When we sin (rebellion against what pleases God), we deserve to die. Once we sin, we are incapable on our own of re–establishing a good relationship with God. But, God loves us, and still wants us to live with Him forever. God loves us so much that He is willing to save us from our decision to rebel, and from its consequences. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf, and to be raised from the dead to provide a promise of eternal life with Him. Since we cannot earn this, it is a gift to us. The Bible tells us this gift is called “grace,” something we do not deserve, but which God is willing to give us as we follow His will. Even though salvation is by grace — that is, it is a gift to people — God has instructed us that it is only received when people are obedient to His will. Salvation is not earned by this obedience, but obedience is required; to disobey is to continue rebelling against God. Our acceptance of God’s grace is demonstrated through both private and public commitments.

Faith is the first of the private commitments. Faith has two elements. First, we must accept the facts that we have sinned, that God has provided the means for our salvation (Jesus died on our behalf and was raised from the dead), and that apart from God’s grace we are without hope. Second, we must act in keeping with what we believe.

Repentance means “to turn around.” In other words, when we repent we are turning away from our rebellion from God, and turning toward a life that is pleasing to God. While repentance is a private commitment, it has very public effects. We stop disobeying God, and begin living as He wishes. When we repent, our changed lives demonstrate to God our commitment to live a life pleasing to Him.

Confession means “to say the same thing.” That is, we are to publicly say the same thing God says. We must say the same thing about ourselves (that we have rebelled against Him), and about Him (that Jesus is our Savior, and that He has the right to determine how we will live). Our public confession continues for the rest of our lives as we publicly reaffirm that Jesus is our Savior and our Lord.

According to the Bible, baptism is to immediately follow our faith, repentance, and confession. It is the point in time when God extends mercy to us, forgiving our sins. It is the point in time when the Holy Spirit begins living within us, and when the Holy Spirit gives us the talents and abilities we will need to do our part in building up the kingdom of God. In the New Testament all baptisms were of people old enough to make important decisions for themselves, and baptism was done by immersion (the person’s whole body was dipped until buried in the water). Because we cherish following the Bible in doing as it instructs, and following the examples of the Bible, we baptize only those people who are old enough to make their own decision to be life–long followers of Christ. And again, because we seek to do Biblical things in Biblical ways, we accept only immersion as baptism.