Jesus said all will be judged by the Word. And it states water baptism is an essential element of salvation:
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:15-16
"Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts 2:38
"To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord...." Acts 10 43, 47-48
"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Acts 22:16
I know what Acts says, and I know what Paul taught, and here once again is my harmonization:
Actsists believe that the history of the early church in Acts 1-10 (and Mark 16:16-17) makes water baptism (WB) mandatory for Christians. Folks need to stop worshipping the physical symbols and focus on what they represent. Like physical circumcision (PC) water baptism is an outward work that is appropriate, but optional. It is the faith by which we receive the Holy Spirit that is required and manifested by loving fruit. God’s Word enters His people’s hearts when they repent of sins including legalism and accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord incarnate. He indwells believers as the Holy Spirit. Moral law describes what “living in the spirit” looks like.
The astute note that in Matt. 4:7 Jesus said “It is also written”, interpreting what Satan had quoted in light of another passage, which is called harmonizing Scripture and is what we should do, but some Judaizers want to require SB, just as the Pharisees required PC. Paul warned Christians to beware of Judaizers, who revert to teaching justification by observing the law (
Gal. 4:8-5:12). In
Phil. 3:1-9 Paul said, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord!… Watch out for those… mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision [cf.
Rom. 2:29]… If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:… in regard to the law, a Pharisee… as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ… I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–that comes from God and is by faith.”
Jesus taught that his righteousness (
Matt. 5:10&
20) surpassed and superseded that of those who obeyed and taught the law (cf.
Matt. 12:5-12,
19:3-9,
Heb. 7:18-10:1). The law is represented by John the Baptist in
Matt. 3:11a, “I baptize you with water [WB] for repentance” [forgiveness of sins indicated in the Torah, cf.
Rom. 7:4-8:17], and Spirit baptism (SB) is indicated in
Matt. 3:11b, “but after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
The book of Acts does not teach foundational Christian doctrine but merely records what occurred during the early days of the church era as the revelation of God's requirement for salvation (GRFS) transitioned from OT beliefs to the NT doctrine that is taught in the epistles, which never command WB as essential for salvation, but only SB (Gal. 8:6, 1Cor. 12:13).
The transition can be seen as occurring in
Acts 16:31-34, where Paul told the jailer to believe in the Lord Jesus in order to be saved, NOT to believe and be WB in order to be saved. However, the jailer and others in his family who believed in God were WB.
Then in
Acts 17:30-34 Paul told the Athenians to repent, which some did, but whether they were WB is not mentioned.
Then in
Acts 19:1-6 Paul encountered some disciples of John who had been WB but had not been taught about SB, so they received SB when Paul placed his hands on them.
Then in
Acts 26:16-18, when Paul recounted his calling to King Agrippa, he quoted Jesus as saying, “I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” WB was not mentioned, which continued to be the case in Paul’s epistles.
The foundation cited in 1Corinthisans 3:11 is Christ, referring to faith in Christ’s atonement (
Rom. 3:12-5:1). Instructions about baptisms are mentioned in
Hebrews 6:2, which logically, semantically, and mathematically had to be that WB is a sign or rite portraying a soul has been SB (
Col. 2:12), since there is only one baptism (
Eph. 4:5) into one body (
Eph. 4:4,
1Cor. 12:13). This understanding was held by Christians generally until RC perverted it by practicing infant sprinkling, which was corrected by the Anabaptists during the Protestant Reformation.
By the last of Paul’s epistles, WB came to be understood as a good but non-essential work or rite, like physical circumcision, and the basis for believing folks are filled with the HS is reflecting God’s love for everyone (
Matt. 22:37-40,
1John 4:7-21,
John 13:35,
Rom. 5:5,
Gal. 5:6 &
22, etc.). Then, like now, the rite is performed as an apt way of portraying saving faith in the atonement of Christ, even though the work is not required, just as PC was not required for salvation either per Paul in
Romans 3:21-5:1.
This why the harmonization of Acts with the Epistles is this: Sinners are saved when they satisfy God's requirement for salvation, which is lifelong faith in Jesus as Messiah and Lord, and willingness to cooperate with God's loving Holy Spirit is manifested by various fruit/works that may include water baptism, but no specific work is sacramental/salvific.