BAPTISM

Acts 2:38: “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’.“

All who repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour should be baptised, making the first step to water baptism is really importance as a believe in Jesus its about being obedience in our life of discipleship. When we go through water baptism we are showing our commitment to Christ.

We follow Christ’s example in everything. 

In John 3v22 the Scriptures tell us that Jesus spent time with his Disciples and Baptised them, this is important part of the commissioning of the Church Matt 28v18-20

In Matthew 28:19 we are told the name in which we should be Baptised into,

“The Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus was Sinless, but he still was Baptised as an example, also the disciples were taught the important of Baptism.

Baptism in water is by submersion, is a direct commandment of our Lord, and is for believers.

The significance of water baptism is that it symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and our identification with Jesus.

The act of baptism in water is a thrilling moment in the life of a believer, and the baptismal service is always a special feature in the life of a local church. But why do we baptise, and why do we totally immerse people, rather than just sprinkling water on their heads? Baptism was a major part of becoming a Christian in the Bible, which seems to have happened immediately after someone had ‘repented’ – renounced their previous way of living. The apostles, Jesus’ first followers, taught that we should ‘repent and be baptised’.

In today’s services, baptism still holds a major place as a sign of repentance and as a declaration to the world that someone’s new life with Christ has begun. We continue to baptise because we believe in following Bible teaching in all that we do. Even Jesus was baptised, because, as he said to John the Baptist, “We must do all that God wants us to do”.

Elim churches totally submerge the believer in water (only briefly!) because we believe that this is how it was done in the Bible. The original words the Bible uses for baptism mean to dip or to dye – both of which involve going under the water. And the baptism of an Ethiopian official, described in the Bible, indicates that he was completely immersed. In the Bible, only people old enough to make their own decision to become a Christian were baptised – not babies or young children. So in Elim we do not do ‘christenings’ with water. For babies, we have a service of dedication instead. For children, we do not stipulate what age is too young to be baptised, but only children who have a clear understanding of their faith are encouraged to be baptised.

If you are a Christian and have not yet been baptised in water, there is no better time than now!