Water baptism is a subject that is so misunderstood in the Churches today. With the Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Church of Christ, Oneness Pentecostals and many other groups claiming that water baptism is necessary for salvation; their teachings today and throughout many centuries are leading many from the teaching of the Word of God. The devil is rejoicing in his deceit and twisting of the Word of God. It is not my job to belittle or criticize anyone or any group. Good people who love God and are very sincere have been led astray for far too long. Outside the gospels and the Book of Acts, water baptism is only mentioned twice in the rest of the New Testament and then it says nothing about having to be baptized in water to be saved from you sins and have eternal life. I know this statement is causing people’s blood pressure to rise and anger to rise up in them because they are so adamant that water baptism is necessary for salvation. Let us ask ourselves a question. Why would the Apostle to the Gentiles never say in any of his letters that water baptism is necessary to be saved? If you have a cure for cancer and you keep it a secret you must be deranged or very evil. In the epistles of Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude, Revelation, and the writer of Hebrews they never say you have to be baptized to be saved. We will look at the verses that some try to use and say that is what they say.

The first time we see anyone baptizing people is John the Baptist in the gospels. Why was he baptizing. He lets us know that he is preparing the way for the Lord Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. He is preaching a baptism of repentance to get people ready for a Messiah that would take away their sins. Let us look closely at what John says in Matthew chapter three. Matt 3:1-2. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matt 3:5-6  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. What is John doing? He is getting the people ready for a Messiah who would die and be resurrected to take away their sins. If the baptism of John took people’s sins away, Jesus died for no reason. They could just be baptized and their sins would be forgiven. Luke 3:3-4.  He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (Telling all to repent because someone was coming who would remit their sins in other words forgive them of sin and set them free from the power of sin). As it is written in the Book of Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the LORD YAH, make His paths straight.”

John could only baptize with water to get the people ready for someone who was far greater than He was who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? Jesus baptism was a spiritual baptism that would forgive and cleanse and set free from sin. It wasn’t and external baptism with water but an internal transformation of the heart. Jesus in the Book of Acts said this baptism with the Holy Spirit was the Promise of the Father (Acts 1:4-5). The Father promised through the Covenant to Abraham that the Seed (Jesus Christ) would come and bless all nations by giving them the Holy Spirit to dwell in them. They would be washed from their sins by the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit would come and dwell within them. Luke 3:16  John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Praise God for the remission of sins.

The Word of God never contradicts itself. If there are hundreds of verses that say if you believe you will be saved, and then there a few that say believe and baptized and you will be saved, does that mean the few override the many. If you believe and you are saved and if you believe and are baptized and you are saved then being baptized doesn’t save you or keep you from being saved. We must stop trying to make the Bible say what we want it to say and just believe what it says. You must understand what water baptism is and what it isn’t or you can never understand the scriptures that command us to baptize. After Jesus died and was resurrected there a few scriptures that tell us to be baptized. Water baptism is part of the total truth about becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though water baptism does not save us it has very important part in our walk with God. Jesus speaking in Matt 28:29-20  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Please listen very closely. You are baptized with water because you have already been baptized with the Holy Spirit. The gospels link water baptism and salvation together for two main reasons. 1.  Water baptism is a declaration that you are a disciple of Christ, that you have died with Christ, been buried with Him, and are raised with Him to walk in the newness of life. 2.  You are following Christ with everything within you and you willing to die if necessary to follow Him and His teaching and to be His disciple. That is why you are submerged in water. You are declaring that the old has passed away and I am dead to the world and the power of sin and everything is new. If you believe that water baptism is necessary for salvation you are diminishing the fact that Jesus Himself did everything necessary by His death and resurrection. Who He is what He did at Calvary is sufficient to take away your sins plus nothing else. If you believe that you are saved.

Let us look at Acts 2:38. A very famous verse for those that believe that water baptism is necessary for salvation. Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Because you now know that it is the baptism with the Holy Spirit that saves; the part of the verse about water baptism is saying, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because of all that water baptism means and accomplishes. It does not accomplish the remission of sins, only the shedding of blood does that. The verse is saying repent for the remission of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (not tongues but the Holy Spirit is the gift) and let everyone of you be baptized. You cannot take a few verses out of context that contradict hundreds of other verses and build a doctrine on a few verses. The Word of God proves itself to be true and interprets itself.

Rom 6:3-6  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk on newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. This is not talking about water baptism but Paul is talking about a spiritual baptism into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ where the old man—the sinful nature is crucified and the new man is raised to walk in the newness of life. It is a spiritual baptism wherein we die with Christ, we are buried with Christ and we are raised with Christ and the body ruled by sin is done away with and we are free from the power of sin. What a powerful truth. This is the full gospel that only a few preach. This is the same thing that Col 2:11-13 says. In Him you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands (using your hands to baptize in water has nothing to do with this baptism), by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through FAITH in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. This is the same truth in Romans 6. There is only one baptism according to Eph 4:5 and it is definitely not water baptism but is a spiritual baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ where your heart is circumcised and the old man is crucified. Praise the Lamb forever and ever because He has redeemed us by His blood. Rev 1:5 says He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.

Let us look at another verse where this spiritual baptism is talked about in I Pet 3:18-21. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight souls were saved through (Strong’s 1223—were saved through the destroying water; the water was the destroyer not the agent that saved. What saved them was being in the Ark.) water. There is also and antitype (antitype is an earthly expression of a spiritual truth) which now saves us baptism; through the resurrection of Christ. The earthly expression is that God placed Noah and his family in the Ark, baptized them into the Ark so they would be saved from the floods of water. The spiritual truth is that God saves us by baptizing us into Christ, baptizing us into His death and resurrection with a spiritual baptism. This is the baptism that saves us, dying with Christ, being buried with Christ and being raised with Christ. Rom 6:3  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? John said in Luke 3:16  John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism that Jesus baptizes with is what saves us and transforms us, not water baptism.

Let us look at the only two times in the Epistles of Paul that he mentions water baptism. I Cor 1:12-15  Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or I am of Apollos,” or I am of Cephas (Peter),” or “I am of Christ”.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. These are powerful questions Paul is asking because he knew that water baptism was the act of allegiance to the person or organization that you are baptized into. He is saying that the Church is not divided. Don’t use water baptism to divide the Church or people into groups as many are doing today. If you are not baptized by what they call someone in authority in their group you need to be re-baptized to show that you belong to that specific church or group. What is Christ divided Paul asks? It is very evident that Paul understands what water baptism does and it is not to save but to become a disciple and follower. Paul says in I Cor 1:17 Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Either Paul is delusional or he is saying that the gospel does not include water baptism. Paul goes on to say in verse 18 that “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. We are saved by the power of the blood that was shed at the cross. We are baptized with a spiritual baptism that only God can do. It is not with man’s hands. Paul goes on to say in Rom 1:16-17 that the gospel is the power of God. Rom 1:16-17  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who BELIEVES, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by FAITH.

The only other time Paul speaks about water baptism is when is talking about the resurrection from dead and this is also in I Corinthians. I love God’s Word so let’s take a look at these verses. I Cor 15:29. This verse has been so twisted by most bible commentaries and they make it say what it really doesn’t say. Imagine that people can be wrong. Let God be true and every man a liar which means man opinions doesn’t matter the only thing that matters is the truth of the Word of God. If you take the Roman Catholic influence out of this verse we can see it for what it really says. The KJV was translated from the Textus Receptus and the Latin Vulgate but is still the closest to the original Greek that we have. In this verse the way that it is translated seems to be talking about being baptized for people who are already dead but Paul is saying what good does being baptized do; if people just die and are never resurrected. Why baptize anyone? It is a useless exercise if there is no resurrection. These two times Paul talks about water baptism he never says it is necessary to be saved and have eternal life. The baptism that saves is the baptism that Jesus does when He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. He takes away ours sins and put His Holy Spirit in us. Comments or questions are welcomed.