BAPTISM
Take the next step in your faith journey
Pastor Laride Connerly
STATEMENT OF BELIEFS
The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the verbal, inspired words of God, authoritative, and without error in the original manuscripts. We further believe that the scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments are designed for our practical instruction in faith and conduct.
God
There is one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three entities: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross, the complete and final sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. Further, He arose bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He is now our High Priest and Advocate.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer immediately after he places his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that God provides, through the Holy Spirit, power to live the Christian life.
We believe that every believer receives grace from God in the form of a spiritual gift, which enables him to function as a member of the body of Christ.
Salvation
We believe that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again spiritually and that the new birth of the believer comes only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We believe, also, that our redemption has been accomplished by the grace of God, an unmerited gift, given in love by God and not the result of any human works.
We believe that the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has saved is to make Christ known to the whole world and that this is the purpose of the church through the individuals within it.
We believe that local churches gather together for practical instruction in the scriptures, for fellowship with God and with other believers, and for corporate witness to the unsaved world.
Our common spiritual goal is to grow toward Christ's likeness.
Responsibility of Believers
We believe that all believers should seek to walk by the Spirit, separating themselves from worldly practices and witnessing by life and by word the truths of the Holy Scripture.
We believe that all believers will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ and rewarded based on their faithful obedience to Him in this life.
WHY SHOULD I GET BAPTIZED?
"Why should I get baptized?" is an important question for Christians to answer. From the earliest days of the Christian church, baptism has been a foundational step of faith universally observed by believers immediately following salvation (Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12, 38).
The act of baptism by immersion in water outwardly expresses the inward experience of change that happens in the life of every believer at salvation. It demonstrates that the old way of life has ended, and a new life of faith in Jesus Christ has begun (2 Corinthians 5:17). Baptism is important because it provides a visual testimony—a public declaration to the world—that symbolically identifies the new believer with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Bible supplies several reasons why baptism is an important step in the Christian life:
Baptism is an expression of saving faith. Like a stamp of validation, baptism represents our salvation experience and the magnificent work of Jesus Christ in dying for our sins and rising for our justification: "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead" (Colossians 2:12, NLT).
Baptism is God-ordained and commanded by Jesus. As part of His Great Commission to the church, Jesus gave these instructions: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19–20). Baptism is an integral part of Christian discipleship and is meant to be an ongoing practice of the church.
Baptism is an act of obedience to our Savior, expressing our desire to please God. The word Christian means "Christ-follower." Since Christ called us to baptism and set the example by being baptized Himself (Matthew 3:16), neglecting to be baptized is disobedience to the command of Christ.
Baptism unites us with Christ by identifying us with His death, burial, and resurrection: "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" (Romans 6:3–4). When we repent of our sins and come to faith in Jesus Christ, baptism testifies of our union with Him.
Likewise, baptism represents our death to the old life of sin and our new birth into resurrection life and freedom from bondage to sin: "Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin" (Romans 6:5–7, NLT).
Baptism also identifies us with the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12–13). It is an emblem that says we now belong to Jesus Christ and His people: "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes" (Galatians 3:26–27, NLT).
Baptism gives public testimony of the Holy Spirit's inward work of washing away our sins: "And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21, NLT; see also Acts 22:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11).
A correct understanding of baptism means comprehending that it is more than religious ritual or church tradition. The significance of baptism originates in the death of Jesus Christ, God's own Son, who died in our place to pay for our sins, and who triumphed over death through His resurrection, securing for us new life in the Spirit and eternal life forever with God.