There is a popular argument some try to make against the necessity of baptism for salvation. They present a hypothetical situation in which someone has come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but on the way to get baptized, they die in a car accident. The person will then ask, “Do you really think God will send them to hell even though they meant to get baptized?” This argument relies on appealing to our emotions in order make us doubt what the Bible teaches about baptism.
However, there is dangerous flaw in this argument. Does it matter how I feel about God’s judgment if He has declared that something is so? The Bible says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16), “…unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5), and “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism…” (1 Pet. 3:21). There is no hypothetical that can gloss over what is clearly taught in Scripture about the necessity of baptism for salvation.
Ignoring the Scriptures isn’t the only dangerous thing this argument does. It also undermines the urgency of conversion. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “…all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And, as it says in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” One day, we are going to meet our Maker, and we do not know when that day will come, whether by death or when Jesus comes in glory. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matt. 24:36).
At any moment, we could be face to face with the Lord. Time is running out for each of us to obey the gospel. Ananias understood this when he met Saul and asked, “And now, why are you waiting? Arise, and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). And Paul implores us, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). The time to obey the gospel is now!
Consider this. What if someone was on the way to believing in Jesus Christ, but was killed in a car crash right before they were convinced, would God send that person to hell? They had been studying with someone, heard all of the arguments necessary for them to believe, and were certainly going to have faith in Jesus, but were killed a moment before. The answer is the same for belief as it is for baptism: they did not do what the Bible says is necessary before it was too late.
Each of us has an unknown span of time to obey the gospel. Do you have the time to wait?