The act of water baptism (being immersed in water in response to
receiving salvation) is a very important first step in the Christian
life. In Matthew 3:13-17, we see the Lord Jesus Himself coming to His
cousin John to be baptized, in order to “fulfill all righteousness.” He then went on to establish baptism as an eternal ordinance for His church, calling every believer to follow in His footsteps (See Matthew 28:19).
In our modernized, “comfort zone Christianity,” we do, sad to say, tend
to take God’s commandments far too lightly. As Chuck Colson points out:
“Most Westerners take baptism for granted, but for many in the world the
act requires immense courage. In countries like Nepal it once meant
imprisonment. For Soviet or Chinese or Eastern bloc believers, it was like signing their own death warrant.”
