Why is baptism the first Biblical step of obedience for the believer?
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gave the very first church their marching orders (known as The Great Commission) that they were to practice and pass down to the churches that would come after them. In this passage, the Bible says, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
There are three steps that churches are to follow to obey The Great Commission:
- We are to teach salvation (“teach all nations”).
- We are to baptize those who receive Christ as their Saviour (“baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”).
- We are to disciple those new believers so that they know how to please the Lord (“teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”).
If you have received Christ as your Saviour, the next step for you is baptism. Biblically, baptism comes immediately after salvation, and before discipleship. That means that you really cannot grow in the Lord until you have been Scripturally baptized. Until you are baptized, you will always find yourself stumbling, because you are walking in disobedience to Christ, and limiting the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.
When Peter preached at Pentecost, he instructed those who heard him to “repent” (that is, get saved), “and be baptized…” (Acts 2:38). Baptism was to follow immediately after salvation.
Later, we see the pattern again, when Philip preached to the people of Samaria: they believed on the Lord for their salvation, and were baptized right afterwards. Here is what Acts 8:12 says: “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
Then again, we see this pattern in Philippi, when God miraculously used an earthquake to free Paul and Silas, who had been thrown into prison for preaching the Gospel. Acts Sixteen, starting in verse 30, tells us that the jailer, after seeing the miracle, “…brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (32) And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. (33) And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”
Do you see how important baptism was to the jailor? In the same hour that the jailor and his family trusted Christ for their eternal salvation, they were also baptized! Baptism should be a priority for any new convert.