WHILE SYMBOLICALLY IMPORTANT, IS BAPTISM NEEDED FOR SALVATION? What about a newly saved person who gets in a fatal car wreck before making it to their baptism? What about the man next to Jesus on the cross? Because of his faith, Jesus said he’d be in heaven that day. But he and Christ had no time to hop off their crosses and baptize the man when no one was looking. Paul said God sent him, not primarily to baptize, but to preach the gospel. If baptism is needed for salvation, why would Paul say that? It would have been ludicrous. That kind of teaching is the mark of a cult. Titus 3:5 declares, "God saved us—not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”