A Bonding With Christ Matthew 3:13-17 NLT

Matthew 3:13-17 NLT 

The Baptist of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize Him.

¹⁶ After His baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on Him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy.”

Wow, when I get to Heaven, I hope God says "This is my dearly loved daughter, who brings Me great joy." 

Baptism is an outward expression of an inward conversion. It's not necessary to be baptized to be saved, the thief on the cross wasn't yet Jesus told him "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43 It is a good idea, though, once you've accepted Jesus as your Savior. 

"Requiring anything in addition to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation is a works-based salvation. To add anything to the gospel is to say that Jesus' death on the cross was not sufficient to purchase our salvation. To say that baptism is necessary for salvation is to say we must add our own good works and obedience to Christ's death in order to make it sufficient for salvation. Jesus' death alone paid for our sins (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus' payment for our sins is appropriated to our “account” by faith alone (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9). Therefore, baptism is an important step of obedience after salvation but cannot be a requirement for salvation."

From gotquestions.org

After David and I were saved, we were baptized, together, at the same time, by the same Pastor. In fact, we each assisted in the others baptism.  If you've never experienced it as an adult, and you have accepted Jesus as your savior, you should. It's an exhilarating experience, the cleansing of old self, the  washing away of sins, the resurrection of Christ. It's a bonding with Christ that can't be felt any other way. 

Blessings, Cecilia