What Is Baptism? — TDW Kids

A Picture of a New Life

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Baptism is one of the first things Jesus asks His followers to do. It is a picture you can see of something God does that you cannot see.

Jesus was baptized. “Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan” (Mark 1:9). Jesus never sinned, but He chose to be baptized, and He showed us the way.

God was pleased. As Jesus came up from the water, the Holy Spirit came down on Him like a dove. Then the Father spoke from heaven: “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11).

Jesus told us to do it. The risen Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

A picture of a death. Paul wrote that believers “were baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3). Baptism shows that the old life of living for sin is over.

A picture of a burial. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death” (Romans 6:4). People bury someone only after that person has died. A burial shows that the death is real.

A picture of rising. “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Baptism pictures a brand-new life with Jesus.

Joined to Jesus. “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5). Everyone who trusts Jesus is joined to Him.

Like a wedding ring. A wedding ring does not make two people married. It shows the promise they have already made. Baptism does not make you a Christian. It shows that you already belong to Jesus.

In front of others. Baptism usually happens in front of other believers. It tells your church family that you belong to Jesus now, and they celebrate with you.

A new creation. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Baptism is a picture of that change.

What we learn. Baptism is an outside picture of an inside change. It shows dying to sin and rising to a new life with Jesus.

What to do. If you have trusted Jesus, ask your parents and your pastor about being baptized. And if you are already baptized, remember what it pictured: your old life is gone, and you live for Jesus now.

Baptism has been part of following Jesus from the very beginning. Romans 6:3-5 explains what it pictures: being joined to Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

Mark 1:9-11. Jesus had no sin to turn from, yet He was baptized. “Coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.” The Father spoke, the Son was baptized, and the Spirit came down: all three were present.

Matthew 28:19. The risen Jesus commanded that disciples be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Baptism is obedience to Jesus, not a custom someone made up.

Into Christ (Romans 6:3). To be baptized “into Christ Jesus” means to be joined to Him. The joining is real because of faith. The water shows it to everyone.

Buried (6:4). Burial is proof that a death has happened. Baptism pictures the believer's old life laid in the grave with Christ, so that a new life can begin.

United together (6:5). The Greek word is symphytos (say: SOOM-foo-toss) — grown together, like a branch grafted into a tree until the two are one. What is true of Christ becomes true of those joined to Him.

Raised to walk (6:4). Resurrection is not only a future hope. “Walk in newness of life” is for today. The believer lives a new kind of life now, by the power of the same Spirit who raised Jesus (Romans 8:11).

Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Paul's own testimony matches what baptism pictures.

An outward sign. A sign points to something real. Baptism points to the inner change God has already made by His Spirit. The sign matters because Jesus commanded it, but the sign is not the thing itself.

2 Corinthians 5:17. The new creation is God's work, not ours. Baptism celebrates that new creation; it does not produce it.

Ezekiel 36:26. God promised long ago, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” Baptism is a joyful, public thank-you for that promise kept in Christ.

Application. If you have trusted Christ but have not been baptized, talk with your parents and pastor about obeying Jesus in this. For those already baptized, let it remind you who you are: dead to sin and alive to God.

Believe First, Then Be Baptized

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Some people wonder whether being baptized is what saves a person. The Bible gives a clear answer. Jesus saves us when we trust Him, and baptism comes after.

Peter's sermon. On the day of Pentecost, Peter told the crowd, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38). Repent means to turn from sin to God.

First they believed. “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41). They received the message first. Then they were baptized.

A jailer believes. Paul and Silas told a jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). That same night the jailer and his family believed, and they were baptized (Acts 16:33).

Saved by grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God's mercy. God saved us “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy” (Titus 3:5).

A man on a cross. One of the criminals who died beside Jesus asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus promised that he would be with Him in Paradise that very day (Luke 23:42-43). He had no chance to be baptized, but he trusted Jesus, and Jesus saved him.

Why be baptized then? Because Jesus told us to (Matthew 28:19). People who love Jesus want to obey Him. Baptism is a happy step of obedience.

Born again. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). New birth is the work of the Holy Spirit, who gives a brand-new life to everyone who believes.

You can know. Jesus said, “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life” (John 5:24). A person who trusts Jesus can know they belong to God.

What we learn. Faith in Jesus saves. Baptism follows faith and shows it to everyone.

What to do. Make sure you have trusted Jesus. Then talk with your parents and pastor about being baptized. Pray for friends who have not believed yet.

The order in the book of Acts is simple: people hear the gospel, repent and believe, and then they are baptized. Baptism matters, but it never takes the place of faith in Christ.

Repent (Acts 2:38). Peter's word “Repent” comes from metanoeō (say: meh-tah-noh-EH-oh) — to change your mind and turn around. Peter called the crowd to turn from sin to God and to show it in baptism. In the first church, turning to Christ and being baptized happened close together. Forgiveness itself comes through faith in Jesus' name, as Peter later preached (Acts 10:43).

Acts 2:41. Those who “gladly received his word were baptized.” Receiving the message came first; baptism followed the same day.

Acts 16:31-33. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” The jailer's household heard the word, believed, and were baptized that night. Faith came first, then baptism.

Ephesians 2:8-9. Salvation is “the gift of God, not of works.” If anything we do were needed to earn salvation, grace would no longer be grace.

Titus 3:5. God saved us “according to His mercy,” “through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” This washing is the Holy Spirit's work of making a person new.

Luke 23:42-43. The criminal beside Jesus could not be baptized, yet Jesus promised him Paradise that day. Faith in Christ is what saves.

John 3:3-6. Jesus told Nicodemus he must be born again: “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” New birth is the Holy Spirit giving new life to a person who believes. Water baptism pictures that new life; it does not cause it.

Why it still matters. Jesus commanded baptism (Matthew 28:19), and the apostles practiced it wherever the gospel went. A believer who refuses baptism is ignoring a clear command of the Lord he loves.

Assurance. Because salvation rests on Christ and not on our performance, a believer can know they belong to God. The one who believes “has everlasting life” (John 5:24), and John wrote his first letter so believers would know it (1 John 5:13).

Application. If you have believed, baptism is your next step of obeying Jesus. Ask your parents and pastor to help you understand it and get ready. If you are not sure you have believed, talk to them about that first.

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