Revelation 1:5b states, “To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood”.
We are saved from our sins, forgiven our sins, when we have been washed in the blood of Christ. But at what point are we washed? It is the point when having believed that Jesus is the Christ, having made confession of this, and having repented of our sins, we are baptized into Christ.
The following 9 points should help make this clear.
1. “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,’” Acts 2:38.
The purpose for being baptized is to be forgiven of our sins.
2. “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned,” Mark 16:16.
Jesus gives two conditions that are necessary before one is saved; belief, and baptism. One cannot be saved without having met both of these conditions.
3. “Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name,” Acts 22:16.
When Ananias spoke this to Paul, clearly Paul already believed that Jesus is Lord, for he had seen him on the road, and confessed him as Lord. But his sins were still with him until he was baptized; then his sins were washed away, then he was saved.
4. “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” 1 Peter 3:21.
Peter clearly says baptism saves us, as it corresponds to when Noah and his family were saved through the flood from the old world into the new.
5. “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin,” Romans 6:3-7.
We are freed from sin when we have died, and we die when we are baptized into his death. Prior to this, we have not been freed from our sins, therefore we have not been saved. But when we have been baptized into his death, then just as he was raised from the dead, we are raised to newness of life.
6. “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise,” Galatians 3:27-29.
The promise, being reckoned as righteous by God, is an inheritance for those who belong to Christ. And we belong to Christ, we have clothed ourselves with his righteousness, when we have been baptized into him.
7. “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit,” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, and again, “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body,” Ephesians 5:23.
Christ is the savior of the body, the church; he does not save those outside of his body. We are not in the body of Christ until we have been baptized into it.
8. “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him,” Romans 8:9, and again, “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,’” Acts 2:38.
We do not belong to Christ unless we have the Spirit, which we do not receive until we have been baptized.
9. “[A]nd in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,” Colossians 2:11-13.
Originally given to Abraham, Genesis 17:9-14, and later carried over into the law of Moses, circumcision was a sign of the covenant God made with Abraham and his children. Whoever was not circumcised was to be cut off from the people; any Gentile who wished to be joined to Israel, had to be circumcised. When we are baptized into Christ, we are circumcised with the circumcision of Christ. Therefore, anyone not baptized has not been circumcised with the circumcision of Christ, and therefore is not in covenant with God.