What must we do to be saved?

No doubt many people today would say: "Why are you bothering with baptism? It's only a ceremony, isn't it? Having a few drops of holy water sprinkled on the head of an infant by a clergyman in church, or just having a bath? What real difference can it make? You're wasting your time."

The short answer is that the New Testament has a great deal to say about baptism, from the lips of Jesus himself as well as through his apostles. Now the plain fact is that the Bible is all we have. If we want to know who Jesus was, what he taught and what he commanded his followers to do, we must go to the Bible for the answers. To look elsewhere is to rely on the opinions of men, whether of individuals or of bodies of men in Synods or Councils. What the Bible has to say about baptism must be vital for us. If Christ and his chosen apostles have declared certain things about baptism, then we ought to want to know what they are.

The really important question must therefore surely be: What did Jesus command and teach and what did his apostles do as a result?

"Born of Water"
To Nicodemus, the Jewish leader who came to him by night, Jesus said: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". When Nicodemus took these words literally, Jesus further explained: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:3,5). But why should he say, "Except a man be born of water ... " unless it was a clear reference to baptism? John the Baptist had been actively preaching repentance and baptizing many in the River Jordan. Jesus himself had been baptized by John saying, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15, R.S.V.). There can then be no doubt that when Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water ...", he was saying that to enter the Kingdom of God, a man or woman must be baptized.

This is confirmed by the very clear command Jesus gave to his disciples as he was about to leave them on his ascent to heaven:

"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you" (Matthew 28:19- 20).

The task of the apostles after Jesus' ascension was a teaching mission which explicitly included baptism.

What the Apostles Did
But how did the apostles interpret these instructions in practice? Here the detailed account of their activities in the Acts of the Apostles is of great value. We follow them briefly:

Acts 2:36-38. Peter told his audience in Jerusalem that they had crucified Jesus, the "Lord and Christ". Their consciences were stirred to cry:

"What shall we do?"

Peter's answer is explicit:

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins."

Acts 2:41. We are told how they responded:

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized ..."

Acts 8:12. Philip preached the gospel in Samaria:

"When they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women."

Acts 8:39. Hearing Philip explain the meaning of Jesus' fulfilment of the Scriptures, the Ethiopian eunuch significantly asked: "What doth hinder me to be baptized? ... and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him." Philip must have told the eunuch of the meaning and necessity of baptism for him to raise the question at all.

Acts 9:18. Saul of Tarsus, struck with blindness when he saw the risen Jesus on his way to Damascus, received a visit from a faithful disciple, Ananias. When Paul heard Ananias' words, "immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and he arose, and was baptized".

Acts 6:14-15. Lydia, "one that worshipped God", gave heed to Paul's preaching and "was baptized ..."

Acts 6:30-33. The Philippian jailor, having evidently heard something already of Paul's preaching in the city, cried: "What must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas "spake unto him the word of the Lord." As a result he "was baptized ..."

Acts 16:14-15. Paul found at Ephesus certain believers who had known only the "baptism of John (the Baptist)". Paul explained to them:
"John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

Cornelius
The case of Cornelius (Acts 10) has been deliberately kept till last in this list because it has some remarkable features, of great interest to us in modern times. He was a Roman soldier who had come to know and worship the God of Israel. He was "a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always" (v. 2).

What an admirable man! A worshipper of God, a man of good works and of prayer -- surely he didn't need anything? The record shows us that he did. The Apostle Peter was commanded to visit him and make known to him "words whereby thou shalt be saved" (11: 14). He explained the work of God in Christ: "Whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins" (10:43).

Now Peter had been reluctant to go on this errand, and so had his companions, all Jews, for they had a prejudice against accepting Gentiles into the body of believers. God had already countered this in Peter's case by granting him a vision (vv. 9-16) teaching him that he was not to treat as unclean "what God has cleansed". When Cornelius believed the word preached by Peter, God granted a further sign to convince the Jews: "The Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word" (v. 44), to the astonishment of the Jews present. It was a special gift for the purpose of convincing the Jews that it was God's will to accept Gentiles into the faith. Peter's reaction is very instructive:

"Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized ... ? And he commanded them to be baptized ..." (vv. 47- 48).

Notice the very striking fact that although Cornelius and his household had just received the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter still "commanded" them to be baptized! Could there be a more impressive proof of the necessity of baptism?

It is therefore clear that baptism is not just a washing of the skin, but a meaningful step in the process of salvation.