24. "Must I not first be baptized before I can know that I am saved?”

It is right and proper that you should be baptized. But baptism cannot effect the salvation of the soul. It is, as Peter tells us, a figure of salvation, just as was the deliverance of Noah in the ark of old. But we are told distinctly, "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). To the inquiring jailer at Philippi, who asked the definite question, "What must I do to be saved?" there came as definite an answer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." (See Acts 16.) Baptism followed believing. It was the God-ordained way of confessing Christ as Saviour and Lord. Many have been saved who could not possibly be baptized. Consider again the case of the penitent thief, and be assured that God has never had two ways of saving sinners. The same grace that saved him will save you, when you trust in Jesus, whose blood alone cleanses from all sin.
There are a number of passages relating to baptism that may seem a little confusing. But rest your soul on the clear, definite statements concerning salvation by grace, and as you study your Bible the perplexing portions will become clearer under the Holy Spirit's guidance. It is Christ's baptism of judgment that is the basis of our deliverance from death.
“Lord Jesus, we remember
The travail of Thy soul;
When in Thy love's deep pity
The waves did o'er Thee roll.
Baptized in death's dark waters,
For us Thy blood was shed;
For us Thou Lord of glory
Wast numbered with the dead.”