What is water baptism? Is it necessary for
salvation? Neither water baptism nor the sprinkling
of babies at dedications can save us.
Salvation comes first, then water baptism. It is not the other way around. Water baptism does not save us.
Jesus saved us when He went to the Cross to be judged for our sins
(John 3:16). He died for us, rose from the dead and is at the
right-hand of the Father, making intercession for us (Romans 8:34).
To be saved, according to Romans 10:9, we must believe in our hearts
that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess the Lord Jesus
with our mouths. This Scripture does not say we must be baptized
in water to be saved.
Water baptism is an outward expression of an inward commitment toward
God. Once we have been Born-again, we have been crucified and
raised from the dead with Christ because we are now in Him. (Galatians
2:20)
Through Jesus' shed blood, we are the righteousness of God in Christ
Jesus. We are in right-standing with God. It is not because
of our good works but because of Jesus' shed blood (II Corinthians
5:21).
We did not gain our righteousness through our good works, and we will
not lose it through bad works. Our righteousness with God has
nothing to do with us but everything to do with Jesus
Salvation is not about a list of things we must do in order to be
saved. It is about having a relationship with our Heavenly
Father. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. Only
Jesus can save us.
We cannot earn our way to Heaven regardless of how good or famous we
are. The enemy, satan, loves to convince us that we can be good
enough to earn our way to Heaven.
He tells us we must be baptized to be saved. He has denominations claiming that we can be saved through water baptism.
As we have discussed before, Jesus died for us. He paid the price
for us. To say that we can be saved any other way than through
His shed blood is claiming that Jesus' sacrifice was not good enough.
We cannot be good enough to earn salvation on our own because our righteous is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
Water baptism will not save us. Water baptism has nothing to do
with salvation. Some churches are perpetrating the lie that we
can be saved by water baptism. They claimed that children and
adults who are baptized are going to Heaven when they died.
Without Jesus, they are not.
Jesus told us that unless a man is Born-again, he will not see the
Kingdom of God (John 3:3). No one comes to the Father, except
through Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John
14:6). His Name is the only Name by which one can call upon and
be saved (Acts 4:12). Only Jesus and His shed blood on the Cross
can save us.
To say that we must do this plus that to be saved is saying that we can
save ourselves. It is saying that Jesus died in vain.
We cannot trust what someone else says is necessary for
salvation. We need to study the Scriptures for ourselves.
We should ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth concerning
salvation (John 16:13).
When He does, then we will know there is only one way to be
saved. It is by calling upon the Name of our Lord, Jesus.
It is by believing that Jesus died and rose from the dead for us.
By accepting Jesus into our hearts, by confessing Him as Lord, we are
saved.
Is water baptism Scriptural? Yes, John the Baptist baptized Jesus (John 3:).
Since Jesus had not yet died, there was not a permanent plan of
redemption. The Hebrew people sacrificed innocent animals for
forgiveness of sins.
Upon Jesus' death, He became our permanent sacrificial Lamb. We
never have to sacrifice another animal for our sins. Jesus died
for them once and for all.
Should we be water baptized? Absolutely! Should we do it
instead of accepting Christ? No. Should we do it before
accepting Christ? No. After accepting Christ? Yes,
but only if we understand the concept of water baptism. If we do
not, it will be a wasted effort.
Do I believe that we will go to Heaven if we accept Christ and do not get water baptized? Yes, I do.
Jesus told the thief on the cross next to Him that the thief would be
with Jesus in paradise (Luke 23:43). The thief did not have time
to be water baptized.
Since God is no respector of persons (Acts 10:34), what He did for the thief, He will do for us.
Water baptism is important in helping us to identify with Christ's
death and resurrection, to help us to understand who we are in
Christ. Nevertheless it is still an outer expression of our inner
commitment to God and cannot save us.
I urge Believers who have not been water baptized to do so.
However, water baptism is not a substitute for calling on the Name of
the Lord.
If we have accepted Christ, but we have never been water
baptized, we shouldn't fear because we are still Heaven-bound
thanks to Jesus' shed blood on the Cross (John 3:16).
As an ebook, freelance and mystery writer, Annagail Lynes was born and raised in Phoenix Arizona. Her work has been published in 21st Century, SeaLetter, Christian Home and School, You! and many more online and offline publications. For Her Blog, go to http://atouchofdailywisdom.blogspot.com/ For Her Free Ezine, go to http://www.annagaillynes.net/currentezine.html
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