Baptism & Salvation - Does Getting Baptised Save Us Or Bring Forgiveness Of Sins?

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In Matt. 28:19 Jesus said, "...go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you..." Jesus was perfectly sinless yet was baptised to fulfill all righteousness (Matt 3:15) and we need to be baptised, if we are to be obedient and follow in His footsteps.

Baptism doesn't save us nor does it bring forgiveness of sins. We are saved the moment we repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness. Eph. 1:13-14 says, "you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory." These verses show that the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of salvation and we receive the Spirit when we believe.(John 1:12)

Baptism is often considered to be simply a public confession of faith but this falls short of its description in Romans 6:1-14. In this passage baptism is described as an identification with Jesus' death (Rom. 6:3), dying to self as He did. Jesus said in Luke 12:50, "I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed" and in Mark 10:39 He told His disciples that "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with." The baptism Jesus was speaking of was His voluntary death on the cross through absolute surrender and a total denial of self. He was perfectly sinless but denied Himself entirely to do His Father's will. If we are to do God's will and unite with Jesus in His resurrection (Php. 3:10-11) then we must also die to self through the crucifixion and burial of our sinful nature. Rom. 6:5 speaks of this identification with Jesus. In the passage Luke 14:26-33, Jesus spoke of total surrender and in the last verse He said, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Therefore, in the same way that Jesus died to self to do His Father's will, if we are to be His disciple, we also must die to self. In undergoing baptism we identify ourselves with Jesus' death and resurrection. As we go under the water we figuratively unite with Him in death and as we come out of the water we are to rise to new life - dead to sin and self and fully surrendered to do His will (Rom. 6:4, 7, 11). Note Rom. 6:22-23 which say, "... you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God ... the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life ..."

The baptism of Romans 6 speaks of a believer's experience from the time of baptism onward. It is talking about a baptism of death to self which is the process of sanctification for believers. Note that vs. 5, 8 say "if we have been united" and "if we died with Christ" indicating that not all those being spoken to were "crucified with him" and "freed from sin" as it says in vs. 6-7. Vs. 11-13 exhort believers to "count yourselves dead to sin ... not to let sin reign in their bodies ... do not offer the parts of your body to sin ... but rather off your body to him as instruments of righteousness." Vs.15-23 continue on to talk about becoming slaves to righteousness which is the result of the dying to self as described in the first half of the chapter. It can be seen that this baptism continues beyond water baptism to the ongoing crucifixion of self resulting in the sanctification mentioned in 1 Thess. 5:23. In John 17:17, in His prayer for the disciples just before He was crucified, Jesus said, "I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified." On the cross, He set Himself apart entirely to do His Father's will so that through Him we too can take up our cross, die to self and be sanctified to do His will.

A person can be baptised but not saved. Note that in Romans 8:12-13 it says to Christians, "Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." The was written to Christians, some of whom would have been baptised. The Bible makes it very clear that to be saved a person must be born again into newness of life and walking in holiness if they are to inherit eternal life. For a discussion on this, please go to Perseverance Of The Saints.

Return to previous page                                                                                            Mick Alexander
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