And Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, everyone 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."
- Acts 2:38-9
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name
- Acts 22:16
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were therefor buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from
the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like
this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrrection.
- Romans 6:3-5
And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good
conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ...
- 1Peter 3:21
The word baptize comes from the Greek word "baptizo" and literally means, "to dip, to immerse, to plunge." In addition to the literal meaning of the word, immersion is practiced because it was the practice of the church in apostolic times. Still further, only immersion conforms to the description of baptisms as given by the apostle Paul in Romans 6:3-5 where he speaks of it as a burial and resurrection.