Baptism is an act in which you not only declare your membership of the Church, Christian, Catholic or Orthodox, but it is the covenant of faithfulness that you seal with God. To understand this, you need to know what the first Christians did after they were baptised.
If you want to broaden your knowledge about baptism, I suggest you read how many prophetic books there are in the Bible.
What did the early Christians do after they were baptised?
Before the coming of the Messiah, the people of Judea believed in the God of Isaac, Jacob and Abraham.
Many of them carried on the faith of their ancestors, so John the Baptist baptised believers in the Jordan River for Jesus the Messiah.
Baptism was inherited from Judaeo-Christianity. Those who repented of their sins were immersed in water to proclaim their faith in Christ.
What the early Christians did after baptism was to begin a new life!
Jesus himself was baptised by his cousin John!
Why were the first Christians baptised?
Jesus was baptised in the Jordan River when he was 30 years old.
Although He was sinless because He was the Son of God, He asked John to baptise Him to show that He was determined to do the will of His Father.
In doing so, Jesus indicated his willingness to give his life as a sacrifice to redeem the sins of the world.
Christians then, as now, followed Jesus’ example, except that they had nothing to redeem but to show publicly that they were determined to dedicate their lives to him, to do his will.
Christians today, like the early Christians, were baptised at the command of Jesus Christ in his commission:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
Because He Himself did it, as I said before, and out of love and obedience to Him.
I invite you to expand on this information by reading the history of the early Christians.
The first baptisms in history
Pentecost is the Greek name for a festival known as the Feast of the Week.
As the name suggests (fifty), it refers to the fifty days after the Passover sacrifice.
On that day, the end of the harvest was celebrated and thousands of people gathered.
It is said that on Pentecost 31 AD, Peter preached a powerful sermon to those present.
With a compelling message, over three thousand people were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ that day!
And one of the things the early Christians did after being baptised that day was to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
If you are interested, you can support this reading by reading how to read the Bible in a month.
What is required to be baptised?
To be baptised, all you have to do is believe in Him and confess Him as your Saviour!
But once you believe in Him, you have to do what the first Christians did after they were baptised, you have to obey Him, do what He wants and try to imitate Him.
You must be
Kind – Giving – Honest – Prudent – Firm – Sincere – True – Genuine – Watchful – Forgiving – Pure of heart
You must remember that baptism alone will not give you the salvation you seek.
You must confess with your mouth and receive with a repentant heart!
Only those who accept Jesus as their only Saviour by faith will experience a legitimate repentance of their sins!
This is one of the first things the early Christians did after they were baptised!
How should we be baptised?
The word “baptism” is an adaptation of the Greek word “baptizo”, which means to immerse, dip or place under water.
The Bible says that when John the Baptist baptised Jesus, Jesus came up out of the water!
The place where John baptised was the River Jordan.
That is why the correct way to baptise is to immerse the body completely in water, either in a pool, a tank or the sea; for it is a liquid tomb, to allude to the famous “I die to the world (when immersed), and I live to Christ” (when resurrected).
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
Baptism must be administered by a minister of the gospel of proven faith, with moral and spiritual authority.
Finally, and most importantly, it must be done in the name of Jesus.
For more information, see how many books of the New Testament there are in the Bible.
Should babies be baptised?
This question is asked by many people, and although we have already seen what it takes to be baptised, I put it to you in the same way.
The Bible says in Mark 6:16 that whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; and in Acts 18:8 we find that many of the Corinthians heard and believed and were baptised.
We also know of Jesus’ Great Commission, which calls for repentance.
I ask you these questions: Would a baby have anything to repent of, and if that baby did not confess Jesus as his Saviour, would he be saved?
There is not a single place in the Bible where infant baptism is mentioned!
An infant has no sin because they have no consciousness of heaven until they begin to be conscious of sin.
Nor could he do what the first Christians did after they were baptised: confess that the Lord is their Saviour.
Nor could he assume the responsibilities of a Christian, not only to the Church and to Jesus, but also to society.
Dear friend, today I invite you to do what the first Christians did after their baptism: acknowledge Jesus Christ as your only Saviour.
Let Him into your heart and you will see how He works in your life!
