"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

Baptism is about much more than getting wet or crossing off another thing on our list of things to do to show obedience. You see, what saves us is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-5). God has given us the amazing grace (Rom. 6:1, 14-15) of being able to share in Jesus' saving work through faith and experience it in baptism (Gal. 3:26-27). We stop living the way we used to and bury it in the past. It doesn't hold us anymore. This death is the most important one. Our new life is now joined with Christ's, and His future is now our own (cf. Col. 3:1-4). God made us so that we can praise Him and spend eternity with Him. That means that the Gospel is not just something that is preached; it is something that we experience by God's grace.