In the Garden of Eden, Satan told the first lie in history. God told Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan simply added a single word to God's statement and told Eve that she would not die if she ate from the tree. It was a simple three-letter word that changed the course of history and knocked mankind clean off the path of perfection.
Today, in the same catastrophic way, Satan has atlered another of God's statements simply by adding the word "not." Have you heard it said or do you believe that baptism is not essential for one's salvation? Just like in the Garden, Satan has used a simple three-letter word to lie to much of the religious world and almost completely blockade the only entrance into the Lord's church.
As I've mentioned before, I in no way want to come across as a know-it-all, and I don't want you to think I speak in a condescending way. With that said, the purpose of this post is to expose Satan as the liar he is and to help us better understand what the scriptures say about baptism.
There are varying views of what baptism is, how and why it's done, and who does it. Instead of going over some of the views out there, I'll simply point out what the Bible says.
First and foremost, Jesus commanded baptism.
Mark 16:16: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."Simply put, unless someone believes and is baptized, he/she cannot be saved. You may point out that the second part of the verse says that if you don't believe, you'll be condemned; it doesn't mention baptism. Look at this way: if I say, "he who eats and digests will live, but he who does not eat will die," you would understand that obviously the digestion is implied in the second part of the statement. Likewise, if someone doesn't believe, he's not going to be baptized. John 3:18 states that a person is already condemned if he doesn't believe. So the fact remains that if you don't believe and are not baptized, you have no chance of salvation.
Matthew 28:19-20: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen."
It is Christ's blood that saves us, and we contact His blood through baptism.
Colossians 1:14: "in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."Ephesians 1:7: "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
Romans 5:9: "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."
No one I know would argue with the fact that without Christ's blood (death, burial, resurrection), we would have no hope of salvation. Unfortunately, some people I know would argue that you can contact that blood in other ways than through baptism. What does the Bible say?
Romans 6:3-4: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
By being baptized we reenact his death, burial, and resurrection. We're dead in sin (death), buried in water/baptism (burial), and raised out of the water (resurrection) to live a new life. Without baptism, how else can we reenact this? If Jesus says we're saved because of his blood (death), and the only way to contact that blood is by being baptized, how can anyone say baptism isn't essential for salvation?
Baptism is referenced throughout scripture using analogies of washing and of water.
John 3:5: "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.'"Ephesians 5:26: "that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,"
Titus 3:5: "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,"
Baptism is the only way into the church, which is Christ's body.
Galatians 3:27: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."Acts 2:41,47: "41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
If only the church will be saved, and the only way a person can be added to the church is through baptism, then how could baptism not be essential for salvation?
First century converts were baptized in order to become Christians.
Acts 8:12: "But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized."Acts 8:36-38: "Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, 'See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Then Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him."
Acts 16:14-15: "Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.' So she persuaded us."
Acts 16:33-34: "And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household."
Act 18:8: "Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized."
The Bible is straightforward in stating that baptism saves.
Acts 2:38: " Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" (emphasis added)Acts 22:16: "'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’" (emphasis added)
1 Peter 3:20-21: "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: " (emphasis added)
In short, baptism IS essential for salvation. Along with hearing the word (Romans 10:17), believing in Christ (John 8:24), repenting of sin (Luke 13:3), and confessing the name of Christ (Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:9-10), baptism is the culminating act that makes you a Christian. But it doesn't end there. You have to remain faithful until death to make it to Heaven (Revelation 2:10).
Satan's attack on baptism makes sense. If he lied to Adam and Eve to prevent a perfect, sinless world, he would certainly use the same strategy to undermine God's plan of salvation. If he could make people believe the lie that baptism is not essential, he would prevent people from being added to the church. Interestingly, many denominations teach that you don't have to be baptized to be saved; however, they still practice baptism as an "outward showing of an inward grace/change." This kind of baptism is unscriptural and does nothing to save you.
If Satan can successfully attack baptism, he can keep people from being added to the church (Acts 2:41,47), from putting on Christ (Galatians 3:27), from washing away Sins (Acts 22:16), from having sins remitted (Acts 2:38), and from being saved (Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21).
Don't let the father of lies pull one over on you.
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So what about the thief on the cross? A common thought is that since the thief on the cross was saved by Jesus without being baptized, then it's possible for us to be saved without being baptized. Even if you were to put aside all of the scripture I mentioned above, this argument against the essentiality of baptism couldn't stand. The explanation is simple: Jesus and the thief were living under the Old Law. It wasn't until after Christ's death that the Old Testament was replaced by the New (Colossians 2:14). At the time Jesus saved the thief on the cross, the church had not yet been established, and the thief would not have been accountable to the commandment of baptism. Further, Jesus (who was God on Earth) had the ability to change his will as long as he was alive. He had the ability to save whomever and however he chose. The testator had not yet died; therefore, the New Testament (and requirement of baptism) was not yet in effect (Hebrews 9:16-17). Other examples of people being saved by Jesus (like the thief on the cross) are the sinful woman of Luke 7:36ff and the palsied man of Mark 2. Again, these were at a time when Christ was on Earth prior to the New Law coming into effect.
So what about Cornelius? Some believe that Cornelius was saved prior to his baptism because he received the Holy Spirit prior to being baptized. In Acts 10, we read about the gospel being brought to the Gentiles for the first time. All Christians up to this point were converts from Judaism. In order to make it clear to the Jewish Christians that the Gentiles were to be accepted into the church, God poured out the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius (and the other Gentiles with him). This in no way meant the Gentiles were saved when they received the Holy Spirit. In verse 47 and 48, Peter commanded them to be baptized. Keeping all the scriptures we've already covered in mind, why would Peter command the Gentiles to be baptized if they had already been saved when they received the Holy Spirit? Acts 15:8-9, "And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: 'Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.'" I mention this verse to say this: God knew the hearts of the Gentiles, and he knew they would be obedient, so he gave them the Holy Spirit. He didn't give them the Holy Spirit to save them; he knew they would be saved through obeying the command of baptism.
To prove that people can receive the Holy Spirit without being saved, take a look at King Saul in 1 Samuel 15, 16, and 19. Saul, the first king of Israel was rejected by God because of his disobedience to God's commands (1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Samuel 15:23). Saul wanted to kill David (the new king), so he sent his messengers to capture David. However, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers, and David was able to avoid being captured (1 Samuel 19:20-21). The messengers of Saul receiving the Spirit was no indication of salvation; it was a sign from God that he was protecting David.
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Scriptural baptism is immersion in water of an individual who can comprehend the gospel command. It is not pouring, sprinkling, or christening. Every account in scripture is of a person at an accountable age being immersed; no babies/infants were ever baptized. The greek word for baptism is baptizo, which means "to dip; to immerse."
