What is baptism?
Baptism is a public proclamation of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. God created each of us to know and glorify Him, but our spiritual DNA, hijacked by sin, drives us away from His holy nature. We desire everything contrary to God’s holiness, and Scripture teaches that the penalty or “wages” of this sin is death – eternal separation from God (see Romans 6.23). Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, lived among us, died on the cross, and was raised from the dead to pay the penalty of sin for all who believe in Him. When we place faith in Jesus Christ, we receive God’s gift of forgiveness and new life in Christ. God restores our spiritual DNA, freeing us to know and glorify Him. Baptism is a public testimony that richly symbolizes these spiritual truths. Our descent into the water visualizes our death to the control of sin, and our emergence from the water proclaims our new life in Christ.
"Or don’t you know that all of us who were 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. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His."
-Romans 6:3-5