Following Jesus means more than liking his teaching or admiring his character. It means yielding to his call. In the New Testament, baptism is not treated as a decorative act added to faith. It is the moment faith submits. It is where trust obeys.
We follow him into the water.
We follow him into death.
We follow him into the grave.
We rise with him into new life.
We enter the life of his kingdom under his reign.
That is why the apostles speak of baptism with such gravity. Romans 6.3-4 connects it to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Galatians 3.26-27 speaks of being clothed with Christ. Colossians 2.12 ties it to faith in the working of God. Acts 2.38 joins it to repentance and forgiveness.
Baptism is an act of surrendered faith. God is the one who works. We are the ones who yield.
A Christianity that wants Jesus without obedience is not the faith preached in the New Testament. To follow Jesus means following him all the way.
Into the water.
Into the grave.
Into new life.
Into the kingdom.
If you claim to follow Jesus, yet refuse baptism, you are refusing the very place where the New Testament says faith submits to him.
~PW 🌮🛶
Phillip W. Martin 
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