Some thoughts about baptism and what the Bible says about Baptism.

The baptism has caused conflicts and different views in people throughout church history. But in the early church as described in the New Testament there were no conflicting views about the meaning and importance of baptism.  
Here are som Bible passages that show the biblical meaning of baptism, and after that I share some of my own thoughts about this.

Bible passage:

Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 

Joh 3:5
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 

Joh 3:3-7 REPENTANCE TOWARDS GOD:
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 

Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 22:16
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

Rom 6:3-8
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We 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. 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,a that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Tit 3:5
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Col 2.11-12
In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the fleshb was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 

Gal 2:19-20
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 

Gal 3:27
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

1 Pet 3:(18-19)20-21
(For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits)— 20to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 

Ok, what do we find in these Bible passages?
1. The baptism IS part of what leads to salvation. (Mark 16:16; Tit 3:5; 1 Pet 3:21)

2. You need to be "born of water and the Spirit" in order to enter the kingdom of God. 
    (Joh 3:3-7 REPENTANCE TOWARDS GOD:)

3. We are encouraged to repent, be baptized, receive (be baptized with) the Holy 
     Spirit; these three parts seems to go together (Acts 2:38); is this what Jesus points at in Joh 
     3:3-7?

4. The baptism washes us clean from sins, but not by cleaning us from dirt, but 
    by "a clear conscience toward God." (Acts 22:16; 1 Pet 3:21). Can we here see a connection between the previous repentance and after that baptism in water? We see in 
    koppling  mellan en föregående omvändelse och därefter dop i vatten? Vi ser i Acts 2:38 that this in
connection with a previous repentance, gives forgiveness for sins.

5. Baptism is a burial into a death with Christ; we are "buried with him through 
    baptism... in order that, we may live a new life." We are "united with him in a death like his", and    
    raised "in a resurrection like his". We become "crucified with Christ so that the body ruled by sin 
    might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died 
    has been set free from sin. (Rom 6:3-8). This is explained in Rom 6:12-14 where we find that 
    "sin shall no longer be (our) master, because (we) are not under the law, but 
    under grace.

    What is all this about? 
    Is this about that there is a parallel between the death of Jesus on the cross and our baptism in water 
    after a genuin repentance, by which the sin is deprived of its power so that we no 
    longer are slaves under it, or what?
Is there also another parallel between resurrection from the grave and our emergence above
the water surface again, now free from the power of sin, so that we now can live the new life, together with
Jesus, in which no longer I myself (my being ruled by desires) lives but instead Christ lives in me?
(Rom 6:3-8; Col 2:11-12; Gal 2:19-20)).

    Compare the following Bible passages and discern for yourself: 
    Jesus died on the cross (1 Cor 15:1-3)); We need to die from ourselves (Rom 6:2). Is it this 
    that happens in our genuin repentance, away from the sin in our life?)
Jesus was buried (1 Cor 15:4); We need to be buried (our old self ruled by desires) (Rom 6:3-4). Is it this
what happens in our baptism in water?
Jesus was resurrected again (1 Cor 15:4); We need to be resurrected again from death (meaning: our new self need to
come to life, free from the power and slavery of sin (Rom 6:4, 8:2) (see the clarifying pictures
below). It seems as if we at the same time have "clothed yourselves with Christ."Gal 3:27).

    I hope this has provided a more clear picture of the meaning and importance of how the Life with Christ as his
followers start: first bornagain, and how it happens, according to the Bible.

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