Baptism in the New Testament (1780 words)

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The purpose of this paper is to define the word "baptizing"?

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Baptism in the New Testament

Rituals and symbols are an integral part of any religion. Even though we may realize that faith is not about performing rituals, our spirituality is still reflected through outward symbols. The core of Christianity is about establishing a personal and close relationship with God. To believe is to trust God and to follow the example of Jesus in one's everyday life. However, practically all Christian churches and denominations maintain a certain set of ritual actions based upon the text of the Bible. The most important symbolic actions of this sort are water baptism and communion. Both ordinances were instituted by Jesus as recorded in the New Testament. This paper will look at baptism and analyze this ordinance, its origin and its significance. It will also touch upon such aspects of the ordinance as the mode of baptism, prerequisites of it and its relation to salvation.

The literal meaning of the word “baptize” helps to better understand the meaning of the ordinance of baptism in the New Testament. The Greek word “baptizo” literally means to dip, to submerge or to immerse, according to the Strong Bible Dictionary. This points to the mode of performing water baptism common in the early church and restored in the course of the Protestant Reformation by such movements as the Baptists.

As we start reading the Gospels, we encounter an account of baptism that took place even before Jesus began his public ministry. John the Baptist, a preacher who announced the coming of the Messiah and called the Israelites to repent, used water as a symbol of repentance...