为什么洗礼真正重要

许多人认为洗礼只是一种空洞的仪式。然而耶稣教导说，人若不是从水和圣灵生的，就不能进神的国。这本小册子追溯耶稣所吩咐的，以及使徒所行的。在使徒行传中，凡相信福音的人都接着受了洗。连已经领受圣灵的哥尼流，也照样遵行这个命令。本书说明其中的原因。信徒藉着洗礼与基督同死，又起来过新的生命。他们离弃罪，神就赦免他们。婴孩无法明白，也无法作出这个选择。新约只记载成年信徒受洗。本书也以慈爱天父的怜悯，回应人们常有的两种犹豫。本书采用中英对照，中文经文引自和合本。

Many people see baptism as an empty ceremony. Yet Jesus taught that we must be "born of water and of the Spirit" to enter God's kingdom. This booklet traces what Jesus commanded and what his apostles did. In Acts, every person who believed the Gospel then chose baptism. Even Cornelius, who had received the Holy Spirit, still obeyed this command. The booklet explains why. Through baptism, believers share in Christ's death and rise to a new life. They turn from sin, and God forgives them. An infant cannot understand or make this choice. The New Testament records adult believers only. The booklet also answers two common hesitations with the mercy of a loving Father. Read it side by side in English and Chinese, with Chinese Bible quotations from the Chinese Union Version.