Baptism at Barabbas Road Church in San Diego

At Barabbas Road Church in San Diego, baptism is an important distinction of the church. Jesus declares its importance by commanding in the great commission that believers go make disciples and to baptize them. It is important for a Christian to understand what baptism is and why Jesus commands that believers get baptized.

The word baptism comes from the Greek word, “Baptizo,” which means to immerse. This is why the baptisms at Barabbas Road Church are done by dipping people under the water fully rather than sprinkling them. The purpose of baptism is to identify a believer with Christ. In Romans 6, Paul says that when a believer goes under the water he is buried with Christ and he is identifying himself with Christ’s burial. However, it does not stop there because Christ rose from the grave, so also the believer rises out of the water. Just as the believer identifies with Christ’s burial he also identifies with Christ’s resurrection. Therefore, through the immersion, the believer is acknowledging that his sins are paid for and buried with Christ in the old nature. In the same way since Christ has been raised, the believer is also identifying himself with being risen and alive in Christ Jesus.

It’s important to know that baptism does not save a person. What baptism does do is it identifies a person as being saved. It is very similar to a wedding ring where an engaged couple do not wear wedding rings before the wedding. They wear their wedding rings after being married. In the same way a believer gets baptized after becoming a Christian and getting saved.

In the Bible the word baptism is not only used to describe water baptism, but it is used to also describe what is called Holy Spirit baptism. The charismatic movement uses this as a term to describe a situation that happens for the believer later in their Christianity where the move of the spirit comes upon them. The elders at Barabbas Road Church do not find this to be scriptural. At Barabbas, the belief is that scripture shows that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that every believer has. In the book of 1st Corinthians, Paul says that all believers are baptized into one spirit and this is talking about the partaking of the spirit of God when a believer is one with Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). This is the theological picture of baptism. For when a believer is saved, he is being put into Christ and that is what is being pictured in water baptism and with the term Holy Spirit baptism. The believer is being immersed or placed in Christ and that is done all by the work of the Holy Spirit.

If you are a new believer in Jesus Christ then it’s important to understand that the first act of any new believer that we see every time in scripture is to be baptized. Remember, it’s to identify the new believer with Jesus Christ. It’s a time for you to acknowledge where you are in your spirituality and also declare to the church at large that you are now a part of the body of Christ. It’s a teaching moment and a time for celebration. If you are the person who was baptized as a baby then this baptism is for you too. Baptism is for believers, so if you are a new believer then declare this by baptism through immersion. Maybe you were baptized earlier in life and then you walked away from the church and you were not sure if you were saved, but now you know that you are saved. If that’s you then you can still identify with Christ through baptism.

Finally, remember we do not need to be baptized to be saved. We do need to be baptized to be obedient. Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments, (John 14:15)” and this is one of his commandments. Therefore, if you are wavering and are on the fence about baptism then please humble yourself, remain repentant and joyfully worship the Lord through obedience and sign up for baptismat Barabbas Road Church in San Diego.