Baptism is a fundamental and crucial part of becoming a Christian. A Christian believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who died on the cross for all the wrongdoing of the world out of his love for us, then rose again to show that he had defeated death, and gives us His Holy Spirit to help us live in his way. When we put our faith in him, and commit our lives to him, it's important to make a public witness that we are wanting to 'wash away' the old life and start again with Christ.

So baptism is about being so sorry for our old life that we want to say so publicly to God. If we are adult and we are fully immersed in water, as happens in the Baptist and other churches, the water symbolises the washing away of the wrong we have done - sins that Jesus died for. It is a statement in front of many witnesses that we want to 'drown' our old life. Coming up out of the water symbolises the way we are given new life by Jesus.

In the early days of the Christian church, and still in many places today, people are baptised in white robes, to show that they are being made clean by Jesus.

So to this day being baptised has a double meaning : primarily it is about making a public commitment of our whole life to Jesus, having the bad things we have done washed away by Him, and starting to lead a new life of following Him with the help of His Holy Spirit.

We have the example of Jesus himself, who was baptised by John in the River Jordan. John didn't want to baptise him, because he knew Jesus was the only person who never did anything wrong. But Jesus insisted, because he wanted to do all that God wanted. His will and God's will were one. It was a special occasion for him, because the Holy Spirit of God came upon him as he came out of the water, to lead him into his new ministry.

John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, of being sorry for one's wrongdoing. But he said that Jesus would bring a baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit, one that would offer not only cleansing, but new life and the Spirit to inspire believers. This baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit took place first on the day of Pentecost, which is coming up soon.

In the New Testament we read of many people being baptised. Jesus' follower Philip baptised an Ethiopian court official when he believed in Jesus. The apostle Paul baptised his jailer at Philippi in a very dramatic story.

In those days, and still in many societies today, they didn't just baptise one person. If the head of the household came to faith in Christ, then all the household would be given teaching and would be baptised together, which is what happened with the jailer. This would have included the children in the household.

For this reason the custom grew up of babies being baptised who were born to believing parents, and this custom continues to this day in some denominations, such as the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

This became the custom in the Church of England , and for many centuries most people had their children baptised as babies, thinking of it as a blessing from God. It was God doing something for their child. Later in the child's life (s)he , (often at teenage), would 'confirm' this at a ceremony called CONFIRMATION, when he/she would 'confirm' loyalty to Christ. Confirmation still means that an adult of any age can say 'I was baptised in the Christian faith, but now I'm mature I want to confirm this faith myself, and to witness to the fact that I personally believe in Christ and want to follow Him.'

After a period of teaching, they attend a Confirmation Service, where the bishop puts his hands on the person's head and prays, "Confirm, O Lord, this thy child with thy Holy Spirit..."

As you can see, this is a major commitment, and the white clothes that people wore for their baptism symbolised the new clean life that Christ gives to those who want to follow Him.

Baptism is a special spiritual moment in a person's life, and needs to be done with integrity and sincerity, and with full commitment to God. Each baptism candidate, and each parent and godparent of a baby being baptised, promises to turn to Christ and grow in faith, by prayer, by learning about the Christian faith, and by regular worship with other Christians. This is how our faith can strengthen and grow, and how we can encourage our children to have faith and lead the new life that Jesus alone can offer.