Baptists Are Playing Games With The Word Of God

Aren’t Baptists playing games with the word of God? Let me give two illustrations of what I am talking about …Baptists quote passages like John 3:16 to prove a sinner doesn’t have to be baptized to be saved. Their reasoning is that the verse talks about what a sinner must do to be saved, and it doesn’t mention baptism. But the standard Baptist position is that a sinner also has to repent (Luke 13:3, etc) and confess (Rom 10:9-10) in order to be saved, and those two conditions are not mentioned in John 3:16 either. Isn’t that being inconsistent? Why does John 3:16 rule out baptism as necessary because baptism is not mentioned there, but John 3:16 does not rule out repentance and confession as necessary because repentance and confession are not mentioned there either? If we can go to passages other than John 3:16 to find out repentance and confession are necessary, then why can’t we similarly go to passages other than John 3:16 to find out baptism is necessary – like Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, and I Pet 3:21? Matt 4:4 ("Man shall ... by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God") is true in either case, right?Baptists have always used Rom 6:3-5 to prove to Methodists that water baptism should be an immersion in water because the passage calls it a “burial” and teaches it is a likeness of the burial and resurrection of Christ. Their point is correct - sprinkling for baptism is not a burial in water, neither does it picture a burial and resurrection. But when the Baptists are arguing that water baptism is not necessary to salvation, they will say Rom 6:3-5 is talking about Holy Spirit Baptism, because they know the text says we are baptized “into Christ” and “into His death.” How can Rom 6:3-5 be talking about water baptism when we are debating the action/mode of baptism but be talking about Holy Spirit baptism when we are debating the purpose of baptism?See what I mean?hear Bible Crossfire every Sunday night at 8:04 central on SiriusXM radio Family Talk 131non-subscribers can listen live at www.BibleDebates.info