Baptism is a picture of our dying with Christ and rising with Him with a new life to live.
This picture is laid out in Romans 6: 3-10:
Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over Him. When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. (NLT)And Colossians 2: 12 says:
For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. (NLT)The word we use for baptism is not a translation, but is the Greek word itself brought into our language, a transliteration. The Greek word is baptizo, which is derived from the verb bapto, which means, "to whelm, to cover wholly with a fluid." So the way we administer this ordinance of the church is to completely submerge the person. And we only invite one to do this after they have realized that Jesus Christ has saved them, as a picture we act out in demonstrating what God has done for us.
God has immersed us into the body of Christ, making us His own children, in giving us His Holy Spirit in our human spirit, making it alive, hence called a "new birth" or "birth from above." This is what Peter is talking about when he says:
Water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. (I Peter 3: 21, NLT).The baptism that saves us is not the physical picture we act out, but the act of God in putting us into Christ's body, as He is the Head:
Connected to Christ, the Head of the body. For He holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it (Colossians 2: 19, NLT).We are buried under the water like a grave as Christ was buried in the tomb, and we rise up out of the water as Christ rose from the dead. It is as though we died when Jesus took our place on the Cross. So as He was also raised from the dead with a new quality of life, Resurrection Life, so we also rise up out of the water to demonstrate that we have New Life now, and will be Resurrected like Christ when He returns. This is our public witness, and makes us accountable to live our lives differently now.
When we submit to baptism, this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing when done properly, as Christ died once and rose from the dead. And when He calls us to faith, to trust Him to have taken our place in death on the Cross, then His Blood cleanses us so thoroughly and permanently that it is like we've never sinned, and His Holy Spirit can come into our spirit, making it alive, without His very Presence destroying us.
That's why we are to make a public show of this happening in our lives, to tell the world that we are different, and that we will live our lives differently than we have in the past. And this public display can help to keep us accountable to not slip back into any of our previous sinful habits.
Water baptism has no power in itself, other than the accountability factor. And to baptize a baby has no effect on the baby, and cannot be administered in proper form without nearly drowning the infant. Its only effect would be on the adults to take on the responsibility of training the child up in the faith. So it's not really baptism, but more of a dedication of the parents and sponsors on behalf of the child.
If you were baptized as a baby, or if you submitted to baptism in an effort to be religious, but didn't yet realize Christ's death for you, then you did not partake of the Biblical ordinance yet.
Jesus commissioned the disciples to go into the world to gather students, then to baptize them, then to teach them how to live this new life, in Matthew 28: 18-20
Jesus came and told His disciples, "I have been given all authority in Heaven and on Earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the Age." (NLT)So we are to preach the Gospel that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again with Resurrection Life, and those who believe are to be baptized; then we are to instruct them in the ways God designed us and this Earth to operate, and to cooperate with His ways.
We are to know Scripture: what it says, what God meant when He said it, and to apply its principles of life to our daily lives. It's as simple as that. But it is not easy; it takes the power of God's Holy Spirit living in us to give us understanding of God's Word, and to give us the power and ability to follow it.
This is the picture God gave us to act out. And we need to understand this picture in order to obey His commands. Because God is very serious about His pictures He gives us.
O my Father, please help us to see as You see, to understand what You are telling us, and to obey Your ways in our walk of life.
You have told us everything we need to know, in order to know You, cooperate with You, and enjoy You. Help us to understand and obey concerning this ordinance of baptism You have given us, so we can be encouraged to follow You in Your plan for each of us, to fit into Your great Plan of the Ages.
And Jesus is coming soon, and we need to be ready to welcome Him.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King of all Creation, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
