{"id":70809,"date":"2022-08-23T16:07:53","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T20:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/blog\/?p=70809"},"modified":"2022-08-24T07:32:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T11:32:34","slug":"7-reasons-why-baptism-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/blog\/2022\/08\/7-reasons-why-baptism-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Reasons Why Baptism Is Important"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gain<\/a>Why is baptism important? For thousands of years, the ceremony of baptism<\/a> has been, and continues to be, an emotionally powerful depiction of positive change in a person’s life. While it extends beyond Christianity, for the Jesus follower there are at least 7 reasons why baptism is important: Jesus modeled it, Jesus commanded it, it’s a public confession, it signifies a new name, it represents a new life, it establishes a new identity and it unifies the faith.<\/p>\n

In the book Understanding Four Views on Baptism<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Zondervan, 2007), editor John H. Armstrong says, “From the earliest days of Christianity baptism has been a rite of initiation. By this watery sign, made in the triune name of God, people are openly admitted into the life and community of the church. All agree that baptism is the symbolic door into the church.”<\/p>\n

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What Is Baptism?<\/h2>\n

The English word \u201cbaptism\u201d derives from the Greek word baptisma<\/em> and denotes the action of washing or plunging in water. Ancient pagans had ceremonial cleanings, but its Christian origin is primarily traced to Old Testament Jewish ritual purifications.<\/p>\n

Its imagery is rich in Hebrew Scripture, as in Psalm 51:1-7<\/a> “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin….Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”<\/em> In his commentary<\/a>, Warren Wiersbe says, \u201c’Wash’ (vv. 2, 7<\/a>) refers to the cleansing of dirty clothing (Isa. 1:18<\/a>; 64:6<\/a>). In the Jewish society of that day, to wash and change clothes marked a new beginning in life (Gen. 35:2; 41:14; 45:22<\/a>; Ex. 19:10, 14<\/a>), and David made such a new start (2 Sam. 12:20<\/a>).”<\/p>\n

The Old Testament story of Naaman, the commander of the king of Aram’s army, is another precursor to the concept of baptism, where the prophet Elisha told Naaman to wash 7 times in the Jordan river as the method God chose to heal him of his leprosy and demonstrate God’s life-changing power and far reaching love, even to those outside the Israelite fold (2 Kings 5:1-14<\/a>).<\/p>\n

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptizer used this Jewish imagery in his work where the people’s confession of sin, and their repentance and forgiveness, was ratified by baptism. The New International Encyclopedia of Bible Characters<\/em> on Bible Gateway Plus says, “The use of water rituals was not uncommon in Judaism. Cleansing from the impurities of sin was certainly one of the ideas conveyed by this ceremony. However, in view of the associations of water with Noah’s Flood<\/a> and the destruction of the Egyptians<\/a> in the Red Sea, John’s baptism was probably intended also to remind the people that sin requires divine judgment (1 Peter 3:20-21<\/a>).”<\/p>\n

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What Are the Forms of Baptism?<\/h2>\n

Here are abbreviated descriptions of Christian forms of baptism from the Encyclopedia of the Bible<\/em> on Bible Gateway:<\/p>\n