Is Baptism Necessary For Salvation?

How many of us remember when we were Baptized, fully emersed in water?

I remember the day I was baptized. At that time in my life, I had grown up in a church that christened Children. My parents had me christened as a child.

Our church practiced infant baptism called Christening due to their belief that baptizing purifies the child from the burden of original sin. Moreover, baptism serves as a time when the child becomes part of the divine covenant with God, they gain entry into the church community, inherit the blessings of the kingdom, and experience a spiritual rebirth for which the parents take responsibility.

To ensure the safety and well-being of infants during baptism, the denomination employs a gentle sprinkling or pouring of water over their heads, as complete immersion would pose risks due to their inability to hold their breath. This ritual holds great symbolic value, reflecting God's divine intentions for the child, and is regarded as both a sacrament and a gracious gift bestowed upon them by God. At this time the name of the children is confirmed.

At the time that I got baptized as an adult, I was in my first year to become a local preacher in the church. A number of youngsters had been convicted that believer’s baptism was what was required. After A Sunday morning service, we snuck off to a church in a nearby city that practiced Full Emersion Baptism. I am sure I did not really know that I could explain why I got baptized, but I do know that my life did change from that day spiritually speaking.

A Sacrament is a ritual that is a physical happening but is miraculous in its outcome. A work of grace. In the church, there are a number of sacraments. I will mention four sacraments.

The sacrament of communion is when the physical bread becomes the body and the blood of Jesus when you eat and drink the elements.

Luke 22:19-22 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

John 6:53-58 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

The Sacrament of Healing is the Physical laying on of hands and anointing with oil. The miracle is that God heals and raises up the sick.

Mark 16:18 For those who believe they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

The sacrament of marriage. Two separate people male and female come together in a marriage ceremony where the marriage official proclaims them husband and wife, also legally according to the custom of their nation and then consummated through sexual activity. The miracle of two separate people becomes one flesh.

Ephesians 5:31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

The sacrament of Water baptism is where you are physically fully immersed in water. The miracle is the water becomes your grave where you die and are buried into Christ Jesus into His death. When you are then pulled up out of the water you are resurrected into the life of Christ Jesus. You are raised into newness of life.

Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.