Summer time is filled with company picnics, corporate golf tournaments, family reunions, college pool socials and all sorts of kid camps. Each summer activity is unique in its group and they are typically set apart by a specific mark in which they can be identified. Some will wear clothing items and others will wear jewelry as a mark to specify who they represent. Society is able to identify groups of people with common marks, such as hula skirts are associated with Hawaii, crowns are associated with royalty and baptism is associated with religion. Baptism within a church dedicated to the Holy Scriptures is often looked upon as evidence of salvation. So, is baptism required for salvation? No, the Bible indicates that salvation comes through faith and baptism is simply a picture of salvation within the person being baptized.
Really “it is not until Justin Martyr, in the middle of the second century, that we find a relatively full ritual description of baptismal practice, and not until the late second century that we find sustained theological reflection in Tertullian’s treatise De Baptismo.”[1] It would be best to turn to the pages of Scripture in order to attain a clearer picture of baptism and its identification with salvation.
It would be incorrect to look at Scriptures individually without taking the Bible as whole into consideration knowing that the Bible does not contradict itself. So first look to Acts 15, Romans 4:5 Romans 3:22,24-26,28 and 30, Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9 and Philippians 3:9 in order to understand that there are no external acts necessary for salvation. It is through these Scriptures that one can understand that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
If baptism were required for salvation then there would be references to baptism with each salvation call. For example, Peter makes reference to baptism in Acts 2:38, yet he makes no reference to it in Acts 3:12-26. Instead he refers to sin and forgiveness in Christ for salvation. Paul never made water baptism part of the salvation message. He even emphasizes in 1 Corinthians 1:17 that he was sent to preach the gospel and does not mention baptism.
In addition, take notice to the people who were not baptized, yet they were called saved. The Penitent woman in Luke 7:37-50, the paralytic in Matthew 9:2, the Publican Luke 18:13-14 and the thief on the Cross Luke 23:39-43. In Acts 10:44-48 Cornelius is noted as being saved and then he is called to be baptized. Also note “there is no indication that the apostles themselves had been baptized with water”[2] And to be reminded Jesus was baptized probably to authenticate John’s baptism, but He did not need to be saved.
Other passages that may seem to make reference to baptism being necessary must be examined within its context as well as its language. For example, “Mark 16:16, a verse often quoted to prove baptism is necessary for salvation, is actually a proof of the opposite. Notice that the basis for condemnation in that verse is not the failure to be baptized, but only the failure to believe. Baptism is mentioned in the first part of the verse because it was the outward symbol that always accompanied the inward belief.”[3]
Therefore, baptism is an associated mark of a Christian, it is known as a picture of the redemptive work of God. However baptism is not required for salvation. It is faith through grace that is associated with salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Deanna
[1] Martin, Ralph P. & Davids, Peter H., Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments, Inter Varsity Press, Downers Grove Illnois, 1997.
[2] Ibid, 114.
[3] MacArthur, John, “Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?, www.gty.org/resources.php?section=issues&aid=176441.
Another place to go in this discussion is Romans 4. Paul states that Abraham recieved the “sign of circumcision as a “seal of righteousness” before he had been circumcised. Circumcision functions as a sign of this seal of salvation. We have been given a seal of salvation which is the Holy Spirit upon us. Baptism is our sign of the seal of circumcision. Thus Abraham is also the father of both those who have been saved after baptism and before baptism.
Of course I would always teach that we are to be baptised.
Hey, Deanna,
One could argue that Romans 6 seems to support believer’s baptism as the point before which one is outside of Christ and after which they are in Christ.
“4.Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6. knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7. for he who has died is freed from sin.
8. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9. knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
10.For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”
Of course I would also hold that this is not “necessary” in the philosophical/metaphysical sense. If God so chooses he can save whomever he chooses who trusts in Him. But it seems that believer’s baptism was the normative “conversion” experience in the first century church.
What do you think?
Travis,
Sorry, for the delay, but
good question regarding Romans 6. You might be able to examine Romans 6 as well as Galatians 3 within the same context. It seems to refer here to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit not water baptism. Also, note other passages such as Acts 22:16 that state to “be baptized and wash away your sins,calling on His name”. Some might take it that being baptized is washing away the sins, but if baptism was connected with washing the sin then the Greek participle in the word “calling” would have no antecedent. It is the calling on His name that washes the sin.
Press on in the faith,
Deanna
Saved by God’s grace,
Washed by his blood,
baptised by the Holy Spirit!
Thank you for sharing this article! Love it!!!!
Sorry this recent comment was by the NBBC travis!
Have a great week!
The idea of a “required Baptism” is to add onto what is need to be saved. Circumcision was one in early church. see Acts 15. Paul states that is by faith only – no additions. Anything else is human works. God did it ALL at the cross – and baptism is just the public outward sign. Believe in your heart and confess with your tongue. Romans 10 Personal belief (faith) and outward action. The two parts that are part of conversion that is salvation. No additions.
1 Peter 3:21 says baptism saves us every example of conversion once new testemenent church established shows we r baptized into christ no sinners prayer anywhere
Go to bible gateway type bap and do word search
Pray for truth
How then do you reconcile Romans 10-10? Your comment is legalistic…if one accepts Christ he is saved, nothing more needed— was not Paul to PREACH….the Word states that he DID NOT COME TO BAPTIZE, if it were mandatory for salvation don;t you think he would be more emphatic about it?
I grew up a fundamentalist Baptist preacher’s son, very well educated in Baptist doctrine. I became an evangelical in my twenties: same doctrines just with a more positive emphasis. I am now a conservative (confessional) Lutheran.
Why did I become a Lutheran if I was taught, and still believe, that salvation is received through faith alone, in Christ alone? How could I join a Church that believes that God saves and forgives sins in Baptism? Baptism is a work!
I became a conservative Lutheran when I realized that the reason Baptists and evangelicals do not and cannot understand infant baptism and baptismal regeneration is that they do not understand how a sinner obtains FAITH!
As I said above, I was a Baptist preacher’s son. When I was nine years old, I got into trouble, and my mother gave me a well-deserved spanking. After the spanking, she talked to me about sin and that I needed to be saved. She led me in a prayer to ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins, come into my heart, and be my Lord and Savior. I remember feeling so good after finishing that prayer. I was saved!
I was then told that God would now speak to me or move me or lead me to do things to follow his will for my life. All the Christians around me were talking about God moving them, leading them, speaking to them…but I just didn’t have the same intensity of feelings that most of them seemed to have. So when I was about 15, hearing a good Baptist sermon, I asked myself this, “Maybe the reason God doesn’t speak to me like he does other Christians is probably because I am not really saved! I didn’t really believe the first time. Maybe I didn’t fully repent. Maybe I didn’t have enough faith.” So I prayed the equivalent of the Sinner’s Prayer again, with all sincerity and contrition for my sins. I felt that rush of good feelings again. I was happy. I now knew that I was definitely saved!
But then in my early 20′s I attended a non-denominational evangelical church (with Baptist doctrine). The people in this church REALLY had God. They would sway with the hymns, hands toward heaven, their eyes rolling back in the heads. "Wow! God REALLY speaks to these people! So why doesn’t he speak to me like that? There must be something wrong with me, because I don’t FEEL saved anymore!"
I left the Church altogether.
I was not the only Baptist/evangelical to undergo several born again experiences because we didn’t FEEL saved. My mother, the pastor’s wife, several years later, the person who had “led me to Christ”, decided that she wasn’t really saved either, so she repeated her born again experience just to be sure. And several other people in my church repeated their born again experience for the same reason: they weren't sure that they had done it right. If you go on your computer and google “how many times have you prayed the Sinner's Prayer?” you will find other Baptists/evangelicals who have gone through the same experience.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060728125929AAnQHZp
The problem with the Baptist/evangelical Doctrine of Faith is that it is based on US! Our salvation is based on us having the maturity and intelligence to make a free will decision to accept Christ into our hearts, So if later on in life we start to question our salvation due to not FEELING saved, what do we have to fall back on? Ourselves! Did I really repent? Did I really have true faith or was I trusting in my own faith? At nine years old did I really have the maturity to make a decision? MAYBE I DIDN’T DO IT RIGHT! So just to be on the safe side, I’ll sincerely repeat a version of the Sinner’s Prayer, and make 100% sure that, this time, I do everything right!
So, in this plan of salvation, which is supposed to be a FREE gift from God, we turn it into something that depends on us…on us doing the born again experience correctly!
To read the rest of my story, click here:
http://www.lutherwasnotbornagain.com/2013/06/the-reason-baptists-and-evanglicals.html
God bless,
Gary
Luther, Baptists, and Evangelicals
I believe that it is a waste of time for Baptists/evangelicals and Lutherans/orthodox Christians to discuss the Doctrine of Baptism without first agreeing on the "HOW" of salvation. Unless we come to agreement on how God saves sinners, our respective views on Baptism will never make sense to the other group, and our debate over Baptism will always end in a stalemate, as it has for the last 500 years.
So how does God save sinners"
Does God save sinners by this method?
1. A sinner hears the Gospel and is convicted of his sin and his need for a Savior.
2. The sinner makes a decision to believe, based on his intelligence and the maturity of his decision-making capabilities.
3. The sinner asks Christ to save him and repents of his sins.
Or does God save sinners by this method?
1. God predestined, before the world existed, that you would be his child.
2. Then, at some point in your life, at a time of his choosing, not yours, God quickens your spiritually dead soul by the power of his Word, gives you the free gift of faith, creating belief and repentance.
Baptists and Lutherans/orthodox are in full agreement that it is by faith that we believe and repent in salvation. Our difference is HOW the sinner acquires faith. If faith is a gift from God, then salvation is truly free. If faith is produced by the sinner's intelligence and mature decision-making capabilities then the sinner is providing assistance in his salvation.
Does God need or allow the assistance/cooperation of the sinner to save him?
Unless we can reach agreement on this crucial question, Baptists and Lutherans/orthodox will never agree on the Doctrine of Baptism.
Gary
Luther, Baptists, and Evangelicals