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In the previous study, part 1, we studied about “What Baptism Is.” And we found out that there is a lot of stuff that is involved with ‘Baptism’.
But what we need to look at now is the necessity of baptism. And is baptism something we need/must do for salvation?
Well, here again, we need to go to the scriptures as our source of authority, and not our Pastor, Priest, family member, or friends. But to the word of God. And there, ask ourselves, “Is this something that I need/must do?”
“Well, d-ough.” or “That’s a no-brainer”, as teenagers would say today.
Why?
God said/commanded it, so I have to do it. Enough said. Conversation over!
But looking more into the details concerning baptism being necessary for salvation, here are SOME of the scriptures that teach that it is necessary:
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Mark 16:16
= The conjunction word ‘and’ is used to join 2 or more items together of equal importance. Here it is used to join ‘believeth’ and ‘baptized’ together, showing that BOTH are necessary equal ingredients. The reason the word ‘baptized’ is not mentioned in the last part of the verse is, ‘If a person does not believe, it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to be scripturally baptized’.
Also, some people claim that these last few verses of Mark were not part of the original text. If this was the only place that the Bible tells us that baptism was necessary for salvation, then I would be very concerned about placing the requirement of baptism as a condition of salvation (because of the possibility of these verses being added later). But this is not the only place the Bible talks about the necessity of baptism.
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John 3:1-8
= In the story of Nicodemus, even though the word ‘baptize’ is not specifically mentioned, we know from our earlier studies that baptism is what Jesus was talking about. When Jesus told Nicodemus that he “MUST be born again” and “Except a man be born of WATER and of the SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Remember back in Study #016, where we talked about ‘What Baptism Was’? Where it not only represents Christ’s Death, Burial, & Resurrection, but also our own, death and burial of our ‘old man of sin’, and then us being raised up (born, start our life over) as a brand ‘new creature’. And how we talked about a spiritual change that takes place and how we have to become a ‘pickle’?
We bury our ‘old man of sin’ in WATER, and we are born again/anew in WATER. Just like Jesus told us we would have to do in the story of Nicodemus.
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Acts 2:37-41
= Here it does plainly tell you that baptism is necessary for the remission of our sins. But there are some people that will tell you that the word ‘for’ does not mean ‘so that’ (your sins can be forgiven), but here the word ‘for’ actually means ‘because of’ (your sins have already been forgiven). And they use the following example to help explain their opinion of the way ‘for’ is used in this verse.
Example: Quoted from the Strong’s Concordance tab of the computer program that I use, “The Bible Collection”. Found under the New Testament Greek word #1519 ‘Eis‘ (pronounced - ice) for the word ‘for’.
(NOTE: While this example was found on my computer program, it was NOT found in the written copy of the Strong’s Concordance that I have.)
“"For" (as used in
Acts 2:38
"for the forgiveness...") could have two meanings. If you saw a poster saying "Jesse James wanted for robbery", "for" could mean Jesse is wanted so he can commit a robbery, or is wanted because he has (already) committed a robbery. The later sense is the correct one. So too in this passage, the word "for" signifies an action in the past. Otherwise, it would violate the entire tenor of the NT teaching on salvation by grace and not by works.”
(We will talk more about “the NT teaching on salvation by grace and not by works” at the bottom of this study.)
Well, is this really the way the word ‘for’ is used in this passage?
No, I don’t believe it is. But don’t take my word for it, this is a decision that YOU have to come up with.
(NOTE: The Bible is it’s own best concordance. Which works out real good, because we have already decided that we are going to use the Bible as our source of authority ( study #004 ) and not what another human has said or written. No matter how many letters they may have after their name.)
In verse
37
, we can see that at this point in time that the people already believed (pricked in their heart). But still they asked what they needed to do. And in verse
38
, they were told to “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall (future tense, after you do this) receive the gift (yes, it says ‘gift’) of the Holy Ghost (salvation).”
And in verse
41
, we read it was after those that “received his word were baptized” (past tense), that they were then added (not joined) to the church.
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Acts 8:26-40
= In the story of the eunuch, we see that the eunuch’s concern was about being baptized. Here we also have another example of where it was only after the eunuch was baptized that he “went on his way rejoicing.”
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Acts 9:1-18
&
Acts 22:3-16
= In the story of Paul’s conversion, in
Acts 22:10
&
Acts 9:6
where Paul became a believer while he was still speaking with Jesus, calling Him Lord and asking Him what he still had to do. And Jesus told him to go to Damascus and it would be told him what he had to do.
Now we know that sinners can’t go to heaven without being converted and having their sins removed (
Galatians 5:19-24
,
Revelation 21:27
,
22:14-15
, & etc.)
In
Acts 9:8-10
we see that 3 days after Saul/Paul believed, he STILL had sin (His sins were not removed by him just ‘believing’). That is why Ananias told Paul to be baptized for the specific purpose to “wash away thy sins”. (
Acts 22:16
) “Calling on the name of the Lord” (Through the power of the Lord, is how the sins will be removed during the act of baptism).
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Also we see in
1 Peter 3:20-22
where just like in the days of Noah, baptism by water also saves us.
(Side Note: This passage said 8 people were saved by ‘water’. So at this point you are probably thinking, “I thought Noah was saved by the ark.” Well, he was. He was saved from drowning by the ark, but he was saved from the wicked world by water.)
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These are just SOME of the examples the Bible gives showing us that baptism is necessary for our salvation.
But there may be some of you that still may think that baptism is not necessary for salvation, that believing is all someone has to do. And they have a few choice, favorite passages that they use to prove their point. I want to share some of these with you now:
But in an effort to try and keep these studies short, and because some of these topics may get a bit involved. I am going to talk about SOME of these OTHER concerns that some of you may still be having, as a separate study of their own.
John 3:16
Saved by GRACE and not by WORKS, or Is BAPTISM a WORK?
The thief on the cross did NOT have to be baptized
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What do you think about this lesson ???
Go to the COMMENTS link and enter YOUR COMMENTS
so we can SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH together.
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