c. AD 30
Scripture
Jesus John 3:5
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Short answer
The Church agrees that salvation is God's free gift and is not earned by any human deed. She teaches that baptism is the means Christ gave for receiving that gift, the "washing of regeneration" of Titus 3:5. Baptism is necessary for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who are able to ask for it. God is not bound by his sacraments, and martyrdom or the desire for baptism can supply for it when the sacrament cannot be received.
Drafted from primary sources. Every quotation is checked against the page it links to.
Where this teaching appears on the Offshoots timelines: 1677, Baptism as a sign, for believers only.
16 quotations in date order
The Apostolic AgeAD 1 to 100
c. AD 30
Scripture
Jesus Mark 16:16
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
c. AD 34
Scripture
Ananias to Saul of Tarsus Acts 22:16
“And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”
c. AD 64
Scripture
St. Peter 1 Peter 3:20-21
“…a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”
c. AD 65
Scripture
St. Paul Titus 3:5
“he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit”
The Early Church100 to 325
c. 140
Church Father
The Shepherd of Hermas The Shepherd, Book III, Similitude 9, ch. 16
“They were obliged, he answered, to ascend through water in order that they might be made alive; for, unless they laid aside the deadness of their life, they could not in any other way enter into the kingdom of God. … For, he continued, before a man bears the name of the Son of God he is dead; but when he receives the seal he lays aside his deadness, and obtains life. The seal, then, is the water: they descend into the water dead, and they arise alive.”
c. 155
Church Father
St. Justin Martyr First Apology, ch. 61
“Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, Unless you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
c. 180-190
Church Father
St. Irenaeus of Lyons Fragment 34
“For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: Unless a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
c. 200
Church Father
Tertullian On Baptism, ch. 13
“And so they say, Baptism is not necessary for them to whom faith is sufficient; … But now that faith has been enlarged, and has become a faith which believes in His nativity, passion, and resurrection, there has been an amplification added to the sacrament, viz., the sealing act of baptism; the clothing, in some sense, of the faith which before was bare, and which cannot exist now without its proper law.”
The Age of the Councils325 to 800
c. 350
Church Father
St. Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 3, 10
“If any man receive not Baptism, he has not salvation; except only Martyrs, who even without the water receive the kingdom.”
381
Council
First Council of Constantinople The exposition of the 150 fathers (the Creed)
“We confess one baptism for the forgiving of sins.”
c. 400
Church Father
St. Augustine of Hippo On Baptism, Against the Donatists 4.22.30
“I find that not only martyrdom for the sake of Christ may supply what was wanting of baptism, but also faith and conversion of heart, if recourse may not be had to the celebration of the mystery of baptism for want of time. … It was shown, therefore, in the case of that thief, how great is the power, even without the visible sacrament of baptism, of what the apostle says, "With the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." … But the want is supplied invisibly only when the administration of baptism is prevented, not by contempt for religion, but by the necessity of the moment.”
The Middle Ages800 to 1500
c. 1273
Doctor of the Church
St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae III, q. 68, a. 2, I answer that
“Secondly, the sacrament of Baptism may be wanting to anyone in reality but not in desire: for instance, when a man wishes to be baptized, but by some ill-chance he is forestalled by death before receiving Baptism. And such a man can obtain salvation without being actually baptized, on account of his desire for Baptism, which desire is the outcome of "faith that worketh by charity," whereby God, Whose power is not tied to visible sacraments, sanctifies man inwardly.”
Reformation and Trent1500 to 1800
1547
Council
Council of Trent Session 6, Decree on Justification, ch. 4
“…a translation, from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace, and of the adoption of the sons of God, through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our Saviour. And this translation, since the promulgation of the Gospel, cannot be effected, without the laver of regeneration, or the desire thereof, as it is written; unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.”
The Modern Era1800 to today
1992
Magisterium
Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1215
“This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one "can enter the kingdom of God."”
1992
Magisterium
Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1257
“The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. … Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. … God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.”