Does Baptism Save You?

The short answer is No.
Of course not, that would be baptismal regeneration which is a heretical teaching.

Jesus Christ saves you.

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21

But the longer answer and point I want to make is this…

The New Testament attaches the forgiveness of sins to 5 major themes…
1) Jesus has the authority to forgive sins
2) Repentance
3) Faith in Christ
4) The blood of Jesus
5) Water baptism

While Jesus was on the earth, He had the power to forgive sins.

“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”
Matthew 9:6

The Father gave all authority to Jesus to forgive sins (John 5:27). So Jesus can forgive sins however He wants to.

This is why Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise because Jesus had the authority to forgive sins.

After Jesus rose from the dead, left the earth, and went to the Father; Jesus attached the forgiveness of sins to 4 major things, which is explained by Jesus himself and the New Testament authors…
1) Repentance from sin
2) Faith in Christ
3) The blood of Jesus
4) Water baptism

Now if I were to stand behind a church pulpit and say, “You can be forgiven of sin without the blood of Jesus.” I would be thrown out of that church & called a blasphemer. And rightfully so!

And if I were to stand behind a church pulpit and say, “You can be forgiven of sin without faith in Christ.” I would be thrown out of that church called a blasphemer. And rightfully so!

But if I were to stand behind a church pulpit and say, “You can be forgiven of sin without water baptism.” In many churches it would not be called blasphemy and I would not be thrown out of the church.

In fact, many pastors and teachers are saying that right now without being called blasphemers & without being thrown out of their church.

That my friends, is a problem!

There is just as much scripture attaching the forgiveness of sins to water baptism as there is attaching it to repentance, faith in Christ, and the blood of Jesus. Just a few coming to mind are Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, & 1 Peter 3:21.

So why is it that people get away with detaching water baptism from the forgiveness of sins when Jesus Christ is the one that attached forgiveness of sins to water baptism?

Do they have more authority than the Christ we follow? More authority than the apostles?

How can we let this go on? Such a definite deviation from scripture has taken place and not many people seem to care.

Sometimes it amazes me how little value is placed on the word of God in comparison to traditions.

When this is talked about some one usually brings up the matter what if some one repents & makes a confession of faith right before they die without time to get baptized?

Meditating on questions like that is a trap.

We can’t let our minds go there! That is human thinking, carnal wisdom, human understanding. Apostle Paul elaborates in 1 Corinthians 2 to have a spiritual understanding and not think in human ways.

Human wisdom is a trap and it’s what has gotten those to detach water baptism from the forgiveness of sins.

We have not been commanded to judge who is saved or who enters the Kingdom of God. We have been commanded to repent and teach what Jesus and his apostles taught.

We are to never place ourselves in the judgment seat & make those determinations on other people’s salvation. There is only one person given authority to sit on the bema judgement seat making those judgements & that is Christ!

Don’t ever try to place yourself in that seat making judgments on other’s eternal destinations. That judgment is to be made by Christ, not us!

So Jesus can ultimately forgive anyone’s sins however He chooses because He’s the judge. He could forgive sins some other way He never talked about before even if He wants.

But the fact of the matter is we are servants of Christ & ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. Our job is to simply adhere to His teachings & teach others what Christ taught and has been written in the New Testament by His apostles.

We must repent and teach these same teachings!

We do not have the authority to detach water baptism from the forgiveness of sins without Christ’s permission.

When something isn’t done about this it’s easy to see where it goes, there are even people today teaching you can be saved without the blood of Jesus and saved without faith in Christ.

We must do something to stand up for the teachings of our Lord and Christ!

Talk to your pastors, talk to your church leaders, talk to Christians about this. Detaching water baptism from the forgiveness of sins is a grave error. How long are we going to let this go on? Please stand up and do something about this.

Much love and blessings to you brothers and sisters♥️