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Today, very few “Christian” churches baptize by full immersion in water any longer. However, the New Testament teaches that baptism is the believer’s fundamental covenant pledge necessary for the forgiveness of sins and the granting of the Holy Spirit of God—which enables you to walk in newness of life, keeping the laws and commandments of God through the grace of God, and to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ in preparation for eternal life.
The New Testament, or New Covenant, Baptism has great personal meaning—to God the Father, Jesus Christ and the individual being baptized. While it has the symbolism of being a public demonstration of one’s faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior, as you will see, true water baptism has a greater and more profound meaning. Baptism is a personal, spiritual covenant ceremony between the repentant believer, Jesus Christ and God the Father.
Baptism is an end of one’s ungodly, sinful way of living and the beginning of a new spiritual way of living. You must understand what sin is—the transgression of God's commandments and laws. You must realize that the sacrifice and the blood of Jesus Christ is the only payment for your sins and you must understand that sin is the transgression of God’s commandments and laws. Then upon genuine, godly repentance your sins and acceptance of Jesus Christ as your personal Savior for the forgiveness of your sins, as a new believer you must be baptized by complete immersion in water for the remission of your sins.
Water baptism symbolizes the death and burial of each repentant believer—you then are spiritually conjoined into the covenant death of Jesus Christ. Through this baptismal death, you become a covenant partaker of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. Then by the grace of God the Father, Jesus’ shed blood is freely accepted as full payment for your sins.
Rising up out of the water is symbolic of being conjoined into the resurrection of Jesus Christ at His return. When the believer comes up out of the watery grave of baptism, he or she rises to newness of life. In order to become a new person in Christ, each baptized believer must be begotten with the Holy Spirit from God the Father through the laying on of hands. The believer is then to be led by the Holy Spirit to walk in loving obedience to God the Father and faith in Jesus Christ; to develop the mind of Jesus Christ; to keep the commandments and laws of God through the power of the Holy Spirit of God; to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ; and to be faithful unto death.
Baptism is an irrevocable covenant pledge between you, God the Father and Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus Christ died for you, to forgive you of your sins, you likewise symbolically die in the watery grave of baptism, pledging your life unto death that you will be faithful to the end. If you are faithful unto the end, you will receive eternal life, with eternal glory and splendor, at the first resurrection when Jesus returns.
In his epistle to the Romans, Paul clearly defines full meaning of water baptism by full immersion in water—the true covenant meaning of the Christian baptismal ceremony and your new way of life in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:1-18
- 1. What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin, so that grace may abound?
- 2. MAY IT NEVER BE! We who died to sin, how shall we live any longer therein?
- 3. Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?
- 4. Therefore, we were buried with Him though the baptism into the death; so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life.
- 5. For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection.
- 6. Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin;
- 7. Because the one who has died to sin has been justified from sin.
- 8. Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
- 9. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has any dominion over Him.
- 10. For when He died, He died unto sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives unto God.
- 11. In the same way also, you should indeed reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord.
- 12. Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof.
- 13. Likewise, do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; rather, yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
- 14. For sin shall not rule over you because you are not under law [for justification of sins], but under grace [for justification of sins].
- 15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? MAY IT NEVER BE!
- 16. Don’t you realize that to whom you yield yourselves as servants to obey, you are servants of the one you obey, whether it is of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
- 17. But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you;
- 18. And having been delivered from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
Please carefully and prayerfully read the sermon transcripts and listen to these three messages about The True Meaning of Christian Water Baptism.
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