Is baptism required for salvation?
ContestedTexts of equal or higher authority genuinely pull both ways — SAM names both sides.
The texts genuinely pull in opposite directions: some passages closely link baptism to salvation, while others ground salvation in faith alone with no mention of baptism — and both sides draw on the same high-authority tiers.
Same-tier texts (Tier 2 — Jesus' own words, and Tier 3 — eyewitness apostles) pull in opposite directions without the text stating which governs, making this CONTESTED rather than DIRECT in either direction.
The unresolved tension: Whether baptism is a strict, non-negotiable condition for salvation in every case, or the normative outward expression of saving faith that God may honor even when circumstances prevent it — the text does not resolve this tension, because same-tier passages pull in opposite directions without stating which governs.
…and 18 more verses weighed in the full analysis.
See SAM's complete analysis — every verse it weighs, ranked by who is speaking (God, Jesus, the apostles), with the full step-by-step reasoning and word-for-word verified citations. New accounts get two free questions.
See the full analysis in SAM →SAM answers from primary-source texts only, weighing each verse by its authority tier. Every quotation is verified word-for-word. How the method works →