Why be baptised?

We don’t want you to think about obedience in the sense that baptism is something that you have to do. Baptism is an action that signifies the grace of Jesus in our life. To get baptised just because “you have to” could make it a mere religious ritual. In the New Testament, Jesus disapproved of such empty obedience. In fact, He came to replace automatic responses to rituals with a living relationship with Him.

Baptism becomes a continuing journey of relating to and obeying Christ. When we decide we want to make a decision to follow Jesus by living as he lived, we should consider how Jesus lived, spoke and interacted with God and others. When we conclude that Jesus’ way of living is the optimum way to live, we will follow his example. Following the example of Jesus is a great way to begin to describe what obedience is about.

Obedience is a living relationship with Jesus, not a set of actions that we perform out of habit. Baptism, therefore, is part of that obedient, living relationship with Jesus. Jesus’ baptism is an example we can broadly follow. Jesus’ baptism is, of course, different to ours: we are not having our claim to be the Messiah confirmed! Jesus’ baptism was done out of obedience to God and to identify with the people around Him.