Baptism by immersion in water is a symbol God commands in the New Testament for those who have personally accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Its purpose is for the individual believer to volitionally identify with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection by that Christian’s own choice. It is also a symbolic picture of the Christian’s own personal death to the slavery of sin, burial of the old self, and the commitment to walk in the new life given by Christ. Baptism does not save a person because that would be salvation by works and not by faith.
Matthew 28:19-20, Roman 6:1-4, Acts 2:41, Acts 8:12, Ephesians 2:8-9