Don’t Imitate The Baptism of Jesus!

Discussions about salvation between members of the church of Christ and those of denominations eventually (if not initially) focus upon the subject of baptism. Since virtually all in denominationalism object to the statement: “Baptism is essential for salvation,” they will usually have some objection to offer. One such objection is this: “Since Jesus was baptized to fulfill righteousness, and since Jesus did not have sin, then He was not baptized to have His sins forgiven. Thus, since we are to follow in His steps (1 Pet. 2:21), then we are not baptized to have our sins forgiven.”
However, reasoning like that would also make the following to be true: (1) Since Jesus had no sin, and since Jesus confessed that He was the Son of God, then He did not have to confess faith in Jesus as the Son of God to be saved—and neither do we! (2) Since Jesus had no sin, and since Jesus never repented in order to have His sins forgiven, then He did not have to repent in order to be saved—and neither do we!! (3) Since Jesus had no sin, and since Jesus believed that He was the Son of God, then He did not have to believe in order to have His sins forgiven—and neither do we!!!
The truth of the matter is, Jesus is different in regard to sin. He NEVER had any sin; He NEVER had to be saved. We cannot follow His example in salvation because there is no example of Him being saved—He was never lost!
How, then, are the lost saved? By belief (Mark 16:16), AND repentance (Acts 2:38), AND confession (Rom. 10:9-10), AND baptism (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21).
Gary Henson