Following some comments at Joe’s place I fully intend to write up a full post on salvation and Baptism in reference to a question from obadiahslope. So far I have had neither the time nor the brain cycles to do so.
I still don’t.
So, my really short answer to his question—is baptism necessary for salvation—is “Yes”. …but there’s more to it than that. And I’ll write about it in a bit…
Ah yes, the old baptismal regeneration question. The first inkling that maybe I was not a Wesleyan was when I answered this question. I stared at my metho-baptist friends across the table from me at my ordination interviews who had just asked me does baptism save. I, too, replied with a quick and emphatic yes. But there was a lot more in my yes than they thought.