Ted’s Response:

In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist explained to those he was baptizing with water that this act was connected to the repentance of their sins. However, it is Jesus who spiritually baptizes those who have experienced repentance with the "fire" of the Holy Spirit, which is necessary for eternal salvation.

Water baptism, by itself, does not gain someone eternal salvation. Being saved by God involves the acknowledgement of our sinful nature, repenting of our sins, doing our best to refrain from repeating those sins, confessing that Jesus is Lord and died for the remission of our sins, and believing in one's mind and heart that God raised Him from death. This results in Spirit baptism, which is spiritual immersion in the Holy Spirit. Public baptism (immersion in water) shows others that, most likely, the person also has been (or will be) baptized by the Holy Spirit and encourages them to do the same. More details are in my water baptism and Spirit baptism sections.

Many believers feel that water baptism is essential for eternal salvation. Several years ago, someone emailed me about this topic, and my lengthy response is here:

Acknowledging our sinful nature and wanting to turn away from our sins is one way that we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives to help us. One of the first gifts that He usually will provide to us is the gift of faith, which is one of the main gifts that He gives us. It includes the ability to believe in the one, true God and in the reality of attaining eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. I describe the Holy Spirit's fifteen gifts, spoken about by the Apostle Paul, in this section: gifts of the Holy Spirit. The section after that goes into more details about tongues.

More information about the Holy Spirit can be found here: Holy Spirit.