Christians have always interpreted the Bible literally when it
declares, "Baptism . . . now saves you, not as a removal of dirt
from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience,
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 3:21; cf. Acts
2:38, 22:16, Rom. 6:34, Col. 2:1112).
Thus the early Church Fathers wrote in the Nicene Creed (A.D. 381),
"We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins."
And the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The Lord himself
affirms that baptism is necessary for salvation [John 3:5]. . . .
Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has
been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this
sacrament [Mark 16:16]" (CCC 1257).
The Christian belief that baptism is necessary for salvation is so
unshakable that even the Protestant Martin Luther affirmed the
necessity of baptism. He wrote: "Baptism is no human plaything but
is instituted by God himself. Moreover, it is solemnly and strictly
commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. We are
not to regard it as an indifferent matter, then, like putting on a
new red coat. It is of the greatest importance that we regard
baptism as excellent, glorious, and exalted" (Large Catechism
4:6).
Yet Christians have also always realized that the necessity of
water baptism is a normative rather than an absolute necessity.
There are exceptions to water baptism: It is possible to be saved
through "baptism of blood," martyrdom for Christ, or through
"baptism of desire", that is, a conscious or even unconscious
desire for baptism.
Thus the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Those who die
for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who,
without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of
grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, are saved
even if they have not been baptized" (CCC 1281; the salvation of
unbaptized infants is also possible under this system; cf. CCC
12601, 1283).
