Does Baptism Now Save Us?

Well, yes and no.

We have some youth in our community leading a Bible study and talking about the differences in denominations, why people believe differently, and tackling actually quite difficult subjects in Scripture—subjects many people disagree about. They are deep-diving into Scripture in a way most adults I know won’t. I personally am impressed by their desire to know the Bible and believe what it says. We should all follow their example. We have some extraordinary teenagers in our midst.

There are verses in the Bible that explicitly tell us that baptism saves. There are other verses that tell us we are saved only by grace and no work of our own. In response to this conversation happening in our midst and among our young people (which seems to usually be where revival starts), I want to encourage the church in our community overall. My heart is to bring unity and closeness with Christ throughout our community no matter which denomination people choose and no matter which church people choose to attend. Christ is not divided. Neither are we. There is truly only one church. We are humble seekers brought together by the providence of God Himself. No denomination is quite as important as the kingdom of Christ. While we pursue unity in the faith on this earth, there is a day set when all dividing lines will be erased and we will be with Jesus together forever. Now we understand in part, but then we will know fully as we are fully known (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12).

There is not a person who believes anything and thinks himself incorrect. We all read the same Bible and come to different conclusions in our pursuit of correct belief. So, I first want to encourage us toward humility in any conversation. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:1). There is no profitable conversation in which the participants are simply trying to prove their position. That is puffed up knowledge. If any conversation is to be had at all, let us always seek to edify one another—especially in the pursuit of truth. Pride leads us to many things, even the dividing lines we draw between our groups within God’s kingdom. Never does God tell us in Scripture that we have to know exactly how things work in perfect order. But, let us strive humbly together.

First, I want to offer some encouragement. Everyone believes that water baptism is important. There are many who believe baptism actually washes away sins. There are some who believe baptism is so important that infants should be baptized, either for their salvation or into the covenant community of God as part of His covenant promise. There are some who believe baptism is a necessary step in God’s salvific work. There are some who believe that once a person is baptized in water, they are also then baptized in the Holy Spirit and exhibit the consequent signs of the Spirit. There are those who believe baptism is the essential first step of obedience after conversion as a testimony to the world about what Christ has done in us. Some believe the proper mode of baptism is immersion. Some believe it is sprinkling. Some even believe that baptism for Christians replaces the practice of circumcision for the Jews. Of all the Christians I have met, not a single one has ever said they don’t believe baptism to be important at all. So, we have this in common no matter what else we believe:

Water baptism is important and biblical.

We already have more in common than we have that is different. We also believe Jesus is the one who saves us. No Christian I know of would ever claim that a person must save himself by his own works, not even those who believe baptism washes sin away. There are always allowances for the thief on the cross, people who don’t have access to water, and the like.

Exploring the topic of baptism is a long and complex pursuit simply because of our interpretive history of the Bible. Instead of telling you what I think you ought to believe, I simply want to take some time and encourage you to prayerfully go to the Bible knowing that it is okay if you don’t understand every single little detail or inner-working of God. He never requires that of us, and He is good. I also want to provide you with some basic tools for your own pursuit. I pray that instead of getting puffed up in our knowledge, we are all being conformed well to the image of Christ as we come together more and more.

What is baptism?

In the west, especially in Protestant churches, we automatically think of ritual water baptism when we hear baptism. The word baptism is a little more diverse than only referring to water baptism. The autographical language of the New Testament is Greek. We get our word, “baptism” from the Greek βάπτισμα (Baptisma), which is a transliteration instead of a translation. It literally means to be dipped or immersed in something. When washing dishes, the Greeks would say in the language of the New Testament that the person washing dishes was baptizing the dishes. It did not only deal in terms of water. A snacker would baptize his chips in dip. If you received an overload of information like you are reading now, you could use the Greek concept to say you have been baptized, or immersed, in this information. Baptism really was a more versatile word than we have made it in our modern, western Christianeze—which adds much confusion when people disagree about it. Even the New Testament authors used the term with versatility, not always talking about ritual water baptism.

In Matthew 3:7, John the Baptizer referred to baptism as a water baptism, so that meaning is there. In Matthew 21:25, Jesus referred to that water baptism as the baptism of John, meaning baptism also has different sources. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance (Mark 1:4). So different kinds of baptism also signified or accomplished different things. In Mark 10:38-39, Jesus claimed He would be baptized with a baptism other than John’s baptism—the baptism of His own death synonymous with the cup He would drink. He would be immersed in death instead of water, His body would be overcome by it. Paul speaks of believers being baptized into Christ’s death instead of into water (Romans 6:4). In John 1:29-34, John the Baptizer even claimed that, while he baptized with water, Jesus would offer a better baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit rather than water. Instead of immersing people in water as a sign of their repentance, Jesus would actually baptize for real salvation in the Holy Spirit, immerse His people in His Spirit. The New Testament authors understood John’s clear claim. We can see the evidence when we look at 1 Peter 3:18-22, when he wrote clearly that baptism (immersion) that corresponds to Christ’s dying in the flesh and being made alive in the Spirit now saves us. Peter clarified what kind of baptism, not immersion in water that merely washes away dirt but immersion in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If it’s all the same, no one has to clarify their meaning. But, the New Testament authors had to clarify what kind of baptism they were talking about when they talked about it. I think much of the confusion about baptism simply comes from the fact that we assume the New Testament authors are always talking about our ritual definition of water baptism however we have seen it practiced or currently practice it. I understand how difficult it is because we don’t know what we don’t know, but it is important for us to think about the biblical uses of words as much as possible instead of superimposing our own definitions onto words for the sake of proving a point. The Baptism issue isn’t as cut and dry as we would make it. We have to look closely at how the biblical authors intentionally clarified their usage of the word baptism, or immersion.

Is there a contradiction, then?

We will read that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our works in Ephesians 2:8. Then, we will read that baptism saves us in 1 Peter 3:21. Which is it? Are the New Testament authors opposed to one another? Is Paul preaching one Gospel while Peter preaches another? Of course not. The Bible is the only set of Scripture that was written over thousands of years by different authors. This is a strength because we don’t have do try to believe one person who received secret knowledge and join a cult. We can read the Bible critically. The Bible is not our god, Jesus is. We can discern that a different hand means a different human personality and a different use of words. That’s part of the challenge of reading the Bible because not every book is unanimous. They were literally separate works before they were compiled. While Paul was careful enough with His language to not really use many words that could be interpreted to mean anything other than what he meant specifically (because he was a trained philosopher), the other New Testament authors weren’t so careful. Baptism has a wide range of meaning in the New Testament, and the word is subject to the interpretation of the reader—which is why the New Testament authors had to constantly clarify what they meant when they used the word. Most interpreters skip their clarification so they can impose their meaning onto the text.

My primary goal, here, is to drive you to the Bible. I do want to share my opinion on the matter. I am no authority. I don’t care if everyone agrees with me. We are here to follow Christ together, to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.

It seems to me that since Peter clarified plainly he was not talking about baptism in water but baptism in the resurrection of Jesus, we should simply take him at his word. To claim that we are saved not as a result of works and that baptism in Christ’s resurrection is what saves us is not a contradiction. In fact, it looks like Paul and Peter have the same source of salvation—Christ alone. So, yes. It seems to me we are saved by baptism. No, we are not saved by baptism in water. It is baptism into Christ. Even Christ instructed us in Matthew 28:18-20 to make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and commanding them to observe all that Christ commanded. That baptism, too, is in something other than water.

I hope this helps anyone who is thinking about the baptism question. If you have any questions about the Bible, we are present in our community to help with that. Send your questions our way. It doesn’t matter what they are, we’ll do the research and put it in one place for you. Let’s go back to the Bible again. How wonderful the words of our Lord are!