Baptism is Necessary for Salvation

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Baptism is Necessary for Salvation
by Glenn McMillon
East Oakland Church of Christ

Last month, we dealt with the problems of the strong case for faith-only salvation; namely, that faith alone is sufficient for salvation. This idea breaks down under the weight of scripture, because the Bible is clear that it takes more than faith in order to be justified by God (James 2:24). For this reason many, if not most, denominational groups that still teach faith-only salvation have moved away from the classical version taught by Luther to a weaker stance. There are many different versions of this doctrine that we will not address here, but the one thing they all have in common is the assertion that baptism is not something that is required for salvation. In this article we will look into the scriptures and see for ourselves that even this weakened form of the faith-only argument is in conflict with the word and plan of God.

One Baptism

First of all, we must be clear on what we mean by baptism. Baptism in the Bible is always immersion in water as a response to faith in Christ. When confronted with a verse that implies that baptism is necessary, evangelicals will often claim that it is referring to some other type of spiritual baptism that doesn’t involve water. This flies in the face of scripture for several reasons. First, the disciples were commanded to baptize believers. How could they baptize believers if that is something the Holy Spirit has to do? Second, the disciples commanded believers to be baptized. Again, how could believer obey the command to be baptized if the Holy Spirit must do that? Third, Holy Spirit baptism was something that could be seen by others and involved miraculous powers. Evangelicals today never claim that spiritual baptism is visible, and only a few denominations claim that people can still do miraculous signs. Paul makes it clear that there is only one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). There is no other baptism that is scriptural but water baptism as a response to faith.

The Purpose of Baptism

The easiest way to show the need for baptism is to show what baptism does for us. If it can be shown that baptism provides a benefit that we cannot be saved without, we must conclude that baptism is essential for our salvation.

The first purpose of baptism mentioned in the Bible is the remission of sins. In Acts 2:37-38, Peter instructs the Jews to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. No Christian would claim that one could be saved without having their sins forgiven. Sin is what separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), and unless our sins are removed, we cannot have a relationship with God. Ananias told Paul that the purpose of baptism was to wash away his sins (Acts 22:16). Now, to be fair, it is true that Acts 10:43 says that remission of sins is available to all who believe. However, we must remember what we have discussed before, that Biblical faith always involves action. Faith in Jesus is what makes baptism effective for the remission of sins; neither is effective alone, otherwise these verses would be in conflict.

The second purpose of baptism is to put us into Christ. All spiritual blessings are found in Christ. Redemption is in Christ (Romans 3:24). Eternal life is in Christ (Romans 6:11, 23). There is no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans 8:1). The love of God is in Christ (Romans 8:39). The church is one body in Christ (Romans 12:5). With all of these benefits of being in Christ, can anyone say that it is possible to be saved outside of Christ? Of course not. And there is only one way to get into Christ that is revealed by the Bible: baptism. Galatians 3:27 says as many of us as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Can we be saved without putting on Christ? Romans 6:3 says as many of us as have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death. Can we be saved without identifying with the death of Christ? How else do we come in contact with the blood of Christ?

Finally, baptism is how we obey the gospel. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:1-4). But Paul points out that those who do not obey the gospel will be lost (II Thessalonians 1:7-9). How do we obey a death, burial, and resurrection? By re-enacting it through baptism. Romans 6:1-6 explains that when we are baptized into Christ we are baptized into His death (v3), buried with Him in water (v4), and raised as Christ was raised to newness of life (v4). Our identification with His death gives us the expectation of being with Him in resurrection (v5). Our sinful nature, the old man, is put to death through baptism so that we are no longer slaves of sin (v6). Can we be saved without putting our sinful nature to death? Can we be saved without identifying with the gospel of Christ? Certainly not.

The Bible is clear that baptism is the point of our justification, because it is through baptism that our sins are washed away and we identify with the gospel of Christ. Before baptism we are slaves to sin, but through baptism we put the old man to death. It is not the act of being dunked in water that cleanses us, but our faithful response to God and our submission to His will.

Old Testament Types of Water Baptism

One reason many evangelicals reject the need for baptism is that they claim that there is nothing in the Old Testament that points to water baptism as being needed for salvation. Everything in the Old Testament points to something in the New Testament. We could spend days explaining what the sacrifices and feasts and ceremonies meant and how they point to Christ and the church. Evangelicals say that while there are many Old Testament examples of faith-based salvation, there are none of people being saved through water. This is not true. There are at least three Old Testament examples that the New Testament points to that show that baptism is necessary for our salvation.

First, Peter says that the flood pointed to baptism. In I Peter 3:20-21, Peter explains that Noah and his family were saved through water when they obeyed the commands of God and boarded the ark (v21). In the same way there is an antitype that now saves us: baptism (v22). Again, Peter points out that the water doesn’t make us clean itself, it is the faithful response to God that cleanses us. Our willingness to obey the command of God demonstrates our faith just as Noah’s building and boarding the ark demonstrated his faith.

Second, Paul states that circumcision pointed to baptism. Circumcision was required by Jews to remain in the covenant relationship with God. In Colossians 2:11-12, Paul calls baptism the circumcision not made by hands in which we put off the sins of the flesh. If the Jews were required by God to be circumcised under the old covenant, and Paul relates circumcision to baptism, it stands to reason that Christians are required to be baptized under the New Testament.

Thirdly, the crossing of the Red Sea represents baptism (I Cor. 10:1-2). The Israelites were in bondage in Egypt until they were freed by passing through the waters of Red Sea. In the same way we were in bondage to sin until we passed through the waters of baptism (Romans 6:5). This is more of a theological example that involves more detail than what I can devote to it here, but the parallels between the Red Sea crossing and baptism are clear.

These are just a few of many examples that show that baptism and its role in our salvation were part of God’s plan from the beginning.

Jesus’ Teaching on Baptism

One of the main objections to any doctrine is the contention that Jesus never says anything about it. This argument is always misleading though, because it minimizes the teachings of the inspired apostles. The apostles were trained by Christ, so their teachings on any subject must have come from, and be compatible with, the teachings of Christ. Even if it were true that Jesus never said a word about baptism that was recorded in scripture, would that invalidate the mountains of evidence that the inspired apostles revealed? Certainly not; if we accept the apostles as inspired by God, then their words are the words of God and their teachings are the teachings of God, whether or not Jesus Himself was ever recorded as saying anything about it. In the case of baptism, however, this argument is not only misleading, it is blatantly false. Jesus on two occasions is recorded as endorsing the necessity of baptism to be saved.

First, in John 3, when Jesus met with Nicodemus, Jesus told him that a man must be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3). This rebirth must be by water and the Spirit (John 3:5). Evangelicals insist that the water and the Spirit represent two separate baptisms, the water representing physical birth (because the body is mostly water), and the Spirit representing a Spiritual rebirth. This interpretation is not supported by the language used by Christ in this passage. First of all, Nicodemus would not have understood the water as referring to the body as that fact would not have been known at that time. Jesus said that Nicodemus should have understood the concepts He was presenting (John 3:10), but how could he if Jesus was referring to science not yet known? It is clear that Christ is referring to the Old Testament types of water baptism that we have already discussed. Secondly, the words water and Spirit are linked in the original Greek, indicating a single event. The water and the Spirit bring forth a new creature in the same way a woman and a man bring forth a physical baby. In fact, water baptism is the theme throughout the entire chapter as this story leads right into the pre-cross baptisms performed by Christ and His apostles (John 3:22-36).

Secondly, and more clearly, Jesus said that baptism was part of the great commission. The apostles were instructed to baptize repentant believers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19-20). The fact that baptism is a command of Christ should be proof enough of its necessity. Can we be saved if we ignore a direct command from Christ? Jesus goes on to say that he who believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16). Logically, the word “and” means that both belief and baptism are needed in order to be saved. Jesus doesn’t need to say, “If you don’t get baptized you won’t be saved,” because He already said you must be baptized to be saved. The word “and” requires that both conditions be met.

Why Reject Baptism?

Baptism is clearly a Biblical concept; Jesus and the apostles talk about it many times in the New Testament. So why is it not considered necessary by the majority of the Protestant denominations?

The first is confusion over the idea of salvation by faith vs. salvation by works. They say that claiming that baptism is necessary for baptism is the equivalent of claiming that we can be saved by works. Why equate the necessity of baptism with salvation by works? Is baptism a work? And if so, who is it a work of?

Let’s look at it grammatically. We understand that there are five responsibilities that we have in our salvation: hearing the gospel (Rom. 10:17), believing in Christ (John 8:24), repenting of our sins (Luke 13:3,6), confessing Christ as Lord (Matt. 10:32-33), and being baptized (Mark 16:15-16). Look at the verbs: hear (active), believe (active), repent (active), confess (active), be baptized (passive). What’s the difference between an active verb and a passive verb? An active verb is one that the subject does himself, a passive one is done to the subject. A person then is responsible to hear the gospel for himself, believe it for himself, repent of his own sins, and confess with his own mouth that Jesus is Lord. Baptism, though, is done to the believer. The physical dunking under the water is done by the teacher or preacher or elder or whoever. The redemptive spiritual act is done by the Holy Spirit. The believer simply submits to the process.

How is it then that baptism is singled out as being salvation by works, and not confession, or repentance, or even belief? Those are acts that the believer actually has to do himself. The believer plays no active role in his baptism, so it is less of a work than any of those. Even using their own terminology, “accept Christ”, “accept” is an active verb. The person has to accept Christ for himself. Again, this is more of an act, or work, than baptism. Jesus said that faith is a work (John 6:28-29). If we are saved by faith, and faith is a work, is that not salvation by works?

Of course the point is that neither is salvation by works in the sense that our obedience is some how enough to earn our salvation. That would be like saying that the act of buying a lottery ticket is enough work to earn the million dollar prize. Accepting the fact that works are required for our salvation does not mean that we are trying to justify ourselves through our own works. Faithful obedience to the commands of Christ is not enough to earn our salvation, but to say that it is not required for salvation is ridiculous.

The second reason is the concept of intentionality. To illustrate, there is a common question posed by evangelicals that they use to deflect the baptism discussion. It usually goes something like, "If a person decided he wanted to be baptized, but then got into a car accident on the way to church, or had a heart attack as he was walking up to the front of the building, do you believe God would condemn that person?" The trap is obvious. Say yes, and you will be attacked on the basis that you have a cold, unforgiving view of God. Say no, and they will insist that baptism is not needed, only the intent to be baptized, or more accurately the desire to be saved. A similar question involves a person who repents in a desert. The idea is to create a situation that seems logical to give you a false choice. On the surface, both conclusions seem wrong, so they insist that you must reject your premise.

Whenever you are presented with a trap question like the one above, you must take a step back and closely evaluate the choices you are being given. Often you will see that either there is a distinct and valid possibility that is being left off the table, or that one of the conclusions of the choices you are given is false. In the case of this question, “Will the man who dies minutes before baptism be saved?” there are only two options, yes or no, therefore we must examine the conclusions.

Does saying that God requires baptism for salvation make God unloving? Of course not. God’s love, however, does not stop Him from enforcing His will. If it did, why would there be any need for faith in Christ at all? We can turn the question back to the evangelical by saying, “What if someone was minutes away from believing in Christ dies, will he be saved?” If so, that means that people can be saved without faith. But if saying that a man on his way to faith will be condemned doesn’t make Him unloving, because faith is a requirement for salvation, then why would saying that a man on his way to being baptized would be condemned make God unloving? Baptism is a requirement for salvation as well. God loves both men, but they did not meet the requirements for salvation. Do not mistake God’s consistency with callousness.

As a third objection, evangelicals will often cite the case of the thief on the cross. The thief, it is claimed, was saved based on his faith in Christ alone; he was not baptized, though he might have been if he had not been hanging on the cross. The thief’s salvation provides a solid example for the weak faith-only argument, if not the strong version as well. Unfortunately for the evangelical, not only does this argument not hold water, but its invocation exposes their own inability to rightly divide scripture.

Every New Testament example of someone being converted involves baptism. The thief on the cross, rather than being the savior of the faith–only argument, is the exception that proves the rule. There are three things that deflate the thief argument. The first two are faulty assumptions. First, evangelicals assume the thief did not know Christ before the cross. There is no way to verify this, of course, but his comments seem to suggest the opposite. The thief knew about Jesus’ kingdom and seemed to believe that Jesus would be resurrected. It is unlikely that He would say these things if this were his first exposure to Christ. Secondly, evangelicals assume that the thief was never baptized. Again, this is not verifiable. John baptized many people before Christ started His ministry, and Christ baptized many after that. How can we be sure that the thief was not one of them? This is a huge assumption, because if the thief was baptized, the whole dynamic is one of rededication and not conversion, which kills the argument.

The bad assumptions are enough to make the thief argument a shaky one to stand on, but as they cannot be verified one way or the other, they are not fatal to the argument. The fatal flaw is that the thief didn’t even need to be baptized into Christ because he was still under the old covenant. The new covenant, and thus all of the terms of that covenant did not go into effect until after the death of Christ (Hebrews 9:16-17). Before the death of Christ, there was no need for baptism, and if Christ accepted the thief’s faith that was His choice. But now, we can’t talk to Christ face to face; we are under a new law and must abide by the terms Christ has left for us.

Conclusion

The Bible is clear. Baptism, the immersion in water in faithful obedience to the command of Christ in order to identify with His death, burial, and resurrection, is a requirement for our salvation. The apostles, the prophets, and Jesus Himself all come together to show that we must submit to baptism in order to have our sins washed away and be freed from the bondage of sin. If you had been fooled by the faith-only doctrine, but now see the light, I implore you to read my last article on what the Bible says about salvation and contact the church of Christ near you. God wants you to make it to heaven, and we want you to make it, too.