Should I get baptized?

If you have accepted Christ as your Savior and you haven't been baptized, we'd like to make an argument for you to plan, if possible, to be baptized in the near future. Even Jesus was baptized (Luke 3:1-22), so His followers ought to be baptized too (Acts 2:41).

To be clear, baptism isn't what saves us. Only the grace of God allows for our salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9), so baptism isn't about our eternal security. But that doesn't mean baptism isn't a significant act.

"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." —Ephesians 2:8-9

Who should be baptized?

Anyone who has accepted Christ as their Savior should be baptized. It's not a "requirement" for salvation or even for receiving the Holy Spirit. If you were saved on one day but died before you could be baptized, you'd still be saved. But if you have a choice in the matter, baptism is an important part of your spiritual journey.

Maybe you're a new Christian, and you just haven't gotten around to being baptized yet—or perhaps no one has told you what baptism is. The short answer is that baptism is a symbolic act that publicly announces your decision to have a new life in Christ.

Maybe you already live a Christian lifestyle, have Christian friends, pray, and read your Bible. So why should you be baptized? What do you have to prove? What would be the point of being baptized if everyone already knows you're a believer? Because Jesus commanded His followers to teach others God's Word, make disciples, and baptize those disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).

Once I decided that I should probably be baptized, I began to struggle with the fact that I was already in high school and still hadn't been baptized. All my Christian friends had been baptized when they were younger. But as it turns out, age doesn't matter.

If you want to be baptized, what matters is that you understand what baptism is all about. I think if I had been baptized when I was little, I probably wouldn't have understood what was really happening.

What does baptism mean?

"Or don't you know that all of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." —Romans 6:3-4

For those who have accepted Christ as their Savior, the act of getting baptized is a symbolic, public proclamation of faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-4). Immersion in the water symbolizes belief in dying and being buried with Christ. Coming out of the water symbolizes belief in Christ's resurrection.

Baptism is a way for us to obey God by making our faith in Christ public and expressing our commitment to Him. It's a way for us to identify with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

"Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" —2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

Requirements for Baptism

There are only two requirements to fulfill before getting baptized. First, you must have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin. Second, you must truly understand what baptism is—a step of obedience in publicly proclaiming your faith in Christ.

Oh, and bonus points: You should want to be baptized. Don't do it out of obligation, pride, or peer pressure. Do it out of a desire to worship and obey God through your baptism.

For Bible references in this video, check the description on YouTube.

Ready to get baptized?

Has your question gone from "SHOULD I get baptized" to "WHEN can I get baptized"? If you desire to be baptized in obedience to God, talk to your parents, a Christian friend, or a pastor at your church. Hopefully, they'll be excited about your willingness to take that next step of faith and will be able to help with the logistics of making it happen.

Some churches hold baptisms at certain times of year, so you could wait until then. But you can really get baptized at any time and, honestly, anywhere.

Out on the mission field, sometimes missionaries will baptize people immediately after they accept Christ—in any body of water they can find—because these new believers are so excited about being new creations in Christ!

May God lead you to those who can help you get baptized soon. We pray that your baptism is a heart-changing gift of worship between you and your Heavenly Father.

"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ.." —Acts 2:38a