Does the Bible teach that baptism is necessary for salvation? We know that Yeshua considers it important and normative for the believer, but is it necessary? Let us consider 1 Keifa (Peter) chapter 3, as arguably the strongest passage in favor of this position. For the purposes of this article, we will assume that baptism is immersion, as it is consistently depicted in the Scriptures.

In verse eighteen, Keifa is concluding his exhortation of how to defend the faith, saying that we should consider the suffering of Messiah in how we handle ourselves, and emphasizing the importance of having a “good conscience.” Then Keifa holds up Noah as an example of this idea, reminding us how God brought about salvation for Noah, his family, and all humanity.

[In] the days of Noach, as an ark was being prepared, in which few—that is, eight souls—were saved through water—a thing also pointing to that which now saves you: immersion—not, of bodily flesh, a putting away of filth; but, of a good conscience, an asking to God—through the Rising Again of Yeshua the Messiah… (1 Keifa 3:20-21, mjlt)

So Keifa says that Noah and his family were “saved through water,” which many consider a clear reference to immersion. But does Keifa actually mean that the water of the Flood saved Noah from the destruction of the Flood? Or does he mean that the ark, which God instructed Noah how to build and which floated on the water, was what saved Noah from the destruction of the Flood? If we look at the passage again, we find that Keifa indeed says that it was in “an ark… in which few… were saved through water” (emphasis added).

In other words, an ark sitting on dry land does not save, but it was ready and able to save through its ability to carry them on the waters, and thereby escape the Flood. It is the same with the nature of this salvation which points to what Keifa says now “saves” us: immersion. Yet it is not simply an immersion in water, but an immersion through the resurrection of Yeshua.

Just as in Noah’s situation, where it was not the actual water that saved them, but the ark on the water, Keifa is teaching us that it is not the water of immersion that saves us, but that which comes with that immersion. It is the resurrection power of Yeshua that brings us up and saves us from being buried in the waters of immersion.

Notice how Keifa then goes on to describe this immersion. He explains that he is not referring to an immersion that cleans the physical body of dirt and filth, but an immersion that is “an asking to God”—an appeal to Him—that comes from our “good conscience.” And it is from this appeal that, presumably, we are cleansed from sin and freed from death.

So according to Keifa, immersion now saves us, but only in the sense that Noah was also “saved” through water. We need to understand that Scripture frames the concept of being saved in different senses (cf. 1 Timothy 2:15, James 5:15). Being saved eternally because we believe is one of them (Acts 16:31). Immersion also saves us, but not in that exact same sense. It is not the physical act of immersion that saves, but the trust in the resurrection of Yeshua—a trust and belief that is demonstrated and professed outwardly through the act of immersion. As a normative and important part of the experience of the believer, then, immersion would be necessary to enter into the Reign of God only in the sense that we must wash and rid ourselves of our old self by burying it with Messiah, and then be raised new and clean through the power of His resurrection.

As a follower of Yeshua, you need to be immersed to His Name, but not as a condition for your salvation. Rather, it should be as a response to, and in recognition of, how you’re already saved. The Master Yeshua saves us not because of any righteous actions we could ever do. He saves us through a bathing of regeneration (Titus 3:5) which we confess when we are immersed in Him.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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