April 23, 2024 • 14 mins
In this episode, we delve into a frequently asked question related to Christianity- the significance, purpose, and function of baptism. We explore the meaning of baptism, its relevance to the church, and how it's a public identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This episode breaks down biblical instances and commandments concerning believer's baptism and the process of identification that follows it. We also discuss the common misconception of baptism as a pre-requisite for salvation and corroborate the concept of salvation by faith alone, using numerous verses from the Holy Scripture.
Clarifying the misconceptions, the episode discusses how baptism is an act of obedience after believing in Jesus Christ and not a requirement for salvation. We also address the question of 're-baptism' after understanding the Gospel and believing in Jesus Christ and provide a clear answer backed by relevant Biblical passages.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey there, friends. Welcome to the Taking Your Next Step podcast from Collegians for Christ.
Through each episode, we will journey together, focusing on knowing what you
believe and why you believe it.
If you are eager, like I am, to strengthen your faith and take your next step.
Music.
Now by joining us in today's episode.
I want to take one episode as we're looking at the purpose and the function
(00:23):
of the church and why the church is vital to a believer's life life,
and focus on the topic of baptism.
I do get a lot of questions working with college students, just a range of questions about baptism.
So I just want to walk through this, and maybe it'll be a help to you.
If you say, I know baptism, we're going to get to the middle way here and try
to answer, you know, what about people that say you must be baptized to be saved?
(00:47):
What about different modes of baptism being sprinkled and so forth?
So I think it'll be a help to you regardless.
But as we come to baptism, it's important because it's an ordinance of the church.
Jesus commanded the church to go out and to preach the gospel to every creature
and baptize people, make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father,
Son, and the Holy Spirit.
(01:07):
And so baptism is important.
Now I'll say this, baptism is not required for salvation.
We're going to get into that a little bit more, but it is a public identification
with the death, death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is a picture. That's why when you see someone being baptized into the water,
that going into the water is the picture of the death.
(01:28):
And when they come out, it's the picture of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now, baptism is done in obedience because scripture commands it.
Jesus commanded his followers to baptize believers in Matthew 28, 19.
The New Testament churches gave an important place to baptism.
Think about it. Jesus himself was baptized.
We'll go to Acts chapter 2, verse 41. We'll see one instance of baptism here.
(01:53):
We've read this in our previous episodes, but it says that they that gladly
received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls.
And so the progression there is they heard the word that Peter preached. He preached the gospel.
They received the word, then they were baptized, and then they became members
of a local church. And so the candidate for baptism, what is the prerequisite?
(02:16):
Just like you would have a prerequisite class, you know, you can't take math
201 until you take 101, whatever it is.
The prerequisite here in our passage is that they must believe on Jesus Christ.
They received his word and then were baptized. You say, well,
that's just one passage.
We'll go to Acts chapter 8. I'll show you another passage with the Ethiopian
(02:37):
eunuch. Acts chapter 8 verse 34.
I won't read the entire passage, but just to give you enough here.
Philip has gone up. He's Ethiopian eunuch, is a man of political authority.
He went to Jerusalem to worship.
He's reading a copy of God's word as he's heading back.
The Holy Spirit leads Philip to go up there and he asked him what he's reading.
Can you understand what you're reading?
(02:58):
And the Ethiopian and eunuch said, how can I accept some man should guide me?
And Philip begins to share with him the gospel right there from the book of Isaiah.
And then we pick up in verse 34 and the eunuch answered Philip and said,
I pray thee of whom speak of the prophet, this of himself or of some other man.
And Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus.
And as they went on their way, they came into a certain water and the eunuch
(03:21):
said, see, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized?
So he's probably heard about the baptism of John the the Baptist.
He knows he, you know, baptism's good.
And Philip said, watch this, if thou believest with all thine heart,
thou mayest. So what is the prerequisite in this passage as well?
It's if you believe on Jesus Christ, that is the prerequisite.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus is the son of God.
(03:44):
He said, I believe I've called on him. I'm a believer.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down,
went both, went down both into the water, both Philip and.
And then when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord called
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing.
And so we see the candidate here is believing on Jesus Christ.
(04:07):
Each time in Scripture, it comes after a person has believed on Jesus Christ.
Now, the next step after baptism in Acts 2.41 was joining a local church. church.
So baptism is not a requirement to be part of the universal church that we talked
about in our first episode on the church or the body of Christ,
but it is a requirement for membership into the local church.
(04:29):
That's the difference between the universal church and local New Testament churches.
So a question comes in, what if a person was baptized before believing or understanding the gospel?
Should they be re-baptized after they believe on Jesus Christ?
I think it's a great question, and we've bumped into this so many times.
So maybe a person was baptized because they were baptized as an infant.
(04:50):
Maybe they were baptized because we've had instances where someone told them
they needed to be baptized, and so they were baptized.
But they had never trusted Jesus Christ. They'd never called on Him for salvation.
Maybe they made a profession as a young child, but they say,
you know, I just prayed a prayer.
I didn't really know what I was doing. I didn't mean it, but I'm coming now,
and I understand that I'm calling on Jesus Christ.
(05:11):
I believe He died on the cross. I'm calling out to Him. So many different scenarios that can go into this.
But Scripture doesn't leave us clueless on this.
Acts 19, verses 1-5, we get an example here of this kind of same situation that lets us know.
It tells us Paul is dealing with some people here. He found certain disciples,
and he said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?
(05:34):
And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy
Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized?
And they said, Unto John's baptism. This is John the Baptist. He was before Jesus.
And he baptized Jesus himself. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the
baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him
which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
(05:57):
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So what's going on here?
Well, when they got baptized the first time, they didn't make a profession.
They didn't believe on Jesus. They were being baptized for the repentance of
sins for what was to come.
Now they come to a point of believing on Jesus Christ. And Paul says,
look, now that you've believed on Jesus Christ, now you should get baptized.
(06:19):
So John's baptism was in anticipation for Jesus's coming.
These were re-baptized after they heard the gospel and believed on Jesus.
So should a person be re-baptized if they were baptized before they believed on Jesus Christ?
Yes, according to scripture, they should if they so desire to make that step
of obedience. obedience.
The mode of baptism, how a person is baptized, the word baptism means to dip or submerge.
(06:44):
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River.
We see the Ethiopian unit going down into the water and coming back out.
And so we see immersion being the example we see in scripture time and time again.
Now the question will come up, and this is what I wanted to spend our little
bit of time with at the end, is a person saved by baptism.
(07:05):
I do run into this, and I do find people people that think they need to be baptized
or they were baptized, therefore they are saved.
Now we come to two passages people would typically go to first.
There may be a few more, but I just want to hit the two prime ones on our episode
here. That's Mark 16, 16.
They will go here and it says this, let me back up. You get the great commission
(07:28):
here. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, But he that believeth not shall be damned.
And so right here, people will say, look, right there, it says,
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
So it must mean you need to be baptized.
Number one, I want to say this to you. Never use the obscure to interpret the obvious.
(07:49):
What I mean by that is, let's say we have one passage that seems to teach something
like this, but we have 10 other passages that are clear that teach the other way around.
What should we do? We should use the obvious to interpret the obscure.
Secure and another thing here is here on this passage
if you look at it he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved but look at the credential here for
(08:12):
those that go to hell that are damned but he that believeth not shall be damned
it's saying here he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved we understand
through other passages the believing that saves you and that also correlates
based on what it says it didn't say but he that believeth and And is not baptized shall not,
but he that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned.
(08:33):
It doesn't put baptism there. It only puts believe there.
And we're going to go to some clear passages here in just a moment.
Let me hit the other problem passage real quick.
First Peter chapter three, verse 21.
And this one is used frequently to teach that baptism is baptismal regeneration, being saved by baptism.
(08:53):
Verse 21 says this, the light figure where into even baptism doth also now save us.
So right there, somebody would say, look, it says baptism saves us.
But watch this parenthetical statement. statement, not they put in a way of
the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(09:14):
Okay, wait a minute now. The parenthetical statement there helps us to understand
what Peter's talking about.
If we back up, he's using a figurative, he's using a illustration here really
of Noah and the flood and how the
water saved, how they were saved in the preparing of the ark and so forth.
Eight souls were saved by water. You understand it wasn't the water that saved them.
(09:35):
It was the ark that saved them. He's making an illustration here with baptism.
That's why he puts these. Look, I'm not saying that baptism washes away your sin.
If you're saying baptism saves you, you're saying it's baptism that puts away your sin.
It's not the putting away the filth of the flesh. He adds that there.
But the answer of a good conscience toward God. What is the purpose of baptism?
(09:55):
You're obedient to Jesus Christ. Christ and in being obedient to him because
he says your next step after baptism, you have a good conscience.
So he very clearly tells us that baptism cannot cleanse you or forgive you of your sin.
So therefore, baptism is not a requirement for salvation.
It's believing on Jesus Christ, accepting that free gift of salvation that cleanses you from your sin.
(10:19):
So we would go to a very clear passage. I'm going to give you just a few.
Romans 10, 13 says, for whosoever shall call That verse never says.
That's a very clear verse. We don't have to speculate what does it say.
John 3.16 comes from Jesus himself.
(10:39):
And he says this very famous verse for God's soul of the world that he gave
his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
It does not say believeth and is baptized. Here's a very clear passage.
And then it goes on to say this in verse 18, he that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he had not
(11:00):
believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.
Nowhere does it talk talk about baptism being connected with believing.
Here you have three or four mentions of salvation being connected with just believing.
And then Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, another verse that clearly tells us about salvation
being just by believing.
(11:21):
It says this in verse number eight, for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves is the gift of God. God.
Wait a minute. For by grace are you saved through what? Through faith.
Faith in what? Faith in Jesus.
Baptism is not connected there. Then it goes on to say this,
and not of yourselves, it's the gift of God.
It's just something you received, not of works, lest any man should boast.
(11:45):
You see, baptism, if it was a requirement, would be considered a work,
which is why it's not a requirement.
And then the last example that we can talk about, and you can share with someone,
is you just have to consider the thief on the cross in Luke chapter 23.
Some would say we had one thief on one side who's ridiculing and talking down to Jesus.
The thief on the other side says, wait a minute, I believe you are who you say you are.
(12:09):
He says, remember me. And Jesus said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.
I just want you to think about that thief for a moment.
He called out to Jesus, believed on him, and Jesus told him,
today you're going to be in heaven with me.
His hands and his feet were nailed to that cross. He could not read his Bible.
He could not go to church. He could not be baptized.
(12:32):
He could not go serve. He could not do any type of outreach ministry.
He couldn't do the Lord's Supper. He could do none of that, which shows us that
salvation is by faith alone.
It's the gift of God. Is a person saved by baptism?
Absolutely not. Baptism is a next step of obedience.
That the scripture calls out, that a person believes on Jesus Christ,
(12:55):
then would follow him in believer's baptism, that would be the next step.
So no, you are not saved through baptism.
And I think we see what we want to use the obvious to interpret the obscure, the Matthew 16, 16.
Okay, maybe that first part applies, but then if you go down to the bottom of
that verse, it tells us that the one who doesn't believe is the one that's damned,
(13:16):
not the one that doesn't believe and is not baptized.
And so baptism has no correlation to salvation. And we see that in scripture.
Someone may say this. What if someone is sick and cannot be immersed in water?
If you're saying the mode of baptism is immersion, what if there's not enough
water in the area or, you know, they're sick, they can't get out of their sick bed?
(13:37):
Well, guess what? There's no instruction in scripture about what to do here.
None. The scripture is silent on that. We do see in history that the early church
allowed pouring. in these cases where there was a medical issue or a hardship like that.
But this would also tell us this is another reason we're not saved by baptism.
It's an act someone must accomplish, and there could actually be hardships to accomplish it.
(14:03):
And if that's the case, it shows us another reason why baptism is not a requirement for salvation.
So the bottom line is this. Believing on Jesus Christ for salvation is the prerequisite
for baptism, not the requirement for salvation.
And so as you go through and maybe somebody asks you that, I pray it'll be a help to you.
We'll go in our next episode and begin to look at the idea of how do we choose
(14:25):
a church? What do we look for?
What would be the doctrine that we should bring ourselves around?
And pray it'll be a great help to you in our upcoming episode.
Thank you for taking the time to listen. If this podcast has been helpful to
you, please share it with a friend or subscribe to stay up to date on the latest
episodes. You can connect with Collegiate Friendship.
Music.
Hey there, friends. Welcome to the Taking Your Next Step podcast from Collegians for Christ.
Through each episode, we will journey together, focusing on knowing what you
believe and why you believe it.
If you are eager, like I am, to strengthen your faith and take your next step.
Music.
Now by joining us in today's episode.
I want to take one episode as we're looking at the purpose and the function
(00:23):
of the church and why the church is vital to a believer's life life,
and focus on the topic of baptism.
I do get a lot of questions working with college students, just a range of questions about baptism.
So I just want to walk through this, and maybe it'll be a help to you.
If you say, I know baptism, we're going to get to the middle way here and try
to answer, you know, what about people that say you must be baptized to be saved?
(00:47):
What about different modes of baptism being sprinkled and so forth?
So I think it'll be a help to you regardless.
But as we come to baptism, it's important because it's an ordinance of the church.
Jesus commanded the church to go out and to preach the gospel to every creature
and baptize people, make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father,
Son, and the Holy Spirit.
(01:07):
And so baptism is important.
Now I'll say this, baptism is not required for salvation.
We're going to get into that a little bit more, but it is a public identification
with the death, death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is a picture. That's why when you see someone being baptized into the water,
that going into the water is the picture of the death.
(01:28):
And when they come out, it's the picture of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now, baptism is done in obedience because scripture commands it.
Jesus commanded his followers to baptize believers in Matthew 28, 19.
The New Testament churches gave an important place to baptism.
Think about it. Jesus himself was baptized.
We'll go to Acts chapter 2, verse 41. We'll see one instance of baptism here.
(01:53):
We've read this in our previous episodes, but it says that they that gladly
received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls.
And so the progression there is they heard the word that Peter preached. He preached the gospel.
They received the word, then they were baptized, and then they became members
of a local church. And so the candidate for baptism, what is the prerequisite?
(02:16):
Just like you would have a prerequisite class, you know, you can't take math
201 until you take 101, whatever it is.
The prerequisite here in our passage is that they must believe on Jesus Christ.
They received his word and then were baptized. You say, well,
that's just one passage.
We'll go to Acts chapter 8. I'll show you another passage with the Ethiopian
(02:37):
eunuch. Acts chapter 8 verse 34.
I won't read the entire passage, but just to give you enough here.
Philip has gone up. He's Ethiopian eunuch, is a man of political authority.
He went to Jerusalem to worship.
He's reading a copy of God's word as he's heading back.
The Holy Spirit leads Philip to go up there and he asked him what he's reading.
Can you understand what you're reading?
(02:58):
And the Ethiopian and eunuch said, how can I accept some man should guide me?
And Philip begins to share with him the gospel right there from the book of Isaiah.
And then we pick up in verse 34 and the eunuch answered Philip and said,
I pray thee of whom speak of the prophet, this of himself or of some other man.
And Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus.
And as they went on their way, they came into a certain water and the eunuch
(03:21):
said, see, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized?
So he's probably heard about the baptism of John the the Baptist.
He knows he, you know, baptism's good.
And Philip said, watch this, if thou believest with all thine heart,
thou mayest. So what is the prerequisite in this passage as well?
It's if you believe on Jesus Christ, that is the prerequisite.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus is the son of God.
(03:44):
He said, I believe I've called on him. I'm a believer.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down,
went both, went down both into the water, both Philip and.
And then when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord called
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing.
And so we see the candidate here is believing on Jesus Christ.
(04:07):
Each time in Scripture, it comes after a person has believed on Jesus Christ.
Now, the next step after baptism in Acts 2.41 was joining a local church. church.
So baptism is not a requirement to be part of the universal church that we talked
about in our first episode on the church or the body of Christ,
but it is a requirement for membership into the local church.
(04:29):
That's the difference between the universal church and local New Testament churches.
So a question comes in, what if a person was baptized before believing or understanding the gospel?
Should they be re-baptized after they believe on Jesus Christ?
I think it's a great question, and we've bumped into this so many times.
So maybe a person was baptized because they were baptized as an infant.
(04:50):
Maybe they were baptized because we've had instances where someone told them
they needed to be baptized, and so they were baptized.
But they had never trusted Jesus Christ. They'd never called on Him for salvation.
Maybe they made a profession as a young child, but they say,
you know, I just prayed a prayer.
I didn't really know what I was doing. I didn't mean it, but I'm coming now,
and I understand that I'm calling on Jesus Christ.
(05:11):
I believe He died on the cross. I'm calling out to Him. So many different scenarios that can go into this.
But Scripture doesn't leave us clueless on this.
Acts 19, verses 1-5, we get an example here of this kind of same situation that lets us know.
It tells us Paul is dealing with some people here. He found certain disciples,
and he said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?
(05:34):
And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy
Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized?
And they said, Unto John's baptism. This is John the Baptist. He was before Jesus.
And he baptized Jesus himself. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the
baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him
which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
(05:57):
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So what's going on here?
Well, when they got baptized the first time, they didn't make a profession.
They didn't believe on Jesus. They were being baptized for the repentance of
sins for what was to come.
Now they come to a point of believing on Jesus Christ. And Paul says,
look, now that you've believed on Jesus Christ, now you should get baptized.
(06:19):
So John's baptism was in anticipation for Jesus's coming.
These were re-baptized after they heard the gospel and believed on Jesus.
So should a person be re-baptized if they were baptized before they believed on Jesus Christ?
Yes, according to scripture, they should if they so desire to make that step
of obedience. obedience.
The mode of baptism, how a person is baptized, the word baptism means to dip or submerge.
(06:44):
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River.
We see the Ethiopian unit going down into the water and coming back out.
And so we see immersion being the example we see in scripture time and time again.
Now the question will come up, and this is what I wanted to spend our little
bit of time with at the end, is a person saved by baptism.
(07:05):
I do run into this, and I do find people people that think they need to be baptized
or they were baptized, therefore they are saved.
Now we come to two passages people would typically go to first.
There may be a few more, but I just want to hit the two prime ones on our episode
here. That's Mark 16, 16.
They will go here and it says this, let me back up. You get the great commission
(07:28):
here. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, But he that believeth not shall be damned.
And so right here, people will say, look, right there, it says,
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
So it must mean you need to be baptized.
Number one, I want to say this to you. Never use the obscure to interpret the obvious.
(07:49):
What I mean by that is, let's say we have one passage that seems to teach something
like this, but we have 10 other passages that are clear that teach the other way around.
What should we do? We should use the obvious to interpret the obscure.
Secure and another thing here is here on this passage
if you look at it he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved but look at the credential here for
(08:12):
those that go to hell that are damned but he that believeth not shall be damned
it's saying here he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved we understand
through other passages the believing that saves you and that also correlates
based on what it says it didn't say but he that believeth and And is not baptized shall not,
but he that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned.
(08:33):
It doesn't put baptism there. It only puts believe there.
And we're going to go to some clear passages here in just a moment.
Let me hit the other problem passage real quick.
First Peter chapter three, verse 21.
And this one is used frequently to teach that baptism is baptismal regeneration, being saved by baptism.
(08:53):
Verse 21 says this, the light figure where into even baptism doth also now save us.
So right there, somebody would say, look, it says baptism saves us.
But watch this parenthetical statement. statement, not they put in a way of
the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(09:14):
Okay, wait a minute now. The parenthetical statement there helps us to understand
what Peter's talking about.
If we back up, he's using a figurative, he's using a illustration here really
of Noah and the flood and how the
water saved, how they were saved in the preparing of the ark and so forth.
Eight souls were saved by water. You understand it wasn't the water that saved them.
(09:35):
It was the ark that saved them. He's making an illustration here with baptism.
That's why he puts these. Look, I'm not saying that baptism washes away your sin.
If you're saying baptism saves you, you're saying it's baptism that puts away your sin.
It's not the putting away the filth of the flesh. He adds that there.
But the answer of a good conscience toward God. What is the purpose of baptism?
(09:55):
You're obedient to Jesus Christ. Christ and in being obedient to him because
he says your next step after baptism, you have a good conscience.
So he very clearly tells us that baptism cannot cleanse you or forgive you of your sin.
So therefore, baptism is not a requirement for salvation.
It's believing on Jesus Christ, accepting that free gift of salvation that cleanses you from your sin.
(10:19):
So we would go to a very clear passage. I'm going to give you just a few.
Romans 10, 13 says, for whosoever shall call That verse never says.
That's a very clear verse. We don't have to speculate what does it say.
John 3.16 comes from Jesus himself.
(10:39):
And he says this very famous verse for God's soul of the world that he gave
his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
It does not say believeth and is baptized. Here's a very clear passage.
And then it goes on to say this in verse 18, he that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he had not
(11:00):
believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.
Nowhere does it talk talk about baptism being connected with believing.
Here you have three or four mentions of salvation being connected with just believing.
And then Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, another verse that clearly tells us about salvation
being just by believing.
(11:21):
It says this in verse number eight, for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves is the gift of God. God.
Wait a minute. For by grace are you saved through what? Through faith.
Faith in what? Faith in Jesus.
Baptism is not connected there. Then it goes on to say this,
and not of yourselves, it's the gift of God.
It's just something you received, not of works, lest any man should boast.
(11:45):
You see, baptism, if it was a requirement, would be considered a work,
which is why it's not a requirement.
And then the last example that we can talk about, and you can share with someone,
is you just have to consider the thief on the cross in Luke chapter 23.
Some would say we had one thief on one side who's ridiculing and talking down to Jesus.
The thief on the other side says, wait a minute, I believe you are who you say you are.
(12:09):
He says, remember me. And Jesus said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.
I just want you to think about that thief for a moment.
He called out to Jesus, believed on him, and Jesus told him,
today you're going to be in heaven with me.
His hands and his feet were nailed to that cross. He could not read his Bible.
He could not go to church. He could not be baptized.
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He could not go serve. He could not do any type of outreach ministry.
He couldn't do the Lord's Supper. He could do none of that, which shows us that
salvation is by faith alone.
It's the gift of God. Is a person saved by baptism?
Absolutely not. Baptism is a next step of obedience.
That the scripture calls out, that a person believes on Jesus Christ,
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then would follow him in believer's baptism, that would be the next step.
So no, you are not saved through baptism.
And I think we see what we want to use the obvious to interpret the obscure, the Matthew 16, 16.
Okay, maybe that first part applies, but then if you go down to the bottom of
that verse, it tells us that the one who doesn't believe is the one that's damned,
(13:16):
not the one that doesn't believe and is not baptized.
And so baptism has no correlation to salvation. And we see that in scripture.
Someone may say this. What if someone is sick and cannot be immersed in water?
If you're saying the mode of baptism is immersion, what if there's not enough
water in the area or, you know, they're sick, they can't get out of their sick bed?
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Well, guess what? There's no instruction in scripture about what to do here.
None. The scripture is silent on that. We do see in history that the early church
allowed pouring. in these cases where there was a medical issue or a hardship like that.
But this would also tell us this is another reason we're not saved by baptism.
It's an act someone must accomplish, and there could actually be hardships to accomplish it.
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And if that's the case, it shows us another reason why baptism is not a requirement for salvation.
So the bottom line is this. Believing on Jesus Christ for salvation is the prerequisite
for baptism, not the requirement for salvation.
And so as you go through and maybe somebody asks you that, I pray it'll be a help to you.
We'll go in our next episode and begin to look at the idea of how do we choose
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a church? What do we look for?
What would be the doctrine that we should bring ourselves around?
And pray it'll be a great help to you in our upcoming episode.
Thank you for taking the time to listen. If this podcast has been helpful to
you, please share it with a friend or subscribe to stay up to date on the latest
episodes. You can connect with Collegiate Friendship.
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