Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation? PART 1

If we are saved by faith, then we are saved by faith when we believe, not when we get baptized, otherwise we are not saved by faith.  Furthermore, if baptism is necessary for salvation then anyone who receives Christ on his deathbed in a hospital and who also believes Jesus is God in the flesh, who died and rose from the dead for his sins,  etc., would go to hell if he doesn't get baptized before he died.  This would mean that we were not justified by faith because if we were, then the person would be saved.  Also, if baptism is necessary for salvation, then all babies who die go to hell since they weren't baptized.  Remember, when someone says that baptism is necessary, there can be no exceptions -- otherwise it isn't necessary.One of the most nagging questions in Christianity is whether or not baptism is necessary for salvation. The answer is a simple, "No, water baptism is not necessary for salvation."  But you might ask, "If the answer is no, then why are there verses that say things like '...baptism that now saves you...' (1 Pet. 3:21) and '...Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins...' (Acts 2:38)?"  These are good questions and they deserve a good answer, so we will look at these verses later.  But for now, the reason baptism is not necessary for salvation is because we are justified by faith (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8), not by faith and a ceremony (Rom. 4:1-11).  You see, a religious ceremony is a set of activities or forms peformed by someone.  In the Bible circumcision was a ceremony where one person performed a religious rite on another person.  Likewise, baptism is also a ceremony where one person performs a religious rite on another person.  But, we are saved by faith alone and anything else we do, including ceremonies, will not help.

Now, in order to more thoroughly look at this issue, I need to lay a foundation of proper theology, and then I'll address some of those verses that are commonly used to support the idea that baptism is necessary for salvation.

God Works Covenantally

First, you need to understand that God works covenantally.   A covenant is a pact or agreement between two or more parties.  The New Testament and Old Testament are New and Old Covenants. The word "testament" comes from the Latin testamentum which means covenant.  So, the Bible is a covenant document.  If you do not understand covenant you cannot understand, in totality, the issue of baptism because baptism is a covenant sign…

If you do not think that God works covenantally then look at Hebrews 13:20 which says, "Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,..." 

If you fail to understand that God works covenantally and that He uses signs as manifestations of his covenants (rainbow, circumcision, communion, etc.) then you will not be able to understand where baptism fits in God's covenant system.

Second, you need to know what baptism is.  It is a ceremony that represents an outward representation of an inward reality.  For example, it represents the reality of the inward washing of Christ's blood upon the soul.  That is why it is used in different ways.  It is said to represent the death of the person (Rom. 6:3-5), the union of that person with Christ (Gal. 3:27), the cleansing of that person's sins (Acts 22:16), the identification with the one "baptized into" as when the Israelites were baptized into Moses (1 Cor. 10:2), and being united in one church (1 Cor. 12:13). Also, baptism is one of the signs and seals of the Covenant of Grace that was instituted by Jesus.

The Covenant of Grace is the covenant between God and Mankind where God promises to Mankind eternal life.  It is based upon the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the condition is faith in Jesus Christ.  As the Communion Supper replaced Passover, baptism, in like manner, replaces circumcision.  "They represent the same spiritual blessings that were symbolized by circumcision and Passover in the old dispensation" (Berkhoff, Lewis,Systematic Theology, 1988, p. 620).  Circumcision was the initiatory rite into the Abrahamic covenant; it did not save.  A covenant is a pact or agreement between two or more parties and that is exactly what the Abrahamic covenant was.  God said to Abraham, "I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you," (Genesis 17:7).  God later instructed Abraham to circumcise not only every adult male, but also eight day old male infants as a sign of the covenant (Gen. 17:9-13).  If the children were not circumcised, they were not considered to be under the promissory Abrahamic covenant.  This is why Moses' wife circumcised her son and threw the foreskin at Moses' feet (Ex. 4:24-25).  She knew the importance of the covenant between God and her children.  But at the same time we must understand that circumcision did not guarantee salvation to all who received it.  It was a rite meant only for the people of God, who were born into the family of God (who were then the Jews).

An important question here is how is it possible for an infant to be entered into a covenant with God.  There could be a lot of different answers given but the point remains: it was done; infants were entered into a covenant relationship with God -- through their parents.

If you understand that baptism is a covenant sign, then you can see that it is a representation of the reality of Christ circumcising our hearts (Rom. 2:29; Col. 2:11-12).  It is our outward proclamation of the inward spiritual blessing of regeneration.  It comes after faith which is a gift of God (Rom. 12:3) and the work of God (John 6:28).

Third, the Bible says that it is the gospel that saves.  "By this gospel you are saved..." (1 Cor. 15:2).  Also, Rom. 1:16 says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."  Neither of these verses, which tell us what saves us, includes any mention of baptism.

What is the Gospel?

It is clearly the gospel that saves us, but what exactly is the gospel?  That too is revealed to us in the Bible.  It is found in 1 Cor. 15:1-4: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."  The gospel is defined as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for our sins.  Baptism is not mentioned here.

Paul said that he came to preach the gospel, not to baptize: "I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.  (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.)  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel..." (1 Cor. 1:14-17).  If baptism is necessary for salvation, then why did Paul downplay it and even exclude it from the description of what is required for salvation?  It is because baptism is not necessary for salvation.

Additionally, in Acts, Peter was preaching the gospel, people got saved, and then they were baptized.  Acts 10:44-48 says, "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.  The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.  For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.  Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water?  They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.'  So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days."  These people were saved.  The gift of the Holy Spirit was on the Gentiles and they were speaking in tongues.  This is significant because tongues is a gift given to believers (see 1 Cor. 14:1-5). Also, unbelievers do not praise God.  They cannot because praise to the true God is a deep spiritual matter that is foreign to the unsaved (1 Cor. 2:14).  Therefore, the ones in Acts 10 who are speaking in tongues and praising God are definitely saved, and they are saved before they are baptized.  This simply is not an exception.  It is a reality.

Let's Suppose...

Another way of making this clear is to use an illustration.  Let's suppose that a person, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8), believed in Jesus as his savior (Rom. 10:9-10; Titus 2:13), and has received Christ (John 1:12) as Savior.  Is that person saved?  Of course he is.  Let's further suppose that this person confesses his sinfulness, cries out in repentance to the Lord, and receives Jesus as Savior and then walks across the street to get baptized at a local church.  In the middle of the road he gets hit by a car and is killed.  Does he go to heaven or hell?  If he goes to heaven then baptism is not necessary for salvation.  If he goes to hell, then trusting in Jesus, by faith, is not enough for salvation.  Doesn't that go against the Scriptures that say that salvation is a free gift (Rom. 6:23) received by faith (Eph. 2:8-9)?

Saying that baptism is necessary for salvation is dangerous because it is saying that there is something we must do to complete salvation.  That is wrong!  See Gal. 2:21; 5:4.

All right, so this sounds reasonable.  But still, what about those verses that seem to say that baptism is part of salvation?  I will address those now, but because this subject can become quite lengthy, in fact sufficient for a book in itself, I will only address a few verses and then only briefly.

Baptism Verses

John 3:5, "Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.'"

Some say that water here means baptism, but that is unlikely since Christian baptism hadn't yet been instituted.  If this verse did mean baptism, then the only kind that it could have been at that point was the baptism of repentance administered by John the Baptist (Mark 1:4).  If that is so, then baptism is not necessary for salvation because the baptism of repentance is no longer practiced.

It is my opinion that the water spoken of here means the water of the womb referring to the natural birth process.  Jesus said in verse three that Nicodemus needed to be born "again."  This meant that he had been born once -- through his mother's womb.  Nicodemus responds with a statement about how he cannot enter again into his mother's womb to be born.  Then Jesus says that he must be born of water and the Spirit.  Then in verse 6 He says that "flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."  The context seems to be discussing the contrast between the natural and the spiritual birth.  Water, therefore, could easily be interpreted there to mean the natural birth process.

I would like to add that there are scholars who agree with the position and some who do not.  Some believe that the water refers to the Word of God, the Bible, and others claim it means the Holy Spirit.  You decide for yourself.

 Matt Slick
From Former Salvation Army Officer Fellowship Blog site (www.fsaof.blogspot.com)