Charles Stanley - Baptism: The Clear Teaching of Scripture

Now, how important is baptism to you? You may have trusted Jesus as your Savior some time ago. And someone talked to you about being baptized and you said, "Well, later, I've got to think about it". And maybe you've never been baptized. Or maybe, you have been baptized when you were a baby. Maybe somebody sprinkled water on you or someone poured it on you. But in your mind you've been baptized. What I want us to see in this passage of Scripture and other passages is this: what does the Word of God, what does Jesus, what does the apostle Paul, what does the Word of God teach about baptism?

Well, one of the most significant things and the first things is this: that baptism follows, listen, baptism follows salvation, follows regeneration, follows your redemption, follows your justification. That is, baptism and salvation are not the same. There's not one word in the Scripture that says, "If I'm baptized I'm saved". What I want you to see is this: there's a lot of error that has been taught. And it's been taught for so long and that has been accepted by so many people. Many people are deceived by it. And what I want you to see is this: it's very clear in the Word of God that salvation must precede baptism or the baptism is void.