Baptism – Part Three

In the previous two lessons I have covered the basic teaching and practice of water baptism as
recorded in the New Testament. Now, in this third and final installment, I will attempt to answer a
few remaining questions.
 
1. Can a person be saved/born again/regenerated in their spirit by the Spirit of God, and
have eternal life if they have not been baptized in water?  Yes! The Bible is clear that
justification and salvation are by grace and through faith (Rom. 3:22-28; 4:3-5; Gal. 3:1-14; Eph. 2:5-
9). We are not saved by being baptized in water, but by having genuine faith in the person and work of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. A biblical example of this is one of the criminals that was crucified
alongside Jesus (Luke 23:39-43). And surely there are countless others who have had saving faith in
Christ in the last moments of their lives on earth. It would be foolishness to believe that if they truly
repented and believed in Christ but were not baptized in water, God would not forgive them of their
sins and receive them into His kingdom. Mark 16:16 is also a confirmation of this matter; only he who
does not "believe" shall be condemned. And then there is Romans 10:9-13; it is believing in our heart
and confessing with our mouth that results in salvation with no mention of water baptism. So let me
repeat, we are saved neither by repentance nor by water baptism, but by grace through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ!
 
2. If this is so, is it still important to be baptized? And if so, why? Yes! Firstly, because the
Bible tells us so. We have both the clear teaching and the many examples of water baptism in the New
Testament including the Lord Jesus Himself. Baptism is actually a response to, an act of, and an
outward manifestation of our inward faith in Jesus Christ. Luke 7:30 tells us that refusing to be
baptized is to reject the very counsel of God. If a professed believer refuses to be baptized according to
the word of God, his saving faith in Christ would be very much in question. In a sense, water baptism
is actually a confession of our faith, a confirmation of what we truly believe in our heart. It could also
be considered our first act of obedience in our new life with Christ. Yet, if one is baptized without a
genuine heart-faith in Jesus, it is in vain and plays no part in true salvation.
 
3. So why is there so much confusion over this matter of baptism? I believe the reason is
twofold. Firstly, because of the non-biblical man-invented tradition of baptizing babies. There is no
such teaching nor any examples in the Bible of someone being baptized before they have faith in
Christ. Yet, this practice has been adopted and accepted into a large segment of Christianity. It is not
according to the truth and is contrary to the most basic teaching of salvation in Scripture, i.e., "Believe
and be baptized and you shall be saved!" (Mark 16:16). It is a crafty deceptive teaching from the Devil
which gives people a false conception of salvation and cheats them into believing that this religious
ritual has some impact on the eternal destiny of the child. Many then go on to believe they are okay
with God because they were baptized as a baby even though they have not truly repented and believed
in the gospel. It is a dangerous lie.
 
Secondly, and more related to genuine believers, in the New Testament, believing and being
baptized was something that happened almost simultaneously. Remember the words "why delay" and
"immediately"? Baptism was an immediate response of obedience in faith. It had spiritual significance
and reality because of their faith. The water was a symbol of entering into Christ, into His death, and
into the Body of Christ. It was their faith that substantiated the fact of this truth and immersed them
into the triune God. It was not the water itself that saved them, but their faith in Christ that brought
them into an organic union with Him. Unfortunately, this pure experience and obedience of baptism
in faith has lost its meaning and impact with many believers today. It seems that rarely is a person
baptized at the time they believe. Why? It may be that the one leading them to Christ does not have
the biblical understanding of baptism and/or has been influenced by the traditions that have
developed around baptism, i.e., there must be a certain kind of person or place or water etc. to do a
baptism, or we must gather a group of people together and make it a kind of ceremony, or they must
go through some kind of classes to get more educated first. Then there is the waiting for the once or
twice or however many times a year a certain congregation is having a baptism service. Baptism is put
off and eventually even ignored for many different reasons and therefore can lose the significance and
impact it is intended to have.
 
 
So, what shall we do? Well, as with many other matters of truth that have been lost or distorted from
the Bible, we must come back to the clear and pure teaching of the truth and be willing to drop all the
wrong doctrines and practices we may have picked up along the way. This in itself is an act of
obedience to God. If you have genuine saving faith in Christ and have not yet been baptized in
water, do so in faith as a confirmation and declaration of your faith in obedience to God's word. If you
are with someone who has just repented and expressed genuine faith in Christ, find the nearest
immersible water and baptize them. We do not need to argue and debate this matter with those who
stubbornly hold on to their religious traditions. But we can come back to the proper understanding
and practice of baptism for ourselves and those committed to us by God.
 
I do not claim to have answered all the questions we may have regarding baptism. But I do hope
that having looked more closely at God's word and exposed some of the non-biblical teachings and
practices, we could draw closer to a healthy understanding and application of this God-ordained and
meaningful part of the Christian experience. Glory be to Him!