I understand that in places in the bible baptism followed directly after accepting Christ.
.
Maybe some clarification is in order.
It isn't just that there are some places in the Bible where Baptism follows Belief, that is the next step in our conversion. ..From death unto Life.
You have cited a few cases which question Baptism as a prerequisite for Salvation.
Lets look at it realistically.
1) God draws someone to Himself and just when they Believe, God slams the door in their face, because they died on the Cross beside Jesus and never got Baptized, or were killed on the way home from a youth rally, or the Solder on the Battlefield....If that was true, I wouldn't want to know that God in the first place.
John 6:44
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Rom. 9:18
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
We see then, whether Drawing, or Hardening, it's by the Grace of God.
With that understood, we then know it is all of God, not us.
Rom. 9:15
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Now, this is the Formula set down by Jesus Himself concerning our Salvation.
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mat 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
So we see from the mouth of Jesus, there is a set Formula for Salvation to be properly completed.
Now, we understand the examples you gave of those dying before they could become Baptized were extreme examples, but the Norm is, people becoming Believers, then becoming Baptized and then living long lives.
Here though is where the questions arise.
1) What about the person who does become a Believer, but never becomes Baptized
2) Can Belief alone Save him?
A person who becomes a Believer, receives Forgiveness of sins that are past.......Only.
Rom. 3:25
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
This person goes on to live their life without the Holy Spirit, not having ever been Baptized (Born Again), unto Newness of life, they therefore do not live their lives in the Spirit, but remain in the Flesh.
This person will continue to sin as they had in the past, the Old Man (Body of Flesh) never died, therefore they are no different than someone who never Believed, they are still in their sins.
The Person who Believes and is then Baptized has passed from Death unto Life
John 5:21
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them;
even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
John 5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John.3:6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1Jn 3:10
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
1Jn 3:8,9
8)
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9)
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him:
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
In conclusion.
This profession of faith (Baptism) IS the prerequisite for Salvation.
Salvation is not just some Ritual, which we have done, ... It is however what actually takes place during the Baptism Process.
Rom. 6:5
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Php. 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death;
Gal. 3:27
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
1 Pe 4:1,2
1) Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
2) That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Rom 6:10,11
10)
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11)
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gal. 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.