This is a very important question! I can tell you whether you’ll make it to Heaven. Seriously. It’s not that difficult.
It's clear from simply reading the New Testament that baptism by the Holy Spirit is not just for the apostles (Jesus' first disciples). To see this, we only need to go to the most famous verse in the whole Bible, and read it in context. It is, of course, John 3:16. It's important to read the whole section in John 3.
Aaron asked: "I saw your comments regarding baptism and you said baptism is not necessary to get to heaven...but its Jesus' commandment for us to be baptised. If we don't, aren't we disobeying? Isn't disobedience a sin? How can we get to heaven without baptism?"
One of the hottest topics at GodWords is whether one needs to be baptized to become a Christian. This post is actually a comment...I replied to a commenter, and thought it would be useful to post it here as well.
An awful lot of GodWords readers ask me this question: do I have to be baptized to go to Heaven? They ask it in a thousand different ways, but it's still the same question.
Sometimes, the messages I receive are intensely personal. While I try to be sensitive to those involved, I think that many private questions deserve to be published. I would never divulge anyone's identity in a touchy situation, but: if one person asks, chances are good that others struggle over the same issue.
Let's look at some Scripture for our answer. Before they died, Jesus told the thief that they would be together in Paradise on THAT VERY DAY. Jesus could not have meant Heaven.
That's a good question. Most people are aware that there are different points of view on the question of whether baptism is required for salvation. Scripture, however, is abundantly clear. Baptism is NOT required for salvation.
