Baptism: Some Facts

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 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,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Baptism…you can’t make a disciple of Jesus without it.

Mark 16:15-16 (ESV)
15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Baptism…you can’t be saved without it.

(I know, I know…the second part of verse 16 doesn’t mention baptism; it says, “…but whoever does not believe will be condemned,” not “…but whoever does not believe and is not baptized will be condemned.” Question: do you believe the first part of verse 16, the part that says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…”? If you don’t, the second part of the verse applies to you.)

Speaking of baptism and salvation…

1 Peter 3:21 (ESV)
21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Baptism…it “now saves you.” Pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it?

Acts 2:36-41 (ESV)
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 And Peter said to them, “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.
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Baptism…if you want your sins to be forgiven and the gift of the Holy Spirit, then repent and be baptized. This promise applies to you, since the Lord God is calling you through the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14). Also, did you notice how baptism is, once again, correlated with salvation? (“Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”)

Acts 22:16 (ESV)
16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.

Baptism…it’s a necessity if you want to wash away your sins and call on the name of the Lord (which is necessary to be saved – Acts 2:21).

Romans 6:1-4 (ESV)
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Baptism…it’s how you get “into Christ Jesus” and are “buried…with him” in order to rise to “walk in newness of life.”

Closely related to this…

Galatians 3:27 (ESV)
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Baptism…again, it’s how you get “into Christ,” and it’s also how you “put on Christ.”

What is baptism, by the way? The Greek word baptizo literally means “immersion, submersion” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Grimm-Thayer, p. 94). Not sprinkling water on someone or pouring water on someone. Rather, submerging them in water.

That explains this passage…

Acts 8:38-39 (ESV)
38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

Why did both of them need to go into the water and come up out of the water if baptism was anything but submerging someone under water?

Anyway, I just wanted to share some biblical facts about baptism. I hope this short study has been beneficial to you.

Do you want to be saved? Do you want your sins forgiven? Do you want to be in Christ?

Baptism is a necessary part of that equation.

3 thoughts on “Baptism: Some Facts”

  1. One person for sure got away with not having to be baptized – the one thief on the cross next to Jesus. Makes me wonder if others have gotten the same mercy? Death bed surrenders, maybe? I would hope so.

    1. Good question. Concerning the thief on the cross, there were many who received salvation without baptism just like him. Moses, Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and many more. This is because all of them, like the thief on the cross, lived during a time before the new covenant which commanded baptism for salvation came into effect. See my answer to a Bible Q&A about this very question for more details. https://predenominationalchristianity.com/2022/05/31/bible-qa-if-baptism-saves-what-about-the-thief-on-the-cross/

      Since the resurrection of Christ, after which He gave the command to be baptized for salvation, we can know for sure that all accountable people who have sinned lived — and died — in a lost state without being baptized into Christ. We can confidently know this because He does not lie and does not show partiality (Tit. 1:2; Rom. 2:11). So when He said, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mk. 16:16a), we know that is a true statement that is full effect for everyone from the time He said it until the end of time.

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