Baptism is an important step in your journey as a follower of Christ and an outward symbol of the work He has already done in you.
Romans 6:3-4 [NASB 1995] states, "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life."
Robert Saucy in his book The Church in God's Program writes, "Baptism reflects the meaning of the gospel and the gospel it brings" (p. 193).
- Identification with Christ. Christian baptism is baptism "in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38; cf. 8:16). Baptism is, therefore, first and foremost, identification with Jesus Christ. By this act the initiate indicated that he was entering the realm of Christ's lordship and power. Baptism is therefore the sign of the working of the gospel in which God unites the believer to Himself through Christ, and the believer testifies to the subjective reality of that union in his life.
- Identification with the Church. Identification with Christ is at the same time identification with His body, the church. Death and resurrection with Christ refer not only to union with Christ but to a unity of Christ composed of many members. Since baptism signifies the inward reality of the participation into His body, it was the normal initiatory rite into the visible body.