What About Baptism?

What must a person do to be saved? Where does baptism enter the picture? What is baptism?

Most people believe that a person is saved when they believe and accept Jesus into their hearts. We hear a lot about the sinner's prayer and salvation by faith-only. Denominational worship services usually conclude with what they term an "altar call" where alien sinners come forward, kneel at the "altar" and pray for salvation.

Once a person is "saved" they then schedule a time to be baptized as an "outward sign of an inward grace." Usually, this takes place a few weeks later and it involves two things: first, it involves showing the world that you have put on Christ; it is an outward sign of what has already happened on the inside; and then second, it allows you access to that local church and enables you to be a member there.

Of course, certain denominations practice infant baptism and then there is, of course, the old debate on the mode of baptism (sprinkling, pouring or immersion). So what does the Bible teach? When is a person saved? What role does baptism play in salvation, if any at all? And what is the biblical mode of baptism?

Much could be considered here, but let's turn to one passage of scripture to answer all three questions. Open your Bible to Romans 6:3-8. Paul says here, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him."

In the previous chapter, Paul affirmed that we're saved by faith. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." So we are not discounting the necessity of faith. The Bible is clear that one must believe in order to be saved. The Bible is also clear that we must repent (Lk. 13:3; Ac. 2:38; 3:19) and confess the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:9-10) in order to be saved. So we're not saved by one thing. We're not saved by faith only, repentance only, confession only or baptism only. Clearly, we must harmonize the teachings of scripture and conclude that ALL are necessary if the Bible says they are necessary.

So back to Romans 6.

Paul compares baptism to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. We're baptized into Jesus' death, buried with Him in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life. Paul says in Romans 6:6 that the body of sin is destroyed when we're baptized.

So if you want to access Christ (vv. 3), if you want to destroy the body of sin (vv. 6) and if you want to be raised to walk in newness of life (vv. 4) then you MUST be baptized. Newness of life doesn't come before baptism; it comes when you're baptized, according to the inspired word of God. Is this not what the passage plainly says?

Some people want to say that baptism merely symbolizes that these things have already happened (at the point of faith and prayer). But where do you find that in the text? Paul says that these things happen at the point of baptism, not before.

Others want to argue that Paul is speaking of some kind of spiritual baptism that occurs at the point of faith. What's ironic is that the same people who make this argument often use this exact same passage to teach that water baptism is by immersion. After all, Paul says here that baptism is a burial, which implies complete immersion.

Some will ask, "What about the blood of Christ? Aren't we saved by blood not water?" First of all, no one ever said that we're saved by the water itself. Water is simply the medium that God has specified. Consider, for example the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Naaman was a leper. Elisha the prophet told him that if he dipped in the Jordan River seven times, his leprosy would be cleansed. At first, Naaman was angry. He argued that there were cleaner rivers back in Damascus. The Jordan River was a dirty river. But finally, when Naaman humbly obeyed the prophet's command, his leprosy was cleansed! Was it the water of the Jordan River that saved Naaman from his leprosy, or was it his humble obedience to Elisha's command? Of course, it was his obedience that brought about the cleansing. It is the same with water baptism. The water is not holy. We've not sprinkled some kind of "holy-dust" on it. We've not prayed over it to give it saving power. It's not the water, it's the obedience (which necessitates water for God specified it).

Furthermore, go back to Romans 5:9-10. "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life." The Bible ABSOLUTELY teaches that we're saved and justified by the blood of Christ. Paul goes on to say that we're reconciled to God by Jesus' death (where the blood was shed).

Just a few verses later, in the beginning of chapter six, Paul says that we are baptized into Jesus' death. Do you see the point? Yes, we're saved by the blood of Christ, but how do we contact the blood? Paul says that it is applied when we are baptized into His death, where His blood was shed. This is not a battle between "water salvation" and blood salvation. There is no disagreement here. Jesus' blood saves us. Water baptism, when coupled with faith, repentence and confession, allows us to access the blood of Christ. The body of sin is destroyed and we're raised to walk in newness of life.

It's that simple.

Water baptism is a part of the conversion process. In fact, a person is not saved until they have "obeyed from the heart" (Rom. 6:17) that form of teaching that has been delivered to them. In other words, a person may feel saved, and they may believe that they're serving God, but until they are baptized for the remission of sins, unto salvation, they are still in their sins.

Much more could be said about the necessity of baptism. If you're interested in the subject, please read Mark 16:16; John 3:5; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12 and 1 Peter 3:20-21. Please feel free to comment below.