LUSAKA, Zambia (BP)--The president of Zambia recently acknowledged his faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized in a public service, Southern Baptist missionaries report.

     A crowd clapped and cheered as President Levy Mwanawasa (mwah-nah-WAH-sah) rose from the water in an outdoor baptistery behind a Baptist seminary chapel building in Lusaka, Zambia's capital. The event drew hundreds of people, including public officials, leaders and pastors from the area and neighboring countries.

     "This baptism was an incredible occasion for the Baptist witness to many people who we have not had in church before," said Troy Lewis, a Southern Baptist missionary in the southern African nation of more than 10 million people.

     "They heard the gospel of Jesus Christ."

     In 2004, over 500,000 people were baptized by Southern Baptist Missionaries throughout the world.

     Is there a place for baptism today's world, with contemporary worship, praise bands, and casual, non-traditional services?  Is baptism old fashioned, or even necessary today?  Do you need to be baptized in order to be a believer in Jesus Christ, and if you have not been baptized, why should you be baptized?

     These are common questions confronting Christians today.  Fortunately, there are clear answers to these questions, and they come from God's word.

What is the Meaning of Baptism?

     Before Christ, the Jewish people used ritual bathing pools for personal purification.  This usually involved immersion in flowing water.  John the Baptist transformed the private ritual of personal purification in to a public act symbolizing a recommitment to God's laws and turning from sin in expectation of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

     With the coming of Jesus, and His sacrificial death and resurrection, our sins are paid for.  This does not occur through deeds that we perform, or through baptism or other rituals, but through God's grace.  That is, if we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and turn from our sinful ways (repent), we will be granted salvation, which includes eternal life.

     Baptism itself does not wash away a single sin; only Jesus Christ can do that.  Instead, baptism is a public confession of the work that has already been done in uniting a believer with Jesus.  It is a statement that one has made a personal commitment to Christ as Savior. 

     In Acts 2:38-39, Peter expressed this clearly:

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."

     Here, believers are baptized after they have repented of their sins and placed their faith in Jesus Christ.  Baptism does not make one a believer, it shows that you already are one! It is an outward symbol of an inward decision. It does not "save" you, only your faith in Christ does that.

     Baptism is also a symbol of our new lives as Christians, as in 1 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

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