"Is baptism necessary for salvation?"
"Is baptism necessary for salvation?"
By CP Contributor
September 12, 2025
Christian Post,
Depending on when and where you lived in church history, your answer to this question could have been a matter of life and death. The Anabaptists suffered persecution and sometimes death because of their differing views on baptism compared to the traditional view. Among the disagreements was the issue of whether baptism is necessary for salvation, or baptismal regeneration.
Verses that suggest baptismal regeneration
Some passages in the New Testament seem, at first glance, to teach that baptism itself brings forgiveness of sins or even salvation.
Acts 2:38 – After Peter's sermon at Pentecost, the crowd asks what they must do to be saved. He replies, "Repent and be baptized … for the forgiveness of your sins." The close link between baptism and forgiveness has led some to argue that the act of baptism is itself saving.
Romans 6:3-4 – Paul writes that believers are "baptized into Christ Jesus" and into His death, then raised with Him to new life. The imagery of union with Christ is so closely tied to baptism that many see baptism as the very means by which this union occurs.
1 Peter 3:21 – Perhaps the strongest passage, Peter says plainly, "Baptism now saves you." This text has often been used to argue that water baptism itself brings salvation.
How many respond
Most evangelical interpreters, however, stress that Scripture must be read as a whole. Salvation is consistently taught to be by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Ephesians 2:8-10 makes this explicit: salvation is "by grace … through faith … not of works."
Baptism, important as it is, cannot be placed in a category that makes it necessary for salvation without undermining the heart of the gospel.
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