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s baptism necessary for salvation? Every Christian who honestly desires to know what God really requires to have one’s sins forgiven needs to be willing to ask this question. If we are wrong on this question, we are in serious error. If baptism is required in addition to believing or trusting in Jesus, then we need to know. This is a controversial issue with some people, but everyone who is serious about pleasing God will want to know the truth. In answering this question, we will explore the background and meaning of baptism, the meaning of a series of New Testament passages related to baptism, and then a number of New Testament passages about salvation.
Background. Historically, water has been used down through the ages by various religious groups as a rite of initiation. The Jews required that a Gentile who desired to become a convert to Judaism be circumcised, undergo a ritual bath, and offer a sacrifice. Within Judaism the ritual bath was referred to as baptism. Baptism was used to symbolize purification and repentance.
The Greek word for the verb “to baptize” is BAPTIZO. The ancients used this Greek word in a variety of ways. For example, the word had the meaning “to dip, to immerse, to bathe, to drown, to sink, to perish, and to go under.” One significant usage of the word was a reference to a ship “sinking.” It referred to dipping into water. Due to disagreements about the method of baptism, the King James Version Bible did not give us the meaning of the verb BAPTIZO but transliterated it, or converted each Greek word to an English word in order to avoid controversy.
A difficult New Testament passage for those who believe that BAPTIZO means to sprinkle is John 3:23. Here we are told that John the Baptist baptized where there was a lot of water. Why did John need lots of water? Obviously, he did not need lots of water to sprinkle someone. He only needed lots of water to dip someone down into the water. Therefore, we conclude that baptism referred to someone being dipped into water.
Meaning of John’s Baptism. Now let us ask the question, “What was the meaning of John’s baptism?” The answer comes in Matthew 3:1-6 where we find John the Baptist baptizing people who were confessing their sins. The Greek language in Matt 3:5-6 reveals that the people who were being baptized were confessing 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 The Greek verb for “confess” is a present participle which indicates they were confessing again and again. I can understand this because I have done the same thing. Have you ever sinned and felt so badly about what you did that you confessed, and confessed and kept on confessing? That is the picture of the seriousness of these people. In fact every real Christian never stops repenting of his or her sins. The baptism of John the Baptist was a baptism of repentance (Matt. 3:11) - a regret and turning away from sin. Mark 1:5 gives us the same idea,
All the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, [the ones repeatedly] confessing their sins. (NASB) Mark 1:5 John’s baptism did not save anyone. It was a symbol of repentance.
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