Baptism

John 3:5 (KJV)

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

I keep hearing people saying that you don’t have to be baptized to be saved. All you have to do is “believe” and you’ll go to Heaven. Even this one guy at my church keeps arguing with the pastor about it. Claims it doesn’t say anywhere in the Bible that you have to go be baptized to be saved. “Jesus died for all sins. You’re saved already!”.

Well look at the verse I opened this with. Jesus says you cannot enter the Kingdom of God without being baptized. What about this?

Mark 16:16 (KJV)

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

…wow, that seems pretty straightforward. He even puts it in a certain order. Believe…baptize….saved. I don’t know how you can take that out of context.

What about the sinner’s prayer? If that’s not biblical, why do millions do it and claim to be saved? Short answer: They’re not. Long answer.