Water Baptism

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Monday March 3, 2008

John 3:5,6 (NIV)
5. Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Some people read that a person must be born of "water", and think that must mean they must be baptized in water.

But verse 6 plainly tells us that SPIRIT gives birth to SPIRIT. The being "born again" that Jesus is referring to is the same being "born again" referred to throughout the New Testament. A person's spirit is not born again by contact with water. If it were, then anyone could be born again by jumping into water.

Romans 6:3,4 (NIV)
3. Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Paul tells us we were "buried with Him" in baptism. That would seem to be talking about water baptism, when we were buried under the water. When we came up out of the water it symbolized the new life we began in Christ. But spiritual baptism happens BEFORE the physical, and it is the spiritual baptism that saves us, not the physical.

Mark quotes Jesus on the subject of baptism:

Mark 16:16 (NIV) (Jesus speaking)
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Some have taken this verse out of context, trying to make it say that you have to believe and be WATER baptized to be saved; but we know for a fact that this verse is not talking about WATER baptism.

Notice that after Jesus said, "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved," He said, "but whoever DOES NOT BELIEVE will be condemned!" Why doesn't it say that whoever does not believe AND IS NOT BAPTIZED will be condemned? Because He didn't say that, we know that condemnation comes from not BELIEVING, not from not being baptized.

The Bible talks about SPIRITUAL baptism:

Romans 6:4 (NIV)
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Did this spiritual baptism occur at the moment of water baptism? Throughout the New Testament, Christian baptism ALWAYS and WITHOUT EXCEPTION occurs AFTER the person already received Christ and was saved! Titus makes this perfectly clear:

Titus 3:5 (NIV)
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. HE SAVED US THROUGH THE WASHING OF REBIRTH AND RENEWAL BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

Does God wait until we are water baptized to give us spiritual rebirth? Does the Holy Spirit wait until we are water baptized to renew us? Definitely not! The Bible states plainly that our salvation comes by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised Jesus from the dead:

Romans 10:9,10 (NIV)
9. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Verse ten makes it perfectly clear that WITH YOUR MOUTH YOU CONFESS AND ARE SAVED! Not a word about water baptism!

Water baptism is a great thing to do, but it does NOT save you!

PRAYER
Thank You, Father, for Your Word, that tells us so much about You and how to live our lives for You. Help me to not add to what Your Word clearly says, but to accept it as it is.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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