Luke 3:1-3 KJV
1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
John preached and performed baptism and in water. In the beginning of Luke 3, it is referred to as the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Some people will tell you that it isn't necessary to be baptized; I've seen it happen. Those people will cite the thief who was crucified with Jesus on the cross who couldn't be baptized before his death.
I will not deny that God will make the provision if the circumstances need that provision..
But Jesus Himself was baptized, and when John tried to talk Him out of it, Jesus insisted that John would baptize Him. When He appeared to His disciples after His crucifixion, after He had been resurrected, He told them to go teach all nations and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 28:19-20 KJV
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mark 16:15-16 KJV
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And the Apostles certainly carried on the practice of water baptism as indicated in the book of Acts; the examples can be found in Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 9, Acts 10, Acts 16, Acts 18, and Acts 19. An additional reference to believers being baptized in water is found in 1 Corinthians 1.
I'm of the opinion that since Jesus had it done Himself and commanded His Apostles to carry on baptizing believers in water that believers should be baptized.
And I personally believe that it should be a conscious decision by the believer to be baptized in water after they are saved.
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