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Baptism "Now Saves Us"
No, not baptism alone. The word “baptize” means “to immerse, to dip, to
plunge,” and if someone were merely “immersed” in water without faith in
Jesus Christ, he would be doing nothing more than getting wet. Jesus
said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16) --
thus, our baptism must be as a result of our faith.
However, our baptism has just as much to do with our salvation as
our faith. The Bible gives the believer no reason to think he will be
saved without being baptized into Christ. To the contrary, the
scriptures are replete with illustrations of the necessity of baptism.
Consider one such passage: “There is also an antitype which now saves
us, namely baptism...” (1 Peter 3:21). How can anyone read this
scripture and conclude that baptism is not necessary?
The apostle had just written about how “a few, that is eight souls, were
saved through water” in the days of Noah (v.20). Only those on Noah’s
ark (he and his seven family members) were saved from a wicked world
“through water.” Then the apostle says, “There is an antitype which now
saves us, namely baptism...” Mark this down: there are no more
assurances given to people today of salvation without baptism than
there were assurances in Noah’s day of salvation outside the ark. Read
the two passages already cited, as well as others (Acts 2:38; 22:16;
Galatians 3:26-27). Water baptism is necessary for the forgiveness of
our sins and, consequently, salvation. Have you been baptized into
Christ?
--Mike Noble
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