Should I get baptise?

Perhaps you are asking yourself this question right now? Or perhaps you know of someone who has been a Christian for a while but does not see the importance of being baptized? Or perhaps baptism is something you disagree with because you have been baptized before but when that happened, you never gave a believable profession of faith in Jesus. Before we get to the question should I get baptized, we must ask what is baptism?

The Greek word baptizo means to plunge something in water. We see this in Mark 1:5 were John was baptising people in the river Jordan. He was baptising them in the river and not by the river, which suggest that John was immersing people into the water and then they came up out of the water just as Jesus did when he was baptized by John in Mark 1:10. John’s baptism signifies a repentance from sin and pointing them to believe in the one who was to come, the messiah. John also confesses in Mark 1 that the messiah is mightier than he and he will baptise with the Holy Spirit. This was later fulfilled at Pentecost. But our focus in this article is the public display of baptism, namely when a person is plunged/immersed into water.

According to Smith’s Bible dictionary, Christian baptism signifies three things.

1.     It signifies a confession of faith in Christ

2.     A cleansing or washing of the soul from sin

3.     A death to sin and a new life in righteousness

If the three things above are true in regard to Christian baptism and you believe these things to be true, then the question of should I get baptise ought to be answered with an emphatic Yes.

In Matthew 28:19 we see that Jesus orders the apostles to baptise the disciples that they make. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” So, we can see that one of the hallmarks of a disciple is that they are baptised. Jesus considers baptism to be a very important thing and so should all Christians because Jesus commands it.

Have you put your faith in Jesus? If so then you should be baptised. There is no reason to delay. You ought to be like the Ethiopian eunuch, for when he was with Philip and “they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

What prevents you from being baptised today when you knew that you put your faith in Jesus? You have given a believable profession of faith. Do not delay and be a good disciple by obeying your master!

K.Oni