Are You Saved?

Baptism

Article #1 on Baptism

Are you saved?

Most Christians in India will respond by giving the date of their baptism. But is it right to equate baptism with salvation? Some people argue that this was being done by Jesus Christ in the great commission of Mark 16:15-16, when our Lord said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…”. And this seems to line up with the apostle Paul’s testimony of salvation, when Ananias said to Paul, “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the Name of the LORD.” (Acts 22:16). Others will point to the Ethiopian Eunuch who said to Philip the Evangelist, “What doth hinder me to be baptized?” (Acts 8:36). Nevertheless, we all need to carefully study the Bible to correctly interpret these verses.

Are all baptized people saved?

No! Not everyone Philip the Evangelist baptized was saved. Take, for example, the false conversion of Simon the Sorcerer. It was written, “Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.” (Acts 8:13). Nevertheless, only a few days later the apostle Peter exposed Simon the Sorcerer as a false convert to Christianity due to the insincerity of his faith and repentance in the Gospel (Acts 8:18-21). Peter said to Simon, “thy heart is not right in the sight of God” (Acts 8:21). This moment in biblical history serves as a warning to everyone. Not everyone who is baptized is saved because baptism is not equal to salvation. The water of baptism cannot save you.

Are all unbaptized people unsaved?

No! Cornelius was saved before he was baptized by water. The first ever Gentile convert to Christianity, named Cornelius, repented of his sins, believed in the Gospel, and immediately received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and all this happened while the apostle Peter was preaching to everyone in his household (Acts 10:44-48, 11:14-18). It was written, “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.” (Acts 10:44). This is called a Spiritual Baptism. These Gentiles were not yet baptized by water, but they were baptized by the Spirit. Which one is better? Salvation can be equated to a Spiritual Baptism. Salvation cannot be equated to a water baptism.

Peter saw what happened to Cornelius, and said, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” (Acts 10:47-48). These new believers didn’t have to take classes to be baptized by water. They didn’t have to spend days, weeks, or months in discipleship. No! They only needed one thing. Spiritual Baptism was the only qualification for water baptism, because water baptism is a physical demonstration of Spiritual Baptism – a physical demonstration of a spiritual reality – as described by the apostle Paul in Romans 6:1-7.

Are all spiritually baptized people saved?

Yes! This is made abundantly clear by the testimony of Cornelius. Spiritual Baptism is a divine work of salvation that is performed as an operation of the Holy Spirit. Peter was sent by God to Cornelius’s household to tell the Gentiles the “words” of the Gospel so that they might be “saved” (Acts 11:14).

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” – 1 Peter 1:23

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” – Eph. 2:8-9

Peter saw the Gentiles getting spiritually baptized while he was preaching the Gospel, and then he remembered what Jesus Christ said about baptism: “John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 11:16). This is an important word for India. We can see how mere men can perform a water baptism, but only God can perform the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Salvation is entirely a work of God performed by grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is not a work of man, otherwise we would have reason to boast.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” – Romans 6:1-7

Spiritual Baptism miraculously joins believers to the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sinners who go through this experience of Spiritual Emersion cannot remain the same person. “For he that is dead is freed from sin.” (Rom. 6:7). Are you free? Jesus Christ said that “the truth” shall make you free (John 8:31-32). Maybe you have believed lies about baptism? Due to being confused and distracted by water baptism, you went into the water and came out the same person as you were before. Too many Indians treat baptism like a Hindu ritual. They are putting their faith in the water of baptism to receive salvation! Simon the Sorcerer was doing the same thing, so his baptism was nothing more than a superstitious bath. Simon’s background in Sorcery, like the Hinduism of India, guided him into this way of thinking, and this resulted in a meaningless and powerless baptism.

India needs the Spiritual Baptism of true Christianity. Spiritual Baptism is how we are joined to the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). Everyone who is Spiritually Baptized is saved! And no one who has just been Spiritually Baptized should ever be denied water baptism. These people should be baptized without delay. The burial of water baptism is a public testimony of a spiritual experience – a new birth by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3, 5). Are you saved? How do you even know who is saved? This is how the apostle Paul knew when people were saved: “For our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance” (1 Thess. 1:4-5).