Reference: Acts 2:38
I have heard many preachers from manydifferent organizations say that water baptism has nothing to do with one'ssalvation. The reason why they will say this is simply because they do notthink that water baptism has anything to do with saving a person. The averagebelief today in the religious world is that a person is saved at the momentthat belief and confession on the Lord Jesus is made. Now if this be true, thenit's easy to see why so many are saying that water baptism has nothing to dowith salvation.
If a person is saved at the moment ofconfessing Christ as Lord and Saviour, then water baptism wouldn't haveanything to do with salvation, but friend, I want to let you know that waterbaptism has just as much to do with salvation as does any other command in theword of God. I want you to know that the apostle Peter commanded the people tobe baptized in water after they had received the Holy Ghost. This you will findstated in Acts 10:48.
The preachers who say that water baptismhas nothing to do with salvation do not go as far as saying that one does nothave to be baptized, but they might just as well because water baptismabsolutely does have something to do with one's salvation. Now I know there aresome people in the land today saying that water baptism is what saves a person,but the Bible does not back this up no more than it backs up the teaching thatwater baptism has nothing to do with salvation.
Preachers who say that water baptism hasnothing to do with salvation are the very ones who will not take a stand as towhich way a person has to be baptized. There is a great controversy by manypreachers who do take a stand for baptism, but these preachers say that waterbaptism is what saves a person and washes away their sins.
Just about all denominational churchestoday will not take a stand as to how a person is to be batpized whether it bein the name of the Lord Jesus or using the title form stated in Matthew 28:19. The verysimple reason as to why they won't take a definite stand for which way a personis to be baptized is simply because they are led to believe they are alreadysaved by thier confession on Christ as Lord and Saviour. Since they claim to bealready saved even before they are baptized in water, this is why they won'ttake a stand for being baptized a certain way.
Anybody knows that if a person takes astand for a certain way to be baptized then this will cause them to bedifferent from the rest of the confessing christians. Since most people believethey are saved by their confession on Christ as Lord and Saviour they don't seewhy one would have to take a certain stand as to which way a person should bebaptized.
If the Bible stated that a person is savedby a simple confession on Christ then water baptism would not be such acontroversial subject as it is today, but friend, water baptism plays a verydefinite part in one's salvation whether you believe it or not. If you were toask the average confessing christian today about how a person is to bebaptized, I will guarantee that ninety some percent of them will tell you thatit makes no difference how you are baptized and they will not take issue withyou about it. They will place little or no emphesis on the subject of waterbaptism simply because they have been led to believe that water baptism hasnothing to do with ones salvation. They will tell you that water baptism isonly an outward show to the world that you are confessing Christ as your Saviour.Since the average confessing christian today claims to be saved by confessionon Christ as Lord and Saviour, they have to have some sort of an answer on thesubject of water baptism when they are faced with it. Preachers in today'sdenominational churches do not say that one should not be baptized, but I willguarantee they will leave you talking to yourself if you attempt to tell themthe purpose of water baptism and how it must be done.
Water baptism is as much part of one'ssalvation as is any other command found in God's word of the Bible. What mostpeople fail to see and understand is the fact that water baptism is one of theprimary principals of the doctrine of Christ that absolutely must be obeyed.Water baptism in itself is not what saves a person, but is rather"one" of many precepts that must be obeyed. Our obedience to everyrevealed word of God is what actually saves a person. There is not one singlesolitary command or precept that a person can obey from God's word of the Biblethat will save them by itself.
The Bible is a book that contains manycommands that must be obeyed in order to be saved. Jesus said that man shallnot live by bread alone, but rather by "every" word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.God's way of saving a person is by his revealed word of truth. God's wordconsists of more than repentance and more than water baptism. Obedience to bothcommands is only being obedient to a very small percent of all that the Biblecontains.
Preachers today who are teaching that aperson is saved upon their obedience to repentance or to repentance and waterbaptism, or just to accept Christ as Lord and Saviour are totally ignorant ofGod's saving salvation that the word of God reveals in the gospel. Most peopletoday believe that the gospel is no more than a confession on Christ and thathe died and rose again from the dead. In other words, most people today thinksthat the gospel is about an inch long. They think that the gospel that saves aperson is a mere confession on the fact that Christ died for them on the cross.This is very true that a person must believe this, but believing this is only avery small fraction of what the Bible reveals in its entirety. A person mustcontinue on in God's word and come to the knowledge of God's saving plan in itsfulness.
Today there are hundreds of false prophetsand preachers teaching less than two percent of what the Bible says and revealsand saying that you are saved by believing this small percent that they teach.There are some people in the world today who do stress emphesis on waterbaptism, but they stress "all" emphesis on this and fail to continueon in God's word. These are the United Pentecostals who do teach water baptismin the name of Jesus Christ, which isvery scriptural, but they teach that water baptism is what saves a person andwashes away their sins and also that the Holy Ghost will be received speakingin tongues when one is baptized.
The truth of the matter is that obedienceto water baptism in Christ's name is only one of the many precepts that must beobeyed in God's saving plan of redemption. Our obedience to what God's wordsays is what saves us, but we absolutely must live by every word of God and notget stuck on a certain doctrine that many have done today thinking that this iswhat saves a person.
The apostle Paul tells us in Hebrews 6:1-2 for us to leavethe principals of the doctrine of Christ and go on to perfection, but ninetysome percent of people today are stuck in certain doctrinal points and can'tadvance any further. The reason why they are stuck and can't advance no fartherin Christ is simply because they have denominated around a single pointthinking they are saved and prepared for Christ's soon return....