Why?

To follow the example set by Jesus – Because He was the Son of God, Jesus needed no symbols to help convey the spiritual realities in His life.  Yet, He chose to be baptized because He would never ask us to do something He hadn’t already done Himself.  (Matthew 3:13-15)

Who should be baptized?

Every person who chooses to believe in Jesus – Jesus’ desire is that baptism would be our initial response of faith.  In fact, He envisioned our baptism happening in the same time frame as our accepting of His salvation offer.  As He commissioned His followers to carry His message of salvation to the world, He gave them these instructions:  Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world & preach the good news to all creation.  Whoever believes & is baptized will be saved.” Mark 16:15

When?

As soon as you have decided to become a follower of Jesus.  Since baptism is our initial response of faith in God, we encourage people to begin making plans for their baptism as soon as they have decided to become a follower of Jesus.  In the Bible, believers were baptized immediately, so at The Springs we try to continue that same practice.

What Does it mean?

Baptism is a tangible, outward expression of our decision to follow Jesus – It makes a statement not only to people, but to God Himself.  Through baptism we make an open declaration that we believe Jesus’ death paid the penalty for our sins, and have decided to accept God’s offer of forgiveness & eternal life.  It is our initial response to God as a believer. (Acts 8:12)

Baptism is a symbol of our new birth as a Christian – Becoming a follower of Jesus doesn’t just change what we do with our Sunday mornings.  It changes the nature of our heart, soul & spirit.  It is like being born again . . .like becoming a brand new person.  (John 3:5)

Baptism is associated with our cleansing from sin – One of the principle benefits of becoming a child of God is the forgiveness of our sins.  When we become a Christian the heaviness of guilt is removed as our sins are washed away.  Baptism pictures for us that cleansing. (Why wait any longer?  Get up, be baptized & wash your sins away. Acts 22:16)

Baptism helps us experience a clear conscience – Since baptism is connected with our cleansing from sin, it is not

surprising that it is also associated with having a clear conscience.  (Baptism is not a removal of dirt from your body; it is an appeal to God from a clean conscience.  I Peter 3:21)

Baptism is connected with our personal victory over the practice of sin – Unbelievers live in bondage to sin, but believers experience freedom in Jesus.  He didn’t die just so we could be forgiven.  He also died so we could be set free from the destructive power of sin in our lives.  Baptism symbolizes the “death” of sin in our lives and the “resurrection” to a new life of righteousness.  (Sin’s power over us was  broken when we became Christians & were baptized to  become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death the power of your sinful nature was shattered.  Your old       sin-loving nature was buried with him by baptism when he died; and when God the Father, with glorious power, brought him back to life again, you were given his wonderful new life to enjoy.  Romans 6:2-4)

Why Immersion?

Because the baptisms in the Bible were done by    immersion – Not all the individual baptisms recorded in the Bible can be listed here, but consider the example of John.  Because he was baptizing people by immersion, he was forced to find a deep place in the Jordan River.  (John 3:23)

Because baptism is meant to portray a burial & resurrection – The Bible says that baptism is a symbolic picture of Jesus’ death, burial & resurrection.  Baptism by immersion provides the best picture of that process in our lives. (In baptism you see how your old evil nature died with Him & was buried; & then you came up out of the death with Him into a new life.  Colossians 2:12)

What about children?

Because baptism is a response of faith in God, at The Springs we wait until children are old enough to be believers before we baptize them.  The exact age is left up to the discernment of the child’s parents, though typically we encourage them to wait until the child is at least 7 years old.  Feel free to contact our Children’s Pastor Angie Barker with any questions.

A Final Thought…

The answers given here reflect our practices at The Springs, and are not intended to cast doubt on the salvation of those who share a slightly different understanding of baptism or have been baptized by a form other than immersion.  We    simply encourage every believer to follow the example and teachings of Jesus in every way possible.

Want to learn more? Click below to listen to Pastor Mark’s teaching on baptism…

Click here to sign up for our next baptism service.