Religion

I knew a young couple two or three years ago — lets call them Dee and Kay.

They had already dated for a couple of years when I met them, and, as their relationship became more serious, Kay got pregnant.

I had talked, and continued to talk, to Dee about marriage every chance I got.

He said he was serious about the relationship, that he truly loved Kay and that marriage was definitely in his plans.

But there was one problem. Dee said he wasn't going to propose to Kay until he could afford a ring. He said he believed the ring was needed to seal the deal.

I recognized this to be a copout, so I challenged him about the meaning of marriage. I told him that the ring is a powerful symbol of the bond that's formed through marriage, but it's not necessary for the marriage to take place.

The ring simply lets everyone who sees it know that you have given your heart to your spouse. You've decided that this is the one person with whom you want to spend the rest of your life. It's not the ring, it's sincere love that seals the deal.

But just as Dee put an irrational degree of importance on needing a ring to solidify the marriage, there are believers who say water baptism is necessary for salvation.

Water baptism does not make you a Christian, nor is it absolutely necessary once you become a Christian. (See the thief on the cross.) Baptism is an act of obedience, not salvation.

The Apostle Paul said: "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel." (1 Cor. 1:17). The only reason a person as passionate about saving souls as Paul would discount the necessity of baptism is because it's not necessary.

Water baptism is symbolic of salvation and comes after a person hears the gospel and accepts Christ as Lord and Savior.

Baptism before such a confession is a waste of time.

Perhaps the best picture of this is in Acts chapter 8 when Philip met a traveling Ethiopian and "preached unto him Jesus." The Ethiopian asked Philip if he could be baptized, and Philip said if you believe.

The Ethiopian responded: "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (Acts 8:37) In that moment of confession, the Ethiopian became a Christian. Then he received water baptism in a symbolic show of the death, burial and resurrection.

To believe that water saves or that baptism is necessary to complete salvation takes away from the finished work of Jesus Christ.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith." (Eph. 2:8)

When we petition to be baptized, it lets everyone know that we've already given our heart to Christ.

We've already decided that Jesus is the person we're trusting for the rest of our lives.

It's sincere faith in Christ and what he did on the cross that seals the deal.

And nothing else.