Dear Brother,<\/p>\n
I have a question regarding the plan of salvation. I ask this with the intent of seeking clarity rather than passing judgment on others.<\/p>\n
My question concerns the forgiveness of sins. Scripture clearly states that water baptism by immersion, rooted in faith and by grace, effects the forgiveness of sins and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, I am under the impression that denominations which reject this-believing instead that salvation is attained through faith alone and that baptism is merely an answer of a good conscience toward God rather than a requirement for salvation-are essentially in error, as they reject the order established by Christ.<\/p>\n
Is this understanding correct? I look forward to your response.<\/p>\n
Thank you, and with Christian greetings.<\/p>\n\t
“You are My friends if you do what I command you<\/em>” (John 15:14).<\/p>\n
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me’<\/em>” (John 14:23-24).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Since it is Jesus and His apostles who tell us that baptism is necessary (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:16; Romans 6:1-7; I Peter 3:21, etc.), then the obvious conclusion is that those who ignore Christ’s command neither love him nor are his friends. You can’t serve God partially.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Dear Brother, I have a question regarding the plan of salvation. I ask this with the intent of seeking clarity rather than passing judgment on others. My question concerns the forgiveness of sins. Scripture clearly states that water baptism by immersion, rooted in faith and by grace, effects the forgiveness of sins and the…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,54],"class_list":["post-95481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44375,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-answer-on-circumcision-and-how-it-relates-to-baptism-and-covenants-made-it-clear-to-me-why-baptism-is-necessary-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":95481,"position":0},"title":"Your answer on circumcision and how it relates to baptism and covenants made it clear to me why baptism is necessary for salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone asked about\u00a0the law of circumcision\u00a0and your answer was so helpful to me, especially in how it relates to covenants between man and God, then and now, with baptism. Now I understand how it can be symbolic of salvation, as the Baptists claim, and be a step in salvation,\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":94529,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/johns-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":95481,"position":1},"title":"John\u2019s Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong The baptism of John, whence was it? This is the question Jesus asked in Luke 20:4, directed at the religious leaders of that day and carrying some alarming implications. First, \"there was a man sent from God\" (John 1:6). That is the biblical record of the true\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":31173,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-person-be-baptized-again-if-he-was-baptized-for-the-wrong-purpose\/","url_meta":{"origin":95481,"position":2},"title":"Should a person be baptized again if he was baptized for the wrong purpose?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day sir. Well done on your website. I just finished reading the \"Baptism: Necessary for Salvation\" posting. and quickly browsed your other links. I was encouraged by your website and the fact that you used scripture to back up what you were stating when it came to salvation.\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":2450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-baptist-be-rebaptized-even-though-he-says-he-was-baptized-for-the-right-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":95481,"position":3},"title":"Must a Baptist be rebaptized even though he says he was baptized for the right reason?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was raised in the church of Christ. I am married to someone who was raised in the Baptist church. She has no problem with going to church with me. But she doesn't think that she should be baptized again. She says that she was baptized for the same\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":17645,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-clap-after-someone-is-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":95481,"position":4},"title":"Is it wrong to clap after someone is baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it wrong to clap after someone is baptized? Answer: Clapping is a way of showing approval or appreciation. We generally use clapping to show approval to something that entertained us, but it can be used for other things we approve. As such it isn't particularly wrong, but I\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":35978,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-wonder-if-i-falsely-remember-being-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":95481,"position":5},"title":"I wonder if I falsely remember being baptized","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some say it is absolutely wrong to be baptized more than once and to not do it.\u00a0Some say it is an outward sign to others, and one can be baptized more than once for various reasons.\u00a0I have even read that water baptism is not necessary for salvation, which I\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\/95481","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=95481"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95484,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95481\/revisions\/95484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}