Baptism - Avoiding The Extremes

Extreme #1 "You Don’t Need To Be Baptized To Be Saved"

I hear too many Christians say, "You don’t need to be baptized to be saved"

Says who? Jesus clearly says in Mark 16:16, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved."

Who are we to say that you don’t need to be baptized?

And WHY would you say that you don’t need to be baptized to be saved?

Jesus commanded us to "Go, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

In the book of Acts, everyone who accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior were baptized. Peter told 3000 people to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38). Paul was commanded to be baptized in order to wash his sins away (Acts 22:16). The Ethiopian Eunuch was baptized (Acts 8:36-38), The Philippian Jailor... (Acts 16:33)

"But wait!" the Christian who wants to diminish the importance of baptism objects. "What about the thief on the cross?" What about him? He died before Jesus ever gave us the command to be baptized. Technically, he died under the old covenant - before (or during) Jesus’ death. Jesus gave us the command to be baptized after His resurrection (Mark 16:16, Matthew 28:19), after the thief on the cross was already in paradise. Being baptized was never commanded by Jesus until after the resurrection.

Extreme #2 "Baptism Saves"

Of course, on the other end of the spectrum is the Christian who overemphasizes baptism. (Which, perhaps, explains why some go to Extreme #1)

I recently caught my son talking about how someone was saved because they were baptized. We would like to assume that people are saved when they are baptized - but is that true?

I once had a woman ask me to pray for her son who was into drugs, and drinking, and womanizing, etc. "But praise God he’s been baptized" So what if he’s been baptized? There is no repentance. There is no evidence of spiritual fruit. He is clearly not listening or living for the Lord. It makes no sense to me to think that his salvation is secure simply because he’s been baptized. No. For all practical purposes - he just got wet. There is much more to salvation than simply being baptized.

A Balanced View -

We are saved by the grace of God. Ephesians 2:8 says, "It is by grace we are saved - through faith".

We are saved BY GRACE

Through faith in Jesus

And if we have faith in Jesus, we will want to obey Jesus. And Jesus tells us to repent, confess, believe, and be baptized.

I try to emphasize that baptism is a part of the salvation process. It is a part of "through faith" in Jesus. It is being obedient to Jesus as a result of faith. It is a part that should not be minimized. Nor should it be overly emphasized. It should just be accepted as apart of the process.

Legalistic?

Is it legalistic to say you need to be baptized? No! It is biblical! It is what Jesus commanded. It it was the Apostles taught and did. And it should be what we do. The emphasis needs to be on the grace of God which saves us - but "through faith in Jesus", meaning through faith in what he taught and commanded - which includes confessing His name, repenting of sins, AND being baptized (plus a whole lot more!)

Immersed?

One more thing....The word "Baptize" means to immerse. I have found it helpful to replace the Greek word "baptize" with the English word "Immerse" throughout the Scriptures. Not for the sake of argueing against the practice of sprinkling (which I am opposed to), but for the sake of emphasizing the symbolic meaning of Baptizing. "for all of you who were baptized (immersed) into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:27) It just seems to get at the heart of the issue! We need to be immersed in Jesus... Soaked with Jesus! And I hope and pray that we never dry off!