IS WATER BAPTISM ESSENTIAL FOR SALVATION?
The
following five verses seem to imply that a person has to be baptized in order
to be saved (have his/her sins forgiven and eternal life in heaven). But do
they really? Let’s see.
Mark
Who
will be condemned?
The
omission of the word baptized with disbelieved would seem to show that
Jesus does not make baptism essential for salvation. Condemnation rests on
disbelief, not baptism. So salvation rests on belief alone – Rom.
The
statement is a true one: “He who has believed and has been baptized will be
saved, ” but the statement is just as true: he who has
believed will be saved (see Acts
Baptism
is merely the picture of the new life, not the means of securing it. So serious
a doctrine would need stronger support other than this and a few other verses
used to try to support water baptism as being essential for salvation. When
there are scores of verses that say salvation is obtained by faith/belief alone,
and only a couple of verses that seem to say that it is by
faith/repentance/belief plus baptism, then it is rather obvious to the unbiased
reader that salvation (i.e., forgiveness
of sins and eternal life in heaven) is by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
Another
point against using Mark 16:16 to try
and support water baptism for salvation is that verses 9-20 are seriously in question as to whether or not they were even
written by Mark and, therefore, even belong in the Bible. Textual evidence
fails to support these verses, as they are not included in the 2
earliest/ancient manuscripts (the Vatincanus and Sinaiticus); the codex K (the best exemplar of the earliest African
Old Latin text); the Sinaitic Syriac,
and other early manuscripts. Early church fathers, such as Clement of
Alexandria and Origen seem not to have known these
verses, as do Eusebius and Jerome after them.
Internal
evidence also fails to support verses 9-20.
Arguments based on diction, style, and content also indicate the position
that Mark did not write these verses.
For
further analysis, see The New
Testament Commentary – The Gospel of Mark, pp.
682-687 by Dr. William Hendricksen.
John 3:5 Who
can’t enter into the
That
Jesus is not referring to water baptism when He says,
“born of water” can be seen for the
following reasons:
1.)
To understand what “born of water” means,
one needs to read the context carefully.
In verse 3, Jesus states that “unless one is born again, he cannot see the
Let’s
take a closer look at 1 Pet. 1:23, where
the word “seed” refers to the “incorruptible” God who is the source of the new birth in contrast to the “corruptible seed” which is the “flesh” (1:24). Of course, “seed” often refers to the word of God, as
in Lk. 8:11, but that is not the case
in 1 Pet. 1:23. See Gal. 3:16.
The
preposition “of” (ek)
is indicative of source, not means or instrumentality. We are born “of
God” as the source (compare Jn.
The
preposition “by” (dia)
is indicative of means, or the instrumentality. We are born “by the Word of God” or “through the Gospel” (1 Cor.
Thus,
we are born OF (“ek, ” out of) God,
and it is
BY (“dia, ” by means of), WITH, or THROUGH the Word, the gospel.
In 1 Pet.
“Some
wrongly regard ‘the Word of God’ as the incorruptible seed. But they were
begotten of God, ‘of’ indicating the source of their new life, but were
begotten by (by means of) the Word of
God (James 1:18), the truths of the
Bible, the Gospel (1 Cor. 4:15)” (An
American Commentary on the New Testament: First Peter, by N. Williams, vol.
VI, page 22 in the First Peter section).
Stephen
Charnock (Works,
vol. III, page 309) and John Gill (commentary,
vol. 6, page 815) expound 1 Pet.
Notice
the following passages in which this distinction is seen: “that which is born OF the Spirit” – Jn. 3:6. “…to become children OF God” – Jn.
Notice
that it is not referring to being born “by”
God, but “of ”
God. Being born “of ”
God means that He is the efficient cause or author of the birth; to be born “by” the Word or Gospel means that it is
through these mediums of revelation
that God performs the work of uniting men to Himself.
Notice
the Scriptures which refer to this latter sense: “Being
born again BY the Word of God” – 1 Pet.
In
conclusion then, to be born “of” water
is to be born physically (i.e., out of
the womb or water sac). It is not referring to water baptism.
2) Other statements that Jesus makes in
the same conversation with Nicodemus say that all that is necessary for eternal
life (i.e., being born again; saved) is
to believe in Christ (Jn. 3:15, 16, 18) and
not water baptism.
3) Other statements by the apostle John
also mention that it’s only faith, not faith plus baptism, that is necessary
for eternal life/salvation (Jn. 3:36;
6:47; 8:24; 10:9; 11:25, 26; 1 Jn. 3:23).
4) No one in the Old Testament was
saved/justified/made righteous/forgiven of their sins because of baptism or
faith plus baptism, but rather by faith alone (Gen. 15:6;
5)
The thief on the cross was not baptized, yet was promised that he’d be with
Christ in paradise (Lk.
6) If baptism is essential for salvation,
then why is it never recorded in the Bible that Jesus baptized anyone?
7) Even the great evangelist Paul rarely
baptized anyone (e.g., 1 Cor.
Acts
Bible
scholars in New Testament Greek, Drs. Dana and Mantey,
state that the English translation “for” of
the Greek word “eis”
can and does have the meaning “because
of”. Context is what determines the exact meaning of the Greek word “eis”. And Dr.
K. Wuest, former professor of Greek New Testament at Moody Bible Institute, agrees,
citing Matt. 12:41 as an example, where
the men of Nineveh repented “because of” the
preaching of Jonah. The same Greek word “eis” is used here, and is translated as “at” in the NIV, the King James, and
the New American Standard Version of
the Bible. The men of
Wuest
states that “forgiveness of sins is part of the salvation which God gives the
believing sinner when he places his faith in the Lord Jesus. Therefore, forgiveness
of sins cannot be the result of baptism, but rather its occasion.” In
other words, the believer is baptized because he’s already been forgiven of his
sins when he repented (i.e., turned to
Jesus Christ as his Messiah) –
Wuest’s Word Studies
in the Greek New Testament,
vol. 1, p.
18.
Dr. A. T. Robertson, another
Greek scholar and former seminary professor of New Testament Interpretation, concurs
with the above and further goes on to say that “eis” means “on the basis of” (“because of”) in Matt. 10:41. The NIV
so translates “eis”
as “because” in Matt.
Rather, Dr. Robertson states, baptism was
commanded in Acts 2:38 on the basis (i.e., because) of the fact that
forgiveness of sins had already occurred once they repented (i.e., changed their mind from disbelief in
Jesus Christ as Messiah/Savior –Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New
Testament, vol. 3, pp. 35, 36).
In Matt.
Were
unrepentant people baptized in order to obtain repentance?
This would be against
the biblical order of repent and be baptized as found in Acts 2:38 and
elsewhere. Thus baptism cannot be the basis of repentance.
The Greek word “eis” (translated
“unto”, “for”, or “because of”) when used with baptism must mean “with a
view to the fact that they had already repented.” Thus their repentance was the
basis of their baptism.
Many modern
translations have interpreted the Greek word “eis” as
meaning that repentance was the basis of people’s baptism.
Amplified Bible:
“because of repentance”
Renaissance Bible:
“because of repentance”
Phillips Bible: “as a
sign of your repentance”
Goodspeed
Bible: “in token of your repentance”
Williams Bible: “to
picture your repentance”
Twentieth Century
Bible: “to teach repentance”
Living Bible: “baptize
those who repent of their sins”
Also, several Greek
lexicons indicate that “eis” can be or is used with
the meaning of “because of” or “in regard to.”
Thayer’s
Greek Lexicon (p. 184).
“Eis” can be used “of reference or relation; with
regard to, in reference to; as regards”.
An Intermediate
Greek-English New Testament (Liddell
& Scott), p. 231.
“in regard to.”
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament (Green), p. 54.
“in accordance
with, ” (i.e., Matt.
A Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament (Arndt
& Gingrich), p. 229.
Under the heading “other
uses of eis” we find, “the causal use, ‘because of’, Matt.
Also, many Greek
scholars support the meaning of “eis” in passages
such as Matt. 10:41;
In Dr. A. T.
Robertson’s Word Studies in the New
Testament, it states that in Acts 2:38, Peter is “urging baptism on
each of them who had already turned (i.e.,
repented) and for it to be done in the name of Jesus Christ on the basis of
the forgiveness of sins which they had already received.”
In A. T. Robertson’s Grammar, page 592, it states that
both uses of “eis” (purpose/aim and because of/on the basis of) are numerous in the
New Testament and the Koine generally.
Then in Dr. Yeager’s Renaissance New Testament, it
states, “Just as ‘eis’ with the accusative can be
telic (i.e., tending toward an end)
when the context demands, it can also be causal, as we have translated in Acts
In Greek scholars Drs.
Dana and Manty’s A
Manual of Greek New Testament, it states that “eis”
can be used in the sense of: “because of” as it does in Rom. 4:20; Matt. 3:11;
Mk. 1:4; Titus 3:14.
Dr. K. Wuest’s translation
of the Greek New Testament for Acts 2:38 states, “…baptized in relation to the fact that your sins have been put away”.
So
what’s the connection between Matt. 3:11 and Acts 2:38?
Since there is an
exact parallel between Matt. 3:11 “baptize unto/for (eis) repentance” and Acts 2:38 “baptize
for (eis)
the remission/forgiveness of sins” AND since “eis”
used in connection with baptism in Matt. 3:11 means that these people were
baptized with a view to the fact that they had already repented, THEN “eis” in Acts 2:38 means that these people were baptized
with a view to the fact that their sins had already been forgiven.
If
a person insists that a believer has to be water baptized in order to be
forgiven of his sins, then to be consistent with “his interpretation” of Acts
2:38, he would also have to say that baptism is a requirement to receive
the Holy Spirit as 2:38 goes on to
say. But in Acts
Again,
the fact that repentance (i.e., faith in
Christ) and not water baptism is the means of having one’s sins forgiven is
seen in yet another of Peter’s sermons in Acts
After
leaving the first part of Acts in which Peter’s preaching to the Jews is
prominent, we find the word “repentance” no
longer in the foreground, but rather the word “believe” for the forgiveness of sins (see Acts 10:42, 43; 13:38, 39; Eph. 1:7, 13).
In
Acts 16:30, a clear straight question
is asked of Paul and Silas, “What must I
do to be saved?” And a clear straight answer is given by them, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be
saved…”. Notice,
it says believe, not believe plus be baptized to be saved. And to be saved is
to have your sins forgiven (see Lk.
1 Peter
Just
as Noah and his family were saved (from
God’s judgment on sin) by the flood waters through their being on the ark, so
believers are saved (from God’s judgment
on their sin) by baptism (not the
physical purification, ceremony or ritual, but what baptism stands
for/represents/symbolizes – an expression/appeal/pledge/answer of a good
conscience to God because the believer knows his sins are already forgiven) through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ (proof
of the fact that God had already accepted Jesus’ death payment as sufficient
for man’s sins, vs. 18).
Just
as the flood waters did not actually (but
only in symbol) save Noah’s family from God’s judgment on sin, but the ark
actually did (for if Noah’s family
weren’t in the ark, the flood waters wouldn’t have saved them but killed them),
so Christian water baptism doesn’t actually (but only in symbol) save a believer from God’s judgment on his
sins, but Christ’s death and resurrection actually does (vss. 18, 21; Heb. 9:14; Rom. 4:25) – Wuest’s Word Studies in the
Greek New Testament, vol. 2, “1 Peter, ” p. 108; Unger’s Bible Handbook,
p. 804; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, p.
1478.
The
“you” in vs. 21 refers to his readers who are already believers (1:1-4, 8, 9, 18-23; 2:2, 7-10, 25;
Acts
This
passage seems to say that baptism washed away Paul’s sins. However, when the
verse is diagrammed, it clearly does not say that. There are two imperatives (be baptized and wash) and two
participles (arising and calling) in
the verse, and they pair off like this: arising, get yourself baptized; calling
on the name of the Lord, wash away your sins. In other words, the washing away
of sins and the baptism are not connected as cause and effect. The washing away
of sin is due to calling on the Lord’s name (for
salvation, Rom.