Are you COMMITTED to following Jesus? Baptism is one of the most important steps of obedience for any follower of Christ. While baptism doesn’t save you, it’s the public testimony of our decision to follow Jesus. If you have never been baptized after making a decision to follow Christ, now is the time!

At Brainerd, we use the following statement, shared with other Southern Baptist churches, to describe our beliefs about baptism:

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.

Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:18-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.

Using this statement as a guide, let’s look at some specifics to further explain our beliefs concerning baptism.  

• Baptism is for believers and signifies their faith in a crucified, buried and risen Savior. Baptism identifies the follower of Christ with His death, burial, and resurrection just as each follower of Christ has died to his sin, buried the old life, and found new life as an adopted child of God. We often use other words to describe this experience. We say the follower of Christ has confessed their sin, repented of their sin, and been born again (Romans 10:9-10, Romans 6:1-11, Colossians 2:11-12, 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, Romans 8:14-17, Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11). Baptism is the follower of Christ’s public identification with Christ and demonstrates their commitment to follow Him as their King wherever He leads and to do whatever He calls them to do (Matthew 28:18-20).

One of the first and most public ways a follower of Christ identifies with their Savior and King is through baptism (Romans 6:3-11; Galatians 3:27). Individually, through baptism, the believer is symbolizing their identity with Christ in His death and resurrection.  Corporately, the baptized believer is uniting with every other follower of Christ, who are all one with Christ (Acts 2:37-47, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13).  The follower of Christ is symbolically declaring through baptism that he/she has died to his/her former life ( in a vivid watery grave), is buried in the likeness of Jesus’ death, and is then raised to walk in newness of life (demonstrating that he/she is now following a new pattern of life with Jesus).

New Testament, or “believer’s baptism”, has only one prerequisite: conversion. You must be born again by repenting of your sins and placing your faith and hope in Jesus. You are to be baptized once you have become a follower of Christ. Infant baptism reflects the best loving intentions of a family; however, the child is not old enough to have any decision, confession, or trust in the matter. In Scripture, baptism came after someone had consciously and purposefully made a personal decision to follow and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord (Acts 2:40-41, 8:12). Baptism is a commitment of your will to follow Jesus, not the will of someone else. 

Baptism does not save you (Ephesians 2:8-9). Your sins are wiped away and you experience forgiveness only by confessing and believing (1 Peter 3:18; Romans 10:9-12). Baptism is meant to be one of the first acts of obedience after putting your faith in Christ. It is the believer’s public declaration that Jesus is his/her King.