Third. If baptism is essential for eternal life, then the thief who hung on a cross next to Jesus never made it to heaven. But that is not what Jesus said. Jesus DID promise the thief eternal life because He believed (Luke 23:42-43). The thief died on the cross. He never had a chance to be baptized, but he did go to heaven - he believed - he trusted Jesus.     Fourth. The discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus starts in John 3:1 and goes until verse 21. Baptism is not mentioned in John 3:1-7. It is important to note that just because we see water in scripture, we should not conclude it refers to baptism. Water was a symbol of becoming spiritually clean (Ezek. 36:25-27). The Jews were preoccupied with ritual cleansing. The concept is not unusual today. For example, the Roman Catholic Church uses "holy water" and so do the Hindus and Muslims. John the Baptist did not allow someone to be baptized unless they had confessed their sins.     Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. (NASB) Matt. 3:5-6   John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. (NASB) Mark 1:4-5   For the Jew in Jesus' day, water symbolized cleansing from sin. Men and women do not come to God until they see their need for God and Jesus tried to explain that our need was to be cleansed from our sin. We must start with the fact that we are sinners and then we can be born of the Spirit.     Notice that Nicodemus asks Jesus in verse 9, "How can these things be?" How does Jesus respond? Sixteen verses later He says,     For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. (NASB) John 3:16   Jesus had already explained that we must understand our need for cleansing. Jesus does not include baptism or water because it does cleans a person from their sins - believing in Jesus does. God's forgiveness of our sins does not depend on something we do but on Jesus' sacrificial death (Rom. 4:5; James 2:14-26). Salvation is not by works but by a GIFT of faith (Eph. 2:8-9).   Conclusion: By faith in Jesus we enter heaven. By baptism we show our submission to Jesus. Baptism is an act of obedience. Believe and be baptized!       < Back
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