Is Water Baptism a Requirement for Salvation?
We are commanded by the Scriptures to be baptized once we are saved, and we see this link throughout the Scriptures. We see in the Bible that those who repent of their sins and give their lives over to Jesus Christ are generally baptized shortly after. Hence we have a strong association between salvation and baptism. However, this association should not be taken to an improper conclusion that baptism is a requirement of salvation, for it is definitely not. As we have previously discussed, water baptism is a symbolic representation of what has already occurred in the heart of a believer. The accounts of conversions in the Bible by the disciples usually make mention of baptism following a person’s conversion. Unfortunately, this link of water baptism to salvation in the Scriptures has lead some people to take water baptism from its proper place as a symbolic act to the place of being a requirement for salvation. One of the key passages to which I like to point, in regards to water baptis
