 Do you have to be water baptized in order to be saved? Or another way of putting it, if a person believes, if they have faith in Christ, but has not been baptized in water. Does that mean the person is not saved? Look at this issue. There's something that we're going to notice, and let me just say this upfront, and I'll make the point as we go. There is not one command in the Greek to get baptized. There are some passages that seem to say that or indicate there. We're going to look at that in a second. Before we get there, let's go and start off where we first see this issue of baptizing come up, and that is obviously in the four Gospels. All four say it, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. All four just in Mark, and the first place we see this is in Mark. Well, I've obviously in Matthew as well, but let's just choose one of them. So we'll pick Mark 1-8. John the Baptist is speaking and says that I baptize you with water. But he, obviously that's Jesus, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. So the question is going to be, when he says I baptize you in water, is that to mean that when they're baptized in water that they're saved? Well, obviously not. Obviously they weren't saved because they were baptized in water. Their baptism was a baptism to show that they have repented, to show that they aren't changing. It's a public declaration that all the people could see. Now, in contrast, his baptism with Jesus' baptism, whom he says that he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. So let's just be clear. The one that's going to baptize you in the Spirit, which seems to be different, and obviously because it's Jesus doing, and he's making a contrast, and these people that got baptized in water aren't saved. But clearly he's making a special point, a proclamation declaration about Jesus' baptism. And it's Jesus who actually does the baptizing. He baptizes us, all believers, into the Holy Spirit. The identifying marker of every believer is the Holy Spirit. I'll come back to that in a little bit, but if we go to Acts 1, we're going to see Jesus making this statement where he's speaking to the disciples, the apostles, before his ascension, before he leaves. And then you're going to see him make this statement in Acts 1.4. He says, Gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised. Well, what was it that the Father had promised? Well, remember, here we see what John the Baptist says and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but also Jesus himself says, so as he's preparing to leave in John 14, 15, and 16, he tells them about the coming of the Holy Spirit, and they will have this helper to give them this power, and they will testify of him. They will be a living witness to him. And so the promise that he's referring to is the Holy Spirit. He says, so to wait for the promise which the Father has promised, which he said, you heard from me, again, back in the Gospels, for John baptize you with water, here it is, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. And so here we've got the apostles being told that you are going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. That is the important baptism. That is the baptism that saves you. And we'll show that in just a little bit. Now, if someone wants to say that you must be water baptized in order to be saved, simply having faith alone, but you have to accompany that with being actually dipped or submerged in water, that creates an interesting problem. As a matter of fact, it's not a rare problem at that. There are people who can place their faith in Christ, but cannot get baptized. To name a few that you may be able to think of off top of your head, people in prison, whether they're in prisons here in America, where in some cases it's impossible or very difficult to be baptized, but in some places they cannot be baptized in water, or if they're in prison in a different part of the world in a different country where there is no opportunity to be baptized. They don't care that you are a Christian and they don't care about having you to or allowing you to adhere to your faith. There are places where you can be in prison and not be baptized. As a matter of fact, there are some places you can be in prison for being a Christian and they will not allow you to be baptized. Also, there are people who are better and there are people who are in the hospital or in hospice care who have got time and they place their faith in Christ. They believe they have a true belief, a true love of Christ. But for medical reasons, they cannot be baptized. What about them? What about places where there is no possibility for them to be baptized? Maybe they're in some sort of persecuted area where they cannot do so. So the question is, what do you do with them? Is it that their belief, their faith in Christ, trusting everything that you do, but through circumstances that are out of their control, they cannot get baptized? Are we to say that these people then cannot be saved? Well, obviously not. But there will be some that will come back and say, wait a second, though, isn't that a command to be baptized? Did not Jesus say so in Matthew 28? Well, let's go look at this passage and we'll see that there is no command to be baptized. First of all, in Matthew 28, he's talking to the disciples. There is no command for us as believers to be baptized. And I know where some are going to go to Acts. We'll get to Acts 2 in just a second, but going back to Matthew 28. Notice what he says. He says, go therefore. And I want you to notice the tense of the verbs and so forth. I think they're very important. This word right here is Paranthentes, which is as you're going. So going, this is a participle. So as you're going, he says to make disciples. This word right here is in the imperative. That is a command. So the command we have here is to make disciples of all the different nations or ethnicities. But notice this word right here. Here's the word for baptizer, baptiso. But this word is baptism test, which is as you're baptized and while you're baptized. And this is also a participle. So he did. So there is no command to baptize, at least in the verb here. But he says, make disciples as you are while you're baptizing them in the name of Jesus. So now does he say to baptize them? Sure. Is he commanding them? No. He's commanding them to make disciples while you're baptizing them or while they're being baptized, while they're being baptized. And so the question is going to be, Corey, wait a second. That seems like that might be a command. Well, the question is going to be, which baptizing is he speaking of? And I will submit to you that the baptize that he's speaking of, because they will be baptized. I said they won't be baptized. This is to say that they will be baptized. I want to put it back on the screen again. And you might think that that's kind of a splitting hairs or semantics. No, he's not saying to baptize them. He's saying that they are going to be baptized or being baptized. What does that mean? I submit that that's saying that they will be baptized in the spirit. What Jesus says that he's going to do, John baptized in water, but I will be the one that's going to be baptizing in the Holy Spirit. And so make disciples as they're being baptized in the Holy Spirit, being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit on the base of what the Father, Son, Holy Spirit has done or is doing. They will be baptized in that name. I understand the English kind of makes you or may even lead some people to think that they are being commanded to do so. But clearly in the Greek, it's not a command. Then as we get to the passage that others will refer to say, here's the command for us as believers to be baptized. Acts 238 when they're asked, what shall we do? Peter says, repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Well, that seems to indicate that seem to say to be baptized and you shall receive the Holy Spirit. No, let's go back and look at this. Why I say that the words are important words have meaning grammar has meaning. So he does say all of you to repent. Now this word repent is in the imperative. This word is the command you must repent. Now we believe that the repentant part comes from God. That's him granting repentance. How that happened? Because what does he do? He touched the heart. He regenerates the heart causing you to look badly or look downwardly at yourself at your sin. And so you are bothered by your sin. Repentance does not mean you stop doing something. Repentance is how you view sin, not what you do with sin, but how you view sin. Now you have a negative disposition towards sin. Who's sin? Your sin and everyone else's sense. Let's go back to it. So there's the command to repent each of you. He says, and be baptized. Well, the word to be baptized here is a passive imperative. But how per question is, this is imperative, but is this for you to do so? Well, it could not be for you to be baptized. It's that you will be baptized. Notice what he says. By the way, it's with the and or the chi. What does chi mean? Well, chi has four different meanings. Chi can mean and also even or namely. We tend to think of it just as and, but when do we see it or when do we use it as also even or namely? Well, two of the other uses are going to be found in here, such as the also or even. Here we have that and represented by this chi. Repent even as you will be baptized. You are going to be baptized. The command is to be baptized. But this is in falling with this repentance that you're going to have to have happened. So then he says, each of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And this word right here, chi, this is where the chi would refer to the namely, namely receiving the Holy Spirit. And oh, by the way, this is in the middle indicative. And so you are going to have this happen to you. It's not a command, but it's going to happen to you done to you not by yourself. You don't cause yourself to receive the Holy Spirit. This is as a result of you having the repentant heart and being baptized. Remember Jesus says, I will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And so that's what they say you are going to be baptized by Jesus according to what Jesus does, namely receiving the Holy Spirit. Now they're going to be those are going to fight and balk at that because they do not want to listen to or have any dealings with the Greek because they're going to say that maybe the Greek doesn't matter. All we need is the Holy Spirit. I can read in English. That's fine. Those people are not speaking to those that actually want to hear what the Bible is saying the way it was given to us. Remember God is the one that sirely gave it to us in the Hebrew and the Greek. And sometimes when we translate something, there's a little bit of the meaning that can be lost. And so there is some difficult to it now. Am I saying that the English is not sufficient? It is sufficient, but there's a problem that comes up with the English. The problem is if we are supposed to be baptized, if you have to be baptized in order first to be safe, we've got two scriptural problems. One, the thief on the cross. He clearly is going to be with Jesus in paradise. He is going. He is saved. Well, how did that happen without him being baptized? Well, someone's going to say, well, wait a second. That was in a different dispensation. That was before the cross. Well, no, the thief on the cross died after Jesus death. Remember what Jesus's death did. Jesus's death inaugurated one ended the new covenant for the Jews. I mean, into the old covenant for the Jews and brought in the new covenant. That's what his death did, his shedding of the blood. And so his atoning for sin is what saved him. As a matter of fact, truth be told, whether it's the Old Testament or the New Testament, whether it's for the Jews, the Old Covenant or the New Covenant. Atonement, whether you be a Jew or Gentile is how you're saved. You are saved as a result of your sins being atoned for. How does that happen? Your sins are confessed on the head of the scapegoat under the Old Covenant. Well, in this case, on the head of Jesus. He's the lamb who takes away the sins of the earth and then also that there's blood shed on the altar for the Lord to accept in the Old Covenant that was done on the altar of the blood shed. But in this case, Jesus does so he sheds his blood on the cross for Jews and for Gentiles. And it's mediated by a priest. Well, in this case, unlike the old high priest, in this case, it's Jesus. And does God accept that? Well, sure he does. He's the one that set the terms. And so the Lord pays this debt for us. And Jesus says that the debt was nailed on the cross. There is no longer a debt. And so regardless of whether it was done under the Old Covenant or the New for this Jewish man on the cross, it didn't matter his sins were atoned for. But clearly his death brought in inaugurated, according to Hebrews, inaugurated a New Covenant. So he was the first Jew to be saved under the New Covenant. Why is that important? Because if atonement is what saves, then now we're saying atonement plus something else. As a matter of fact, faith in his atoning work is not enough. Faith in his atoning work. And then somebody other faithful person, because you're going to need not just your works, but somebody else's works to get you saved, to complete the task. You being willing to be baptized. And it also requires somebody else's work to do the same thing. So now it's not only just your works, but it's another person's work. And for some people, they make sure that you have to say verbally the name of Jesus. So now it's also dependent on this person else's work who also will say things the right way. Otherwise, all you did was get wet and you weren't actually saved. Clearly that's not what the Bible is teaching. The second scriptural problem to that, that you must be baptized in order to be saved is we see in Acts 10, 44, the Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit. Let's go to Acts 10. He says, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message and all the circumcised believers who came to Peter were amazed because the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been poured out on the Gentiles. Now, some are going to remark, wait a minute, Corey, didn't they get baptized? They did. They were baptized in water. But the question is, what came first? Did the receiving of the Holy Spirit come first or the baptism? Well, the receiving of the Holy Spirit came first. So what came first? They were saved first, then they were baptized. The baptism was just an outward or public declaration of what happened. But the saving came as a result of them having faith, believing and the Spirit came upon them. Remember, all you have to do is to have the Holy Spirit. Anyone that has the Holy Spirit is saved. How do we know? Because Paul himself says so. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, but if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. But if the Spirit of Christ, verse 11, of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. Now, this is important because this is clarifying that the Holy Spirit is what's required. He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give you life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. If you have the Holy Spirit, whoever it is that have the Holy Spirit, no matter how you got it, you're saved. Now, the only way to get it is by believing in Christ. Then if you get baptized, well, fine. That's fine. No one is saying not to get baptized. But if you say you have to get baptized in order to receive the Holy Spirit, well, clearly we've got two examples of someone who is a believer in Christ who did not get saved. And in this case, they received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized. Now, why that's important because the very same Paul who says this also says in 1 Corinthians 12, I said earlier that the identifying marker of every believer is the Holy Spirit. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, 12, for even as the body is one and yet has many members and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body. So also is Christ. What he says, for by one spirit, we were all pontes. That's the word for all of us. All were baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slave or free, we were all made to drink of one spirit. Remember, John says, I've baptized you with water, but Jesus is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. So the question is when we speak of baptism, which baptism is the one that saves? There's only one baptism that saves. And why that's important? Well, a couple of passages. 1 Peter 3, let's go there. 1 Peter 3, 21, he says, Now corresponding to that, baptism. Now, he's given an example of this physical water of these eight that were saved through the flood, but he says now corresponding to that or the word that's used here is the word antetype or a symbolism. That's what the word antetype is, and that's what the Greek word is, antitoupon. There's an antetype that saves us, namely baptism. Baptism is a baptism that saves us, but there's an antetype, a symbolism of it. Not the physical, the literal waters, the removal of dirt from the flesh. And remember, let's back up for a second. The Hebrew custom was that they would have these ceremonies, these baptisms where it symbolized that the waters were cleansing your body, washing you, washing the dirt, the stain, the sin of this world away from you. That was the whole point of the baptisms for them. So Peter, who's also a Jew, who's also an apostle to the Jews, is making this point to them. He says, Not the removal of dirt from flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience or through a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Well, what comes through or because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? The Holy Spirit. And so what saves you is not that baptism, the physical water baptism, but what saves you is a spiritual baptism by the Holy Spirit that comes as a result of you being placed in Christ by your faith in Christ. Why do I say so? If we know that there are different baptisms, there's a, and I don't think anyone would disagree. There is a spirit baptism, baptism of the Holy Spirit. There's also a water baptism. Which baptism is the one that saves you? Well, let's ask Paul in Ephesians 4.5. He says this, There's one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Which one do you think he's referring to as a result of salvation? Obviously, obviously, he must be speaking of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He could not be leaving the baptism of the Holy Spirit out in place of baptism of water, the water baptism, because there were a lot of people that were baptized in water who are not saved. And that's why Paul makes a statement. He says, I didn't come for this reason. I did not come, or Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. So understanding that his preaching of Christ and people placing their faith in Christ is how a person gets baptized. Once you place your faith in Christ, what does Christ do? He baptizes you in the Holy Spirit. And there might be those that will say things such as, well, why did Jesus Christ get baptized? Well, remember, John says, tells us why Jesus was baptized. He says that I did not know him. Not that he didn't know who he was. It was his cousin. He was only a few months apart, but I want, but so that he would be sure that he wouldn't know him. John says in John 1, I didn't know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. I came baptizing and the one who sent me, he says the one whom you see, the one whom you see the spirit descending on him like a dove. That's him. And so what is John doing while he's baptizing people under repentance and get your life straight, repent and so forth. Here comes Jesus. He says, I need to be baptized with you, but he says no, so that everything will be fulfilled. So John goes ahead and baptizes him. And then what happens? The spirit descends upon him and he has validation from the one who sent him because he sees it and hears it. And then there Jesus says, look everyone. John says, look the lamb who takes away the sins of the world. And so the reason why Jesus was baptized was clearly not the reason why anyone else would be baptized. And so an interesting question would be asked of all those who believe that it is important and that it's necessary. Again, Paul doesn't seem to say so. Paul doesn't say that I came. I need to be baptized. He said, I did not come to baptize. Well, if baptize was important, why would Paul not baptize? As a matter of fact, Paul says, I didn't baptize many of you. I think I didn't baptize all of you. As a matter of fact, only a few of you got baptized. Well, why would Paul make this statement because he's not speaking about a physical water baptism? And think about this. How many times in the Bible compared to the other times, there are more times in the Bible where we see someone being saved who did not get baptized or we're not told that we're baptized. More often than not, people place their faith in Christ and we're not told that they have been baptized. They may have. They may not have. We don't know. But then there are also several other times. Matter of fact, more times and not where when someone is asked how to be safe or the Bible is telling someone how to be saved. Baptism is not in it. Matter of fact, most often baptism is not in how a person is to get saved. Now, does that mean that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not required? No, because if you do those things, if things happen that are required for salvation, baptism happens because it's not a work that you do. Place in your faith in Christ, that's you. The baptism, that's Christ as a result of your faith in Christ. And so, I think it should be abundantly clear that this actual work of baptism, doing that is not what saves you. Is it a good thing to do? Absolutely. Is it a command? Not according to the Greek. And does it save? No, it does not. There's only one baptism and that baptism that saves is a baptism of the Holy Spirit and you, my friend, don't do that. Jesus does that. And if you've been baptized in the Lord, you are saved. If you have the Spirit, you are saved. If you're saved, you have the Spirit. If you save according to Paul, you have been baptized. Amen.