difficult thing to understand so he explains -- it's not related to the removal of dirt from the body but to the pledge of a good conscience. Some say this scripture is talking about baptism of the Holy Spirit. First, nowhere does it say this is baptism of the Holy Spirit. Second, NEVER in scripture where it is clearly stated that the scripture is talking about Holy Spirit baptism is this baptism stated as being saving in nature but rather identification of the saved. Third, this scripture is obviously talking about water baptism because the writer clarifies that this act has nothing to do with the removal of dirt which happens when one is immersed in water.

But can any work I do merit salvation? Surely not! Is baptism a work? Yes. But baptism is not a work I DO. I am baptized.

It therefore is a work of the one who baptizes me and most importantly it is a work that JESUS PERFORMS upon me.


Col 2:11-12
1 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,

12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
NIV

Answer 6

Baptism is a symbol of what has already taken place in a believers life. Baptism represents the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You have died to your old way of life, and those old habits and wrong-doings are now buried, and we are a new ceation, you are raised to new life.

Answer 7

It means that you are freed from the dominion of the devil and are now a child of God and an heir to the kingdom of Heaven, this is why all the Saints refer to their baptism as their birth-day.

Answer 8

Baptism serves two purposes: 1] It is a spiritual cleansing, and death of your old life. 2] It is an outright showing of your devotion and acceptance of Christ. It is required in the bible.

Answer 9

Baptism is a New Testament ordinance established by Jesus Christ just before His ascension into heaven. The Lord Jesus commissioned His disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all people, and to baptize new believers in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16). The rite is performed by immersing the person in water. Baptism is a sign to the new disciple of his fellowship with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3, 4, 5; Colossians 2:12) and of remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).

Baptism is sign of salvation

Baptism is a sign (symbol, picture) because it shows spiritual realities by means of physical elements and actions (immersion in water). Baptism is a sign is acknowledged by all, including the modern Roman Catholic Church:

The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions…This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to “plunge” or “IMMERSE”; the “plunge” into the water symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as “a new creature” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131, 1214).

God Bless You

Answer 10

Baptism is a public declaration of the contract that you have made with God to do his will instead of your own.