Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)

The Great Commission instructs the church to go and make disciples. The two sub-points our Lord attached were 1.) water baptism, and 2.) teaching them to obey his commands. Since baptism is the first command for disciples, it is a top priority and not to be skipped over or taken lightly. It is often the first way any new disciple can show his commitment to the Lord. The church is commissioned teach its disciples the necessity of obedience in all things, especially water baptism.

Water baptism is a public declaration that we belong to the Lord and a pledge to serve him.

When a person accepts the gospel invitation to be reconciled to God through faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross, he or she is born again and indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

The third Person of the Trinity sets up a permanent residence in our lives. He is the resident Christian, the only One Who can live the Christian life. He is our Helper, the One Who ministers grace to us, enabling us to be assured, bold and obedient followers of Christ.

The Bible says that we are “sealed” by this same Spirit. God marks us in an invisible way as belonging to Him. According to Paul, this spiritual seal is proof that God will complete the work of salvation in us which He has begun.

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NASB)

This seal is invisible and must be spiritually discerned, but our faith is meant to be a public proclamation, not something hidden. When we submit to a public water baptism, before witnesses, we boldly declare that we belong to Jesus Christ and our lives are his.

Water baptism is our public seal confirming God’s invisible seal, which signifies our union with and allegiance to Christ.

We declare that our old way of living for sin and our own desires is finished, dead, and buried, and that the rest of our natural lives will be lived for our Lord in the power of His resurrection as the Holy Spirit enables us.

Paul wrote the following regarding water baptism.

All of God lives in Christ's body, 10 and God has made you [plural] complete in Christ. Christ is in charge of every ruler and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised. It was not a circumcision performed by human hands. But it was a removal of the corrupt nature in the circumcision performed by Christ. 12 This happened when you were placed in the tomb with Christ through baptism. In baptism you were also brought back to life with Christ through faith in the power of God, who brought him back to life. 13 You were once dead because of your failures and your uncircumcised corrupt nature. But God made you alive with Christ when he forgave all our failures. 14 He did this by erasing the charges that were brought against us by the written laws God had established. He took the charges away by nailing them to the cross. 15 He stripped the rulers and authorities {of their power} and made a public spectacle of them as he celebrated his victory in Christ. Colossians 2:9-15 (GW)

There are three major baptisms mentioned in Scripture – baptism into the body of Christ, baptism into water, and baptism in the Holy Spirit. Each of these baptisms is different, having a different baptizer, a different subject, a different medium into which the subject is baptized, and a different purpose.

The baptism into the body of Christ takes place at the new birth. The Holy Spirit takes the new believer and immerses him or her into Christ’s body, the church. This is when we are sealed in Christ by the indwelling Spirit.

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13 (NASB)

Water baptism is the outward demonstration of the inward baptism into Christ’s body with the added dimension of its being a public declaration of allegiance to Christ.

In water baptism, another believer baptizes a new convert, or someone who finally realizes how important it is, into water. Water baptism is an object lesson that our old sin nature and old way of life are dead and buried in union with Christ’s death and that we are now risen in union with Christ’s resurrection to live the rest of our earthly lives for Him.

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:3-4 (NASB)

The third baptism is the baptism into the Holy Spirit. In this one, Jesus Himself baptizes the believer into the Holy Spirit to empower him or her for service. We will have much more to say about this one later.

Water baptism does not justify a person before God: only the blood of Jesus can do that. Rather water baptism is the obedient and proper response of a grateful and submitted heart to his or her Lord.

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 3:21 (NASB)

Salvation in this verse should not be confused with the new birth or justification. Rather, we are “saved” in the sense of being set apart to God by obeying the Lord in this crucial public declaration of faith, just as we are likewise saved in this fashion every time we obey God, but especially when our obedience results in a bold proclamation of faith in Christ.

In some cultures where Christianity is strongly resisted, such as radical Islamic states, a person can quietly confess Christ at times without repercussion, but when he or she is baptized in water, it is an entirely different matter. Muslims understand that water baptism equates to a radical declaration of allegiance to the Lord Jesus.

No person should take water baptism casually, as if it were merely a step in joining a church. It is a declaration of war upon Satan’s kingdom and a commitment to unflinchingly testify to the gospel even unto death.

As such, water baptism should only be administered to those believers who fully understand what they are doing. It should be a time of celebration and soberness – a celebration that we are taking a big step in our faith journey with the Lord and soberness because we understand that we are truly identifying ourselves with Christ’s death and saying we are willing even to die for our Lord.

Some churches believe that water baptism is what saves us. They confuse the baptism into the body of Christ which happens at the new birth with water baptism. This is just one example of why it is so important for us to understand the teaching regarding spirit, soul, and body.

Other groups make a big deal out of whose name we baptize in. Jesus told us to baptize in the name of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit. The early disciples baptized into the name of Jesus. There is a group which believes that Jesus is the only name into which we must be baptized for it to be valid. This group does not hold a Trinitarian view. Instead, they believe the One God appears in various “modes,” sometimes as Father, sometimes as Son, and at other times as the Spirit. The heresy is called Modalism.

The Scriptures clearly teach that God is One, but that Father, Son, and Spirit are all God and distinct from one another. Hence, we have the mysterious doctrine of the Trinity that is clearly above our comprehension. It is for us to acknowledge but not completely understand, any more than we completely understand how we are composed of body, soul, and spirit – a trinity of its own. There are times when all three persons are present at once, such as at the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist. (Matthew 3:16-17) If the Father and Son are the same, to whom was Jesus praying and calling Father? To whom was Jesus being obedient when he went to the cross? The Spirit was sent by Jesus to empower us to be his witnesses after Jesus ascended into heaven. The Spirit’s presence in our lives is proof that Jesus is the Lord, seated at God’s right hand.

I recommend using the trinitarian formula that Jesus gave us in the Great Commission, but it is also proper to baptize in the name of Jesus as did the first apostles.

Questions for Further Study and Discussion 

• Has this chapter altered how you view water baptism?
• Is it clear to you how water baptism differs from being saved by faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross and his resurrection?
• If you were previously water baptized, did you understand the commitment you were making?
• Do you feel the need to be baptized at this time?