A few years ago, a member of the Church of Christ came to my door and asked if I would like to join a Bible study they were starting. As we talked, I saw she was from a particular sect of the Church of Christ which believes you needed to be baptized to be saved. I thought I’d share why that just isn’t so.
The two obvious examples in Scripture are the thief on the cross and Cornelius. The thief was promised salvation by Jesus (Luke 23:39-43). When the soldiers came to kill Jesus and the two thieves, they didn’t need to break Jesus’ legs because He was already dead, He had already died for the thief’s sins. So, the thief was saved under the New Testament and without being baptized.
Cornelius and his family received the Holy Spirit, a sign of salvation, before they were baptized (Acts 10:44-48).
In 1 Cor. 1:14-17 Paul says he was glad he did not baptize many in the church at Corinth and that baptism is not a part of the gospel. These passages are all evidence that baptism is not necessary for salvation.
Now we come to 1 Peter 3:21 which seems to say that water baptism saves you. And, there is a very important point to make here. When we come across a passage or two which seem to contradict the teaching of the rest of Scripture, we can be sure we are misinterpreting that passage(s). In the Bible, baptism is always preceded by faith. Baptism is also used to described a number of things in Scripture besides water baptism. We are baptized into Christ Jesus and into His death (Rom. 6:3), for instance. 1 Cor. 10:1-5 speaks of the Israelites being baptized into Moses. So, baptism is often used as a description of aligning with a person rather than an act. 1 Peter 3:21, no doubt tells us that accepting Jesus, faith in Him, saves us. Water cannot do what the blood of Christ has done.
Then there is Mark 16:16 which says that those who believe and are baptized will be saved. A couple of points to make here. First, this passage of Scripture (Mark 16:9-19) is not in some of the earliest manuscripts, but it is in a few. Some scholars believe it to be an addition or “note to self” by a very early copyist who was making a copy for himself. When he lent it to a friend, the friend copied it into the text as if it were supposed to be there, and this was passed on through later copies. So, these scholars don’t believe Mark 16:16 is actually Scripture.
I’d rather stand on the conservative side, though, and accept this as fully inspired until proven otherwise. So, if we see that baptism is preceded by faith in Scripture, we should offer the same explanation here. You are not saved if you don’t believe. And if you believe, you should be baptized.
If baptism doesn’t save you, should you be baptized then? Well, it’s a command of Jesus Himself (Matt 28:16-20). And, throughout the book of Acts, we see the same pattern repeated: belief then baptism. If you have yet to be baptized as a believer, it is something you should certainly consider as a public declaration of your new life in Christ.
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