Daily Reading

One common teaching of man concerning baptism is that a person does not have to be baptized in order to be saved. Is this what the Bible teaches? Absolutely not! On the day of Pentecost mentioned in Acts 2, Peter said to the people, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). If a person wants his sins forgiven by God, he must be baptized. Again, the Scriptures teach the importance of baptism through the words Ananias spoke to Saul, saying, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). One can see that without baptism there is no forgiveness of sins. The Lord stated, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). From these passages it is clear that God wants all men to know they must be baptized to be saved.