Does baptism save a person???

Question

Here are some verses on baptism:

Jesus said "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned."

Mark 16: 15-16 – He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

1 Peter 3:21 – The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And another verse says that unless you are born of water (water baptism) AND the spirit (baptism of the Holy Spirit), you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.

So now I’m really wondering…I know baptism is extremely important, it’s even involved in the remission of sins according to what Peter said. But does baptism really save a person? 1 Peter says that it does…so I’m a bit confused here. And in whose name should baptism be done? Jesus Christ or Father, Son, Holy Ghost? Please help me clarify these 2 things. Thankyou very much! :)

I know what ur saying, but then why does the bible say in 1 peter that baptism DOES save??? That's my point here!!

I respect everyone's opinions but i want to know what the Bible says about it...and that's what i've always been searching for.

Absolutely tink, you're right! I am and always will be searching for the truth from the Bible because man can make mistakes, but God can't!

Thank you so much encourager! That's exactly wat i wanted to hear!! Everyone's telling me that the bible says this and that and i proved that the bible says that baptism is for the remission of sins! I completely agree with you!

Answer 1

You are faced with a choice now. Are you going to believe God or man. The bible or man made doctrine? Think about it if a doctrine says you do not have to be baptized, but the bible says you do, which one is from God and which one is man made?

Another thing to think about most people who reject baptism have been saved by the sinners prayer, which is not in the bible.

They try to claim the theif on the cross, but Jesus had not died yet and his Testement had not yet gone into effect. While I am alive I have control over my Testament or Will and can do what I want with my money, but when I die NO MAN HAS THAT RIGHT. So why does man have the right to say that since Jesus forgave the theif without requiring baptism that we do not have to be baptized, that is like going to Elvis estate and demanding a New car simply because Elvis was generous while alive and gave many people new cars.

You forgot Romans 6:3,4,5,6, in nutshell verse 3 we are baptized into Jesus death by baptism verse 4 it is baptism in which we are buried with him, verse 5 we are planted with him verse 6 our old man is crucified with him by baptism no other way.Galations 3:27 this verse says it is through baptism that we have put on Christ thus clothed whith Christ.Colossians 2:12

Other scripture to think about Galations 1:8,9 Paul says that if any man preaches a different gospel let him be accursed. Pretty strong words and if God says to be baptized and man says no, then that is a different gospel.

Ephesians 4:4,5,6 How many is one? How many faiths are there according to this verse? How many Lords? How many baptisms?
Edit:
There are five steps to salvation.
1. you must hear
2: you must believe
3. You must confesee
4. you must repent
5 must be baptized.

The bible requires all this but hearing alone does not save, neither does confessing alone even though the good but mistaken man above says so and gave a good scripture, but we must look at scripture and make sure we do not take them out of context. If the bibles says confession saves us but also baptism does too both are correct and only man can make it confusing.

One person said that only having a personal relationship with Christ saves us, but two points, one how can you have a personal relationship with Christ if you reject his words and two, where does the phrase you must have a personal relationship with Christ appear in the bible. It does not, this is one of Satan's tatics to discredit the bible and make a different gospel believed.
Edit2:

Beware of those who claim water baptism is not the baptism that saves, that is another different gospel that is preached. Jesus was baptized in water as our example, Acts 8 tells the story of Phillip and the Eunuch, and the eunuch says see here is water what hinders me from being baptized and Philip said if you believe with all your heart that you may. the eunuch said I believe that jesus is the son of God. They then both went into the water and Philip baptized him. The bible makes no mistake that baptism is God's method he uses to make a person a Christian and it is water and immersion.


Who do you believe God or Man?

Answer 2

Teacher needs to be respected....right or wrong. Otherwise the delicate balance of power will be upset. However teaching is merely a babysitting service that is mostly concerned with weeding out problem students rather than finding absolute truth. Anyway Jack Nicholson has made it clear that we can't handle the truth. Fact is the division of the Bible into Old and New Testaments is totally man-made. Hence there has always been only one testament, and only one plan (way, method) of salvation. Actually Jesus died to make payment for sins before the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8. " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.") And the crucifixion was only a sign. Remember that at the crucifixion Jesus was NOT laden with sin. (Luke 23:4. "Then said Pilate to the chief priests and [to] the people, I find no fault in this man.") Therefore we must conclude that the thief did receive baptism before he died. It however was not water baptism. God Himself washed the man clean of sin. That is what true baptism is.

Answer 3

Good question, it made me think as well.
Baptism saves us from a bad conscience because to get baptism, we need to repent of our sins and believe in the Lord Jesus. When we do that we have a clear conscience, we are also proclaiming that the old man has died and is buried in the waters of baptism and as we come out of the water, we are a new creation in Christ. Romans 6

Baptism by itself does not save anyone. The thief on the cross did not get baptised and he was saved. We need to repent and believe in Christ first and foremost and then by taking baptism we are proclaiming to the world and to the demons that we are followers of Christ.

The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus' resurrection before God with a clear conscience.

And baptism, which is a figure [of their deliverance], does now also save you [from inward questionings and fears], not by the removing of outward body filth [bathing], but by [providing you with] the answer of a good and clear conscience (inward cleanness and peace) before God [because you are demonstrating what you believe to be yours] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3: 21 amplified

Born of water does not mean born of water baptism,
Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch the Spirit and becomes a living spirit. John 3: 5,6 Message

Baptism should be given in the name of the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28: 19

Hope this helps, God bless!

Answer 4

Baptism was traditionally the ceremonial aspect of becoming a Christian. A new convert's first official act as a believer was to be baptized. Baptism itself cannot save, especially considering that baptism was not recognized until after conversion. But again, it is just a ritual.

Compare it to marriage--sign the certificate, have a witness and a judge sign it, and you're married; but that's not a ceremony. Conversion is the marriage, but baptism is the wedding ceremony.

Answer 5

I think it's more to it than that. Any hypocrite can get baptised. It all depends on what you really believe. If you get baptised, and then the next day you murder someone, obviously there's something wrong with that picture. You have to get baptised, repent, and put your faith in Jesus Christ and turn from your sins then to be saved.

And it's in the name of the Father, son, and the holy ghost.
That's what they said when they baptised me.

Edit: The Bible also says that if you believe that Jesus is the son of God and he died for your sins, you will also be saved. But believing, and just hypocritically saying "I believe" with your mouth is two highly different things. Why do you think so many "christians" are hypocrites? They actually think baptism, saying "I believe" once in awhile, and going to Church on Sunday morning automatically saves them. As long as they do all that, they could murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, etc all throughout the week and walk right back into church on sunday. It takes a lot more than to just be baptised and say "I believe". That's the way I see it. I was baptised at 10, but didn't actually get saved until 19 when I understood what these things meant.

Answer 6

No, but as a true believer you should be baptised.

Behind much of the thought in the Bible lies a "peculiarly Semitic" idea of a "unitive notion of human personality." [Dahl, Resurrection of the Body, 59]
Applied to the individual, the Semitic Totality Concept means that "a man's thoughts form one totality with their results in action so that 'thoughts' that result in no action are 'vain'." [ibid, 60] To put it another way, man does not have a body; man is a body, and what we regard as constituent elements of spirit and body were looked upon by the Hebrews as a fundamental unity. Man was not made from dust, but is dust that has, "by the in-breathing of God, acquired the characteristics of self-conscious being." Thus Paul regards being an unbodied spirit as a form of nakedness (2 Cor. 5). Man is not whole without a body. A man is a totality which embraces "all that a man is and ever shall be."
Applied to the role of works following faith, this means that there can be no decision without corresponding action, for the total person will inevitably reflect a choice that is made. Thought and action are so linked under the Semitic Totality paradigm that Clark warns us [An Approach to the Theology of the Sacraments, 10]:
The Hebraic view of man as an animated body and its refusal to make any clear-cut division into soul and body militates against the making of so radical a distinction between material and spiritual, ceremonial and ethical effects.

Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, 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.
This passage may be dispensed, in my view, without discussion of baptism. The evidence is strongly against its inclusion (and that of Mark 16:9-20 as a whole) in the text:

John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Some would claim that the phrase "born of water" clearly refers to water baptism. While many see an allusion to baptism here that Christian readers would recognize, there is a serious problem with seeing a reference to baptism that cannot be controverted, and that is that Nicodemus would not have the slightest idea that Jesus was referring to it. How could Nicodemus understand a reference to "an as yet nonexistent sacrament"?

Acts 2:37-8 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
A key here is the word "for" (eis) - a word that can mean for or because of. If eis is taken to mean "for" then it is taken to mean that baptism is essential to salvation; if it means "because of", then it is not. However, "into" is the closest approximation of eis in this verse, so that Peter tells the crowd to be "baptized into the remission of sins." Read in light of the Semitic Totality Concept, it indicates that believers will practice this behavior to validate their commitment to Christ.

Baptism, like any validating behavior, is "essential to salvation" only in the sense that if you don't want to go through with it, and there is no barrier to understanding, then it is clear that you do not possess salvation. Thought and action are expected, under the Semitic Totality paradigm, to correspond. The conversion and the baptism are regarded as one process, not because the latter is required for salvation, but because it is expected in light of salvation. (Hence it is off the mark to make much of that Peter commanded the baptism, and thereby conclude that baptism is a "necessity" rather than an inevitable result. A command is often needed simply because the person being commanded has no idea what they should do next (as would have been the case with the Pentecost converts), having no knowledge of what the process is; and it could hardly be phrased in any less demanding language.)

Answer 7

Christians have always interpreted the Bible literally when it declares, "Baptism . . . now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 3:21; cf. Acts 2:38, 22:16, Rom. 6:3–4, Col. 2:11–12).

Thus the early Church Fathers wrote in the Nicene Creed (A.D. 381), "We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins."

And the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The Lord himself affirms that baptism is necessary for salvation [John 3:5]. . . . Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament [Mark 16:16]" (CCC 1257).

The Christian belief that baptism is necessary for salvation is so unshakable that even the Protestant Martin Luther affirmed the necessity of baptism. He wrote: "Baptism is no human plaything but is instituted by God himself. Moreover, it is solemnly and strictly commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. We are not to regard it as an indifferent matter, then, like putting on a new red coat. It is of the greatest importance that we regard baptism as excellent, glorious, and exalted" (Large Catechism 4:6).

Yet Christians have also always realized that the necessity of water baptism is a normative rather than an absolute necessity. There are exceptions to water baptism: It is possible to be saved through "baptism of blood," martyrdom for Christ, or through "baptism of desire", that is, an explicit or even implicit desire for baptism.

Thus the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, are saved even if they have not been baptized" (CCC 1281; the salvation of unbaptized infants is also possible under this system; cf. CCC 1260–1, 1283).

As the following passages from the works of the Church Fathers illustrate, Christians have always believed in the normative necessity of water baptism, while also acknowledging the legitimacy of baptism by desire or blood.

according to:
St. John Chrysostom

"Do not be surprised that I call martyrdom a baptism, for here too the Spirit comes in great haste and there is the taking away of sins and a wonderful and marvelous cleansing of the soul, and just as those being baptized are washed in water, so too those being martyred are washed in their own blood"

~Cyril of Jerusalem

"If any man does not receive baptism, he does not have salvation. The only exception is the martyrs, who even without water will receive the kingdom.
. . . For the Savior calls martyrdom a baptism, saying, ‘Can you drink the cup which I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am to be baptized [Mark 10:38]?’ Indeed, the martyrs too confess, by being made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men [1 Cor. 4:9]"

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from http://www.carm.org/questions/baptnec.htm
1 Pet 3:21
"and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also -- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

-This is the only verse that says that baptism saves.
The question is "Of what is it a type?", or "Baptism corresponds to what?".

-The answer is found in the previous verse, verse 20: "who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you"

-Is it the flood? Or, is it the ark? What was it that saved Noah and his family? Was it the water or the ark? Obviously, it was the Ark. Noah built and entered the ark by faith and was saved (Heb. 11:7). The flood waters destroyed the ungodly. Peter, when referring to the flood waters, refers to them as the means of destruction of the ungodly (2 Pet. 2:5; 3:6). It was the Ark that saved. Noah entered the ark by faith. Baptism here, in my opinion, refers to the Ark, not the waters. That is why the rest of the verse says, "not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God" which is consistent with what Paul said in Col. 2:11-12 ..where He equates baptism with being circumcised of heart.

/...
..Vick..it's like the ark is "baptism" .. and when we're in that ark, we are saved from waters-flood..
the "destruction" - which can be seen today in.. human corruptions and sins;
by true commitment to God, and having good conscience and living it according to the will
of God.

Answer 8

You are not saved by getting baptized, You get saved by accepting Jesus as your personal savior, Getting Baptized symbolizes washing away your old sins and receiving the Holy Spirit, when Jesus got baptized John seen the spirit come to him as a dove and Jesus told us we can not enter his kingdom without saved and baptized. Water represents the Holy Spirit even in the beginning of the Bible it says the Holy Spirit hovered over the water and Jesus came to show us the way and got Baptized himself by John, I believe getting Baptized is what Jesus was trying to teach us to do to receive the Holy Spirit.

Answer 9

According to God's Word, baptism is an outward show that you are dedicating your life to God and that you have repented of your sins, and former life course. A person needs to continue serving God and being faithful to the end to be saved. At Matthew 24:13 and Matthew 10:22: Jesus said: "...He that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved."

In the first century, Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of people of all nations, and those who embraced his teaching were baptized. A good relationship with God depended on faith in Jesus Christ followed by baptism.—Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 2:38, 41.

Our Creator blesses those who make and keep a solemn agreement to serve him. For Christians, dedication and baptism are necessary steps that lead to His blessing.

So baptism is important, but a person needs to continue their whole life serving God to be saved. (Psalm 48:14) If a person gets baptized for the right reason, but later rejects God's way of life, he/she could not receive salvation. Jesus showed that there is a symbolic road to destruction and a road to life. The road to life has a "narrow" gate, and cramped is the road to life and "few are the ones finding it", but the road leading to destruction is broad and spacious and many go in through it. (Matthew 7:13 & 14) Galations 6:7-9 also shows that we must not give up doing God's Will, so that we reap the reward.

Interestingly, contrary to popular belief, baptism does not wash one's sins away. According to the Bible, it is the blood of Jesus that can take sins away, not baptism. This is made clear at 1 John 1:7. (Also see: Matthew 3:11; Acts 2:38)

Answer 10

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved.

John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

From the above Scriptures it is clear that it is our belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that saves us. It is also clear that those who do not believe are condemned already.

Baptism in water helps us to identify ourselves with the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and prepares us to walk in our new creation life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6).