The doctrine of baptisms is a foundational and fundamental teaching and belief of the church of God. Although it is a physical ceremony, the lessons and effects of baptism are spiritual. By it, we demonstrate to God our sincere decision and determination to live His way of life, and show our belief in and acceptance of His Son's work on our behalf. By it, God purges us of our sin and then gives us the power by His Spirit to live righteously before Him. Baptism is a springboard that enables His children to go on to perfection. Baptism is a commanded ordinance for those who would be saved. Though it is strictly a physical ritual, our participation in it shows the sincerity of our repentance, our belief of His Word, our desire to obey God, and our acceptance of what Jesus Christ did on our behalf. It is such an important beginning to our Christian lives that Jesus says that unless one is born of water baptism and the Spirit by a laying on of hands, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Jesus, though He had never sinned, went through the rite of baptism to fulfill all righteousness. He did everything a truly righteous man should do, setting an example for us to learn from Him. As our perfect example in all things, He came to John to be baptized to show us the steps we must take to reach the same destination He did, the Kingdom of God. The original method of baptism was by immersion. John needed an abundance of water to cover his followers completely. Jesus' example shows that He came up from the water because He had been in it. Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch went down into the water. The Greek word for baptize means to immerse or plunge into, distinct from words used for pouring or sprinkling. The prerequisites for baptism are repentance and belief in the gospel of the Kingdom of God. The people showed by their reaction that they believed what was preached, and thus they needed only to repent of their sins and their human nature before they were baptized. One need not be a Bible scholar or be living perfectly to be baptized; these things are part of growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ after baptism. A candidate for baptism must be able to discern the terms of God's offer for salvation before making such a monumental decision. He must be mature enough to understand what God desires of him, to repent, and to believe the gospel. A new believer should be baptized as soon as possible after he has come to this point in his calling. The apostles baptized only adults who had met the qualifications of baptism, ruling out children and the dead. Symbolically, our baptism imitates what our Savior did for us, and by our participation in it, we show our desire to be united at one with Him in both His death and resurrection. Being put into the water represents the death of the old man with his sinful way of life. Being completely covered by water symbolizes burial, and being raised from the water pictures a resurrection to newness of life. After baptism, we consider ourselves dead to sin, having completely divorced ourselves from living a sinful way of life. Once baptized, we are to give our lives to God and use our time to become instruments of righteousness to Him. Baptism also serves to induct us into God's church and Family. We are literally baptized into the name of God. It becomes our Family name, and we have a great responsibility to uphold it. Afterwards, when a minister lays his hands on us, God gives us of His Spirit, and we truly become Christians, members of the body of Christ. Because we have God's Spirit in us, we become God's children and heirs with Christ of all things.

The practice of being baptized for those who have died is based on a misunderstanding of I Corinthians 15:29. Baptism is for the living, serving as a symbol whereby they acknowledge their sins, figuratively die with Christ in a watery grave, and rise to live a new, righteous life through Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It also symbolizes the resurrection, as rising from the watery grave reflects belief in the resurrection of the dead. Without the hope of resurrection, surrendering one's life to Christ and being baptized would be meaningless. In I Corinthians 15:29, Paul addresses the resurrection, using the example of baptism to underscore the hope of rising again. The Greek word "huper," often translated as "for," should be understood as "for the hope of" in this context. Thus, the verse questions, why are they baptized for the hope of the dead if the dead do not rise at all? Baptism illustrates the hope of the resurrection, and Paul emphasizes that without this hope, baptism would be futile. He affirms that because Christ died and rose again, we have the true hope of resurrection to anticipate.

Before Jesus Christ's ministry began, John the Baptist preached in the wilderness about repentance from sin and baptism. He spoke of three distinct baptisms, declaring that while he baptized with water unto repentance, the One coming after him, mightier than he, would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. All four gospels mention baptism by water and the Holy Spirit, though only Matthew and Luke reference the baptism of fire. Baptism by full immersion in water serves as a public expression of repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior. Emerging from this watery grave, a new Christian, forgiven of sin, is cleansed and prepared to receive God's Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. The baptism of the Holy Spirit places a Christian into the spiritual body of Jesus Christ, the church, uniting all into one body and regenerating them as sons or daughters of God the Father. The baptism of fire, as John explained, represents a punishing fire of God's eternal judgment, likened to a lake of fire where the chaff is burned with unquenchable flame, a fate no Christian desires. Scripture reveals baptism as a recurring theme in God's creative and redemptive work. The children of Israel were symbolically baptized in the Red Sea, emerging cleansed and free from their oppressors as God destroyed those who enslaved them. Earlier, Noah and his family were saved through water, an event mirrored in Christian baptism as a cleansing from sin. Even at Creation, the earth was covered in water, rising cleansed and prepared for new life, suggesting God's pattern of initiating new creation with a baptism. Baptism holds profound significance to God, marking the essential early step in His work with humanity, a cleansing in water for the remission of sins, leading to new life and fellowship with Him.