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In his dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus taught that Baptism was necessary for salvation.
After his Resurrection, Jesus met with the eleven Apostles and
gave them the commission to preach the Gospel and baptize, telling them,
The word baptism in its origins is Greek and means "immersion" and "bath."
Immersion in water is a sign of death and emersion out of the water means new life.
To bathe in water is also to undergo Saint Paul sums up this truth when he says,
The origin and foundation of Christian Baptism is Jesus. Before starting his
public ministry, Jesus submitted himself to the baptism given by John the Baptist.
The waters did not purify him; he cleansed the waters.
Jesus' immersion in the water is a sign for all human beings of the need to die to
themselves to do God's will. Jesus did not need to be baptized because he was
totally faithful to the will of his Father and free from sin. However, he wanted to
show his solidarity with human beings in order to reconcile them to the Father.
By commanding his disciples to baptize all nations, he established the means by
which people would die to sin—Original and actual—and begin to live a new life
with God.