If no one was baptized before John the Baptist came along, what happened to all those souls?

Question

So if a person in today's world remains unbaptized, but still believes there is a God and He is good....isn't it the same?

Answer 1

OK, you've actually brought up two separate issues.

Firstly, yes people were baptized before John. Ritual baptism in the Second Temple period of Judaism was a purification ritual that one had to go through in order to enter the temple or participate in certain rites. There are pools for this, called mikvaot, all over the place. They had to be deep enough that a person could walk down the steps into this pool and be completely submerged before walking out again.

When John began teaching, he extrapolated the familiar custom of ritual cleansing (=baptism) into a baptaism for the remission of sins. That part -- the reason for being baptised-- was new.

After the sacrifice of Christ had taken place, then baptism became the means of a believer participating in the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, and it became the moment at which one receives the Holy Spirit. AS Christians, there are four aspects to our conversion: belief, repentance, baptism, obedience. They all go together; we don't get to pick and choose which ones we want to do. No, it's not the same as before John -- baptism is part of becoming a Christian. It's a whole different thing than it was before Christ.

A few verses: Romans 6: 2 - 6, Mark 16: 15 - 16, Matthew 28: 19 - 20, 1 Peter 3: 18 - 22. There are a lot more, but those are the ones that come to mind most readily.

The BEST book on this topic is _Down in The River To Pray_ by John Mark HIcks and Greg Taylor. It explains what baptism is, and was, all about -- from the beginning of when it was practiced to now. They discuss different beliefs and concepts of its purpose and meaning. REALLY cool! We did this book as an adult Bible class, and it was the most fascinating study I've done in years.

Answer 2

John the baptist is called the forerunner of Jesus.
He was preparing the people for what was about to happen.

Eph 3:21 Unto him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
The church started with acts 2:38, and that this does not in any way mean that those in the old testiment were not part of the church, because the blood of JESUS covered those of the old testiment whos sins had been rolled forward.The blood of Jesus covered past present and future. When they would sacrifice an animal for their sins it would only roll their sins forward it was not until Jesus the perfect sacrifice that there was forgiveness for sins. As far as the diciples they were in the upper room on the day of pentecost. During the ministry of Jesus he was building the foundation of the church. Today the church is continually growing and the church is the body of christ, and in order to be a member of the body of christ you have to take on his name. By taking on His death burrial and resurection. Through repetance, baptisim, and the gift of the holyghost.

Answer 3

Peace be with you,

No one had been Judged, everyone went to the grave, or the wrong side of the "gulf" (Read about "when the unclean spirit" and the story of "Lazarus and the rich man" ) they were all sinful, it was not until Jesus died and went to hell, bound Satan and released all souls were they Judge. This was the first Harvest. Everything has a Time and Season, and all must be fulfilled in is own Time and Season.

Answer 4

Your theology is in error. Baptism is not the way to salvation . It is only a symbol of salvation. Being good and believing in God won't cut it either. However, you have a valid question anyway. What of those people who did not have the opportunity to receive salvation because they died before Jesus?
The bible says that the three days that Jesus was dead, he preached to the souls who had died prior to his Crucifixion. (1 peter 3: 19-20) who had disobeyed from the time of the flood. That way he fulfilled the prophecy of David saying he ascended to heaven with many souls on his train. (Psalm 68:18). Hope that helps.

Answer 5

Water baptism doesn't save anyone. People are saved by putting their trust in the savior, namely Christ Jesus. Old testament saints were looking ahead to Jesus.

Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad."

Romans 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Answer 6

That is why they had flesh sacrifice lambs etc. The high priests sacrificed the animals and used the blood as a sacrifice to GOD to atone for people. The Old testament tells of it.Those souls if they believed in GOD and followed his commandments are in Heaven with the rest. He also had more intercession with old testament people because Jesus was not born yet.The Story of Abraham and Issac is a good example.When GOD asked him to sacrifice his son Issac Abraham built a alter and took him there Issac was spared because of Abrahams faith in GOD.

Answer 7

well, remember, no one knew they had to worship Jesus because Jesus had yet not declared himself as Christ. John was Just the person who professed the coming of Christ. And he said: I baptize with water but there is one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. In other, words you don't need to be baptized to be saved, you need to give your life to the Lord by believing that Jesus is your Savior.
I assume that if the people before Jesus were following the rules of the Old Testament, they were saved. But once Jesus came around, if they rejected Him, then they were not saved.

Answer 8

A person is not saved because he/she is baptistize or the lack of it. If that was the case, the thief on the cross would have never made it to heaven.

Answer 9

Baptism matters exist at the time of Jesus Christ that it was written in the bible. At the time of Moses, Abraham, Noah, maybe there is baptism existing but it was not only stated on the bible.

jtm

Answer 10

Crispy Critters