Salvation "and" Baptizm

[Andyman_1970]

What is everyone's thought's / points of view (Biblically) on the whole Baptizm is required for salvation issue.

I personally do not believe it is required for salvation (it is to be obedient), Baptizm is a symbol of the beleivers rebirth in Jesus.

Please share your thoughts and insights.

Thanks

 

[ChiRho]

Regardless of every one's point of view or thoughts, we must consider what Scripture objectively reveals as Truth. Truthfully, Holy Baptism cleanses us from sin, regenerates us as new, and bonds us to the flesh of the Crucified and Resurrected Christ. God claims us. Faith is created! It is in His promises and His work we must trust. Water with the Word of God seals us in Covenant with Christ. Thankfully, it matters not what we feel or think, but that our God truely does all the work.

 

[ChiRho]

Is Holy Baptism necessary for salvation?

It is necessary, but not absolutely necessary.

“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 perish.” Mark 16:15,16.

So is Baptism necessary? We should never despise what God has given us. Clearly, lack of Faith in Christ is the only unpardonable sin, for who would stand in our place at judgement? Us? May it never be! For on our own merits, we would most definetely inherit the kingdom of Hell. We instead offer up the perfect obedience of Christ in our place. His perfect fulfillment of the Law is imputed to us as ours. So, is Baptism necessary? Not absolutely, but only our sinful minds could contemplate such instances in which we want to flee from the font and still be justified. God has provided Baptism for a reason and we should run to the font to be washed.

Praise be to Christ!

 

[Received]

Well, as far as the quotation from Mark 16 is concerned, I think you answer your own question; notice that Jesus says that He who believes and is baptised shall be saved, and He who does not believe is condemned. If baptism were an essential part of our faith, it would seem that He would add 'baptism' to His latter statement.

In short, while baptism is not necessary for salvation, it is a true sign of one who is saved -- who desires a new life, for baptism symbolizes precisely our new life in God:

"...baptism now saves you -- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience --through the resurrection of Jesus Christ..." -- 1 Peter 3:21 (NASB)

Two important points here: 1) Baptism saves us through the resurrection of Christ, and 2) what qualifies for baptism is not a physical act, but rather a metaphysical act of will -- of appealing to God for a good conscience. Just as it is so common throughout the Old Testament that God desires not sacrifice but mercy, implying that sacrifices were precisely a physical act of a metapysical sacrifice, so it is the case witht the new covenant, where the immersion of the body in water is not what saves, but an act of appealing to God for a new conscience with the physical externalizing of this agreement and desire.

"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." -- Romans 6:4 (NASB)

In this context we must ask how an act of immersion is literally being buried with Christ, and clearly it is in no way, but a metaphor for that act of belief in Him that encapsulates salvation, of which leads to the inevitable desire of baptism.

 

[JVAC]

Firstly, it is in this Holy Sacrament that we are marked with His name. We could not be christian without it! For when we are baptised it is into His name. It is by this means that we are actually branded children of God, for it is Christ who commanded this, who gave us this ability to be called Children of God (John 1:12-13)

Secondly, since Christ did say, be baptised and Go and baptise, who ever doesn't do it, is an unfaithful servant. They either don't trust the reward, or they wish to be deffiant to the person who gave the order. There is no good reason not to be Baptised. So if one is not baptised, it is thier fault, and I don't see why they ought to be saved if they didn't care enough to follow this teaching.

(There is two reasons to think about, Good job Chi Rho!)

 

[Phoebe]

I believe Baptism to be an act of God. (God works through mankind)

I believe that unbelief ultimately condemns, but we should be baptized if granted the opportunity.

I believe that one receives the gift of the Holy Spirit at baptism. (Acts 19:1-7)

(I may add more thoughts at another time)

 

[Lotar]

As always, we must ask WWLS?

Who, then, would despise the fact that God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are present? Who would call such water simple water only? Do we not see what sort of spice God casts into this water? If you cast sugar into water, it is no longer water but delicious claret or something else. Why, then, do we want to seperate the Word from the water so entirely in this case and say that the water is simple water only, just as if God's Word, nay, God Himself, were not present with and in this water? Not so; for God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are indeed in and with this water, as they were there on the banks of the Jordan when Christ stood in the water, the Holy Spirit hovered over it, and God the Father spoke. This is why Baptism is a water that takes away sin, death, and every evil and helps us to enter heaven and eternal life. Such a delicious sugar water, aromatic, and specific it has become because God Himself has entered it. But God is a God of Life. Since, then, He is in this water, this must be the real aqua vitae, "water of life," which drives away death and hell and makes one eternally alive.
-Martin Luther, in a sermon on Jesus' baptism

 

[Bulldog]

Baptism is a part of salvation but not required for it.

 

[theologia crucis]

Baptism is the gift of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, promised by God the Father, and mediated by Jesus Christ His One and Only Son by His perfect, sinless and obedient life and sacrifice on the cross.

 

[Breetai]

Do I even need to comment? First, ChiRho began it, then everyone else followed. This is great! Good job everyone!

 

[Rechtgläubig]

 

[christian-only]

Baptizm is a symbol of the beleivers rebirth in Jesus.

Yes, but it is not a symbol of what has already taken place, but of what takes place INSIDE it, as Paul says, in Colossians 2:12, "buried with Him in baptism, IN WHICH you also were raised with Him through faith in the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead." Note that the spiritual resurrection is said to occur INSIDE of baptism. Jesus informs us of the same when He said "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (John 3:5) Surely, one cannot be born of the Spirit without water, nor could one truly be born of water without the Spirit! The rebirth is one rebirth, of both water and of the Spirit, even as Paul indicates again in Titus 3:5 "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit" -- It is inside a washing of water that the Spirit renews us, which is why Ananias could tell Saul (Paul) "And now, What are you waiting for? Get up, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Paul, who had believed and repented THREE DAYS EARLIER, and who had been praying and fasting for THREE DAYS, had not yet had his sins washed away! WHY? Because he had not been born again of water and of the Spirit, that is, simply, he had not been baptized. It was at the point of baptism that Saul recieved forgivness of sins, that is, salvation. He was not saved before baptism, nor are we.