MY STORY OF BEING BAPTIZED IN JESUS CHRIST
On August 28th, 2022, I got baptized, and it was AMAZING! My story is that I grew up in a Catholic home, so I was Catholic when I was little. The tradition of the Catholic church I went to was to get baptized as a baby with a splash of water on my forehead. I felt that later on in my life, especially when I gave my life to Christ, that I needed to be baptized truly in a full immersion of water. I felt led to do this because I knew that I had made the decision to follow Christ at 17 years old, and when I was “baptized” as a baby, I had not made that decision yet, so I felt that it did not count. Before I got baptized, I remember the Lord giving me signs and bringing them up to my attention, so I knew it was time to take this step!
When I was baptized, it was such a beautiful moment. I remember going full-in underwater and then coming back up – which is the picture of Jesus Christ when He died for our sake and was buried (so in baptism, this is like going underwater), and then He resurrected from the grave back to life (being raised up and coming out of the water). I felt so excited after it, and it was truly beautiful! Everyone I knew who watched me get baptized was so supportive of it, which was awesome!!
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BAPTIZED??
Baptism is the representation of dying to your old sinful life and being raised back to a new life in Jesus Christ. Like a little bit of what I mentioned above, baptism is a picture of being spiritually buried with Jesus (so going underwater) and then being raised back (coming out of the water) to a new life with Jesus when we accept His free gift of eternal life (salvation). Baptism is a public proclamation of your faith in Jesus Christ and your choice to follow Him truly.
WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTIZED AS A BELIEVER IN JESUS??
As believers and followers of Christ, it is important for us to be baptized because we are following Christ’s example of Him being baptized. Mark 1:9-10 says, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. As soon as He came up out of the water, He saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove”. So, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and I love the picture of Jesus being baptized and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove – that is so powerful. In verse 11 of Mark 1, we see that God the Father came from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.” To add on, this is a beautiful resemblance of the Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit; 3 Persons in 1 God.
Being baptized in full immersion of water proclaims your faith in Jesus Christ and your choice of committing your life to Him. I also want to mention that baptism does not determine your salvation in Christ. When I say salvation, I am referring to being saved; us choosing to accept God’s gift of eternal life with Him by faith and then actually living our lives for Him. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.” Our salvation in Christ is by grace through faith in Him alone. It is of nothing that we could ever do – Jesus paid the price on the cross, and God has offered us this gift. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” The fruit of knowing who Jesus is, walking this life with Him, and His Holy Spirit moving inside of us, it will then come naturally for us to do the good works God has called us to do. We do these good works because we love God and are passionate about Him.
Sooo, I say this to say that yes, baptism does not determine your salvation, but I encourage you if you have not been baptized yet, were not fully immersed in water when you got baptized, or had not accepted Jesus into your life when you got baptized, that you should get baptized truly this time once you have accepted salvation in Christ! You do not lose anything from doing it, and it is such a beautiful experience!! Ask the Lord to teach you more about baptism and why it is important; in the next section, I talk about when you should get baptized.
WHEN SHOULD I GET BAPTIZED?
A good time to be baptized is after you have accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life. When you know the Gospel, what God has done for you, and you have accepted His gift of salvation and are willing to commit the rest of your life to Him, that is a good time to get baptized!
If you don’t know the Gospel, it is the good news of Jesus Christ. God created this world, the heavens, and the earth, and He created you and me. He created the first humans who walked this earth, which first was Adam and then Eve. Sin (rebellion against God) came into the world when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which the Lord commanded that they should not eat from (See Genesis 2:16-17 and 3:6-7). God knew that we needed rescue from our sins, so He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, onto this earth to fulfill a mission. Jesus died on the cross so that we would not perish in our sins but have everlasting life with Him. Jesus died, was buried, but then resurrected on the third day from the grave. The blood that Jesus shed for us has cleansed us and redeemed us! He is now seated at the right Hand of God and is coming back soon for His children!!
Jesus wants you! He gave His life for you so that now you have life in Him! To be saved, you receive God’s gift of eternal life with Him and an everlasting relationship with Him by faith. Following Jesus is an everyday walk of surrender to Him. Trust me, it will be the best decision you will ever make! If you want, I would love to make a blog about giving your life to Christ and what it is like to be a Christian!
John 3:16-17 says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone that believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.”
Friends, I hope that this encouraged you today or that you learned something new!! The Lord is so so good!! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day! :))
Love Bea ♡
Spreading God's Love 