Baptism – do you need to be baptized for your salvation? A person can hear many different views on baptism. Many churches believe you must receive salvation and be baptized before becoming a church member, while other churches believe you must be baptized as part of your salvation. Too make things more complicated, churches often have different view on baptism – be it baptizing infants, baptizing people by “immersion” only, or baptizing by immersion and/or affusion. In addition, there are varying views on “baptism of the Holy Spirit,” to include believers speaking in “tongues” as evidence of their salvation and/or believers receiving spiritual gifts for the edification of the church.
In regard to baptism, Jesus Christ spoke the following words after being baptized by John the Baptist, “…it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15 NIV) Jesus later taught one of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, that “…no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5 NIV) In like manner, Jesus instructed his disciples to “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….” (Matthew 28:19 NIV) At the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter addressed the crowd with the words of the Prophet Joel, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The Apostle Peter later responded to the crowd by saying, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:21, 38 NIV)
Baptism is an important “step of obedience” for believers. The baptism of believers was common throughout the New Testament. Jesus had a reputation among the Pharisees for baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist. In reality, “… it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.” (John 4:2 NIV) On the Day of Pentecost, about three thousand people received salvation and were baptized. As the new believers followed the apostles’ teachings, “…the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:41, 47 NIV)
In regard to the aforementioned verses, many churches believe that church membership is synonymous with salvation and baptism. However, the Apostle Paul clarified the words of the Prophet Joel by explaining that the one true apostolic, universal church consists of all who come to repentance and acknowledge Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9-10) In other words, the one true apostolic, universal church consists of all who believe in Jesus Christ…regardless of their baptismal status. This falls in line with the criminal on the cross, next to Jesus, who received eternal salvation prior to his death – even though he was not baptized. (Luke 23:32-33, 39-43) The Apostle Paul further reiterated this point by saying that Christ did not send him “…to baptize, but to preach the gospel….” (I Corinthians 1:17 NIV)
In summary, the Apostle Paul explained to the Ephesians – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV) Paul also explained this same principle to the Corinthians by quoting the Prophet Jeremiah, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 1:31 NIV) Simply said, salvation is a gift of God whereby we can boast of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death for our salvation. Likewise, our salvation is not dependent upon any works, to include baptism. Rather, we do these works as steps of obedience, which Paul further clarified in his letter to the Ephesians – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
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