Is baptism essential unto salvation?

[Adino]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

Adino this is a strawman you know we believe ALL mankind's sins were remitted by His blood at Calvary. However to appropriate that remission of sins afforded at Calvary ONLY occurs to the penitent in baptism in Jesus Name....ONLY in immersion by having His name invoked do we recieve the remission of sins through Calvary's blood.

Welcome back, Steve. Sorry again to hear of your loss.

This is far from a strawman position. You CANNOT say sins WERE historically remitted before the resurrection and we only need to APPROPRIATE that remission through a present 'application of the blood' (as you said before) when it was the historic application of Christ's blood which brought the pre-resurrection remission in the first place. The blood of Christ is not applied multiple times to the same sins.

It is not a matter of 'applying' the finished work of the Cross to man. It is a matter of man coming to terms with the truthfulness of the testimony of God concerning the remission of his sins on the Cross. Whether you believe it or not, the historic reality of sin remission exists. The sins imputed to Christ are GONE whether you choose to 'appropriate' the remission or not. Your acceptance or rejection of this historical reality has no bearing on whether it happened..... it happened.

Tell us outright. Do you believe sins are remitted in baptism? Yes or No?

What is the blood being applied to in baptism? You've already conceded that our sins were remitted before the resurrection. If they are historically removed, what is the blood being applied to in baptism?

Looking for some consistency in your position, Bro.