Baptism puts a believer in the position of publicly professing that he has repented of his sins and has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And by being immersed in water he affirms before the congregation that the Gospel message by which he was saved is indeed true and that he is now identifying himself as a follower of Jesus who died and rose again for our salvation. This profession of faith is necessary in order to be added by baptism to the membership of one of Christ’s New Testament churches (Acts 2:41).

Before Jesus ever embarked in his ministry to serve God by preaching the Gospel and building his church, he was first baptized by John the Baptist. This shows that Jesus left a pattern for us to follow today in that every believer should be scripturally baptized before trying to serve God through his church, which is the house of the living God and the only religious medium through which a believer may serve God acceptably (Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Tim. 3:15). Hence, water baptism should be the believer’s first act of obedience after having accept Christ as his Savior.

In Romans chapter 6, the apostle Paul revealed that baptism represented the believer’s death to his old sinful life and his being raised up to walk in newness of life, just as Jesus also died and rose again. Thus baptism clearly anticipates the idea that the baptized believer has committed himself to live a holy and godly life. Only in this way can one truly substantiate his profession of faith and serve as a witness of the transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.