After the resurrection and before Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave his followers some final instructions. He told them to go into the world and make disciples of others. Jesus told them to baptize these new believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Baptism is your public confession of faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

The Apostle Paul connects the dots in Romans 6:3-5. He writes,

Are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.

Through baptism we identify with Christ in his death and his resurrection.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-13 Paul says plainly that unrighteous people will not inherit God’s eternal kingdom. Then he lists all sorts of sinful and unrighteous ways people live apart from Christ. Then he says,

And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

What moment does Paul refer to as evidence of their changed lives? Baptism. It is your public proclamation of repentance. It is evidence have been set apart by the Spirit and declared righteous by God on account of your faith in Jesus.

As Paul was defending his ministry before King Agrippa, he said,

I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance. (Acts 26:20, CSB)

Baptism is how we proclaim publicly our personal repentance. Repentance literally means “to change your mind.” We turn from our sinful lifestyle and pursue new life in Christ.

Peter preaches the gospel on Pentecost in Jerusalem, and many people become respond asking what to do. Peter tells them to repent and be baptized, and many do.

The passage concludes with these words,

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. (Acts 2:41, CSB)

3,000 brand new believers were baptized. After they were baptized, Luke says they were “added to them.” Added to who? The body of believers. The local church.

Baptism is how you belong to the body of Christ, the local church.