1. There are people in the Bible who are saved and have the Spirit who have not been baptized (see especially Acts 10:44-48).
2. There are people who get baptized and aren’t saved. Not only do we see this all the time in our day-to-day lives (we all know people who were baptized but now live like the devil), but we may even see this with the case of Simon the Magician in the book of Acts. What do you do when someone has been baptized but still seems unchanged? Do you just keep dunking them, hoping that one will take? No. What they need is true saving faith.
3. The criminal on the cross was saved though he wasn’t baptized. Now, some will point out that he’s under the Old Covenant and therefore doesn’t need baptism, but that misses the point because (1) the whole point is that he is receiving unmerited grace that requires no action on his part. (2) If he is under the Old Covenant then he has to offer animal sacrifices, clean himself at the temple, obey the Mosaic Law, etc. – all things he obviously isn’t doing. (3) And Jesus’ statement about how you must be “born of water” is said beforethe criminal dies on the cross. Whether he is in the Old or New Covenant, he still gets saved by grace. That’s the whole point of that text.
4. Baptism is something you do and therefore, whether you like the phrase or not, it is a “work,” and the Bible clearly demonstrates that we are not saved by anything we perform (Ephesians 2:8-10). We are not saved by any action or ritual that we can do.
5. This would mean that babies who die in infancy go to hell. Follow the logic here: if baptism is necessary for salvation and children are born sinful (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:9-20; Ephesians 2:1-3) then you have to hold that they are lost. If you believe that God can save them by grace, then you don’t have to hold this view. There is no “age of accountability” other than the age they are at conception. (For more on this topic, read our blog “What Happens To Infants When They Die?”)
6. If baptism is necessary, then it’s necessary every time. You cannot say that God can still save a child or save someone who hasn’t been baptized “if he wants,” and also say baptism is “necessary.” They are mutually exclusive. You can’t say baptism is necessary, but then say that God can still save someone without it. If he can, then it’s not necessary.
7. What if someone didn’t get all the way under the water? What if the minister who baptized them later becomes apostate? If baptism is necessary for salvation and you don’t do it right, you might go to hell for not practicing the ordinance perfectly. That seems to assume that man was made for baptism and not baptism for man.
Conclusion
Now, don’t get me wrong. Baptism is super important. It is commanded of every Christian. If you have not been biblically baptized, you are walking in sin. Baptism is not optional. If someone just refused to be baptized, I would call their salvation into question; not because baptism saves you, but rather they are claiming that they love Christ while refusing to obey him.
King James Version
