Baptism is commonly practiced throughout various Christian denominations. Basically it involves the sprinkling or submersion of the person in water. What does baptism have to do with faith in Christ, and what does it mean for us? Let's look at what the bible has to say about it:

The first mention of baptism is in the New Testament, in reference to John the Baptizer (Matthew 3:1-6). John baptized people who wished to symbolize their repentance from sin (Matthew 3:1,6,11, Mark 1:4-5). When his cousin, Jesus Christ, was 30 years old, he also came to John to be baptized (Matthew 3:13-15, Mark 1:9, Luke 3:21-23). John thought this was incredulous because Jesus was the only man without a sin to repent from (Matthew 3:14, Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 7:26, 1 Peter 2:22). In spite of this fact, Jesus insisted John should baptize him anyway, and so it was done (Matthew 3:15). In this way, Christ altered the meaning of baptism for all. This is because the baptism in John's name symbolized repentance in preparation for the coming of Christ (Matthew 3:1-3,11, Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3) whereas baptism into Christ's name is for forgiveness of sins through both the water and his blood (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Hebrews 9:22, 1 John 5:5-7). Jesus commanded that his disciples be baptized into his name (Matthew 28:19) and we are to do all he commanded of us (Matthew 28:20). This is why Christians are baptized into Christ's name (Acts 8:12, 16, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5) and are no longer obligated into John's baptism.

What are the biblical standards for baptism? In the bible, baptism was performed by completely submerging the person. This is why a large quantity of water was necessary (Matthew 3:6, Acts 8:36). Although Christ altered the original meaning of baptism, his baptism was also by complete submersion, implied in the bible at Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:9-10. In fact, the word "Baptism" comes from the Greek word "baptizos", which means "immersion".

Baptism is designed to be by complete immersion because it is symbolic of Christ's death and resurrection. Therefore, when we get baptized, it is our public display of faith in his death: We are imitating his death and burial by "burying" ourselves under the water, and then rise back up in imitation of his resurrection. This is what the Apostle Paul was referring to at Romans 6:3-4 when he stated:

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (New International Version)

Is there an age requirement for baptism? The bible doesn't give the ages of people who were baptized. However, each time a singular individual was mentioned as being baptized, it was always an adult (Acts 8:36-38, Acts 9:18, Acts 10:30-48). Also, those who were baptized were those who accepted the Word first (Acts 2:37-41, Acts 8:12, Acts 10:30-48, Acts 18:8, Acts 19:5, Acts 22:16). In some cases, this even included entire households (Acts 16:14-15, 25-33). Since these scriptures show that a believer needs to be old enough to accept Christ as Saviour before becoming baptized, this would leave out the baptism of babies and young children. Does this mean, then, that our babies and children would be "un-saved" until they reach the age of understanding? No, because scripture shows children remain holy through a believing parent's faith (1 Corinthians 7:14). Therefore, a parent's faith and baptism will cover their babies and children until they reach the age of understanding.

In the bible, people weren't required to wait any prescribed length of time before becoming baptized. Instead, they were eligible for baptism once they accepted Christ. (Acts 2:41, Acts 8:12-13, Acts 8:35-39, Acts 16:14-15).

As scripture shows, people aren't required to be Christian for a certain length of time before becoming baptized. They are not required to adhere to anything more than genuine faith in the power of Christ's blood to forgive sins. They are not required to correctly answer a prescribed battery of questions in order to be eligible for baptism. It's very simple: One only needs to understand the importance of Christ and believe in the forgiveness through Christ's blood, in order to be eligible for baptism.