03/05/2026
Why It’s So Hard to Understand
Baptism has been and always will be a very divisive topic. I’ve studied the Bible with many people over the years. In these studies we cover a variety of topics, many times with very little disagreement; people will accept what the Scriptures teach. Until....
If we make it to the topic of salvation from our sins, then baptism comes up (since the Bible clearly teaches that baptism is the point at which one’s sins are forgiven). And then disagreement and opposition begin. Why? Here are some of the verses I present, in which I have bolded words indicating what baptism is and what we receive because of it. See if you can honestly find any difficulty in them:
1. Mark 16:16 – “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
2. Acts 2:38 – “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
3. Acts 22:16 – “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
4. Romans 6:3-4 – “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
5. Gal. 3:26-27 – “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
6. Col. 2:12-13 – “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”
7. 1 Peter 3:21 – “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
These verses are crystal clear: baptism is a burial in water, figurately participating in Jesus’ death, for the purpose of being saved, receiving remission (forgiveness) of sins, having your sins washed away (and being added to His church – Acts 2:41,47). Is it really hard to understand that, at baptism, we have the forgiveness of our sins, and therefore, without baptism, we are still lost in our sins? Yet, the majority of professing believers disagree.
I can recall at a younger age considering all the many doctrines of the New Testament and the false doctrines of the religious world, particularly ones that I found difficult to understand back then, and came to the conclusion that baptism was not among them. Contrarily, I considered the topic of baptism (its mode, purpose, efficacy, necessity, etc.) to be possibly the easiest in Scripture. It seems there is no possible way God could have made it any clearer. And I wondered why it was so difficult for most people to understand.
Later, after becoming a preacher, I wrote and preached a sermon on the topic wherein I suggested that, if everyone else says one thing and we say the opposite, maybe it is we who need to reconsider the topic. So, beginning the sermon with a request that we all forget everything we’ve ever read, been taught, and believed on the topic, I proposed that we then look chronologically at every Bible passage on baptism, understanding contexts, etc., and developing our new understanding. Maybe then we’d be in line with the vast majority of believers around us. Yet, when all was said and done, we found that the Bible still says what it says; all of the above passages are still there, still say what they say, and are still quite easily understood!
So, why do people reject such simple teaching? All people I’ve ever studied with fall into one of two categories: those who had already been taught on baptism and those who had not. Of those who had been taught, virtually all had been taught error and continued to reject the truth I presented, refusing to allow the clear teaching of Scripture to change their minds. Interestingly though, of the relatively few people who had no religious background at all, I cannot recall a single one of them balking at the Bible’s clear teaching on baptism. They read and understood these passages quite easily, even wondering, as I do, why anyone would reject them. Why can they understand so easily? Because, as a preacher from yesteryear used to say, the Bible is so clear on baptism that it would take a preacher to help you misunderstand it!
And this is what has happened. The false teaching of Calvinism, which is a predominant part of almost all of the so-called Christian world, teaches that there is nothing a person can do to affect his own salvation. I.e., we do nothing to save ourselves; it is all God’s doing (even though Peter said “Save yourselves from this untoward (wicked) generation” – Acts 2:40).
With this error in mind, baptism to them becomes a work that one does to earn his salvation. And since nobody can earn his salvation, baptism must not be necessary. The first premise is false: baptism does not earn salvation. I’ve never understood how anyone could think that God would want mankind to earn salvation by being dunked in water. How could this earn anything?
These same people will express the need for one to believe in order to be saved, citing such passages as John 3:16. But I ask, if you allege that I teach that baptism is a work to earn salvation (even though I don’t), why can I not allege that you teach that belief is a work to earn salvation? What’s the difference between the two? Neither of us has ever taught that either of these works earns salvation. We don’t earn it by our faith or by our baptism. Neither action on our part requires God to OWE us salvation from our sins. Yet the Bible teaches that both are necessary in order to be saved. And yes, belief is a work (see John 6:29). (Interestingly, the bible explicitly defines belief as a work, but never baptism.)
So, do the works of belief and baptism earn anything? Of course not. In life, there are works we do that earn and works we do that do not earn. But both are still work. Consider mowing a yard: one man mows a yard for a job, in order to receive payment. Another man mows a yard simply to help his neighbor and accepts no payment. Both men worked! But not all works are for earning.
And no works earn salvation. But this doesn’t mean that these works are not necessary. If folks who balk at baptism can just recognize that belief is a work, but not a meritorious work, then maybe they can also understand the same thing about baptism. Like belief, baptism is a non-meritorious work; it has never earned salvation. But it IS necessary; and it is necessary for the reason the Bible says. It is the point at which we contact the blood of Christ that forgives and saves us (cf. Rev. 1:5 with Acts 22:16). And failure to submit to it FOR THE PURPOSE IT WAS INTENDED is to reject Christ’s blood and forgiveness.
Most “believers” are walking through life believing they are saved, simply because they have faith, and maybe because they were baptized, even though they believe their sins were forgiven prior to baptism. But please understand this: If a person believes he was saved (sins forgiven) prior to his baptism, then by his own admission his baptism was not for the biblical purpose of receiving forgiveness of sins! Therefore, his baptism was for another purpose; it was NOT a biblical baptism and he is therefore still in his sins (i.e., lost)! If he wants to be saved (and added to the one church Christ died to establish, which teaches the truth on this topic), he must be baptized for the correct reason (cf. Acts 19:1-5).
Have you been baptized for the purpose of receiving the forgiveness of your sins? If you were baptized for any other purpose, then you have not received this forgiveness. We implore you to consider the above passages, accept and obey them, and reject any religious group that believes and perpetuates the error about baptism being discussed here. Obey the simple plan of salvation found in Scripture while there is still time in this life to do so.
David Ray
