Contributed by Abbey Thangiah • Nov 7, 2023

To be honest, I haven’t given much thought about my baptism for quite a long time. I was baptised as a baby. I was also confirmed when I was 12 or 13. During a youth camp, I decided to follow Jesus and had my born-again experience many years later.

Baptism is a public profession of your faith. It is when I am ready to let the world know that I have full faith in Christ. I need to have faith in the history the bible taught us. The Jesus of the New Testament is the Jesus of the Old Testament. We need to believe the Bible from creation to revelation. I spent 15 years in school and was exposed to the diverse theories of science. It made me realise that we still must choose to believe what the Bible tells us.

There are 55 prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament. The idea of a virgin birth seemed ridiculous. It seemed absurd too that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a kampung so remote that many Persians, Egyptians and Romans did not write about this town in their history books. Jesus impressed a group of religious teachers at 12. The Bible was silent for 18 years and Jesus starts his ministry at 30.

Four Gospels were written to provide us a clearer view of Jesus so that we can understand Him. He lived and performed miracles while fulfilling every prophecy of the Old Testament. Jesus was also ready to die even though He did not commit any sin. He was crucified and resurrected three days later. When He ascended to heaven, He gave us the Holy Spirit. We Christians can boast that we have direct access to our God. We do not need a mediator nor chants of magic words to call on Him. He is always there for us.

If we believe in all of the above, we should get a public declaration and be baptised. My baptism gave me my identity that I am part of the family of Christ. Baptism sets us apart. The image of Pastor Yun baptising his members in the night in icy cold rivers still lingers in my mind. What excuse can you have not to be baptised? I understand it is not as easy as it sounds but once you are baptised, perhaps you will experience the joy that I had at my baptism.