Instances of people who were saved but never baptised..
most obvious is the fella next to Jesus on the cross.. who Jesus said 'would be with Him in paradise' .. because He believed in Jesus.
then there are tons of verses about salvation that have no baptism in them:
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
there are lot's more verses like these..
many will say... that 'believe' means an ongoing, life long process.. but many of these verses are also in the past tense.. referring to something already done and dusted. Some are in the present tense.. but always with the assurance that the person in question WILL have eternal life.
Also 'believe' in the Greek:
G4100
πιστεύω
pisteuō
pist-yoo'-o
From
G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to
entrust (especially one’s spiritual well being to Christ): - believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.
So really.. it is trusting Jesus with your salvation.. which for salvation.. happens once off.
Anyway..
baptism in the NT happened mostly straight after salvation.. hence why you see baptism in some verses with believing on Jesus for eternal life.
Also.. remember that baptism of the Holy Spirit is different from water baptism.
there you go