After His death and resurrection, Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize converts as part of the process of making disciples. He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, NIV). Evidently, the baptism Jesus commanded his disciples to offer their converts identified them as “disciples” of Jesus! The emphasis of baptism from that point on is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus—events that made it possible for people to receive eternal life! Paul wrote, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore 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” (Romans 6:3-4, NIV). Today when a person gets baptized, he is identifying himself as a “disciple” of Jesus—one who believes in His death, His burial, and His resurrection.
