Should I be Baptized?

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” (Matthew 3:11-14 [NASB])

Physically and biblically, baptism is the act of being bodily immersed in water, a cleansing symbolizing the washing away of sins, and in the above passage we see that Jesus is choosing to be baptized and choosing John to be the one to perform the baptism.

In other Biblical passages, we see that cleansing by baptism is important in our relationship with God.

• Peter, at Pentecost, tells the crowd to “Repent and be baptized, 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.” (Acts 2:38)

• Paul uses the imagery of baptism to illustrate identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, symbolizing dying to sin and being raised to new life in Christ. (Romans 6:3-4)

In addition to God, let’s look at the participants . There is a subtle but clear relationship between the one performing the baptism and the one being baptized. The one being baptized “chooses” to be baptized – the one performing the baptism is following what is traditionally known as the Great Commission. We read this in Matthew 28, 18-20, and I have broken it into the following statements:

• “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
• Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you;
• and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Authority, action, reward.

So, each participant has a role; both are a choice; both have rewards. The one, choosing to be cleansed of sin in God’s eyes and obedient to Him: and the other obedient in carrying out the commission to which we are all called.

Should a child be Baptized when the child does not have awareness of choice? Of course, because it’s emblematic of the parents’ commitment to raising the child in God’s love – but then in later life, the choice to be baptized as an adult continues to be important. This may be seen as contradictory to Ephesians 4:5, which says, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”, but I argue that adult Baptism is a personal choice, where infant Baptism is a parental commitment.

But let’s not lose the scriptural reference to Baptism “with the Holy Spirit and fire”, the baptism that comes in acceptance of Jesus Christ as our savior.

I was Baptized as a child and later in life river baptized by my choice, having already received the Holy Spirit; and I have performed baptisms in the ocean at Cane Bay and would willingly do more. Offer made – Your choice.