Water Baptism Necessary For Salvation

[Aquatic_blue]

Since no one has posted a topic here yet, I figure that I'll post something to start with.

I know that water baptism is a highly debated topic and I will add my view point later considering I'm about to turn in for the night. I just wanted to try to get this sub-forum started. Please, also feel free to start your own debate/discussion topics!

1. Do you believe that water baptism is necessary for salvation? Why or why not?
2. Do you believe that sprinkling is okay, or do you need to be completely submerged in water to be "baptized"?  

[Garland-Green]

Ok to get the ball rolling I will state my view on baptism.

I don't believe it is necessary. To me it was a symbol of what to come. John the baptized said;

Mark 1:7
And he preached, saying, There cometh after me he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

Mark 1:8
I indeed have baptised you with water, but he shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.


We know that is it not by mans work that we are saved,
but by God. I was baptized after I was saved by believing.
The baptism did not save me, I was saved by believing.

I made a comment about it on someones blog;

I think the emphasis that some have on baptism could be dangerous, if the baptism they focus on is not the one by the holy spirit. I did get baptized after I believed, but I was saved before I was baptized. Abraham did get circumcised after he believed. His belief was attributed him as righteousness, not the actions that followed. Like the importance of a circumcised heart over a circumcised limb stressed by Paul.
He went as far as saying:

Galatians 5:2
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

Would baptism fall under the same category as circumcision?

Link to the blog:
http://ivarfjeld.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/anne-frank-baptized-in-mormon-proxy-ritual/  

[Aquatic_blue]

I'll post my view that I have on baptism since right now I have the time!

I used to believe that baptism was necessary because I was in a church that thought that in order to get into Heaven you must be. However, later on in life, my view changed slightly when I thought "outside the box".

I believe that baptism is a physical and spiritual symbol of your faith and you confess that to God and in front of whoever else may be around. I encourage baptism, but only when a person is ready and understands what baptism is and what is resembles and why people do it and also when they truly have found God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and have faith.

I also believe that Christians and believers of God should be baptized as a symbol of their faith and their belief in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. If you believe then you should be baptized and if you're not baptized because you didn't have access to nearby water, died before you got the change and still believed in God, or you were somewhere such as prison and turned your life around there, but died during your jail sentence - I believe God will show mercy on those people. So I am a, "Yes and no." on this topic.

After all, I don't believe that if someone went to jail as a kid and had a life sentence, turned it around in jail, but ended up dying in jail after they had found God. I don't think God would say you're going to Hell because you never had the chance for a baptism.

Water immersion and water sprinkling. Well, I'm not sure if it exactly matters. Water baptism usually includes immersion, but I'm thinking in some places they may not have a stream nearby or a place where they can have a tub of water or swimming pool to be baptized in. Also, for those who are handicapped and aren't able to get out of the wheel chair to be completely immersed in water.

Christians were encouraged to be baptized in the Bible:

John 3:1 - 8 NIV:

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Mark 16:15 - 16 NIV:

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 2:37 - 38 NIV:

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.

*Here, there is the time where Jesus was being crucified and talking to one of the criminals that was being executed alongside Him, which shows forgiveness and mercy. This man probably didn't even have the opportunity in life to be baptized, either:

Luke 23:39 - 43 NIV:

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

*In my personal opinion, I like the idea of being baptized because it shows your belief and faith towards others and to God. I can say that baptism has an amazing feeling to it. I remember being baptized and it was an exciting thing to look forward to. When I was baptized and was immersed under the water and came back up. It felt like all my burdens flew up to Heaven and I had this amazing feeling like I was whole or complete. It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. I was so happy, I couldn't stop singing praises all day long and people looked at me like I was crazy wherever I went. I just felt so carefree and like this heavy load was lifted. If a person believes and baptism is an option that is available to them and they understand the aspects of baptism then I highly encourage it.  

[Lil Enslaved Kitten]

i don't think it is. we were always taught that it was done after you had accepted Jesus as your savior and that it was done to show that you had been saved and were being baptized into the church. i think that if at all possible it should be a full dunk underwater but in case where there's no way it could be then use whatever you got.  

[SinfulGuillotine]

I pretty much agree with what others have said. I don't believe that baptism is necessary for salvation, but I do think it's a nice symbol, and symbols are important.

Being born into a Catholic family, I was baptised shortly after birth. Catholics are all into infant baptism because, until quite recently, it was Church teaching that if a baby died without being baptised, it would go to Limbo for all eternity, since according to Catholic dogma, baptism IS recquired for salvation. But I guess now they changed their mind and unbaptised dead babies go to heaven after all. rolleyes

One kind of neat thing about Catholicism, though, is that we have this thing called Confirmation. If you've been raised Catholic since birth and have been baptised and received First Communion, usually when you're in your mid-teens or so, you go through a process called Confirmation. The main purpose of Confirmation is that you are choosing to be a full member of the Church once you're at an age where you can make that decision for yourself. You have to attend special classes designed to teach you about the Church (history, Church teachings, etc.). You choose someone to sort of be your spiritual mentor throughout this process, and choose your own Confirmation name (usually the name of a saint that you feel some sort of connection to; for anyone who's curious, my confirmation name is Luke). The idea is that when you're baptised as an infant, your parents choose your godparent(s) and your name, but when you're confirmed, you choose your own mentor (similar to how your parents picked your godparent) and your own Confirmation name (similar to how your parents chose your name). In many ways it's like a second baptism, the purpose of it being that it takes place when you're at an age where you're capable of deciding these things for yourself.

Confirmation is one of the Catholic sacrements: baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, marriage, and Last Rites. I'm pretty sure I'm not forgetting any.

Anyway, point is, I don't think you need ANY of that to be saved, but I do think that the symbolism behind baptism (or Confirmation) is important, as it symbolises your commitment to our Lord.  

[whisperkid12]

I can't think of the verse I'm wanting to at the moment sweatdrop

BUT salvation is of faith alone. Baptism is nothing more than a show of your faith.

Any form is acceptable, but I prefer the dunk because it shows a total immersion and change in life.


I know that Baptism is one of the Catholic sacraments and something reformers like Martin Luther fought. The Church believed (not sure if true anymore) that each ritual like communion or baptism were considered good works and made heaven more readily available after death. Luther argued that baptism has no effect on heaven, as with the other "works"  

[whisperkid12]

There are many times in the bible where Jesus says that he is "the way, the truth, and the light" (John 14:6). Jesus didn't descend to Earth as Baptism or Communion, but has himself: Salvation and faith  

[Jewelies]

I don't believe that baptism is necessary for salvation, no. I do believe that it is important to, when you are ready, get baptized, but only when you fully understand what it means to do so.

Being baptized is biblical - I'd have to look it up in my Bible to find exact verses, but it is something that we are supposed to do. However, I don't believe that one will go to hell just because they weren't baptized. Otherwise, why would we be baptized after being saved instead of before or during?

I feel being baptized is a symbol of our willingness to submit to Christ. Therefore, I feel it is important to be fully submerged - with exceptions. I know a few people who deeply wanted to be baptized, but who have a severe fear of water - especially being submerged in it. There are also people cannot be fully submerged for other reasons such as health, etc. In those cases, I feel that it is the heart that matters, and if you are wanting to be baptized with a sincere heart, then sprinkling or in some cases dumping a bucket of water over your head (we had our pastor do that to a few people in our church, lol) is just fine.  

[Marek James]

I think this is an obvious no. Examples for this would be the thief on the cross next to Christ as he died (Luke 23:32-43). Also based on the fact that there are no "works" necessary for salvation as it is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-10)

Baptism is simply an outward sign of submitting and committing your life to Christ.