Key Passages for the Institution of Baptism

Ezekiel 36:24-28
24 For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and
bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you
shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse
you. 26* A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I
will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27* And
I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be
careful to observe my ordinances. 28 You shall dwell in the land which I gave to
your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

John 3:1-16
1* Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2* This man came to Jesus * by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you
are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless
God is with him." 3* Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born anew, * he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's
womb and be born?" 5* Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6* That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. * 7 Do not
marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' * 8* The wind * blows where
it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or
whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus
said to him, "How can this be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of
Israel, and yet you do not understand this? 11* Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak
of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive
our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how
can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13* No one has ascended into heaven
but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. * 14* And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that
whoever believes in him may have eternal life." * 16* For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life.
Matthew 28: 16-20
16* Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had
directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some
doubted. 18* And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. 19* Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20* teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with
you always, to the close of the age."

Mark 16:14-16
14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he
upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not
believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, "Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16 He who believes and
is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 2:37-42
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 38 And Peter said to them,
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39* For
the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one
whom the Lord our God calls to him." 40 And he testified with many other words
and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." 41 So
those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about
three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching
and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Baptism(s) of Christ
Matthew 3:13-17
13* Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do
you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus it is
fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus
was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens
were opened * and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting
on him; 17* and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, * with
whom I am well pleased."

Luke 12:49-50
49* "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!
50* I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is
accomplished!

Mark 10:35-40
35* And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to
him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." 36 And he said
to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" 37* And they said to him, "Grant
us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." 38* But Jesus
said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the
cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
39* And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I
drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be
baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is
for those for whom it has been prepared."

Witness of the Early Fathers

The Didache, chapter 7

And concerning baptism, baptize this way: Having first said all these
things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit, in living water. But if you have not living water, baptize into other water;
and if you can not in cold, in warm. But if you have not either, pour out water
thrice upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before
the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whatever others can; but
you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before.
St. Justin Martyr – First Apology, chapter 61
I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had
been made new through Christ; lest, if we omit this, we seem to be unfair in the
explanation we are making. As many as are persuaded and believe that what we
teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed
to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are
past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there
is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves
regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of
our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing
with water. For Christ also said, Unless you be born again, you shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven (John 3). Now, that it is impossible for those who
have once been born to enter into their mothers' wombs, is manifest to all. And
how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their sins, is declared by
Esaias the prophet, as I wrote above; he thus speaks: Wash you, make you clean;
put away the evil of your doings from your souls; learn to do well; judge the
fatherless, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, says
the Lord. And though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white like wool;
and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. But if you
refuse and rebel, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has
spoken it. (Isaiah 1:16-20)