One of the most frequent heresies from taking the Word of out of Christ and context is that men and women must be baptized in water in order to be saved.
Yet even in the Book of Acts, which is a matter of history and not just doctrine, a growing number of instances outline that salvation comes by faith, not by anything that we do.
Peter cut right to the chase about the Gospel:
"6And the apostles and
elders came together for to consider of this matter. 7And when there had been
much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye
know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my
mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8And God, which knoweth
the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us; 9And put no difference
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10Now therefore why
tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our
fathers nor we were able to bear? 11But we believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." (Acts 15: 6-11)
Peter assembled with other believers when the Judaizers — of which "Must be Baptized" belong — claimed that believers had to abide by the Law of Moses, including circumcision and baptism, in order to be saved. Peter could not have made it clearer: "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved!" Not one mention of water dipping! Water on the outside cannot purify the heart on the inside — faith does that, for by grace through faith are we saved!
John also declared what Jesus did for us:
"1My little children,
these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins
of the whole world." (1 John 2: 1-2)
If we sin, not "if we confess", but if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father: Jesus! This same Jesus is — right now! — the propitiation, or the mercy seat for our sins! He has paid for all of our sins. It's up to us to believe that.
And that is what is going on when we read in the Gospel of Mark:
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned." (Mark 16: 16)
John the Baptist explained this fully at the beginning of the same Gospel:
"I
indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost." (Mark 1: 8)
Another account in the Book of Acts outlines that faith in Jesus Christ saves, not getting dipped in water:
"31And they said, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32And
they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33And he took them the
same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he
and all his, straightway. 34And when he had
brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in
God with all his house. " (Acts 16: 31-34)
Paul told them plainly: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved!"
Believe! That's it – and that is just too simple for many of us!
Another element which crucially dispells this nonsense about getting dipped in water in order to be saved is that the man who believed washed Paul's stripes, then got baptized. If water baptism were essential to salvation, I imagine that he would have demanded to be dipped in water before washing the missionaries of their wounds!
Another passage outlines that the water baptism did not save anyone, for the baptism by water does not impart to us the Holy Spirit:
"1And it came to pass,
that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts
came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2He said unto them, Have
ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have
not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3And he said unto them,
Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. 4Then
said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the
people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on
Christ Jesus. 5When they heard
this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And
when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and
they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7And all the men were
about twelve." (Acts 19: 1-7)
These disciples were not yet saved, because they had received the baptism from John, a baptism which was a mere type of the Holy Spirit — and when Paul laid hand on them to receive the Holy Spirit, as they were then baptized in the name of Jesus — they received His Holy Spirit, and were saved!
We do not need to be baptized in order to be saved. We get baptized as a sign to the world that we have received saving faith in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, that He is the propitiation for our sins — all, all, all!
So, when I confronted men and women who were convicted that you have to be dipped to be saved, I now realize that they simply did not believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins! So simple, yet so essential. In other instances, I have met men and women who have been told such damning heresies like this one, only to be brought into bondage!
Paul had this to say to such Judaizing elements:
"I would they were even cut off which trouble you." (Galatians 5: 12)
Anything more added to all that Jesus has done — let them be accursed! (Galatians 1:8-9) Paul repeated it so that the Galatians did not forget it!
Later, he explained why the same Judaizers did what they were doing:
"For neither they themselves who are
circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may
glory in your flesh." (Galatians 6: 13)
Oftentimes, man's pride more than anything else pushes him to believe that we must do something else in order to be saved. Mankind simply refuses to believe, all too often.
Receive the grace of God by faith, and Jesus by His Holy Spirit will live in you forever!