Is baptism required for salvation?

Baptists whilst making so much of baptism for believers only, generally say "of course baptism does not save". How does this stand in the light of the Lord's own words already referred to in Mark 16, "He that believes and is baptised shall be saved". Note also Acts 2:38, 40-41, "Save yourselves ... they that gladly received his word were baptised". See also 1 Peter 3:21 "The like figure whereunto baptism doth now save us". So there is salvation by baptism!

Baptism is Christ's institution representing dying - in a figure, and is the appointed way for a Jew or a Gentile to get out of his native sphere of Judaism or Paganism and to enter into the faith - Christianity, that divine system, set up of God, on earth. The salvation for the Jew, by baptism, was to be brought out of his place over which the governmental judgment of God was hanging. The salvation is governmental and not eternal and heavenly as I have before said. When the testimony of Peter had been heard on the day of Pentecost, the hearers said. "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter's answer was, "Repent and be baptised everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord your God shall call". Notice this "... unto your children" and then, "And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation". The outcome was that they that "gladly received his word were baptised".

Taking now a glance backward at the passages that have come before us, what have we learned? We have seen that John the Baptist did not send his hearers away telling them to come when they had given sufficient proof of amendment of life, but he baptized them in view of that. We have seen again and again that certain things are predicated of those who have been baptized. They have washed away their sins; they have put on Christ; they have been buried; and all this is said to have been done by the act of Baptism. More than once, salvation is connected with the rite, (Mark 16:16, and 1 Peter 3:21). In Acts 2:38, Baptism is said to be "for (or unto) the remission of sins," not because their sins were forgiven.

Who that carefully and impartially considers these facts can help arriving at the following conclusions: Baptism is in view of something and not merely because of something already true: John baptized in view of an amended life, and of Christ's coming. Certain things are not properly true of us until we are baptized: "Buried with Him by Baptism." Baptism has a place and purpose of its own. "Baptism doth also now save us." It was Baptism at the Red Sea separated Israel from Egypt and introduced them to all the privileges connected with their wilderness journey. It is with a view of what shall be true, not necessarily what is true. John did not send the multitude away, he told them what they ought to do and baptized them: Disciple all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all things: "We also should walk in newness of life."

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, "If Christ be not risen, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins;" but what if He is risen? Our faith is valid, we are not in our sins; God's own act has declared them completely cancelled and put away for ever; the Surety who became answerable for us is freed, and the debt is discharged. But (much more than this feeble comparison can convey) this is done in such a way, by His triumphant victory over death and the grave — which were the consequences of His having taken sin on Him — as to reflect the brightness and glory of this triumph, accomplished by the hand of God Himself, back upon the persons and consciences of those who were to be justified; so the Apostle Peter treats it, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh (like a Jewish ordinance of external application merely), but, in its real meaning, the answer of a good conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God" (1 Peter 3:21). Here baptism, as emblematical of death and resurrection, is brought forward as an analogous figure to Noah passing through the waters of the flood in the ark, and landing safely after the deluge was over on dry land; so we, in the death of Christ, have passed through the judgment of sin, and in His resurrection have the witness that we are free from it, and in full acceptance before God. Again the same apostle says, He "raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God (1 Peter 1:21); and having "begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). So that the Apostle Peter brings forward what God has done in raising Christ from the dead as the witness of our present position and our future glory, in the same way as the Apostle Paul.

Again, in 1 Peter 3:21, "the like antitype whereunto baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh," etc., i.e., not literally, but symbolically. As the waters of judgment were death to those not in the ark, (and the ark represents Christ, not the Church, or at least Christ's redemption), so death is judgment to those who are without Christ's salvation, but is the process of salvation to those who believe in Him; for "we are buried with Him by baptism, wherein also we are raised with Him," Col. 2:12. The death of Christ is the meritorious cause of our salvation, — our death with Him and resurrection in Him is the process whereby we are saved; and to us death, instead of being a destroyer, is the cleanser, as well as the passage into a new scene. Of this, baptism is the symbol or representation of a known truth, and hence may be called an antitype (antitupon) to that (the deluge), which, though now seen to have a similar meaning, was destitute of that significance till the gospel was preached and Christian baptism was instituted. No such puerile notion is meant, as that the water of baptism was an antitype of the water of the deluge, — this would be to make water typical of itself, a manifest absurdity. The truth figuratively presented to our minds by baptism is the antitype to the waters, or judgment, of the deluge.

It was a real work of God in the conscience. They were not persuaded only, but pricked in heart. There was submission to His person Whom they had just crucified, and this through faith in God's word. It was not mere remorse, still less a change of mind only, but real judgment of self before God (Whose part they now took against themselves and their unbelieving evil in the past), and a distinct casting themselves on Him Whom they had so bitterly despised to their own ruin. Now they repented, and were baptized each of them in the name of Jesus for remission of sins. Through His name the believer receives remission of sins; in none other is there salvation. He is exalted to give repentance and remission of sins. As they repented, so also were they baptized in His name, according to the charge laid on His servants. They took the place of death with Him: I say not that they then understood its meaning, as they doubtless entered into it more or less afterwards. The Lord directed His servants to baptize; and the new converts simply and without question submitted. It was His way, nor is any other so good, though many a servant of His diverged from His orders, and many a convert seems in effect to think himself, in this as in other things, wiser than his Master. It was a clean final break with sins and sin, with man and religious man, with Judaism. Little or nothing could any one of these confessors be supposed at this solemn epoch of new birth to apprehend with intelligence; but they did feel before God their own nothingness, and the all-sufficiency of His name Who had died on the cross. And they were welcome to the precious privilege conferred on them, as they could in no way have been recognized as disciples of His had they refused baptism in His name. It was the mark of His confession, the sign of salvation; and woe to him that spurns the authority and grace of Him Who instituted it!

But there is another matter of new and immense import that follows. These repentant Jews who submitted to baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins are assured of the subsequent gift of the Spirit: 'And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' They were already born of God: without which there could be no repentance nor faith. They were to be baptized with water in the name of Jesus for remission. Not till then was the believing Jew to receive the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; for this is in question here, 'the gift' (ἡ δωρεά), not merely the gifts (τὰ χαρσὶματα) or powers which accompanied and attested His divine presence now on earth. It is the more necessary to insist on the specific character of the truth, because of the widespread confusion in Christendom as to all this. The gift of the Spirit here spoken of, the peculiar and abiding privilege of the Christian and the church, is as distinct from new birth by the Spirit as from the gifts of which we read not a little in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. But there is to be noticed circumstantial difference in the manner. For while the favoured Jew in Acts 2 had to be baptized before he receives this wondrous gift, the hitherto despised Gentile receives the Holy Ghost before being baptized in the name of the Lord: a difference in my judgment worthy of God, and instructive in His ways for His children.

When, therefore, baptism is spoken of as for the remission of sins, and when the Lord says, "whosoever sins you remit they are remitted unto them," it is certain that He does not mean that the water of baptism has power to wash the soul. What then is this remission? To understand this we must recognize it as the entrance into the kingdom, that in which one is received out of the outside world into the ranks of Christ's followers and subjects. It is plain that ideally the crossing of the line here is salvation — "the like figure whereunto even baptism Both also now save us" (1 Peter 3:21). To cross the line in spirit is true salvation, and to this grand truth the whole figure witnesses. The controversy with the world is for the rejection of Christ; submission to Him means the controversy over, "Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21). Yet the activity in salvation is all on His side; men baptize not themselves, but are baptized. And this is the confession of guilt, of being under death; it is burial, yet to Christ, to His death: there is the power of life, not in baptism, but in Him to whom we are baptized: "Buried with Him by baptism Tinto death, that, as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4).

There is thus really a witness to the gospel in baptism which is beautiful in its simplicity. No subtlety of understanding is needed for entering into it. No complexity of thought is here. Man's guilt and helplessness, and need of the work of Christ are vividly portrayed and powerfully enforced in it; while also the freeness and certainty of salvation are fully declared, and the blessing appropriated on God's part to the one received. Wilt thou have Christ for thy Lord? wilt thou indeed take thy place as His subject and disciple? Then here is remission of sins, here is salvation for thee, through the work of Christ which He accomplished for thee; take thy place among His disciples a saved man!

In no scripture is baptism connected with justification or reconciliation, but there are other scriptures which connect baptism with salvation. This is because salvation is a word of large content, and includes within its scope the practical deliverance of the believer from the whole world system, whether Jewish or Gentile in character, wherein once he was embedded. His links with that world system are to be cut, and baptism sets forth the cutting of those links — in one word, dissociation. He who believes the Gospel, and accepts the cutting of his links with the world that held him, is a saved man. A man may say he believes, and even do so in reality, yet if he will not submit to the cutting of the old links, he cannot be spoken of as saved. The Lord knows them that are His of course, but that is another matter.

When it is a question of "damnation," (or "condemnation"), baptism is not mentioned. This is very significant. It shows the ground on which condemnation rests. Even if a man is baptized, if he does not believe, he will be condemned. The outward ordinance is plainly prescribed by the Lord, but it can only be administered as faith is professed; and profession, as we know only too well, is not synonymous with possession. Salvation is not effective apart from faith. Peter may tell us that, "Baptism doth also now save us" (1 Peter 3:21), but note that it is "us," and the "us" are believers.

Baptism never supposes life in the one baptized though it may be there, but it always supposes death. Thus Saul was in the condition that attached to him as a sinner with sins on him, though himself safe, when he was bidden to "arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins" (Acts 22:16). His sins were not washed away, that is to say, he was outwardly connected with the first man, until baptism to Christ, and as to himself as a man on the earth was not in a Christian state till after baptism. If life were implied in baptism, would it not have been written, "Arise, and be baptized, because your sins are washed away"? Again it is said, "Repent, and be baptized, for the remissions of sins," not "because your sins are remitted," which is the ground taken by those who refuse baptism for any but believers. "They that gladly received the word were baptized," and it was "for the remission of sins"; that is to say, they could not be acknowledged as outwardly free from sin until they had in type died in the waters of death, and waters of baptism (1 Peter 3:20, 22), "wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by waters!" etc.

After this the Lord appears Himself to the eleven as they sat at meat, and "upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen." Yet a most gracious Master He proves Himself — one that knew well how to make good ministers out of bad ones; and so the Lord says to them, immediately after upbraiding them with their incredulity, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." There is the importance not only of the truth, but of its being openly and formally confessed before God and man; for clearly baptism does symbolically proclaim the death and resurrection of Christ; that is the value of it. "He that believeth and is baptized." Do not you pretend that you have received Christ, and then shirk all the difficulties and dangers of the confession. Not so: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." There is not a word about baptism in this last case. A man might be baptized; but without faith, of course it would not save him. "He that believeth not shall be damned." Believing was the point. Nevertheless, if a man professed ever so much to believe, yet shrank from the publicity of owning Him in whom he believed, his profession of faith was good for nothing; it could not be accepted as real. Here was an important principle for the servant of Christ in dealing with cases.

He had used the order of mouth and heart as in the original words of Moses. And so in fact it is that the gospel goes forth and exhorts men. We hear the confession of the mouth and trust the belief of the heart accordingly. But it is plain that the inner reception of the word must precede and accompany the outer expression of it in order to a true and full work in a man. The apostle knew this better than any of us, and lets us hear it in his next words: "for with [the] heart faith is exercised unto righteousness, and with [the] mouth confession is made unto salvation." Thus the whole case is accurately stated, every objection anticipated and met. Without believing there can be no righteousness. We are justified by faith and in no other way. But if there be no confession of Christ the Lord with the mouth, we cannot speak of salvation; as our Lord said, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not [baptized even though he might have been] shall be damned."