Articles
What Does The Bible Say about water baptism?
Question- Can a person be saved without water baptism?
Answer- What the bible says about baptism is very certain and clear. The original word for baptism is the
Greek word- “baptidzo” and it means to plunge or immerse. In this we see that bible baptism was always
an immersion. In Acts 8 with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40), we see that they both went down into
the water and they both came up out of the water. When Jesus was preached to the eunuch, he asked that
question, here is water what hinders me from being baptized. He was told if he believed he could, and he
confessed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God. In Acts 22:16- Saul of Tarsus was told,
“and now why are you waiting, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins…” In Acts 2:38- the
crowd on Pentecost cried out ‘men and brethren what shall we do? the reply came- ‘repent and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, calling on the name
of the Lord.’ Again, the bible says in 1 Peter 3:21- “the like figure whereunto baptism also now saves
us….”
Notice these passages also: Gal 3:27- “…as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ”- we put Christ on in baptism not before. Romans 6:3.4- “know you not that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him by
baptism into death: that like as Christ was up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life” According to this passage we see that we die to sin, are buried in baptism
and raised to walk a new life. We are new until we have been baptized. There is no remission of sins
before baptism only after as we observe all of these passages. So, the answer to the question is clearly that
a person is not saved according to what God has revealed in His word, until he has been baptized in water
for the remission of sins. The salvation is on the other side of the water.
We need to observe, that it is not water salvation. We reach the blood of Christ in the waters of baptism
and nowhere else. Without the shedding of blood there can no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22).
