JEFF TURNER

When someone becomes a Christian, an important question comes up: how quickly should they be baptized? I believe the Bible gives us a clear answer through the actions of early believers.

In the book of Acts, we read about Philip meeting an Ethiopian official. After Philip explains the gospel, the man puts his faith in Jesus. Right away, the Ethiopian asks to be baptized, and Philip baptizes him on the spot. This wasn’t unusual in the early church. Getting baptized immediately after believing in Jesus was the normal practice.

The Ethiopian himself made the connection between faith and baptism. He asked what would prevent him from being baptized, showing he understood this was the next step. The apostle Paul later wrote about one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, linking them together as inseparable parts of following Christ. Baptism and faith belonged together in the minds of early Christians.

Some churches in history created long waiting periods before baptism, sometimes lasting months or even years. But this approach doesn’t match what we see in Scripture. On the day of Pentecost, three thousand people believed and were baptized on the same day. The Bible doesn’t suggest any delay between these two events.

For anyone who has trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior but hasn’t been baptized yet, the message is direct: this needs to happen soon.