The topics of baptism and salvation have been on the minds of men since the time of Christ Himself. If you have ever had a couple Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door, you were probably told that baptism is explicitly necessary for salvation. “But what happens if you are saved and not baptized?” I asked. They both answered adamantly, you are not saved until you have been baptized. I have chosen to write about this topic because you will encounter it when you are out witnessing. A legalistic nest of lies has been built in the minds of many people today, and ‘salvation via baptism’ is one of them.

Biblically, it is clear that baptism is a sacrament reserved only for believers. The great apostle Paul was not baptized until He had seen the Lord and had his vision restored (Acts 9:17-19). Philip made it clear to the Ethiopian eunuch that he could not be baptized until he had believed in the Lord (Acts 8:35-37), and the jailer (along with his family) was not baptized until after they had believed (Acts 16:31-34). Without exception the biblical model has salvation preceding baptism.

Imagine a man has just repented and put his trust in the Lord. He realized his sin, believed in and put his trust in Jesus Christ, and repented. In excitement he sees a church across the street and runs over to it to be baptized. Just before he reached the church, a car hits the man, killing him on impact. Did this man go to heaven? If yes, baptism cannot possibly be required for salvation. If not, then we are saying a work must be added onto faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 destroys any argument that works can add to salvation, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Like anything else, an argument for ‘baptismal salvation’ can be made my looking at a single verse and failing to examine the context and actual intent of the verse. Most of these verses can be explained by understanding the authors’ vision, and not allowing our own presuppositions to change the meaning of the text. For example, Titus 3:5 reads, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” Some read the word ‘washing’ and assume that refers to washing by water, or baptism. But a proper understanding of the verse shows that “washing of regeneration” refers to being washed by the blood of Christ and renewed (or born again) by the Holy Spirit. Ironically, despite that some use this verse to say baptism is necessary for salvation, it is actually saying that a work cannot be attributed to salvation! Two other verses I would like to talk about here that are a bit more difficult are John 3:5 and 1 Peter 3:21.

John 3:5 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” There it is! Jesus flat out said one must be born of water (or baptized) to enter the kingdom of God. Right? Not so fast. It was common back then for ‘washing’ to refer to the spirit (being cleansed of sins, not literally being washed in water). For example, Ezekiel 36:24-27 reads, “For I [God] will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.” This passage is not saying God is going to give an entire nation a bath, nor is it saying he will baptize an entire nation. It is simply using an analogy to say God will cleanse the filthiness (or sins) of the nation.

A tougher verse is found in 1 Peter 3:21, “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Baptism saves you? That seems pretty straightforward. But let’s examine the passage in context. Starting at verse 18, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 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.”

The Greek word for “Corresponding to” (v.21) is antitupon, which literally means, “counterpart” or “representation.” In other words, Peter was giving a modern day representation of Noah’s ark. Just as Noah and his family entered into the ark to be safe from the deadly waters, we are covered by Jesus Christ from the waters of God’s righteous judgment. Instead of referring to water baptism as we know it today, Peter was giving an easy to understand representation of Jesus Christ through an Old Testament story. Nothing about this verse says water baptism is required for salvation.

We know that baptism is a representation of many things: the death of a person to live in Christ (Romans 6:3-5), a person being clothed in Christ and entering that union (Galatians 3:37), and a person being united with the Church itself (1 Corinthians 12:13). It is symbolic of being cleansed of our sins and rising out of the water a new creature in Christ. Jesus did command his people be baptized (see Matthew 28:19). A Christian should be baptized. But it is a public proclamation of our new birth, it does not cause that new birth. That is something that can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith, trust, and repentance in Jesus Christ.