Look what he says in verse number 17 for Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel
not with wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect so
according to that right there does it look like baptism is necessary for salvation?
Now people out there who teach that you must be baptized in order to be saved explain this to me
explain why he says well I'm glad I didn't baptize people because Christ did not send me
to to baptize but to preach the gospel well let me ask this
would that make any sense if the gospel included baptism?
I mean if the gospel included baptism he wouldn't say well I was sent to preach the gospel not to
baptize well if the gospel included baptism then he'd be having to he'd have to baptize in order
to preach the gospel he'd have to preach baptism and and basically you know that is the gospel
be baptized to be saved but that is not what the bible teaches you know there are so many ways to
disprove this doctrine that says that baptism is necessary for salvation you know you could start
with about a hundred verses in the new testament that say that believing saves you that don't
mention baptism at all that's a good place to start you know John 1 12 John 3 16 John 3 18 John
3 36 none of them mentioned baptism whatsoever and yet people teach that baptism is necessary
for salvation another thing to keep in mind is that four thousand three hundred and some years
of of human history before John the Baptist nobody was baptized how'd those people get saved how'd
they make it to heaven if baptism is necessary for salvation okay why was Jesus baptized if baptism
is somehow necessary for salvation Jesus did not need to be saved Jesus did not need to wash his
sins away he didn't have any sins so why was he baptized because baptism is symbolic of the death
barrel and resurrection Jesus Christ was picturing that and acting that out he was doing it in
obedience to the father when we get baptized we're doing it in obedience to the father but it does
not get us into heaven it does not get us safe and then you say what about the thief on the cross he
wasn't baptized well god made an exception no god god doesn't make exceptions like that you know he
says whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life and it's that simple it's
not a matter of baptism and plus here's the other thing if baptism saves you then that means you
have to rely on church to save you because who baptizes you you get baptized by church
so if baptism saves that means you're relying on man to save you i've spoken to people before who
were told that they could not be baptized at the church the church refused to baptize them
because they did not either believe correctly or they did not live their life correctly now
i believe that in order for a person to be baptized there's only one prerequisite
if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest so if you believe on Jesus Christ you
may be baptized you say well if a man has long hair he's got to get a haircut first then baptized
nope that's not biblical okay uh well if he's living with his girlfriend he's got to get you
no wrong if you believe that's enough to get you baptized okay and we don't have a baptism class
because the water's not that deep you know what i mean you don't need a swimming lesson you know
and in the bible when people believed on Christ they were baptized the same hour the same day
no class just baptized just dunked done okay now you say would you ever refuse to baptize somebody
i would refuse to baptize somebody who doesn't believe on Jesus Christ with all their heart
somebody came to me and said well you know i still believe you can lose your salvation if
you don't live right well i'm not going to baptize them okay but here's the thing you don't rely on me
for salvation anyway because baptism doesn't save therefore i don't save therefore this church
doesn't save in that sense okay we have to be saved by believing on Christ and the great thing
about it is we just go directly to Christ just call upon the name of the Lord to be saved you
don't have to get saved in church you can never set foot in church and still be saved if you're
a believer but those who believe that baptism saves they're basically saying you've got to
come to church and get baptized or you have to be baptized by someone of the church that will
baptize you well now you're relying on man for salvation instead of on the finished work of Jesus
Christ and on just calling upon the name of the Lord just like people have called upon the name
of the Lord throughout history and become saints