rebelling against low expectations

What Every Teen Should Know Before Being Baptized

W

The hymn came to an end. That’s my cue, I realized, clutching a printed copy of my testimony. Barefoot and wearing a swimsuit under a heavy blue robe, I calmly stepped down into the water in a tub behind the stage at my church.

My pastor told the church my name and shared a few words about baptism then gently pushed me closer to the microphone. To my surprise, I wasn’t as anxious as I’d expected I would be. I had always seen baptism as “that scary event in the future,” but now that I was actually doing it, I felt a strange sense of peace.

I read my testimony out loud, content to have my eyes glued to the paper rather than the congregation. Then I handed my glasses and testimony to my pastor, who handed them to a lady behind the scenes. He had me kneel and, as I’d been told he would, lifted my hand to my nose to plug it before he carefully dunked me underwater.

“In the name of the Father…” Splosh! “In the name of the Son…” Splosh! “And in the name of the Holy Spirit.” Splosh!

I’ll never forget the day I got baptized. It has been nearly three years now. I became a Christian years before then, but getting baptized was a huge milestone in my journey of faith. Baptism is an important step in a Christian’s walk. For most, it is a once-in-a-lifetime event. We should never underestimate the significance of getting baptized.

Why Get Baptized?

Why should we get baptized if we’ve already been saved? As an introvert, I would never do something as intimidating as standing in front of my church and getting dunked for fun. (And my church would have people read their testimonies in front of everyone before their baptism, so that made it seem especially scary.)

But I got baptized, despite how daunting it looked, for mainly these two reasons:

1. It is a command. (Matthew 28:19)

‘Nuff said.

I’m kidding, but seriously—the fact that God commands anything should be enough to make us take it seriously. If you have trusted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you won’t go to hell for not being baptized, but we should genuinely want to obey Him just because we love Him.

If you have trusted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you won’t go to hell for not being baptized, but we should genuinely want to obey Him just because we love Him. Click To Tweet

“Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 3:21)

2. It is a way we express we’ve been saved.

Baptism symbolizes coming to faith. It is a public way of showing we are Christians and not ashamed of it. Although baptism doesn’t save us, it is a symbol of being united with Christ, of putting off the old self to put on the new self.

“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.” (Romans 6:3-4)

Why not be baptized? There really is no legitimate reason not to get baptized if you are a Christian. God commands it and it is an expression of faith in Him. That’s why I did it.

Come to Faith First

However, if you are not a Christian, you should come to faith first. I believe baptism is for true believers. If you come from a Christian family and haven’t been baptized yet, it is likely your church believes this too. In the Bible, hearing the good news, believing, and repenting always come before baptism. This verse, for example:

“And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 2:38)

So, if you are on the fence about repentance, you should probably wait. Baptism will not save you if you have not been saved.

But if you are planning to be baptized, I have another few pieces of advice for you.

Don’t Worry, Pray Instead

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34)

I know that verse is quoted a lot, but seriously, don’t stay up all night thinking about possible ways details of the baptism can go wrong.

Your pastor knows what he’s doing, and he (or some other person) will tell you what to expect. The only hiccup in my baptism was that I tried to stand up when I was supposed to stay kneeling in the water for the prayer afterward. Except for that, I was prepared for all the other details.

And remember, this is a happy event! Baptism is a celebration that you’ve been born again, so it’s like a birthday party, not a funeral. It’s ok if people laugh, and it doesn’t matter in the long run if you mess up.

Be sure to pray! Thank God for His work in your life because that is why you are doing this in the first place. He deserves all the credit.

If you’re feeling nervous, pray for peace when the big day comes. I prayed for this, and God listened! He definitely helped me when the time came.

“…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

It’s About Christ, Not You

One thing that is very easy to forget is that baptism is not all about you. You’ll be in the spotlight, and people will congratulate you, and maybe even give you flowers, but all the glory goes to God. You are not getting baptized because you are special or brave or good, but because Jesus died for you. Keep Christ centered in your thoughts.

You are not getting baptized because you are special or brave or good, but because Jesus died for you. Keep Christ centered in your thoughts. Click To Tweet

Baptisms are also a good opportunity to invite unbelieving friends and family who would not normally come to church and share the gospel with them. It’s a good chance for you to “shoot two birds with one stone” by caring for other souls at the same time.

In the words of Ananias to the newly-saved Paul, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name.” (Acts 22:16)


Print Friendly, PDF & Email

About the author

Eliana Duran

is a homeschooled high schooler with a love for words. Besides writing, you can often catch her doodling or reading. She is also the proud big sister of ten (and counting!). You can keep up with her at Eliana The Writer, on Instagram, or by joining her newsletter .

11 comments

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • Hi Judy! That’s a good question, and definitely a good chance to study your Bible, to pray, and to talk to your pastor about this. Different people and churches have different personal convictions. My church and trusted people in my life would say yes, you should get baptized again if you were baptized as an infant and have now come to saving faith. However, people will land in different places on this, and either choice will not make you less of a Christian in any way.

    • Hi Judy! That’s a good question, and definitely a good chance to study your Bible, pray, and talk to your pastor about this. Different individuals, churches, and denominations have different convictions on this. My church and trusted people in my life would say yes, it would be good for you to be baptized as a believer if you’ve only been baptized as an infant before. But you’re no less of a Christian for whichever decision you make. Thank God we are saved by grace alone!

  • Thank you for the post. How would you respond to somebody arguing that we are not saved until we are baptized?
    Romans 6:3-5 and 1 Peter 3:18-21 are often brought up when portraying this view.

    • Hi Aiden! Glad the post could be helpful, and good question! I would respond by emphasizing that God’s grace is enough in itself, as demonstrated in Ephesians 2:8-9. We must be careful in how we interpret verses about baptism because we don’t want to belittle what Christ accomplished for us. And if you look closer at 1 Peter 3:21, it’s about Christ’s resurrection too.

      We see this priority demonstrated very clearly when Christ tells a dying, sinful, unbaptized man on the cross next to his, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). What an encouragement for us, when it feels like we haven’t done enough!

  • Thanks for the article, Eliana! I was baptized when I was 7 and I wasn’t a Christian (despite what my parents thought and what I apparently told them). I’m thinking of getting baptized again to display my new commitments to Christ.

    • You’re welcome, Samuel—thank you for sharing! It’s definitely hard to tell at that age, and tough for parents to judge whether they should let their kids be baptized. At 7 years old, I definitely would have said I was a Christian, even though I now am pretty sure my conversion was later than that. Rejoicing with you that you have found true faith in the years since then!

  • My step daughter is getting baptized soon. She wants us to come but is concerned that what she may say in her testimony may offend us. Should we just not go?

    • A cousin of ours who is 15 was baptized at their Easter vigil last easter.We are not catholic,but we were invited so we went to it.We were surprised to see all of the girls,including the cousin,dressed in poofy,white,top of the knees dresses with bonnets and lace anklets and white mary jane shoes!To top it off,the girls all had a cloth diaper and plastic pants on under their dresses and the cousin showed us her diaper and plastic pants and told us that the outfits are the standar baptism outfits worn by the girls at their parish!

      • To Cheryl F.-I am 17 now and two years ago when i was 15,i was baptized at Easter vigil along with other boys and girls.The boys had to wear white suits and all of us tween and teen girls had to wear white short sleeve,below the knees,infant style baptism gowns with a bonnet,white tights and white patent leather shoes and under our tights a cloth diaper and rubberpants with a tee shirt as our top.Our priest declared all of us girls as ‘babies’ for our baptisms and worthy of becomming a child of god!

  • Thank you for this article, Elaina!
    I’m getting baptized this Sunday and this article was an encouragement to my heart – even about how getting up there God gave you peace! I know nerves have been a big fear of mine but it was comforting to know God will give strength.
    Thank you for sharing!

By Eliana Duran
rebelling against low expectations

The Rebelution is a teenage rebellion against low expectations—a worldwide campaign to reject apathy, embrace responsibility, and do hard things. Learn More →