According to 1 Peter 3:21, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience.”
One significant ceremony that signifies a person’s conversion to Christianity is baptism. However, baptism alone—the physical act—does not provide salvation. Our external expression of our internal faith is our request to God for sin forgiveness. Faith and baptism are intimately related.
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned,” said Jesus as He gave his followers the instruction to go out into the world and preach the gospel (Mark 16:16).
“The resurrection of Jesus Christ” is the basis for the salvation potential of faith and baptism. Our hearts are cleansed by Jesus’ atoning death, not by the water of baptism. In order to defeat the forces of sin and death, He died in our place and rose again. We can now have “full assurance of faith, with our bodies washed with pure water and our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:22) as a result of his sacrifice.
According to Romans 6:4, baptism signifies a person’s union with Christ, their death to sin, and their resurrection to live a new life.
Have you been baptized?
