The Importance of Water Baptism
This provides a powerful expression of identification with Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection, and the believer’s public confession of faith in Him. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:47.
The final instruction that Jesus issued to His disciples before ascending to the Father places His name at the very core of the gospel commission. Repentance and forgiveness are not abstract ideals; they are realities made possible only through the authority of His name.
Preaching in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth means proclaiming not merely doctrines but a person, the Christ who saves, heals, and reigns. As believers, as we administer the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which has been placed in our lives, we are commissioned to make known the one whose name alone can cleanse the guilty and restore the broken.
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38. On the day of Pentecost, the very first sermon of the church ends with the same instruction that Jesus gave before His ascension. Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ is more than a ritual phrase; it is the public action of our identification with Jesus Christ.
As believers, we are publicly declaring our unfailing allegiance to the One who died and rose again; through water baptism we are entering into His death and resurrection through water and spirit. The authority of the name of Jesus Christ makes water baptism more than a mere symbolic act; in true reality, it is coming into a living covenant standing in Christ..
Just as ancient covenants were sealed by name and blood, so this new covenant is sealed by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and the blood of the Lamb. The remission of sins is enacted and affirmed every time a soul goes down into those waters and comes up bearing his name.
But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. Philip’s ministry in Samaria demonstrates that the gospel is inseparable from the name of Jesus. The message of the kingdom and the proclamation of His name are one and the same.