Not Just Symbolic: Why Baptism Actually Saves

Baptism saves. There, I said it. Congrats, Catholics, you’re right on this one. I know I’m going to get some heat from our Baptist and non-denominational friends for this. But on a serious note, baptism does actually save, and we are born-again in baptism. The Bible and our Lord Jesus teach it, the early Church affirmed it, and the Christian tradition of baptism as a means of saving grace has been preserved for centuries.

Scripture is clear that baptism is a means of grace that saves. “In the days of Noah, while the ark was being built… [its passengers] were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:20-21). This verse clearly links baptism to salvation, casting it as more than a merely symbolic act. Additionally, we see this affirmed throughout the New Testament: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16) and “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38) demonstrate this clearly. Baptism is fundamentally tied to the forgiveness of sins and salvation.

It is clear throughout the Bible that baptism is not just a symbolic action and public declaration of faith. Baptism is God’s work and a means by which He applies Christ’s saving grace to us. Through baptism, we’re united to Christ, washed clean, and born-again. 

Jesus stresses the importance and necessity of baptism in John 3:5 when talking to Nicodemus: “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” Being born-again is connected to the act of baptism involving both water and the Holy Spirit. Also, Paul reinforces that baptism saves: “[God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). This “washing” is baptism as a means of God’s grace that saves us. 

The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), but baptism is a means of grace that saves, not by our own works, but by God’s work to deliver the saving grace of Christ’s death and resurrection to us. Baptism doesn’t replace salvation by grace through faith, but it works with it. In The Large Catechism, Martin Luther states, “faith clings to the water…that it is Baptism, in which there is pure salvation and life.” 

Of course, we don’t base our beliefs on what man says, but on Scripture, and beyond Luther’s words, it’s clear throughout the New Testament that baptism is not a mere symbol, but a saving act of God. You might be asking, “Doesn’t this conflict with the born-again experience through repentance and faith?” Of course not! In fact, baptism, repentance, and faith all work together as part of the same gracious work of God. Again, in Acts 2:38, Peter doesn’t separate the two, telling non-Christians to “Repent and be baptized… for the forgiveness of your sins.” Faith is what receives God’s promise of salvation through Christ, and baptism is one of the ways those promises come to us. In baptism, God delivers the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Baptism saves, not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. He was crucified and rose for you for the forgiveness of sins. In baptism, God delivers to us what Christ accomplished on the cross – His righteousness, His death, His resurrection, and His forgiveness. “Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12), we are united with Christ in baptism – it is not a human effort, but a gift from God. Baptism is not about what you did for God, it’s about what God has done for you. Believe and be baptized!