Paul, Baptism & the Gospel
- samshmn
- Nov 23
- 22 min read
Many so-called Bible believing Christians oppose what has been the universal teaching of the Church from the time of the Apostles up until the Protestant Reformation, namely, water baptism is the means through which God sends forth the Holy Spirit to regenerate an individual and unite him/her to Christ in order to obtain salvation. This is known as water baptismal regeneration.
The fact is that the historic Christian faith has always taught that a person was made spiritually alive, became a new creation, was born anew/again, etc., by the Holy Spirit in water baptism that has been validly administered. As one Protestant scholar admits:
“François Bovon identifies these common elements in early baptismal theology: baptism is a work of God and of humans and a sign of the covenant; baptism is a sign of the work of Christ, an actualization of the redemptive work of Christ; and it was an efficacious sign.1
“Although in developing the doctrine of baptism different authors had their particular favorite descriptions, there is a remarkable agreement on the benefits received in baptism. And these are present already in the New Testament texts. Two fundamental blessings are often repeated: the person baptized received forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The two fundamental doctrinal interpretations of baptism are sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ, with the attendant benefits and responsibilities (Rom. 6:3-4), and regeneration from above (John 3:5), with its related ideas.
“Other features (with their New Testament basis) that are commonly present include: clothing with Christ (Gal. 3:27), deliverance from Satan’s bondage to freedom in Christ (Col. 1:13), and enlightenment (Heb. 6:4?). Less frequently mentioned are the motifs of marriage to Christ (Eph. 5:25-27) and a contract (more often associated with the renunciations and confession of faith — 1 Pet. 3:21).
“Building on Paul’s imagery of the gift of the Holy Spirit as the Christian’s equivalent for circumcision as the seal of the covenant (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13), those who brought spiritual circumcision into relation to baptism made the equation most often not of baptism itself with circumcision but saw baptism as the occasion for the inward circumcision by the Spirit. A common term for baptism was ‘seal,’ but it was also applied to the anointing and the laying on of hands, actions also related to the Holy Spirit.
“The New Testament and early Christian literature are virtually unanimous in ascribing a saving significance to baptism.2 If anything, the early church exaggerated this aspect of baptism’s significance. John 3:5 was taken outside its context [sic] in the Fourth Gospel and given an absolute sense. Only a few (fringe) heretics of the ancient church tried to dehydrate the new birth. The main variation among mainstream Christian authors was in how strongly different individuals affirmed the necessity of baptism for salvation. The major explicit exception to this requirement was for martyrs who died for a confession of faith prior to receiving baptism.
“Baptism, however, was not seen as a human work but as God’s work, and the salvation in baptism was premised on the saving effect of Christ’s death on the cross and his victorious resurrection.
“Water was indispensable to baptism, and the use of water naturally gave the association of baptism with the motif of cleansing. The provision for other applications of water than by immersion (on which more below) and the extension of baptism to babies lest they die unbaptized (also discussed below) testify to the sense of necessity to receive baptism for salvation.”
1. François Bovon, “Baptism in the Ancient Church,” Sewanee Theological Review 42 (1999): 429-438 (435-436).
2. Cf. Albrecht Oepke, “βἀπτω, βαπτἰζω (et al.),” in Gerhard Kittel, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, tr. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), Vol. 1, pp. 540-543, for the saving significance of baptism into Christ. (Everett Ferguson, Baptism In The Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries [William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI/ Cambridge, U.K.], Part Seven – Baptisteries, 55. Conclusions, Doctrine of Baptism, pp. 854-855; emphasis mine)
Even now there are Protestant denominations which affirm water baptismal regeneration, such as Lutherans, Episcopalians/Anglicans, Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, and Christian Church.
Yet those who reject this doctrine will often appeal to the words of the blessed Apostle Paul to show that baptism does not save:
“Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.” 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
According to these individuals, if baptism was necessary for salvation, then it would make no sense for Paul to thank God that he wasn’t sent to baptize. Moreover, the Apostle’s statement that Christ didn’t send him to baptize but to preach the Gospel instead, further proves that baptism is not required for salvation. After all, it is the Gospel that saves, which means baptism doesn’t since it is not a part of the Gospel.
These objections are brimming with logical errors and exegetical fallacies.
To begin with, the inspired Apostle did not say that baptism isn’t necessary or central for salvation. Rather, he was thankful that he had not personally baptized many of the Corinthians since he didn’t want to be the cause of any divisions and sectarianism among them.
Paul’s point is clear. By having administered the rite of baptism to only a few individuals this would prevent a group from boasting that they belonged to the party of Paul in contrast to those who were converted or baptized by someone like Peter.
As such, this doesn’t mean that individuals did not have to undergo baptism in order to be saved. It simply means that the act of baptism wasn’t personally carried out by the Apostle since he or others could have delegated someone else to perform the rite.
As the following Protestant commentary puts it:
13. The apostle’s indignation explodes in a series of questions. Is Christ divided? has been understood as an exasperated exclamation rather than a question (so gnb, neb). Others take the verb as middle (as it is in Luke 12:13), which would give the sense, ‘Has Christ shared (you) with others?’ and indicate that part only of them had been devoted to Christ. But the passive seems much more likely. This could mean ‘Has Christ been apportioned?’ (i.e. to one of the conflicting groups; cf. Moffatt, jb, ‘Has Christ been parcelled out?’), or, ‘Has Christ been divided up?’ This last is the most likely meaning, but whichever we adopt Paul is envisaging an utter impossibility. Christ is one, and the church, which is his body, must be one.
Was Paul crucified for you? also points to the unthinkable, and goes to the heart of the Christian way. The Corinthians, with their emphasis on wisdom, seem to have overlooked the truth that Christ’s cross is absolutely central. No other than he could accomplish the crucial work of redemption. The third question shows that they had not realized the significance of their baptism (baptism and the cross are connected again in Rom. 6:3ff.). They had been baptized into Christ, not into any man. Their allegiance was to Christ alone.
14–16. Paul had baptized very few of the Corinthian converts, and he regards this as providential. He thanks God for it. Some think that baptism established a ‘mystic relationship’ (Héring) between baptizer and baptized, but it is not easy to establish this in the New Testament. Christ himself delegated baptism to his followers (John 4:1–2). Peter seems to have done this too (Acts 10:48). Paul had made exceptions in the cases of Crispus (‘the synagogue ruler’, Acts 18:8), Gaius (his host, Rom. 16:23), and the household of Stephanas (the mention of the latter after a little interval is a natural touch in a dictated letter). It is unlikely that this was done on account of the importance of these people, for ‘this idea would contradict the very drift of the whole passage’ (Godet). Paul does not disclose his reasons. There may have been a few others (v. 16), but clearly it was well known that it had not been Paul’s practice to baptize.
This fact makes it clear that he had made no attempt to bind converts to himself personally (cf. v. 15). The ‘name’ in antiquity meant far more than it does with us. It stood for the whole personality; it summed up the whole person. The preposition eis is literally ‘into’, and ‘“Into the name” implies entrance into fellowship and allegiance, such as exists between the Redeemer and the redeemed’ (Robertson and Plummer). There could be no suggestion that Paul had said or done anything to bring his converts into such a relation to him personally. He had pointed people to Christ.
17. The essence of Paul’s commission was to preach the gospel, not to perform liturgical functions, even important ones like baptism. Preaching is primary in the original commission Christ gave the Twelve (Mark 3:14) and throughout the New Testament it is this that is primary in the work of the apostles. They had a unique place as the witnesses of God’s saving act in Christ. Their main business was to proclaim it.
Some at least of the Corinthians were setting too high a value on human wisdom and human eloquence in line with the typical Greek admiration for rhetoric and philosophical studies. In the face of this Paul insists that preaching with words of human wisdom (‘cleverness in speaking’, BAGD) was no part of his commission. That kind of preaching would draw people to the preacher. It would nullify the cross of Christ. The faithful preaching of the cross leads people to put their trust, not in any human device, but in what God has done in Christ. A reliance on rhetoric would cause trust in men, the very opposite of what the preaching of the cross is meant to effect. (Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985], pp. 47–48; emphasis mine)
In light of this, we need to now see what that Gospel was which Christ sent Paul to preach.
The holy Apostle tells us a little later in the same epistle to the Corinthians:
“Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, IF you hold fast the word which I proclaimed to you as good news, UNLESS you believed for nothing. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not worthy to be called an apostle,” 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
The Gospel is the proclamation that Jesus is the promised Savior that the Old Testament announced was coming to die for our sins and who would then be raised back to life.
This is the same Gospel that both our Lord and the other Apostles such as Peter preached:
“Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’” Luke 24:44-49
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God did through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
“For David says of Him, ‘I saw the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; Moreover my flesh also will live in hope; Because You will not forsake my soul to Hades, Nor give Your Holy One over to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’
“Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to set one of the fruit of his body on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither forsaken to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you both see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” Acts 2:22-36
It, therefore, only makes sense that Paul would emphasize that Christ had sent him to proclaim the Gospel.
After all, salvation only comes from hearing the Gospel:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16
“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things!’ However, they did not all heed the good news, for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Romans 10:14-17
In light of the foregoing, the question which needs to be addressed is what does a person do after s/he has heard and starts believing the Gospel?
The answer is found in the very words of our risen Lord and his inspired emissaries:
“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.’” Mark 16:15-16
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20
“Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ And at that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. Now why do you delay? Rise up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’” Acts 22:12-16
“in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 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. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” 1 Peter 3:19-21
“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.’ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Acts 2:37-41 New International Version (NIV)
The words of our Lord and his inspired envoys is crystal clear. A person that has heard and believed the Gospel must be baptized in order to receive the Holy Spirit and be saved.
In fact, Peter’s proclamation that the gift of the Spirit is given to those who turn and get baptized raises a major problem for those who argue against the necessity of baptism for salvation.
According to Paul, a person must have the Holy Spirit within them in order to be united to Christ, since there is no other way to become a part of Christ’s spiritual body without the Spirit:
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is at enmity toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
“So then, brothers, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of the body, you will live. For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, also heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” Romans 8:1-17
And yet, in perfect agreement with his companion Peter, this blessed Apostle is emphatically clear that the Spirit is given at baptism, which is the act where the Holy Spirit comes upon an individual in order to make him one with Christ:
“Now it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. And he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said to him, ‘No, we have not even heard if the Holy Spirit is being received.’ And he said, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ And they said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ Then Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. Now there were in all about twelve men.” Acts 19:1-9
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For also by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
After all, it is in baptism that an individual is buried with Christ and then raised to newness of life, transforming the baptized person into a new creature:
“Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were 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. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died has been justified from sin.” Romans 6:3-7
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.” Galatians 3:26-29
“in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you being dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him, having graciously forgiven us all our transgressions.” Colossians 2:11-13
Our Lord himself confirmed that the Holy Spirit regenerates a person in/through baptism:
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.’… After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing… And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.’ Therefore when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were),” John 3:3-8, 22, 26; 4:1-2
It is not a coincidence that our Lord had his disciples baptize folks into water right after telling Nicodemus and company that they all had to be born of water and Spirit in order to enter the kingdom.
It is also no coincidence that John is the only Gospel writer that records Christ’s disciples baptizing people into water since the Evangelist obviously wanted his readers to see that by water our Lord clearly meant baptism. I.e., a person had to undergo water baptism in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This leads me to my next point.
Even in those texts where baptism is not explicitly mentioned as being necessary for salvation, the individuals who believed were baptized right away:
“So, when they had solemnly borne witness and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were proclaiming the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Rise up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a desert road.) So he rose up and went; and behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’
“And Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: ‘As a sheep is led to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth. In humiliation His judgment was taken away; Who will recount His generation? For His life is removed from the earth.’ And the eunuch answered Philip and said, ‘I ask you earnestly, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?’ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him.
“And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?’ And Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ And he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept proclaiming the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.” Acts 8:25-40
“As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and solemnly to bear witness that this is the One who has been designated by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.’
“While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word. And all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, ‘Can anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?’ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.” Acts 10:36-48
“And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his household. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with his whole household, because he had believed in God.” Acts 16:29-34
Now the obvious question that needs to be answered is why did the Apostles and their companions feel the need to baptized all these individuals if in fact water baptism wasn’t crucial to their salvation?
In fact, to show just how central water baptism is for salvation the blessed Apostle Paul went as far as to claim that even the Israelites got baptized during the time of Moses!
“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
Paul also mentions folks who were getting baptized for the sake of the dead:
“Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?” 1 Corinthians 15:29
1 Corinthians 15:29 sn Many suggestions have been offered for the puzzling expression baptized for the dead. There are up to 200 different explanations for the passage; a summary is given by K. C. Thompson, “I Corinthians 15, 29 and Baptism for the Dead,” Studia Evangelica 2.1 (TU 87), 647-59. The most likely interpretation is that some Corinthians had undergone baptism to bear witness to the faith of fellow believers who had died without experiencing that rite themselves. Paul’s reference to the practice here is neither a recommendation nor a condemnation. He simply uses it as evidence from the lives of the Corinthians themselves to bolster his larger argument, begun in 15:12, that resurrection from the dead is a present reality in Christ and a future reality for them. Whatever they may have proclaimed, the Corinthians’ actions demonstrated that they had hope for a bodily resurrection. New English Translation (NET)
Again, why did the Israelites need to be baptized and why would the Corinthians get baptized on behalf of the dead if baptism wasn’t necessary for salvation?
The answer is patently obvious. The witness of both the inspired scriptures and the early Church, which preserved the sacred writings, is that God grants salvation and imparts the Holy Spirit of life to all those that undergo water baptism from a contrite and repentant heart.
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