I always asked myself “Why is water baptism so important?” I thought it was just a traditional practice that pastors preached to their congregation. I felt like baptism was meaningless and unnecessary. I know it sounds bad, but I have to be open and honest with you. I would celebrate and rejoice with other believers who got baptized, but if you were to ask me personally, I would straight up tell you, “It’s not necessary.” But as many of you know, I am Divinity student, and I am learning and unlearning so many things about Christianity. Right now, I am reading the book of Acts, and I am learning how early Christians lead, taught, and built the foundation of the church. One of the things early Christians practiced was baptism, and the apostles preached how it was beneficial and necessary to the life of a believer.

In the book of Acts, Peter teaches on how baptism is closely connected to repentance.

 “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

The apostles set the tone to what Christians should practice, believe in, and consider as truth. In other words, if the early church practiced and believed in certain principles and doctrines, then so should the church of today. Understanding this allowed me to see how serious the early church took baptism. But part of me still felt like it held no benefit to Christians. However, as I began to study more about baptism, I discovered that baptism did not just start with early Christianity. Baptism actually came from a Jewish practice called, the Mikveh. The Mikveh is a ceremonial purity bath that is done for special occasions like weddings and conversions. This is when I had the “a-ha” moment. This information completely changed my attitude about baptism because I felt like it was much bigger than me. I finally saw how baptism was connected to the life of a believer. My eyes were opened because I saw that baptism was the fulfillment of what Christ did for me. The Holy Spirit convicted me that water baptism is a part of the process of salvation and not some trivial Christian practice.

My entire perspective about water baptism has changed. I have a new revelation about water baptism, and its necessary place in the life of a Christian. To be honest, I feel like we should baptize people more because of the power and authority that it has in the Christian faith. There are so many people who are joining the family of believers, yet they have never been baptized. Water baptism is a spiritual cleansing that allows us to publicly share our new life in Christ. Repentance is our personal confession of faith, while baptism is our public confession. Water baptism is the stamp of acceptance of what Jesus has done.

So now when I ask myself “Why is water baptism so important?” I answer with a new revelation and conviction. Water baptism is important because it’s a Christians way of expressing their belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a spiritual event that can significantly change your life if you grasp hold of how relevant and important it is.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here! – 2 Corinthians 5:17