Is Baptism By Immersion Required For Salvation?

If Jesus had intended to make water Baptism a requirement for salvation, then He would be contradicting testimonies of Scripture, and we know that God never contradicts Himself (1 Sam 15:29). Fortuitously, no contradiction is present, because this verse does not teach that you must receive water Baptism to be saved. Instead, Jesus was saying that faith and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is necessary for salvation. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the moment of regeneration within the spirit of every believer that accompanies and enables a true faith.

It is impossible to believe the Gospel and be saved without the Baptism by the Holy Spirit, which occurs in the moment the Holy Spirit indwells a new believer. Yes this Holy Baptism is a requirement but it comes freely to believers. We read about this Baptism of the Holy Spirit in many passages in the New Testament. For example, John the Baptist talks of the coming Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Mark 1:8 and John 1:33. Jesus talks about it in Mark 10:38-39 and again after His resurrection in Acts 1:5. Peter talks about this new Baptism in Acts 11:16.

Paul talks about this Baptism in Rom 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:27, Ephesians 4:5, and Colossians 2:12. These are all references to the saving work done by the Holy Spirit in the heart of every believer, which we call the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" or sometimes just "Baptism."

Remember, water Baptism is merely a sign of something greater. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 15 that water Baptism is a picture of how we died with Christ through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and how we will rise again with Him one day. By experiencing a water Baptism, under the surface of the water, we make a public declaration of our faith and Christian beliefs. When we come up out of the water, it is an outward sign of the inward change previously accomplished by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Both Peter and Paul made it clear that water Baptism is not a requirement for salvation in their letters. Paul explicitly said that Jesus did not send him to water baptize people, but instead to preach the Gospel for the salvation of men (1Corinthians 1:17).

If water Baptism were required for salvation, would not Paul make an opposite claim? Wouldn't Paul have emphasized that he performed water Baptism on many believers, since it was essential to their salvation? Instead, Paul says he's glad he didn't baptize many with water. Clearly, Paul did not think water Baptism was a means to salvation, and his words in Corinthians indicate that water Baptism can be overemphasized in an inappropriate way.

Furthermore, consider Paul's own conversion and water Baptism. In Acts 9, we find when Paul arrives in Ananias' house, he'd been saved and appointed to become Jesus' instrument to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. At that point, Paul had not been baptized by water, yet Scripture says he was already saved. Obviously his salvation was cemented before his water Baptism.

Additionally, please consider three clear reasons for why we know water Baptism is not a prerequisite to salvation: