Is Baptism Necessary
for Salvation?
One of the
most nagging questions in Christianity is whether or not baptism is necessary for
salvation. The answer is a simple, "No." But you might ask, "If the answer
is no, then why are there verses that say things like ‘. . .baptism that now saves
you . . . ‘ (1 Pet. 3:21, NIV) and ‘ . . . Repent and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins . . ."
(Acts 2:38, NIV)? This is an honest question and it needs a competent answer. But, before
I tackle this I need to lay a foundation of proper theology, then I'll address some of
those verses that are commonly used to support the idea that baptism is necessary for
salvation.
God Works
Covenantally
First, you
need to understand that God works covenantally. A covenant is a pact or agreement between
two or more parties. The New Testament and Old Testaments are New and Old Covenants. The
word "testament" comes from the Latin testamentum which means covenant.
So, the Bible is a covenant document. If you don't understand covenant you cannot
understand, in totality, the issue of baptism because baptism is a covenant sign.
If you don't think that God works covenantally then look at
Heb 13:20 which says, "May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal
covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep"
(NIV). The Eternal Covenant is the covenant between the Father and the Son before the
creation of the world, whereby the Father would give to the Son those whom the Father had
chosen. That is why Jesus says things like, "All that the Father gives me will
come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37, NIV).
And, "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that
he has given me, but raise them up at the last day" (John 6:39, NIV). And, "I
pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they
are yours" (John 17:9, NIV).
If you fail to understand that God works covenantally and
that He uses signs as manifestations of his covenants (rainbow, circumcision, communion,
etc.) then you will not be able to understand where baptism fits in God's covenant
system.
Second, you need to know what baptism is. It is an outward
representation of an inward reality. For example, it represents the reality of the inward
washing of Christ's blood upon the soul. That is why it is used in different ways. It is
said to represent the death of the person (Rom. 6:3-5), the union of that person with
Christ (Gal. 3:27), the cleansing of that person's sins (Acts 22:16), the identification
with the one "baptized into" as when the Israelites were baptized into Moses (1
Cor. 10:2), and being united in one church (1 Cor. 12:13). Also, baptism is one of the
signs and seals of the Covenant of Grace that was instituted by Jesus. It is in this sense
a sacrament. A sacrament is a visible manifestation of something spoken. It is also said
to be a visible sign of an inward grace. For example, the communion elements of bread and
wine are called the sacrament of communion. When we take communion we are partaking of the
sacrament.
The Covenant of Grace is the covenant between God and Man
where God promises to Man eternal life. It is based upon the sacrifice of Jesus on the
cross and the condition is faith in Jesus Christ. As the Communion Supper replaced
Passover, baptism, in like manner, replaces circumcision. "They represent the same
spiritual blessings that were symbolized by circumcision and Passover in the old
dispensation" (Berkhoff, Lewis, Systematic Theology, 1988, p. 620.).
Circumcision was the initiatory rite into the Abrahamic
covenant; it did not save. A covenant is a pact or agreement between two or more parties
and that is exactly what the Abrahamic covenant was. God said to Abraham, "I will
establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants
after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants
after you" (Genesis 17:7, NIV). God later instructed Abraham to circumcise not
only every adult male, but also 8 day old male infants as a sign of the covenant (Gen.
17:9-13). If the children were not circumcised, they were not considered to be under the
promissory Abrahamic covenant. This is why Moses' wife circumcised her son and threw the
foreskin at Moses' feet. (Ex. 4:24-25). She knew the importance of the covenant between
God and her children. But at the same time we must understand that circumcision did not
guarantee salvation to all who received it. It was a rite meant only for the people of
God, who were born into the family of God (who were then the Jews).
An important question here is how is it possible for an
infant to be entered into a covenant with God. There could be a lot of answers given but
the point remains: it was done; infants were entered into a covenant relationship with God
-- through their parents.
In the New Testament, circumcision is mentioned many times.
But with respect to this topic it is specifically mentioned in Col. 2:11-12: "In
him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a
circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having
been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of
God, who raised him from the dead" (NIV). In these verses, baptism and
circumcision are related. Baptism replaces the Old Testament circumcision because 1) there
was a New Covenant in the communion supper (Luke 22:20), and 2) in circumcision there was
the shedding of blood but in baptism no blood is shed. This is because the blood of Christ
has been shed.
If you understand that baptism is a covenant sign, then you
can see that it is a representation of the reality of Christ circumcising our hearts (Rom.
2:29; Col. 2:11-12). It is our outward proclamation of the inward spiritual blessing of
regeneration. It comes after faith which is a gift of God (Rom. 12:3) and the work of God
(John 6:28).
Third, the Bible says that it is the gospel that saves.
"By this gospel you are saved..." (1 Cor. 15:2). Also, Rom. 1:16 says,
"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
What is the
Gospel?
It is clearly
the gospel that saves us. But what exactly is the gospel? That too is revealed to us in
the Bible. It is found in 1 Cor. 15:1-4: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of
the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise,
you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." The gospel is defined as
the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for our sins. Baptism is not mentioned here.
Paul said that he came to preach the gospel, not to
baptize: "I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and
Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the
household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) For
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel..." (1 Cor. 1:14-17).
If baptism is necessary for salvation then why did Paul downplay it and even exclude it
from the description of what is required for salvation? It is because baptism isn't
necessary for salvation.
Additionally, in Acts, Peter was preaching the gospel,
people got saved, and then they were baptized. Acts 10:44-46 says, "While Peter
was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The
circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy
Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues
and praising God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone keep these people from being baptized
with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.' So he ordered that they
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few
days" (NIV). These people were saved. The gift of the Holy Spirit was on the
Gentiles and they were speaking in tongues. This is significant because tongues is a gift
given to believers, see 1 Cor. 14:1-5. Also, unbelievers don't praise God. They can't
because praise to the true God is a deep spiritual matter that is foreign to the unsaved
(1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore, the ones in Acts 10 who are speaking in tongues and praising God
are definitely saved and they are saved before they are baptized. This simply isn't an
exception. It is a reality.
Let's Suppose...
Another way
of making this clear is to use an illustration. Let's suppose that a person, under the
conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8), believed in Jesus as his savior (Rom. 10:9-10;
Titus 2:13), and has received Christ (John 1:12) as Savior. Is that person saved? Of
course he is. Let's further suppose that this person confesses his sinfulness, cries out
in repentance to the Lord, and receives Jesus as Savior and then walks across the street
to get baptized at a local church. In the middle of the road he gets hit by a car and is
killed. Does he go to heaven or hell? If he goes to heaven then baptism isn't necessary
for salvation. If He goes to hell, then trusting in Jesus, by faith, isn't enough for
salvation. Doesn't that go against the Scriptures that say that salvation is a free gift
(Rom. 6:23) received by faith (Eph. 2:8-9)?
Saying that baptism is necessary for salvation is dangerous
because it is saying that there is something we must do to complete salvation. That is
wrong! See Gal. 2:21; 5:4.
All right, so this sounds reasonable. But still, what about
those verses that seem to say that baptism is part of salvation? I'll address those now.
But, because this subject can become quite lengthy, in fact, sufficient for a book in
itself, I'll only address a few verses and then only briefly.
Baptism Verses
John 3:5, "Jesus answered, ‘I tell
you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the
Spirit.'"
Some say that water here means baptism. But that is
unlikely since Christian baptism hadn't yet been instituted. If this verse did mean
baptism, then the only kind that it could have been at that point was the baptism of
repentance administered by John the Baptist (Mark 1:4). If that is so, then baptism isn't
necessary for salvation because the baptism of repentance is no longer practiced.
It is my opinion that the water spoken of here means the
water of the womb referring to the natural birth process. Jesus said in verse three that
Nicodemus needed to be born "again." This meant that he had been born
once--through his mother. Nicodemus responds with a statement about how he can't enter
again into his mother's womb to be born. Then Jesus says that he must be born of water and
the Spirit. Then in verse 6 He says that "flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit
gives birth to spirit.." The context seems to be discussing the contrast between the
natural and the spiritual birth. Water, therefore, could easily be interpreted there to
mean the natural birth process.
I would like to add that there are scholars who agree with
the position and some who do not. Some believe that the water refers to the Word of God,
the Bible, and others claim it means the Holy Spirit. You decide for yourself.
Acts 2:38, "Peter replied, ‘Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.‘"
This verse is a tough one. It seems to say that baptism is
part of salvation. But we know, from other scriptures that it isn't, lest there be a
contradiction. What is going on here is simply that repentance and forgiveness of sins are
connected. In the Greek, "repent" is in the plural and so is "your" of
"your sins." They are meant to be understood as being related to each other. It
is like saying, "All of you repent, each of you get baptized, and all of you will
receive forgiveness." Repentance is a mark of salvation because it is granted by God
(2 Tim. 2:25) and is given to believers only. In this context, only the regenerated,
repentant person is to be baptized. Baptism is the manifestation of the repentance, that
gift from God, that is the sign of the circumcised heart. That is why it says, repent and
get baptized.
1 Pet. 3:21, "and this water symbolizes
baptism that now saves you also -- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of
a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
This is the only verse that says that baptism saves. But,
the NIV translation of the verse is unfortunate. A better translation is found in the NASB
which says, "and corresponding to that, baptism now saves you." The key word in
this section is the Greek antitupon. It means "copy," "type,"
corresponding to," "a thing resembling another," "its
counterpart," etc. Baptism is a representation, a copy, a type of something else. The
question is "Of what is it a type?", or "Baptism corresponds to
what?". The answer is found in the previous verse, verse 20: "who once were
disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the
construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely
through the water. 21And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you"
(NASB).
Some think that the baptism corresponds to
the Ark because it was the Ark that saved them, not the floodwaters.
this is a possibility but one of the problems with it is that this
interpretation does not seem to stand grammatically since the
antecedent of Baptism is most probably in reference to the water, not
the Ark.
But, water did not save Noah.
This is why Peter excludes the issue of water baptism being the thing
that saves us because he says, "not the removal of dirt
from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God". Peter
says that is not the application of water that saves us but a pledge
of the good conscience. Therefore, baptism here most probably
represents the breaking away of the old sinful life and entrance into
the new life the same way that the flood waters in Noah's time was the
destruction of the sinful way and once through it known entered into
his new life.
Acts 22:16, "And now what are you waiting
for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name."
Is the washing away of sins done by baptism, the
representation of the circumcised heart (Col. 2:11-12) which means you are already saved,
or is it by the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14; Rom. 5:9; Eph. 1:7)? Obviously it is the blood
of Jesus and the washing here refers to the calling on Jesus' name.
Rom. 6:4, "We were therefore buried with
him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
Because the believer is so closely united to Christ it is
said that the symbol of baptism is our death, burial, and resurrection. Obviously we did
not die--unless, of course, it is a figurative usage.
Titus 3:5, "he saved us, not because of
righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of
rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."
The washing of rebirth can only be that washing of the
blood of Christ that cleanses us. It is not the symbol that saves, but the reality. The
reality is the blood of Christ.
Gal. 3:27, "for all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
This is speaking of the believer's union with Christ. It is
an identification with, a joining to, a proclamation of loyalty to, etc. In 1 Cor. 10:2
the Israelites were baptized into Moses. That means they were closely identified with him
and his purpose. The same thing is meant here.
Conclusion:
Baptism is not necessary for salvation. It is the initiatory
sign and seal into the covenant of grace. As circumcision referred to the cutting away of
sin and to a change of heart (Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4; 9:25,26; Ez. 44:7,9) baptism
refers to the washing away of sin (Acts 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21; Tit. 3:5) and to spiritual
renewal (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:11-12). The circumcision of the heart is signified by the
circumcision of the flesh, that is, baptism (Col. 2:11-12).
One last thought: If someone maintains that baptism is
necessary for salvation, is he adding a work, his own, to the finished work of Christ? If
the answer is yes, then that person would be in terrible risk of not being saved. If the
answer is no, then why is baptism maintained as being necessary the same way as the Jews
maintained that works were necessary?
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