Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?

During one of my trips I overheard a conversation between two fellows who apparently were confused about baptism and salvation. They were wondering whether baptism was required for salvation. Now this is a subject that requires a few books to properly address the question but it is important for those who are seeking Christ and for confused Christians to know the answer. The answer is NO! Now I must qualify this answer with the Word of God, and to do that we must first answer, what is baptism? Let us find out what the Word of God has to say on the subject. In Luke 3:16 we read:  John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Here John the Baptist was making a distinction between the water baptism that he was performing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Jesus would perform. This tells us that there are two baptisms one physical with water and one spiritual with the Holy Spirit. Now there are some that would use Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned to force the issue that baptism is required for salvation as they misapply this verse to mean 1) Believe + 2) Baptism = 3) Saved. The problem with this assertion is that they make no difference between the physical baptism and the spiritual baptism or more properly referred to as “being filled” with the Holy Spirit, and this begs the question, which baptism was referred to in Mark 16:16? The word “baptize” used in Mark 16:16 and Luke 3:16 are the same, meaning to be totally permeated with or dipped as a dye on a fabric, but as indicated one baptism is with water, physical, the other is with the Holy Spirit, spiritual. The question that should be asked then is, “is physical baptism necessary for salvation?”

The answer is No! Mark 16:16 itself confirms this by indicating that “he who disbelieved shall be condemned” emphasis on belief. Physical baptism without true surrendering to Christ is works and our works will not save us, 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9. As indicated, the emphasis is on “belief”, and belief in Christ encompasses the realization that we are sinners and must repent, that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins and that He was raised from the dead resulting in us surrendering to Him as Lord. Romans 10:9 teaches “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” Believe in your heart means that the required belief for salvation is not just a mere intellectual acceptance of who Jesus Christ was and did, but truly believing Romans 10:9 above. Now what happens when we surrender to Christ? In Acts 2:38 we read: Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit here is the baptism by Christ referred to by John the Baptist and this happens the moment we surrender to Christ, meaning we “believe” in our hearts He is truly Lord and Savior and we are born again at that moment therefore, in that sense baptism is required for salvation but you get that the moment you surrender to Christ, you get filled with the Holy Spirit. Now the physical baptism or water baptism is important because it is our outward manifestation or confirmation of who we are internally, in our heart, and whose we are, of Christ Jesus. Physical or water baptism can be viewed as our covenant sign with God, He is a covenant God, meaning He has made an agreement or an alliance with humankind, and physical baptism is a covenant sign. From the very beginning God has made covenants with man, in Genesis 9:12-13 for example He tells Noah, God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.[1] God made an agreement with Noah that He would not destroy the earth again by flood and the sign of this covenant is a rainbow. He also made an eternal covenant, Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, Hebrews 13:20.

The eternal covenant is the covenant with Christ to redeem mankind whereby God would give Jesus Christ those whom God chooses, and the sign for this covenant is Christ Himself. The question I ask of the proponents that physical baptism is required for salvation is, what do you do with verses that teach those who believe in Jesus will be saved? Romans 10:9, Luke 8:12 for example. Belief then is what is required to be saved. 8 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:8, 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31. In conclusion, physical baptism is not necessary for salvation, belief that we are sinners who are lost under a death sentence by a holy and just God and belief in Jesus Christ His atoning death on the cross and His resurrection is what saves us. Read Mark 1:15, Luke 8:12, John 1:12, John 3:16, John 3:36, John 5:24, John 6:40, John 11:25-26, John 20:31, Acts 2:37-38, Acts 16:31, Romans 3:22, Galatians 3:22, 1Timothy 1:16. Think about it, if baptism as given by John the Baptist was necessary for salvation, then Jesus lied to the thief on the cross.

ARE WE TO BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD? PART 1

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Conform! Is defined as to correspond in form or character, be similar, to act in accord or agreement; comply and to be like. As Christians we are commanded not to be conformed to this world, Romans 12:2. The world is antagonistic to Christianity and God’s precept and as such the enemy employs all possible avenues to have everyone conformed to its precepts. The media is one of the means by which we are constantly bombarded with beliefs and views that are against Christianity asking us to be conformed to them. Academia is another means which is extremely antagonistic to Christianity and demands for us not to believe in God.

Because we humans are egocentric by nature the proclivity is to believe the world and be conformed to it for its seemly satisfactory rewards such as richness, status, materialism, sex and much more. The tendency is to either be better than the Joneses of keep up with them. But are these worldly rewards rich enough to forego God? This is a decision that each one of us must make. The Word of God exhorts us not to love the world or the things of the world, 15. Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world 1John 2:15-16. Loving the world or the things of the world shows very clear what our character is and who our Lord is. As Christians we are not to be contaminated by world, as indicated in the opening verses Paul urges us not to be conformed to this world because it is a deceptive roadblock to God’s kingdom, why is that? Because as previously indicated the world is anti-God. Though the world was made by God and is part of His beautiful wonders, it has been marred and belongs to the enemy and today everything that makes society run is not of God. The world system which deals with all facets of our lives being religion, medicine, politics, ethics, education, technology, the law and much more have been redefined from beliefs that are designed to displace God and His precepts  therefore, is antagonistic to Christianity. Those who allow the world system to form their beliefs the love of the Father is not in them and their God is the world. We are not to love any anything of the world, in fact the world as we know it will eventually be destroyed, 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 2Peter 3:10-11 therefore, we need to focus on eternal life with God. Again we are not to be conformed to this world because it will pull us away from God, the world exerts great effort to get us to conform to the its standards and precepts and many don’t realize that in doing so one is supplanting God. We are in the world and have to use the things of the world but we are not to be “part” of the world or allow “the things of the world” control us, we need to control them. How does the world separate us from God? (1) The world teaches God doesn’t exist, (2) The world teaches immorality is OK, (3) The world wants us to be materialistic, (4) The world teaches that life in general has no value but rather is a means to an end, (5) The world teaches that being egocentric is OK and that self satisfaction is the end. This is why Paul exhorts us not to be “conformed” to the world.

Paul exhorts us to be "transformed, how? By the renewing of our minds, how does this renewing works? By allowing The Holy Spirit to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ the Son of God and it begins the moment we are saved. He Saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousnessm, but according to His mercy, b the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:5.

The Holy Spirit will bring to light what is not acceptable and shows us exactly what He needs to change in us as the world affects each one of us differently. As he transforms us by teaching and convicting us our minds are renewed into the image of Christ but we must be His in order for the transformation to take place, of course this fact is obvious. . As He transforms us by teaching and convicting us our minds are renewed into the image of Christ but, we must be His in order for the transformation to take place, if we are not His then we are of the world and the world will transforms us instead, whose would you rather be? Part of the renewing work by the Holy Spirit requires us to meditate on God’s Word, to study it, read it, dwell on it and determine with His help how it applies to our daily life, "Therefore we do not lose heart, but through our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day". 2Corinthians 4:16. day by day we are being renewed. When we let the world interfere with our renewing there will be very little change in self and our personality and behavior will show thus and rather than peace, joy, love, self-control the opposite will be manifested. By meditating and studying His word we can learn about the mind of God and then put away those things which are contrary to His precepts, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31. For instance the world teaches that revenge is good, this is why road-rage and a myriad of all kinds of violence is prevalent in this world, God’s Word teaches the opposite as indicated in the verse above and as we meditate in His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us against such behavior His righteous transformation takes place day to day.

All Bible References from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 update, (La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation) 1996 - Full Armor Ministry - December 2006 - Cesar Mijares.