Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:36-38, ESV)

The Greek word kai is used between "Repent" and "be baptized"; this Greek word is a conjunction joining two equals; in other words, you can't have repentance without baptism. The original Greek for "be baptized" is passive; this shows us that baptism is not a human work; rather, it is a work of God. When Peter says to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, the Greek word he uses is eis, which means "in order to have." So, apparently, repentance and baptism are explicitly needed in order to have the forgiveness of sins.

The conversions included in the book of Acts mention baptism (2:37-41; 8:12-13; 8:35-39; 9:1-19; 10:34-48; 16:14 & 15; 16:25-34; 18:6-8; 19:1-5; 22:16). Not even faith is mentioned in every one.

For a long while I used to be strictly in the camp of no baptism needed for salvation, but as I search the scriptures more, my views are being changed. One of the greatest issues for me is whether or not baptism is a human work, for the scriptures tell us that no human works can save us. As I read the scriptures, however, I see that the ancient Christians looked at baptism much differently than many do today: it was not seen as a human work, but rather as a work of God. I'm not one hundred per cent sure whether I believe baptism is necessary for salvation or not; I continue to search out the answers.

Please, don't argue about this in the comments. If you wish, you can email me at ajbarnhart@yahoo.com.