Is Baptism by Immersion Necessary for Salvation?

by Danial Steward

As Christians; we have all heard it. "You must be Baptized to get to heaven!" "Baptism is the first step to Salvation!" But just how legitimate is that statement? Is it backed up biblically? Or is it just a ploy for control from your local church? Let's begin with the basis of baptism.

Baptism is the ritualistic pronunciation that you are hereby God's. It is a declaration that you acknowledge that there is evil upon the Earth and that you have a conscious choice to choose Good or Evil and you choose Good. You accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior and that you agree that he died on the cross for your and everyone else's sins. It symbolizes the washing away of your sins and the death of the old you and rebirth of you in Christ as a new being. It is an act, for most the quintessential and first act, of devotion to the Lord most high. That being said, I should bring up my first argument that most Christians won't argue with: Baptism is a conscientious choice made by a coherent individual who can understand it's gravity. Infant baptism is an abomination and in no way, shape, or form a legitimate argument of salvation. You cannot be baptized in any capacity if you do not understand its purpose and its importance. An infant cannot understand baptism beyond the discomfort of being dunked in water beyond its consent. An infant cannot profess that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. Free agency goes out the window when you baptize someone prior to them even having the ability to exercise said free agency. I would say that no one outside of your church recognizes it as legitimate; but no church recognizes any baptism outside of themselves as legitimate, so that argument is a tad bit redundant.

One of the main arguments for baptism by immersion is John 3:5: "Jesus replied: "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.""Let's dissect this. He says that you cannot go to heaven without being born of both "water" and "the Spirit." Water can mean multiple things in this context. Luckily Jesus elaborates a bit in the following verse. "Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life." This is providing the information that when Jesus says "water", he is clearly referring to human birth. We have to be born upon the Earth in order to learn right from wrong and fulfill whatever mission God has in store for us. We must make a choice on what we will dedicate ourselves to; the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of Satan. Being born again in the Spirit refers to the baptism of fire by the Holy Spirit spoken of in Luke 3:16.

Throughout the book of Acts; Baptism by immersion precedes the welcoming of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (Acts 2:38-41, 8:5-13, 8:36-38, 9:10-12, 9:17-19, 10:47-48, 16:13-15, 16:27-34, 18:5-8, 19:1-5, and 22:14-17). This reason however is to signify the washing away of their sins and more over the death of your old life and being reborn in Christ. So you might ask yourselves then; "Dan, you just said baptism by immersion signify's being reborn in Christ. Doesn't that answer your question? Does that not mean baptism by immersion is necessary for salvation?" No, and there is two major reasons why.

The first major reason is Ephesians 4:5: "There is one Lord, one God, one baptism." This clearly states that there is one baptism that is recognized by the Lord, which is the baptism that John the Baptist declares Jesus will bring which is the baptism by fire and the Spirit in Luke 3:16 and John 1:33. Why have baptism by immersion then? This was put in place until Christ came with the advocate (Holy Spirit) to bring about the true baptism that burns the sin at the roots that eliminates it for good and plants the Word in its place. The second reason is the most glaring; It lies in Romans 10:9-10 "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." It is by faith that we are saved. That is the epitome of our faith, belief that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. It has nothing to do with baptism by immersion. Living for Christ by the baptism by fire by the Holy Spirit and being born again in spirit because of what Jesus did on the cross is the way to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven promised in scripture.

I am, despite the content of this post, not against baptism and believe that some are meant to be baptized and some aren't. That is why I made the decision to write this. To show everyone that baptism is a matter of choice and whether the Heavenly Father wishes it for you, but some are not meant to be baptized by immersion and that is okay. Pray to see what God has in store for you but just know that either way; so long as you believe in Jesus Christ and dedicate your life to living according to his commands you are close to inheriting the Kingdom.

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