Whenever I hear someone arguing against the necessity for baptism, I see a slight problem in the hermeneutics of the argument. You see, we cannot just take bits and pieces from the Bible and make it our theology. We must look at it from all angles and take the whole Scripture, and put it in context. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says "ALL Scripture is God breathed". I am going to take the position that yes, water baptism (immersion) is essential to salvation. I am also going to say that I am not God, so I cannot judge eternally those who aren't baptized, but I will say that the Bible clearly tells us we must do.

Matthew 3:11 does say: "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

But you have to read Matthew 3:12 also: "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing
floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." ----I don't want to be baptized with that fire, and I don't think anyone else does; so we must also determine what "baptize with the Holy Spirit" means.

My position is that we are baptized to RECIEVE the Holy Spirit. I get this from the following verses:

Acts 2:38- Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

The following explains what Jesus meant about being baptized with the Holy Spirit:

Acts 19:4-5 Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the
one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord
Jesus.

After this the people recieved the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. But not before they were immersed.

A favorite conversion of mine is that of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8. He was riding on his carriage and he was reading from Isaiah. Phillip came along and the Eunuch asked Philip what it means and the Bible says:

Acts 8:35-36 "Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"

If baptism wasn't intimately connected with recieving Jesus, then why on earth would the Eunuch ask to be baptized just after hearing Philip share the good news of Jesus? Obviously Philip talked about baptism with him.

You also must remember that EVERY New Testament conversion is through baptism! No one ever recieved the Holy Spirit until they were baptized except for Cornelius. And the only reason for that was to show Peter that Gentiles could be baptized. And they were baptized immediately after Peter realized this.

One favorite verse of people who do not believe baptism is essential for salvation is Romans 10:9:
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

What they don't show you is Romans 6:3-5 and really the whole rest of that chapter:

"Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We
were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from
the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."

Romans was a letter, meaning it was meant to be read in one sitting. If I were to write you a letter telling you that I was going to come visit after Christmas and then at the end of the letter I said "Don't forget, I am coming to visit on your birthday!" You would expect me to come visit twice! Thats how letters are written. Paul did not have to mention baptism over and over again because he had already said it. Plus, Romans is written to people who are already Christians. Chapter 10, if you read further, is talking about preaching the Word!


I am not saying faith and belief are not important, but all a part of it. I believe you must hear the Word, Believe in it, Repent of your sins, Be baptized by being immersed into water, and then you will recieve salvation and the gift of eternal life. I might also add that baptism is the beginning of your new life in Christ. It is then up to you to live by the fruits of the spirit. Read your bible, ask questions, and be diligent in your studies.

Remember, read them in context--don't just take my word for it. Take God's.

1 Peter 3:21: And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:9: You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God
lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Reference that back to Acts 2:38--how do we get the Holy Spirit? AT BAPTISM.

I hope this helps. I do not want to seem Pharisaical but we have millions of people in America following
the doctrine of "I don't believe My God would do that" God is a God of justice and He does what He says. If the Bible says Baptism is essential for salvation, then it is. It wasn't even until the 1300's that baptism started being not "essential" If the church was founded in AD 33-36, then that is over 1000 years that people believed baptism was essential for salvation. I think that holds up much stronger than
manmade religion.