Baptism in the Scripture is an act of obedience and is offered to anyone who has come into relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
More specifically, Biblical baptism is a public profession of the shifting of one’s allegiance to live for self to living for God through the work of Jesus Christ. Baptism symbolizes both the death of the old self and its burial (going into the water) and being risen to newness of life through God’s grace (coming out of the water; Romans 6:1-9). Jesus calls all his disciples to be baptized (Matthew 28:19) as an outer symbol of that inner change that God has brought about in a person’s life.
We believe that baptism should be entered into both with an attitude of celebration and consecration. First, baptism is a celebration. We are filled with joy and hope for what Christ has done in our lives. Yet, at the same time, we enter the sacrament with an attitude of consecration. To be baptized means to join in what Jesus is doing in and for this world. It is nothing less than committing one’s self to a life of following Jesus Christ. As such, this sacrament should be entered into with both a spirit of celebration and consecration.