Water baptism symbolises our entry into the kingdom of God and testifies of our readiness to obey our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of its symbolic value, it is important to follow the original pattern by immersion.
Baptism should be by complete immersion. Otherwise there would be no reason for John the Baptist to baptise where there was much water, yet this is why he baptised where he did: And John also was baptising in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there. (John 3:23)
Jesus was baptised as an example to his followers, and not by sprinkling: Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptised of John in Jordan. And straightway, coming up out of the water. (Mark 1:9,10) Note that Jesus was baptised in the Jordan, not by the Jordan. If baptism were by sprinkling, there would have been no need to go into the river. We must follow the example of Jesus and also be baptised as He was.
There are several concepts illustrated when a person is baptised by putting them down into the water and then lifting them up out of the water, namely cleansing, escape from judgement, and resurrection power. I will now discuss these.
The water of baptism denotes the cleansing effect of the word when it is obeyed: that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. (Ephesians 5:26) Also speaking of the water of the word the writer says: our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22) And Jesus says: ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (John 15:3)
The word of God cleanses us because it shows us our faults as a mirror shows us dirt on our face. When our face is dirty we must wash. If our lives are dirty we must obey or the word is to no avail: if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. (James 1:23-25)
The same concept of water to cleanse was illustrated in Exodus 30:18-20 when the Old Testament priests washed their hands and feet before serving the Lord. Similarly God does not want our service if we are sinful or disobedient until we have cleansed our life by repentance.
The good Ananias was using baptism as an illustration of cleansing when he said to Paul: arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins. (Acts 22:16) The thought is that before repentance our lives were dirty with sinful deeds, but after repentance we are clean because of the water of the word (we obey), and therefore we do good clean things. The water of baptism does not refer in any way to forgiveness or remission of sins, but rather to the change in our manner of life. Baptism does not actually do anything, but is merely symbolic of the repentance which has already occurred.
It was to signify this cleansed or repentant life that John the Baptist baptised. He said: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. (Matthew 3:11) He would not baptise those like the Pharisees who would not repent.
Baptism also symbolises being saved from perishing. For this reason baptism is likened to the ark saving Noah from the waters of the flood: in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:20,21)
Again, baptism does not actually do anything - it is merely a symbol of our escaping death by repentance. John the Baptist preached the: baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (Luke 3:3)
The equating of baptism with repentance was understood by Jesus' apostles If a person who understands baptism repents and believes, he will be baptised. He will also be saved, not because of baptism, but because of his repentance and faith. But if someone does not get baptised, because they refuse to repent and trust God, and identify with Christ, they will perish. However there may be some good people who do not get baptised because they do not understand it, or because they do not understand how to obey the bible. This may be because some Christian groups like the Pharisees: bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders. (Matthew 23:4) If this is why a person will not get baptised, God will be merciful to them.
Baptism also symbolises escaping the power of the devil and coming under the power or influence of God. In 1 Corinthians 10:2 we read of the children of Israel who were all: baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. This was when they escaped from Pharaoh's Egyptian armies by passing through the Red Sea, in which the pursuing army of Pharaoh was drowned. Once across the Red Sea, the Jews were free from Pharaoh, and in a similar way born again Christians are freed to a large extent from the power of the devil, by the power of the cross.
Victory over Satan's trials and temptations is promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Going under the waters of baptism is a picture of death and burial and coming up out of the water is a picture of resurrection: we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) So baptism speaks of the power to lead a new life having been set free from the devil. We therefore have the power to say ‘No’ to (or die to) sin and to say ‘Yes’ to God according to Romans 6:11: Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God though Jesus Christ our Lord.
Emerging out of the waters of baptism, which symbolises our resurrection, also speaks of the fellowship which we may have with God in heaven: God . . . hath quickened us together with Christ . . . and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-6) If we have been raised to sit with Christ, then we must also be experiencing his friendship, because who can sit with someone without experiencing fellowship. We also have fellowship with God the Father as all Christians: have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)
A requirement for baptism is that we believe in Jesus according to Acts 8:36,37 where an Ethiopian said to Philip, an evangelist: See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. Thus the sign of baptism should only be for those who are old enough to believe. This differs from the sign of circumcision in the Old Testament, but there is a reason for this.
Under the Old Covenant, male children were circumcised when they were eight days old, as a sign of the covenant with God through Abraham. This is because if a person was born a Jew he had no choice whether or not to obey God's laws, in that his fellow Jews would have punished him if he transgressed God's covenant. But God's New Covenant, is with those who voluntarily decide to follow God. This is clear from John 1:11-13: He (Jesus) came unto his own, and his own (Jews) received him not (as their King). But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood (natural birth), nor of the will of the flesh (our efforts), nor of the will of man (other people's efforts), but of God. As the new covenant is not entered into by natural birth like the old covenant, it is not appropriate to baptise infants in the way that infants were circumcised under the old covenant. The new covenant is entered into by repentance and belief, accompanied by being born of the Spirit, and therefore Christian baptism should take place after this has occurred. As infants cannot believe, they cannot be born of the Spirit.
The new covenant was foretold in Jeremiah 31:31-33: Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord: I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. One of the reasons that Christians have more of a mind and heart to obey God than the Jews, is that Christians initially decided themselves that God's way was best. Then, as they follow God, He takes away the evil influence of demons and replaces it with the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit.
There is no case in the New Testament where it says that infants were baptised. Although Acts 16:33 speaks of the whole family of the Philippian jailer being baptised, it does not say that there were infants or children too young to believe in his family. To the contrary it says they were all old enough to understand the word of God: they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. (Acts 16:32)