Is water baptism a necessary part of the salvation experience of the New Testament? People have various ideas about water baptism, but we cannot always trust what others think. The sure way to know the truth and to please God is to depend upon the Bible as our source of instruction. Jesus gave us some insight as to the importance of water baptism in John 3:5: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Both the context of that statement and the subsequent practice of the New Testament church indicate that He was speaking of water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gave the apostles and us a direct command to go, teach, and baptize converts. Since He gave this command, baptism is important and necessary. Shortly before His ascension Jesus gave the baptismal command found in Matthew 28:19 to the apostles. According to Luke 24:45, He also opened their understanding. A few days after His ascension, He baptized 120 waiting disciples with His Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. On this occasion, the apostles proclaimed to the multitude that everyone should be baptized in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38). The apostles understood that Jesus was the redemptive name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They did not merely repeat those three titles, but they invoked the name to which those titles referred. The other preachers in the New Testament church, such as Philip, Ananias, and Paul, adhered to the same baptismal formula. There are no contradictions in the Word of God. The New Testament teaches that we must be baptized “in the name” of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that name we are to invoke at water baptism is Jesus.
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