Baptism
The Christian belief of baptism is described in the Holy Bible. It is the first sacrament of the Church by which a believer becomes a member of the Church.
The importance of baptism for salvation can be seen in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). The Bible tells us of many people who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and were then baptized. For example, the Samaritans (Acts 8:12), the Ethiopian (Acts 8: 36-37), Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48), Lydia (Acts16:14-15) and Saul (Acts 22:16). All these were baptized after they believed.
The importance of baptism is also evident in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when he says, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3: 5). The Bible also say’s that God “saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3: 5). Baptism occurs in water and involves the washing away of sins. This is evident in the Bible for it is written “be baptized and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16). The other aspect of baptism is spiritual where one becomes united with Jesus Christ. The Bible explains this with a number of verses such as “for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3 : 27). The Bible explains also in Romans 6 : 3-5 where it says, “do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 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. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection”. Therefore, baptism involves regeneration. It involves the death of the old self and the birth of a new self who is in the likeness of Jesus Christ.