All the Verses That Show Us Salvation Can Occur Without Water Baptism

[Seabass]

I said, "You believe that just because something is commanded by the Lord, then that "something" is essential to salvation.
You (Seabass) responded: "I admit, in all the many, many years on all the forums I have participated on this has to be one of the most incredible statements I have read...and I have read a lot of incredible statements."
In might be essential to what Jesus wants done at a certain time, but that is not always essential to salvation. There are lots of things that He wants other than salvation.

In Matthew 9:27-31 two blind men were commanded by the Lord to tell "no one" about Jesus healing them. But they disobeyed Jesus and spread the news everywhere. Were they eternally lost because they disobeyed Jesus? Was telling no one essential to their salvation? Of course not. They should have obeyed Jesus, but would refraining from telling people have saved them? No, they were saved by their faith, not by refraining to tell people.

In John 21:10, Jesus commanded the disciples "Bring some of the fish which you have now caught?" Was bringing fish essential to their salvation? No, it was a command to be obeyed, but it had nothing to do with their salvation. Salvation comes through faith, not by bringing some fish.

In Mark 11:2 "Go into the village ... you will find a colt ... untie it and bring it here." Was obeying Jesus here essential to their salvation? Of course not, they were saved by faith, not by bringing a colt to Jesus.

In Matthew 5:34 Jesus said, "Make no oath at all ..." So is it essential to our salvation that we must never take an oath? No, not making an oath never saved anyone, we're saved by faith.

Matthew 5:42 Jesus said, "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." Is this essential for our salvation? No, we're not saved by giving and lending, we're saved by our faith.

Even though Jesus commands certain works, or in the case of the two blind men (and making an oath), forbids certain works, obeying those commands are not what saves us. We're saved by His grace through our faith - i.e. NO works.

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, ...", will not baptizing some immediately, or not baptizing some at all, cause them or their disciples to not be saved? No, they are already disciples, which means they are already saved. They should obey and baptize new disciples, and new disciples should obey and be baptized, but not doing so does not revoke their salvation. Baptism doesn't save, having faith in Jesus is what saves.

Romans says all are under sin and those under sin are in need of justification. What the NT requires of all in need of justification is belief Jn 8:24 repentance, Lk 13;3 confession Mt 10:32-33 baptism Mk 16:16 and live a faithful life unto death Rev 2:10. These are required of each and every person seeking justification, no exceptions. Hence Christ is the Author of salvation unto all them that obey Him by following these requirements of Christ.

There are examples in the Bible of certain individual(s) being given specific commands and those individual(s) salvation depended upon their meeting those specific commands given to them. Adam & Eve were specifically given the command to not eat of a certain tree but upon disobeying that command they died spiritually. Noah was given the specific command to build the ark, had he disobeyed he too would have died spiritually. Those individuals given specific commands but broke them had an obligation to find forgiveness.


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Examining Matthew's Account of the Great Comission (Mt 28-19-20)

"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: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

Technical information on the Greek language I present can be found in link here:
apologeticspress.org
What is the Purpose of Baptism? (Part 1) - Apologetics Press
(quotes below in blue font are taken from above link)

Matthew 28:19-20 constitutes the “marching orders” for the apostles in promulgating the spread of Christianity in the first century. Embedded within this “Great Commission” is one of the key prerequisites to being saved: water baptism. The precise wording expressed by Jesus provides...
apologeticspress.org apologeticspress.org


The main verb here is "make" with present participles "baptizing" and "teaching". "Present participles indicate action that occurs at the same time as the action of the main verb." Therefore baptizing and teaching are HOW disciples are made.

"Turning now to the Greek grammar of Matthew 28:19-20, our Lord uttered an imperative directive couched in the main verb matheteusate from matheteuo—“to make disciples.” (13) The apostles were to go throughout the world and “make disciples.” Jesus clarified this directive with two present participles: “teaching” and “baptizing.” Southern Baptist scholar of New Testament Greek A.T. Robertson says these two participles in this passage are “modal participles,” (14) i.e., they identify the manner, means, or method by which the action of the main verb is accomplished."
"Samuel Green agreed, listing Matthew 28:19 as an example of the “modal” use, “setting forth the manner in which the given action was performed.”(15) Dana and Mantey state that the “Modal Participle” “may signify the manner in which the action of the main verb is accomplished.”16 Hence, they pinpoint the mode by which the action of the main verb is achieved (also “manner or means”).(17)"

13 James Moulton (1919), A Grammar of New Testament Greek: Accidence and Word Formation (Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark), 2:400.
14 A.T. Robertson (1934), A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (Nashville, TN: Broadman), p. 1128.
15 Samuel Green (1886), Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament (New York: Fleming H. Revell), p. 332.
16 p. 228. Also Curtis Vaughan and Virtus Gideon (1979), A Greek Grammar of the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman), pp. 157,160
17 See also Burton, p. 172—“The participle expressing manner or means often denotes the same action as that of the principal verb…. [A]s respects its modal function it is a participle of manner or means.” Also Cleon Rogers Jr. and Cleon Rogers III (1998), The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan), p. 66.


BOTH teaching and baptizing therefore are the mode or means by which disciples are 'made'.

Example:
“Go make pancakes, mixing the batter in the porcelain bowl, pouring it on the griddle.” "Make" being the main verb, with "mixing" and "pouring" being modal participles in how pancakes are made. Hence there are no pancakes if there is no mixing and pouring. There is no such thing as an unmixed, unpoured pancake. Likewise teaching and baptizing are how disciples are made...there is no such thing as an untaught, unbaptized Christian. Mixing alone does not make pancakes, it takes BOTH mixing and pouring. Likewise teaching alone does not make disciples..it takes BOTH teaching and baptizing....no such thing as an unbaptized Christian per Matthew's and Mark's accounts of the Great Commission.

 

[dwight92070]

In the interest of time, I will list all the remaining verses that I found, which deal with salvation, but do not mention baptism as being required for salvation. The list goes from the book of Acts to Jude, giving a total of 213 verses. I will just give the address without comment, since this has been quite time consuming, but also rewarding to see just how many there are. I don't think I listed those in Acts yet, so I will start there, then jump over to 2 Timothy, where I left off.

Acts 4:4; 5:14; 6:7; 9:42; 11:21,24; 13:12, 38-39,48; 14:1; 15:7-9,11,19-20,29; 17:4,12,34; 19:18; 26:18; 28:24

2 Timothy 1:9; 2:10; 3:15

Titus 3:5-6, 7

Hebrews 2:9,11; 3:6,12,14; 4:3; 5:9; 6:1-2, 4-5; 7:25; 8:10-12; 9:14,15; 10:10,14,39; 11:6

1 Peter 1:1-2,3,18-19,20-21,23; 2:9,10,24,25

2 Peter 1:1,10-11

1 John 2:23,24; 3:14,19: 4:2,13,15,16; 5:1,4,5,10,11,12,13,20

2 John 9

3 John 4

Jude 1,24

I did not do the gospels, since Jesus' command to baptize new disciples did not occur until after He was raised from the dead - Matthew 28:19-20
Nor did I do Revelation, since the word "baptize" and all of its forms do not appear in this book. Also the word "salvation" is only used three times- I didn't see any other forms of the word in Revelation. So, unless I'm missing something, which is possible, Revelation does not apply to verses I was listing.

My conclusion: After two months of looking up all these verses, I am convinced more than ever that water baptism is NOT required for a person's salvation. In every Biblical instance, water baptism occurred AFTER the person or persons BELIEVED, never before they believed. Nor is there any evidence that salvation occurs at the same time as water baptism - speculation and misinterpretation, but not evidence. However, as I have said many times, I do feel that water baptism IS REQUIRED to grow spiritually, because Jesus commanded that new disciples should be baptized. If you are a believer and have never been baptized, you should obey the Lord and be baptized. Or if you were baptized before, but were not sincere in your faith in Christ, or if you were baptized as a baby, but now you are sincere in your faith in Jesus, you should obey the Lord and get baptized in water.