WATER BAPTISM: Necessary for Salvation?

By Patricia Anne Cotes

   The ceremony of water baptism symbolizes a baptism into Christ's death
and resurrection. In water baptism, we publicly profess that we have
died to the old life as a man in Adam under the dominion of sin, and
have been regenerated to Spiritual union with Christ by faith in His
perfect work on Calvary. Water baptism is the symbol of which Spirit
baptism is the reality.  Immersion sets forth beautifully the great
truths baptism illustrates...death, burial, and resurrection. However,
we must always keep in mind that water baptism has nothing to do with
salvation.

   The Bible plainly tells us how to be saved...by faith in the shed
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are hundreds of passages which
definitely state that faith in the Lamb of God, and faith in Him
alone, saves. The thief on the cross had not time or opportunity to be
baptized in water before he died; yet, the Lord Jesus promised that he
would go with Him to paradise (Luke 23:43).

   Mark 16:16 reads, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned." The text does not say, "He
that is not baptized shall be damned," but only "He that believeth
not..." Christ and His apostles taught that water baptism is an
ordinance to be obeyed, as an outward testimony of an inward change of
heart; but they did not teach that one must be baptized in order to be
saved.

   In John 3:5, "Jesus answered, Verily verily I say unto thee, except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God." In context, we see that Jesus is speaking of
spiritual things. He makes it very clear that the new birth is
spiritual, and has nothing to do with physical things whatsoever.
"That which is born of the Spirit is spirit," (verse 6), so water
could not refer to physical water or a ritual using water.
It does refer, as in other passages of Scripture, to "the washing of
water by the word" of God (Ephesians 5:26). The Lord Jesus said to His
disciples, "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto
you (John 15:3)." And again He prayed, "Sanctify them through thy
truth; thy word is truth" (John 17:17).
 
   Peter, likewise, wrote that we are "born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and
abideth forever" (1Peter 1:23).This is the meaning of John 3:5. The
sinner is born again through the quickening, cleansing power of the
Holy Spirit, as He applies the  living word of God to the unregenerate
heart. These are the agencies God uses: His Spirit and His word.  "And
now, why do you delay? Rise and be baptized, and by calling upon His
name wash away your sins" (Acts 22:16 Amplified). "Then Peter said
unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Water baptism is the public rite,
testifying of initiation into  Christ.

   It signifies visibly both the washing away of sins, as in 22:16, and
the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, 2:38, where both aspects of salvation
are linked symbolically to baptism.It cannot be said too often that
water baptism is the symbol of which Spirit baptism is the reality.
Peter said to the Gentiles, "To Him give all the prophets witness,
that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive
remission of sins," and they hearing these words, received the Holy
Spirit. The Jews were astonished, but Peter immediately reacted with,
"Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have
received the Holy Spirit as well as we?" (Acts 10:47).

   Because the disciples whom Paul met at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7) knew
"only the baptism of John," (Acts 18:25), i.e., were ignorant of the
Christian message, except as a prophesied event, they had not even
heard of the Holy Spirit, and therefore, had not received Him (Acts
19:2). That's why Paul immediately asked them into what they had been
baptized. "For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body,
whether we be Jews or Greeks, whether we be bond or free, and have
been all made to drink into one Spirit (1Corinthians 12:13).

   Water baptism, then, is a symbol. Take for instance, the crossing of
the Red Sea, which Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:2, describes as a kind of
baptism, "And were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the
sea." God baptized the escaping Israelites by the element of water
from the cloud and sea. The purpose is indicated in the expression,
"baptized into Moses," that is, into relationship with him as their
God-appointed leader.

   In summary, we must obey the Lord's command to teach all nations,
"baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Water baptism definitely is referred to
here, for men do not baptize with the Holy Spirit; only God can do
this, which occurs when the sinner is born again by faith in the
finished work of Christ. But, water baptism is a public testimony
before men, angels, and demons, that we are trusting in that work on
Calvary. It is not a condition of salvation. It follows salvation.  To
put it another way, the President of the United States is inaugurated
into office in the January following a presidential voting year. The
inaugural ceremony is not what qualifies him for the office of
president. The results of the people's vote does that. The ceremony
merely externalizes a previously established fact, and makes it
'official'.

Contributed by The Manna System