Start with the text.
World English Bible Updated · public domain. The passages below are source text, not AI quotations.
Matthew 28:18-20 Read passage
18Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
19Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Acts 2:38-39 Read passage
38Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
Romans 6:3-5 Read passage
3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
5For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;
Read this in context.
Matthew 28 concludes the Gospel with making disciples and teaching. Acts 2 narrates Pentecost and a response to the proclamation about Jesus. Romans 6 answers whether grace makes continuing in sin acceptable.
What we can observe.
Matthew 28 joins baptizing with disciple-making and teaching. Acts 2:38-39 names repentance, baptism, and a promise extending beyond the immediate hearers. Romans 6 connects baptism with Christ’s death and resurrection.
A reading to consider.
Reading these passages together helps explain why baptism is more than a detached ritual. The texts should still be distinguished from a tradition’s fuller account of covenant, faith, and sacramental life.
Where Christians differ.
Believer-baptism readings emphasize personal repentance and faith before baptism, engaging Acts 2:38. Infant-baptism readings emphasize covenant inclusion and the promise’s scope in Acts 2:39, alongside household passages such as Acts 16:15. Sacramental traditions and symbolic readings also describe baptism’s effect differently in relation to Romans 6:3-5.
Read it for yourself.
Which question are you studying: who is baptized, how baptism is performed, or what baptism signifies and does?
A question of your own?
Take what you have read into a guided study. Begin with the passages, explore their context, and keep room for your own reflection.