Do you HAVE to be baptised to go to heaven?? I don't believe that you do. But I have a friend who keeps telling me that if I die today I will go to hell. My thing is that what about the people who repent right before they die. Or The thief on the cross beside jesus?? Give me verses if you can. Thanks
Quick answer...NO. Baptism has NOTHING TO DO with salvation other than being an outward profession of an inward decision. But..you are correct. Jesus promised the thief on the cross that "I promise that THIS DAY, you will be with me in Paradise". I imagine the guy didn't climb down and go get baptised, climb back on and died. I do believe that there are religions that require it. But The Word does not. At least in my 23 years of study in it. You salvation is assured, my sister.! Do not let man's legalism bind you or cause you fear! ETA....my husband is kind of a scholar when it comes to the Word...so I'll ask him for some scripture addresses (I can rattle them off, but not be able to tell you where they are) for you. He's away on business so it may take a few days.!!!
Oh, forgot to say, The reason that I'm being told this is because in the Bible Jesus was baptised. And we are supposed to do as Jesus did. When I brought up the thief on the cross she said that it's ok if you never had a chance to be baptised. But if God points out to you that you should do this you better do it. Or ELSE. But why would he point it out to some and not others, IF that is the case?? I absolutly believe that I am saved BY HIS GRACE. He died on the cross to save me. He wasn't baptised to save me. I'm sure there is going to be LOTS of views on this subject.
Preach it, sister! My salvation is not dependent upon my baptism. Here is a written sermon on the subject. There is a lot of scriptural fact backing up the point. Here is an article with links at the bottom that confront some of the scriptures that Baptism based salvationists often site. Here is a quote from this site. I found it very to the point.
baptism is not salvation but I believe it is important. May I ask is there a reason you do not wish to be baptized?
There are denominations that believe this. I do not. To me, baptism (immersion) is IMPORTANT, but not a requirement for salvation. For example, if a person has a death bed conversion, is it required of them to be baptized? Also, my church performs immersion. But we had a person who desired to be baptized who could not physically be immersed. Our pastor "sprinkled" that person, and considers him just as baptized as anyone else. Also, being baptized doesn't "guarantee" you a place in heaven. My pastor also says that if you get baptized without accepting Christ, you don't "get saved", you just "get wet"! GOD JUDGES THE HEART ATTITUDE!!!
I also believe that baptism is important. Baptism is a public expression of faith expression of faith and that expression of faith is essential for salvation. (Romans 10:10) This was confirmed by the apostle Peter’s words: “Immersion . . . saves us.” (1 Peter 3:21). Peter tells us that the resurrected Jesus preached to the demons in prison (2 Peter 2:4) that had disobeyed God by materializing in fleshly bodies and having relations with women (Genesis 6:1,2) in Noah’s day, and are awaiting the judgment day. He concluded with the words, “That which corresponds to this is also now saving YOU, namely, baptism, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the request made to God for a good conscience,) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:18-21) Why the comparison between Noah and baptism? Peter with saying that baptism founded on faith corresponds to the preservation of Noah and his family. Just as Noah needed faith to build the ark, Jesus’ followers must have faith to withstand pressures from Satan. (Hebrews 11:6, 7; 1 John 5:19) However, baptism itself is not what saves. Salvation is “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” As for the thief that was impaled with Jesus, he would not have thought that he was going to go heaven with Jesus that day. One reason is because Jesus was not resurrected that day. (Luke 18:31-33; 24:46; Acts 2:31) Until his resurrection, Jesus was in Ha´des, the common grave, where the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10) It was not until the third day that Jesus was resurrected from Hades. Then, during almost six weeks he made a number of appearances to his followers. On one of those occasions, Jesus told Mary: “I have not yet ascended to the Father.” (John 20:17) So, even then he had not reached any place that could be called paradise. So what did Jesus mean? He was promising the thief that he will be resurrected to the Paradise that will be restored under God’s Kingdom, of which Jesus is King. (Psalm 37:9-11; Micah 4:3, 4) Hence, Jesus will be with that wrongdoer and countless other dead ones when he resurrects them from the grave to life on a paradise earth and to the opportunity of learning to do God’s will and living forever.—John 5:28, 29; Revelation 20:11-13; 21:3, 4.
I agree 150% with the gals here. You DO NOT have to be baptized to be saved and go to heaven. I also believe being baptized is a wonderful and important part of being a christian.....as Krista said, it is an outward profession of an inward decision.
I'm not against being baptized. I just haven't done it. But it is in the plans for the near future. I just was wondering if there is scripture,that I hadn't heard or seen,that says you MUST be baptised. Thanks
I get a little skeptical around people who say that you have to do this ONE thing, whether it is baptism or something else, if you want to go to heaven. Does your friend think that everyone who has been baptized will go to heaven automatically? With that said I do believe that baptism is necessary but that it is one of MANY things we do to show our faith in Christ. Someone said it well earlier when they said that God looks on the heart. And anyone who is spending their time telling other people that they are going to Hell might want to spend a little time soul searching. :angel: Amy
Before I got baptized I was thinking the same thoughts. I really believe that if I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior I will go to heaven. I got baptized along with my kids because for me, it was the right thing to do, doesn't mean it is right for everyone. My beliefs!
I honestly know very little on the subject... but I do think this person has a warped interpretation of things. I used to be quite active with a 'secular' homeschool group ~~ however, the 'secular' members of this group took priority in bringing up Baptising my children "for their salvation" even though we are not Christian & do not teach our children the Christian faith. That made no sense to me since I'd been told all my life that you have to accept Jesus and your personal savior, ask for forgiveness of your sins, forsake all others, etc, etc..... which, like another poster said, doesn't happen from just 'getting wet' LOL I don't know.... maybe it's just an interpretation thing. I know I'm not a Christian... but I used to think I was.... and for what it's worth... I didn't think it was necessary then & don't think it's necessary now. I really think it's more of a symbolic thing than anything else.
When I was in my confirmation classes in junior high my pastor always said, "Girls - if you ever get pregnant and there is ANY chance whatsoever that your baby will die at birth, you better arrange to have your paster in the delivery room with you to baptize the baby before he dies. If you don't he will go to hell." Needless to say, I left the Lutheran church as soon as I was old enough to make that decision.
I agree. You really need to look at the whole picture. Baptism in and of itself does not save a person. If that person has not repented and not confessed Christ as their Lord, then they are merely getting wet. Have you read about Saul/Pauls' conversion. He fasted and prayed for days and was still told to be baptized. Surely, if prayer was enough, Paul of all people would have set that example. Why were so many baptized at Pentecost? In Romans 8 we're told that there is one faith, one baptism. Matthew 28 is a command from Jesus ""All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." I believe that quote from 1 Corinthians is taken out of context. He didn't say he was glad he didn't baptize for salvations sake. He was glad he didn't baptize so that the people being baptized wouldn't give credit to him instead of Christ. The Corinthians were struggling with allegiances to man instead of God.
I don't think it was taken out of context at all. I didn't think the author was making the point that baptism was a bad thing. I think he was just saying (what his words say, anyhow) that if salvation was dependent on baptism, Paul would have been in the business of baptizing everyone who came to Christ. He would not have been swayed from baptizing for any reason. Not even the issue of putting allegiance in men. That's like saying that I'm glad I didn't witness to that lady at work because some other Christian might have been jealous of my ability to be outspoken about my faith. I mean, that's just silly. If salvation was dependent on baptism, than a preacher/missionary like Paul would do anything in the world to get people baptized. Don't get me wrong, I believe that baptism is important. But I don't think that someone who chooses not to be baptized will go to hell. Yes, Paul was told to be baptized. But so was Christ. Does that mean that Jesus Himself needed salvation? Obviously not. So you can't say that Paul's being told to be baptized really had anything to do with his salvation.
I stand by what I said regarding 1 Corinthians. Paul was not the only one capable of baptizing. Any believer could. He said himself it was his job to preach- anybody could be baptizing. By him not doing it, it prevented allegiances. Most of Jesus' life was for our example and benefit, not ours. What about the Great Commission? I didn't post to debate anybody, I just think the whole picture needs to be presented.
That's a good question. And one that can be answered with another question: Why didn't Paul follow it?
I love these conversations! Ya'll make me study! I agree with Lori on the verses in Corinthians. I won't repost the scriptures, but she posted the ones I was going to. I've always felt that Paul was aggravated with the corinthians when he wrote vs 14. The church was divided and arguing, he was telling them that Christ is not divided and it doesn't matter who baptizes you. When he writes "I thank God that I baptized none of you.....lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name" I think he was just saying that if he had baptized more it might have given them more to fight about. Now to the original question... I think baptizm is very important, but I don't think you're on your way to hell. God see's your heart, He knows what your intentions are. Lisa
I do not believe that we have to be baptised to have salvation. I also believe it is an outward expression of our faith. We are saved through faith, not deeds. As far as I am concerned, baptism is a physical action showing we love Christ. It is because we have a relationship with the Lord that we do this. We do not do this in order to have a relationship with Christ. Our sins were atoned for through Christ's died on the cross. We can't atone for our sins by a deed. If this were the case then any person who was baptised would be saved even if they didn't have faith. Our church also does a complete emersion.
