I\u2019m confused. You said on your website that baptism is required for a person to be saved. How can this be so?<\/p>\n\t
Because the Bible states: “Corresponding to that,\u00a0baptism now saves you<\/strong>\u00a0— not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ<\/i>” (I Peter 3:21).<\/p>\n When discussing salvation, you need to address the question: “From what are you being saved?” Many people think of salvation as a right to enter heaven, but it is much more than this. It is a rescue from danger — the danger of sin. If you understand this, then notice what Ananias told Saul, “And now why are you waiting?\u00a0Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins<\/strong>, calling on the name of the Lord<\/i>” (Acts 22:16). There are several implications in this statement.<\/p>\n Saul later wrote about this after he changed his name to Paul. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this,\u00a0that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin<\/strong><\/i>” (Romans 6:3-7). Paul said that all of us were slaves of sin, but through the burial of baptism, we contact the death of Christ and thus die to sin. Being freed from sin is what is meant by being saved.<\/p>\n Notice also that Paul said, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?<\/i>” (Romans 6:3). Every Christian is baptized. In another place, Paul said, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ<\/i>” (Galatians 3:26). Baptism was universally practiced by the first-century church. That constitutes a requirement or a commandment. And that also explains Peter’s command, ““Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And\u00a0he commanded them to be baptized<\/strong> in the name of the Lord<\/i>” (Acts 10:47-48).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I\u2019m confused. You said on your website that baptism is required for a person to be saved. How can this be so? Answer: Because the Bible states: “Corresponding to that,\u00a0baptism now saves you\u00a0— not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,47],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":609,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-term-brother-indicate-saul-was-saved-prior-to-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":2012,"position":0},"title":"Does the term “brother” indicate Saul was saved prior to baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Since Ananias calls Saul \"Brother\" prior to Saul's baptism, doesn't this prove that Saul was saved before he was baptized? Answer: The verse in\u00a0question is\u00a0Acts 22:13\u00a0which reads, \"and he\u00a0[Ananias]\u00a0stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him.\" As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13667,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/paul-was-filled-with-the-spirit-before-he-was-baptized-so-wasnt-he-saved-before-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":2012,"position":1},"title":"Paul was filled with the Spirit before he was baptized, so wasn’t he saved before baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I figured I would just point out two significant points in the Bible. Acts 10:43-48 clearly illustrates that one can have the Holy Spirit before baptism.\u00a0\u00a0The passage also says \"whoever believes in shall have remission of sins.\"\u00a0\u00a0Once you have the Holy Spirit in your life you are saved.\u00a0\u00a0Also, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89654,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-faith-only\/","url_meta":{"origin":2012,"position":2},"title":"What About \u201cFaith Only?\u201d","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Riley It is not uncommon to hear sincere religious folks speak of being saved by \"faith only\". They say, \"All you have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.\" Their statement is designed to convey the concept that one is saved at the exact moment of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27997,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-baptism-unnecessary-for-salvation-because-every-conversion-in-acts-doesnt-mention-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":2012,"position":3},"title":"Is baptism unnecessary for salvation because every conversion in Acts doesn’t mention baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi. I received the below email and am having a tough time responding to these verses in regards to is baptism being necessary for salvation. I was hoping you might be able to help with these verses. Thank you Here are the places in Acts that you need to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22956,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-shouldnt-condemn-those-who-believe-baptism-is-unnecessary-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2012,"position":4},"title":"You shouldn’t condemn those who believe baptism is unnecessary for salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian, a part of the Church of the Nazarene. I myself have been baptized, but it becomes a concern to me when many others find it absolutely necessary to be baptized with water to be saved. I am very open to the consideration of the doctrines\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50382,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-all-believe-the-only-way-to-be-saved-is-through-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":2012,"position":5},"title":"Do you all believe the only way to be saved is through baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading more on the La Vista Church of Christ website, and I was a little confused about something. Do you all believe the only way to be saved is through baptism? Answer: I have a question for you: Can a person be saved by ignoring what God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n