The Truth About Baptism

Is baptism necessary for salvation? Or is it just a legalistic ritual? If we should be baptized, who should do the baptizing? And, ritual or not, what is the purpose of baptism in the first place?

These are just a few of the many questions surrounding baptism. Some see the practice as required for salvation, while others see it as stuffy legalism. Some say anyone can baptize; others believe that only certain people should do so. Some baptize infants, while others hold that candidates for baptism must be adults who understand what is being done.

Is there a way to sort through the confusion? Can we understand the topic of baptism and the real meaning behind it?

The answer is yes. Let’s find out what the Bible actually says about this much-misunderstood topic. If we’re going to have any clarity on biblical baptism, we need to know how to separate mere tradition from the truth.

The Purpose of Baptism: What Does It Mean to be Baptized?

At Tomorrow’s World, we strive to help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible—and, from time to time, we get questions from our readers and viewers about doctrinal issues. Few Bible topics seem to find as much difference of opinion as baptism. Yet baptism is a fundamental doctrine for Christians, as the Apostle Paul noted: “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment” (Hebrews 6:1–2).

Defining Baptism

Clearly, baptism is important. But what exactly do we mean when we talk about it? If we want to understand baptism, the first question we need to answer is that of its purpose. And to answer this question, we must first unpack the original meaning of the word baptism. This English word is the anglicized form of the Greek word baptizo (βαπτίζω), which in turn means “to dip” or “to sink.” This is the Greek word the New Testament uses to refer to baptism. That being the case, it’s immediately obvious that, in its very basic sense, to baptize means to submerge in or under water.

This often comes as a surprise to people who grew up in a church where people are “baptized” by sprinkling or pouring. We’ll see the significance of this as we go along, but for now, let’s look at a literal example of how baptism was done in the New Testament. We find one as we read about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch he met while traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza:

Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him (Acts 8:36–38).

Notice that they “went down into the water.” That refers to baptism by immersion, and we see further evidence of this in the next verse: “Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more” (v. 39). We see that they went down into the water and then came up out of the water. It’s plain that this is referring to a baptism of full immersion—but you may be wondering, Why does this matter?

How Baptism Symbolizes Death…

There is actually great significance in baptism by immersion, and Scripture is explicit about that significance. At its very core, baptism is symbolic of death. We learn this from the words of the Apostle Paul, who wrote that “as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).

When we go under the water of baptism, we are figuratively dying. We are to let the old man or woman die—letting go of our past sins, our harmful habits, our false ways of thinking, and our wrong ways of doing things. We are then raised up out of the water, to learn a new way of life. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (v. 4).

Baptism teaches us that living a Christian life is about dying to the self. That’s what we must do once we have been baptized. We see this in what Paul wrote to the Galatian brethren: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, King James Version).

But Also, a New Life

If we’re seeking baptism, it means we want to be forgiven of our sins, and we should want that forgiveness. But baptism is also about much more. Being baptized means we want to change the way we live. We want to be different—and by the power of the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and by the receiving of the Holy Spirit, we can be different. This is why Jesus instructed His Apostles to baptize by immersion—because immersion pictures that we are choosing to be “crucified with Christ” and dead to our past.

Now, baptism alone—just going through the act—doesn’t mean we are fully conquered and surrendered to God. To reach that point takes nothing less than a lifetime of effort! But if we let the method of baptism teach us about the purpose of baptism, it can change our life as we strive to live according to God’s commands.

Baptism Is Required for Salvation

Some see any action a Christian feels obligated to do, striving to obey God, as legalistic—and any mandated moral act as somehow “earning salvation.” So, is baptism a legalistic ritual? We’ve already touched on the fact that there is much more to baptism than just a physical act. It has profound spiritual meaning for every Christian, if we are truly repenting and surrendering to God.

Many mainstream “Christians” say that anything we strive to do to obey our Savior is “legalism.” But consider: If that’s true—if a person doesn’t have to keep any commands of God—then anyone can be saved at the end of an unrepentant life of lying, cheating, stealing, and even murdering! That’s not what we read from the Apostle John: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15).

What Is Expected of a Baptized Christian?

It’s not legalism to obey God’s commandments. It’s simply showing that we love Him by doing what He says. And God will not give eternal life to anyone who doesn’t love Him.

Belief in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is absolutely vital to becoming a true Christian. We must have faith in His sacrifice for our sins, and we must develop a deep and profound appreciation for what He did for us. We must have sincere belief in Him and call on His name in faith if we want to receive salvation from sin. As Paul wrote to the brethren in Rome, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:9, 13).

So where does baptism fit in? To find out, we must put together all the scriptures on the subject—we don’t just build a fundamental doctrine around one or two scriptures and leave the rest out. So, is baptism, along with faith and belief, necessary for salvation?

That’s a good question. Let’s get the answer from the very greatest authority on that subject—Jesus Christ, our Savior. He said, in no uncertain terms, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15–16).

Of course, baptism is not a magical, mystical, one-and-done action to obtain eternal life. Absolutely not—nothing could be further from the truth. But on the other hand, we’ve just read that baptism is a requirement for salvation, according to our Savior. For it to be effective in that way, it must be accompanied by faith, trust, and belief in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. It must also be accompanied by a deep appreciation for His role as our personal Savior and a commitment to obey Him in everything.

So, no—baptism is not some meaningless, legalistic ritual. It’s an outward expression of an inward conviction. First, we believe in and call on the name of Christ, acknowledging and repenting of our sins. We must make a determined decision to stop sinning and to take our lives in the opposite direction, beginning to change. Then in faith, we must live in obedience to Jesus as our Savior and Master, learning to conform every part of our life to Him and His will.

Yes, we need belief and baptism. It’s not a question of one or the other—it’s a matter of both. In addition, we need to deeply repent of our sins, and then we need the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit.

When the Apostle Peter gave a sermon on the Day of Pentecost, telling the assembled people that they were guilty of the death of the Messiah, they had the right response: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37). That should be our response as well: When we realize that we are personally responsible for the death of our Lord and Savior, we should be cut to the heart, deeply moved—and we should be ready to listen and learn about what God wants us to do.

Peter saw the humble attitude of the crowd, and he replied, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Christ’s disciples taught that true Christians are to believe in their Savior, openly affirm that He is their Master, and then act in faith.

Upon repentance and baptism by immersion, true Christians receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. To learn more about what the laying on of hands is, you can read our July-August 2025 “Questions and Answers” article, “What Is the Laying on of Hands?,” available at TomorrowsWorld.org.

Who Should Baptize?

We’ve seen that baptism by immersion is an outward expression of inner conviction—the godly result of belief and faith. But another question that sometimes comes up is, Who should baptize?

There is a lot of confusion about this question. Some think anyone who wants to baptize can do so. Some even believe they can baptize themselves. To resolve this confusion, instead of just using our own imagination, let’s look at the Bible for guidance.

When Jesus commanded His disciples to preach the Gospel, He also sent them to heal the sick, cast out demons, and baptize. But not just anyone was authorized to do so. We find this explained in the book of Acts. One of Christ’s servants, a man named Philip, was ordained a deacon not long before he preached Christ in Samaria. Philip baptized many people there, including a sorcerer named Simon, who at that time appeared to be sincere and repentant. We read further that, having been baptized by Philip, the new converts in Samaria then had hands laid upon them by the Apostles:

Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14–17).

It was only after having hands laid on them in prayer that those people received the Holy Spirit. That’s how everyone receives it—not just by believing in the heart. We repent of our sins in obedience to Jesus Christ, we ask for His forgiveness in faith, we are baptized for the remission of our sins, and then we have hands laid on us for the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Simon the sorcerer recognized this very clearly—so he offered the Apostles money in an attempt to gain their authority for Himself. Of course, the Apostles refused: “Peter said to him, ‘Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!’” (Acts 8:18–23).

So, who should baptize and perform the laying on of hands for people to receive the Holy Spirit? Only those who have been duly ordained into the ministry of Jesus Christ. The idea that people can baptize themselves is purely the fruit of human imagination—not of following the instruction given to us through God’s word.

Why You Should Be Baptized

Now that we’ve discussed the purpose of baptism, that it’s not just a legalistic rite, and that it should only be done by those who are authorized to baptize, we’re ready to tackle what might be our most important question of all: Why should you be baptized in the first place?

Paul wrote that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23; 6:23). We all have earned the death penalty because we have sinned. So, what can we do? Are we left hopeless, awaiting eternal death, condemned to never live again once we have died?

No! Although the reward of sin is death, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus Christ came to this earth to live a human life and then die for the sins of all humanity. That means He died for you, for me, and for every other human being who has ever lived or will ever live. We can have our sins forgiven.

But this forgiveness is not a cheap grace that we receive just by having a feeling in our heart or by speaking the right words with our lips. Rather, it must bring about a deep, transformative change in our life. We must understand that we have broken God’s eternal law—and, because of that, brought on ourselves the death penalty. We must grasp that we are responsible for the death of our Savior, as did those who heard Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost.

Then we must commit our lives to living according to God’s “royal law,” which the Apostle James called “the law of liberty” (James 2:8, 12). This liberty in no way involves rejecting God’s law. Instead, it’s about learning how to obey that law—and being delivered from the penalty of breaking it in the first place. Part of this process is the act, in faith, of true Christian baptism.

Let’s read what Jesus told His disciples after His resurrection, before He ascended back to His Father in Heaven. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’” (Matthew 28:18–19).

Some try to fabricate a contradiction between this and other passages that say we must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48). But there is no contradiction—we are to do all things in our lives as truly repentant Christians in the name of Jesus Christ. “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17). Our entire lives are to be subject to Him. He is our Lord—our Master—and we are to be baptized in His name, by His authority, by those who are sent and ordained to do so.

Baptism Is the Way to the Family of God

But what does it mean to be baptized into “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”? First, let’s recognize that this is not referring to the idea of a closed Godhead called a Trinity. The Holy Spirit is not a divine person—rather, it is the power of God, both of the Father and of the Son. (For more on this topic, you can read our January 2023 article “Is the Holy Spirit a Divine Being?” at TomorrowsWorld.org.) But the Father and the Son do make up the divine Family of God. God is giving us the opportunity to be born into His divine family at the resurrection.

“Not in Subjection to Angels”

Think about that. We won’t be angels. We won’t be disembodied spirits. We will be in the Family of God. That’s our destiny when we truly repent of our sins, express faith in Jesus Christ, and endure to the end in our striving to live as He lived. That’s why we’re baptized as an outward expression of our belief and obedience—because we’re preparing to be what God is.

The Scriptures show that the Church will marry Christ at His return. John recorded the voice of a great multitude saying, “‘Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:7–8). Those who have been baptized and have received God’s Holy Spirit have become part of the Bride of Christ. We enter that marriage covenant at baptism, promising to be faithful, true, and committed to our Savior—not just for a lifetime, but for all eternity.

Baptism Not for Children

Some ask whether children should be baptized, or even infants. When we understand that a baptismal candidate is committing to a marriage covenant, it becomes all the clearer that this is not a decision for children, who are not yet at the point where they can make that kind of commitment—they cannot fully comprehend matters such as sin, repentance, and faith. Even in secular society, we don’t allow children to make adult, lifelong decisions until they have reached a certain age and maturity—or at least we shouldn’t.

So, why be baptized in the first place? Baptism is when we enter into a covenant with our Creator to follow Him no matter what. It is far beyond just a legalistic ritual or empty ceremony, and it should not be entered into lightly. It’s the most important decision any of us can make in this life—to belong to God for all eternity.

Baptism Just the Beginning

Maybe you are at a crossroads in your life. Maybe God is opening your mind to the message we at Tomorrow’s World are bringing, and you recognize that it matches up with what you read in the Bible—because it’s the truth. Maybe you’ve come to the point in your life where you’re tired of going your own way, and you want to commit to living God’s way. If that sounds like you, we invite you to contact us to talk to a Living Church of God minister about baptism.

Make no mistake—baptism isn’t just a quick decision. It’s not a matter of getting dunked and checking it off the list. It’s not just a quick way to “get right with God” and go merrily on our own way. Our representatives will help you understand that baptism is the starting point of a whole new way of life. It’s about overcoming sin, yielding to God, and committing to obey Him in every way. It’s about becoming part of the body of Christ, His Church. It’s about being called by the Father and responding to that call, as Jesus explained: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).

We hope and pray that God is opening your eyes to what the biblical truth about baptism can mean for you.