In a world where baptism is often misunderstood, dismissed, or sidelined, we must return to the Scriptures to see its true place. Some claim baptism is not a New Testament practice, suggesting it’s merely a carryover from Old Testament rituals or Jewish washings. Others argue it’s only a “spiritual baptism,” not a literal water rite, while some treat it as optional, unimportant to the gospel or discipleship. But when we open the New Testament with humble hearts, the truth shines clear: baptism is a non-negotiable command of the risen Christ, practiced faithfully by His apostles, and inseparably tied to the life of a disciple. Let’s walk through the evidence step by step, letting Scripture correct our misunderstandings and call us to obedience.

1. Baptism in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20)

After His resurrection, Jesus stood before His disciples with supreme authority and declared:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)”

This is no human tradition or optional ritual—it’s the marching order for the church until Christ returns. Let’s unpack why this passage alone dismantles any claim that baptism is not a New Testament practice:

a) Baptism is as much a part of the commissioning as making disciples.

Jesus weaves three actions into one command: go, make disciples, baptizing, and teaching. The grammar ties them inseparably to disciple-making. Baptism isn’t a side note or an optional extra—it’s the visible entry point into the life of a disciple. If water baptism were optional, then discipleship itself would be optional, which strikes at the heart of following Christ. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). To neglect baptism is to neglect His command.

b) The language is clear: the disciples were to baptize, not the Holy Spirit or Christ.

Jesus gives the responsibility of baptizing to His apostles, not to the Spirit or Himself. This proves the baptism in view is physical, not spiritual. Only Christ baptizes with the Spirit (John 1:33; 1 Cor. 12:13), but here He instructs His followers to perform a visible act they could carry out—immersing new believers in water while invoking the Triune name. To claim this is only “spiritual baptism” makes the command nonsensical, as humans cannot administer what only God does at conversion.

c) Baptism must mean to us what it meant to the apostles when the command was given.

We must hear Jesus’ words through the apostles’ ears. For them, “baptize” meant immersion in water. They had witnessed John’s baptism in the Jordan (Mark 1:4-5; John 3:23), a public act of repentance. More crucially, they had already baptized under Jesus’ authority during His earthly ministry: “Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing” (John 3:22), clarified by John 4:1-2: “Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples).” These were not separate incidents but part of a consistent pattern: the disciples immersed people in water, marking repentance and allegiance to Jesus as Messiah. When Jesus commanded baptism in Matthew 28:19, they could only understand it as the same physical act, now elevated with new covenant significance. To reinterpret it as purely spiritual is to impose a modern idea foreign to their experience.

d) “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” distinguishes Christian baptism from John’s baptism and Jewish ceremonial washings.

Jewish rituals included various washings for purification (Hebrews 9:10), but these were external and often repeated. John’s baptism was a one-time immersion, calling Israel to repent and prepare for the Messiah: “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus” (Acts 19:4). It was preparatory, pointing forward to Christ’s coming, but incomplete—hence Paul rebaptized disciples of John in the name of Jesus (Acts 19:3-5). Christian baptism, however, is uniquely Trinitarian. It signifies and publicly declares the believer’s identification with the finished work of Christ (His death, burial, and resurrection) and confesses union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through faith. Baptism doesn’t cause this union—faith and the Spirit’s work do that (1 Cor. 12:13)—but it’s the God-ordained symbol of belonging to the new covenant community.

Matthew 28:18-20 establishes baptism as a New Testament practice, commanded by the risen Lord with all authority, to be carried out by His disciples in water, distinct from all prior rituals.

2. The Progression of Baptism in Scripture

Baptism unfolds across the New Testament, moving from shadow to substance, from preparation to fulfillment:

a) John’s Baptism: Repentance and Anticipation

John’s baptism was a call to Israel to repent and prepare for the Messiah: “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4; cf. Luke 3:3- 6). It looked forward: “One mightier than I is coming” (Mark 1:7). It was temporary, transitional, and incomplete, as seen when Paul met disciples in Ephesus who had only received John’s baptism. He explained, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus” (Acts 19:4), and rebaptized them in the name of Jesus (Acts 19:5). John’s baptism was not Christian baptism—it pointed to Christ but lacked the full gospel reality.

b) Baptism During Jesus’ Earthly Ministry: Identification with the Messiah

During His ministry, Jesus’ disciples baptized under His authority:

“Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing” (John 3:22). John 4:1-2 clarifies: “Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples).” These baptisms, performed by the disciples, marked repentance and public allegiance to Jesus as the arrived Messiah. While similar in form to John’s, they shifted focus from anticipation to identification with Christ Himself. Yet, because the cross and resurrection had not yet occurred, they did not carry the full significance of post-resurrection Christian baptism.

c) Baptism Under the Great Commission: Fulfillment in the New Covenant

After His death and resurrection, Jesus instituted Trinitarian baptism (Matthew 28:19). This baptism looks back to Christ’s finished work—His death, burial, and resurrection—and declares the believer’s union with the Triune God through faith. It’s the fulfillment of what John’s baptism anticipated and what the disciples’ baptisms during Jesus’ ministry foreshadowed. It’s distinct in its Trinitarian formula and its grounding in the completed gospel.

This progression shows baptism is not an Old Testament relic but a New Testament reality, evolving from preparation (John), to allegiance (Jesus’ ministry), to full confession of faith in the risen Christ.

3. Baptism Practiced in the Early Church

The apostles didn’t debate or spiritualize baptism—they obeyed, immersing new believers in water as the immediate, normative response to faith. The book of Acts is saturated with examples:

• Pentecost: Peter preached, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). That day, “those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).
• Samaria: “When they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12- 13).
• The Ethiopian Eunuch: After Philip explained the gospel, the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” and was immersed immediately (Acts 8:36-38).
• Cornelius’ Household: Even after the Spirit fell, Peter commanded water baptism: “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (Acts 10:47-48). This shows Spirit baptism doesn’t replace water baptism.
• Lydia and the Philippian Jailer: Both were baptized the moment they believed, along with their households (Acts 16:14-15, 33).
• Corinth: “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8).
• Ephesus: Paul rebaptized disciples of John in the name of Jesus (Acts 19:1-5).
• Paul Himself: After his conversion, Paul was baptized immediately: “Then he rose and was baptized” (Acts 9:18; cf. Acts 22:16: “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name”).

This pattern is unbroken: wherever the gospel went, water baptism followed as the visible confession of faith. There’s no record of an unbaptized believer as the norm. To claim baptism isn’t New Testament is to ignore this clear apostolic witness.

4. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and Baptism

If anyone might have set baptism aside as non-essential, it was Paul, the champion of salvation by grace through faith. Yet Paul fully embraced water baptism, both in practice and teaching:

• Paul Practiced Baptism: He was baptized immediately after his conversion (Acts 9:18; 22:16). He baptized Lydia and her household (Acts 16:14-15), the Philippian jailer and his family (Acts 16:33), Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas (1 Cor. 1:14-16), and disciples at Ephesus (Acts 19:5). Baptism was normative under his ministry.
• Paul Taught Its Significance: While Paul’s epistles often use baptism imagery to describe spiritual realities, they assume water baptism as the baseline for believers:
  • Romans 6:3-4: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
  • Galatians 3:27: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
  • Colossians 2:12: “…having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

These passages primarily describe the spiritual reality of union with Christ by faith (Spirit baptism, 1 Cor. 12:13), but Paul uses baptism language because water baptism was universal among believers. It was the visible sign pointing to the inward truth. To misuse these texts to deny water baptism is to pit Paul against his own practice.

• Addressing 1 Corinthians 1:17-18: Some point to Paul’s words, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Cor. 1:17), to claim baptism isn’t part of the gospel. But this misreads the context. Corinth was divided, with believers boasting, “I was baptized by Paul,” “I by Apollos” (1 Cor. 1:12-16). Paul’s point is not that baptism is irrelevant but that his primary mission was preaching, not personally baptizing, to avoid fueling pride. The gospel is the message of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1-4); baptism is the obedient response, publicly identifying with that gospel. Paul never abandoned baptism—he simply left most baptisms to others, while affirming its place (1 Cor. 1:14-16).

Paul’s life and letters confirm: baptism is a New Testament practice, even for Gentiles.

5. Clarifying Misused Texts: Water Baptism vs. Spirit Baptism

Confusion often arises when people blur water baptism (the visible act of obedience) with Spirit baptism (God’s invisible work at conversion). They are distinct but complementary:

• Spirit Baptism: The Holy Spirit unites believers to Christ at conversion: “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13). This is God’s work, not man’s.
• Water Baptism: The church’s act, commanded by Christ (Matt. 28:19) and practiced by the apostles (Acts 2:38, 8:12, 10:47-48). It’s the outward sign of the inward reality.

Passages like Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:27, and Colossians 2:12 are often misused to argue for “spiritual baptism only,” dismissing water. But these texts explain the spiritual truth that water baptism symbolizes. Paul assumes his readers were baptized in water (the universal practice) and uses that imagery to teach union with Christ’s death and resurrection. To strip away the physical sign while claiming the spiritual reality is to divide what God joined together. Water baptism testifies to Spirit baptism; they are not rivals.

6. If Baptism Is Optional, Discipleship Is Optional

The Great Commission binds baptism to disciple-making. To make baptism optional is to make discipleship optional—an unthinkable conclusion. Baptism is the God-ordained doorway into the visible life of the church, the public confession of faith in Christ. It’s not a work that earns salvation but an act of obedience that declares it. As Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Baptism is one of those commandments, marking the start of a disciple’s walk with Christ.

7. Why Water Baptism Still Matters

Baptism is not an Old Testament relic, a mere spiritual metaphor, or an optional ritual. It is:

• Commanded by Christ with all authority (Matt. 28:18-20).
• Practiced by His disciples during His ministry (John 3:22; 4:1-2) and by the apostles after Pentecost (Acts 2:38-41, 8:12-38, 10:47-48,16:14-33, 18:8, 19:5).
• Distinguished as Trinitarian, unlike John’s baptism or Jewish washings (Matt. 28:19; Acts 19:3-5).
• Upheld by Paul, who was baptized, baptized others, and taught its significance (Acts 9:18, 16:14-33; 1 Cor. 1:14-16).
• The visible confession of faith, symbolizing the spiritual reality of union with Christ (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12).

Baptism doesn’t save in itself—salvation is by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). But it’s never presented as optional. It’s the God-given sign of repentance and faith, the boundary marker of the new covenant community, and the first step of obedience in discipleship.

Conclusion: Exhortation

Dear brother or sister, if you’ve trusted Christ but haven’t been baptized, don’t delay. The apostles didn’t wait, and neither should you. Baptism is your public declaration: “I belong to Jesus, buried with Him, raised with Him, united to His people.” It’s not about earning God’s favor—it’s about obeying the Savior who loves you and gave Himself for you. Find a faithful church, step into the waters, and let your life proclaim the gospel. To neglect baptism is not humility but disobedience. To spiritualize it away is not deep theology but disregard for Christ’s command. Baptism still matters because Jesus still matters. Will you obey the risen Lord who calls you to follow Him?