First let me address the two scriptures that are probably the most quoted, Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38. Matthew 28:19 says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" A couple of things to note, there are the words of the Lord Jesus both in verse 18 and in verse 20. So the whole passage in context is, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Jesus said "all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth..." It would, on the surface of the reading, indicate that there was no power left for anybody else! And in verse 20, Jesus instructed His apostles to, "Teach... them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world..." So they were not just to baptize but to teach those who would be made disciples "all things whatsoever (He) commanded (them)."
That is a lot of teaching! But concerning baptism, Jesus did not baptize here nor did He command anyone to be baptized. So it is a different command Jesus gave to His apostles than that which Peter commanded on the day of Pentecost. What Peter did say in Acts 2:38 was, "...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." Obviously to an unbiased reader, apples and oranges. It was not the same thing at all. The Lord Jesus commanded His apostles to go and baptize, while the Apostle Peter commanded his hearers to "...be baptized..." Two different commands entirely.
So in the desire for full disclosure, the entire quotation from Acts 2 needs to be given. Acts 2:36-40 says, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, 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. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation."
Firstly, Peter was preaching on the Day of Pentecost to Jewish listeners who, up to that time were not believers. Secondly, they did not say, what MUST we do?, but rather "what shall we do?" Thirdly the apostle commanded them to "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." And lastly but not leastly, Peter told them that God's promise was not only to them, but to their children, "and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Then the Bible tells us that, "with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Maybe that was Peter's attempt to teach all the things that the Lord Jesus had commanded.
Save yourselves? Do you mean that baptism has something to do with salvation? Well that is what Peter said! He said, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Later in Acts 15:7 after "...there had here had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe." Peter was specifically referring to his being chosen to open the gospel to Cornelius and his household. (see Acts 10) Peter was perhaps also thinking of what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 16:13-19 where the Lord told Peter that he had not received his revelation of who Jesus was from flesh and blood but rather from Jesus' Father in heaven. Jesus had told Peter that he was given the keys to the Kingdom of heaven, "and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." It is interesting to note that in Acts 10:48, after God filled them of Cornelius' household with the Holy Ghost, (God had the audacity to interrupt Peter's message) that Peter "commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord..." Peter must have taken the Great Commission pretty seriously. No mention of quoting Matthew 28:19 or a trinitarian formula here. Or for that matter any other place in the Book of Acts or in the Bible itself.
So we come at last to the question, does baptism save us? The short answer is, it depends. There are those in the Christian religious world who would accuse us who believe that we must be baptized in Jesus name to be saved of preaching baptismal regeneration. In my "umble" opinion, I don't think that we are saved by getting wet, whether in the waters of a baptismal tank or in a stream or in the ocean or anyplace else. For the record, I do not believe in the doctrine (if there is one) of baptismal regeneration. Furthermore I don't think that naming the most precious name in heaven or earth, the wonderful name of Jesus Christ over one in the waters of baptism saves anyone. Now before I am written off as an unbeliever, let me quote some further scriptures and tell you what I do believe.
In the Great Commission as given by the Lord Jesus to His apostles, (we have already discussed Matthew's account) in Mark 16:15-18 the Lord "said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Note that the Lord said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved..." I don't think being baptized, even in Jesus name will save one who doesn't believe! In Luke's account, (Luke 24:45-49) the Bible says, "Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." And finally according to John's gospel, John 20:21-23 says, "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."
So in the final analyses what Apostle Peter said in 1st Peter 3:18-22 is what I believe, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." Baptism does save us, not in getting wet, or just being baptized because someone told us we had to to be saved, but, because of what Peter said, "(...the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" Baptism saves us when we believe and are baptized. Baptism saves us when we truly repent and are baptized in Jesus name (see Acts 4:12) and thus have our sins remitted. Baptism saves us because we have put our faith in the Lord Jesus and what He did at Calvary. Baptism saves us because we can go to God and say we believe in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and have obeyed the gospel.
For those of you that have read through this rather long post, I apologize for its length. For the rest, I don't apologize because they haven't read it all anyway.
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