FOUR GREAT BLESSINGS OF BAPTISM

1. You Will Be Saved from Condemnation

   (a) Jesus Said that You Will Be Saved from Condemnation

       “He who has believed and has been baptized shall 
       be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be 
       condemned” (Mk 16:16). [Obviously, unbelievers
       do not get baptized.] 

   (b) Peter Said that It Saves You

       “Baptism now saves you.” (1 Pt 3:21) What Will You Be 
       Saved From? God will preserve, deliver, and save your 
       soul from paying the penalty of eternal punishment in 
       the lake of fire (2 Thess 1:1, 9). So when you are 
       baptized as a penitent believer, you will receive the great 
       blessing of being saved. 

   (c) Why Were You Baptized?

       Were you baptized in order to be saved, as the Bible 
       directs you to be? If not, are you willing to be baptized to 
       become saved? Many people mistakenly believe that 
       they are saved without being baptized. And so they get 
       baptized for the wrong reason, such as doing it as a 
       sign for the world to see. But the Bible does not say to 
       be baptized for that reason. Instead, Peter said that 
       baptism is your response to God, that you are 
       answering God or responding to Him in baptism as 
       your appeal to Him for a good conscience (1 Pe 3:21, 22). 
       So baptism is between you and God, not between you 
       and the world.

.... more about this in the Bible Study on Salvation, Part 2

CONSIDER THIS COMMON ARGUMENT AGAINST BIBLE BAPTISM

SOME SAY,

“You are teaching you have to be baptized to be saved when the Bible teaches it is not through works but by the grace of God.”
-- Anonymous

BUT I SAY,

"You had a graveless conversion. You are teaching a graveless gospel." -- PDY

If you properly understood “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), you would not be saying such a thing about baptism for why are you taking the BURIAL out of the gospel of God’s grace? [Besides, who did God say is doing the work in your baptism? Click here to find out.]

Behold the Bible specifically says that "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24) is a Death, BURIAL, and Resurrection / a D.B.R. (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3, 4).

Behold, the Bible specifically says that those who do not obey the gospel [the D.B.R.], will pay the eternal penalty (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9). So it is obvious that we must obey the gospel to be saved.

Behold how the Bible specifically says to obey the gospel [the DBR] of God's grace to be saved.

      D--“die to sin” (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:2).

      B--“buried with Him [Christ] through baptism” 
         (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12)

      R--“raised up with Him [Christ] through faith in the working of God, 
          who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:4)

Could the thief on the cross obey the gospel? Certainly not! How could he? Christ was not yet dead (D), was He? He was not yet buried (B), was He? He was not yet raised (R), was He? Obviously, since the gospel [a DBR] was not even history yet, the thief then did not have to obey the gospel to be saved. Now it is history. Now we must obey it! Here’s the conclusion.

1. YOU HAVE MISAPPLIED THE WORD OF GOD!

You have misapplied the verse “not by works” to baptism. The Bible never excludes baptism from the saving power of “the gospel [ the DBR] of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), but instead includes it.

Jesus included baptism in His gospel for salvation, saying, “… preach the gospel [DBR]… He who has believed and has been baptized will be saved” (Mk 16:15, 16).
Peter obeyed Jesus’ admonition and included it in his preaching of the gospel, saying, “Corresponding to that [Noah & 7 others being saved by the grace of God through the floodwaters], baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). "But Noah found grace [favor] in the eyes of the LORD" (KJV Ge 6:8) Consequently, Noah was saved by the grace of God through the water and so are we.

Obviously, Jesus wants sinners to die with Him through baptism to be saved. But for deceptive reasons, false teachers do not want sinners to have a proper burial! How dishonoring. How misleading!

"False teachers do not want sinners to have a proper burial!"

Who Is Doing the Work in Your Baptism?

It's such a passive act, being lowered down into the water for baptism by a baptizer, how could it even be considered a work? What work are you doing in it? In baptism you are not doing the work, the Bible specifically indicates that Christ Jesus is doing the work in your baptism (READ Col 2:11, 12). He is the one working in your baptism, not you! But in comparison, “prayer for salvation” is more of “a work” than baptism, and besides prayer is incorrect teaching on salvation because it is not the gospel, it is not the DBR. To properly learn how to be saved by the gospel of God’s grace, you need to read and complete How to Be Saved by the Gospel [Test Yourself PDF] or watch this 1/2 hour video on it by the author: How to Be Saved by the Gospel [Video .5 hr].

2. YOU DO NOT KNOW THE GOSPEL!

You have failed to recognize that the grace of God specifically includes baptism for salvation. Peter said that “true grace” (1 Peter 5:12) includes a water “baptism” (1 Peter 3:21). To understand the true grace of God more perfectly, you need to read the “True vs. False Grace” lesson in the Bible Study on Salvation, Be Saved by the Grace of God.

3. YOU LEARNED A DIFFERENT GOSPEL!

Obviously, someone taught you to exclude the burial from the gospel and to accept something else instead. You learned a false grace. You learned a graveless gospel. You had a graveless conversion.

4. YOU NEED CONVERTED TO THE TRUE GOSPEL!

Since you learned a false gospel, you obviously obeyed a false gospel. So you need to DIE to your sins, be BURIED or re-buried with Christ in water baptism, for baptism is not an after salvation event [the Bible clearly reveals this], and be RAISED through your faith in God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead. For your salvation, why refuse to properly obey the gospel of the grace of God, the DBR? Make plans to obey it today! Keep the grave in the gospel. Keep the grave in your conversion. That is, keep the B in the DBR. Bury your sins with Christ in water baptism.