• If righteousness were based solely on water baptism or external physical purification, then aquatic creatures would be the most holy and righteous of all. However, the Bible teaches that righteousness is attained not through external washing, but through faith in Jesus Christ.
External physical purification cannot change a person's heart. God looks at the inner mind, faith, and obedience of a person.
That is why, when the Pharisees asked Jesus Christ why His disciples did not wash their hands according to the tradition of the elders before eating, Jesus replied that it is not what enters a person from the outside that defiles them, but rather what comes out of their heart that defiles them (Mark 7:1–23; Matthew 15:1–20). Thus, the Lord Jesus demonstrated that true defilement is not external but a matter of the heart.
According to John, Jesus Himself did not baptize anyone; His disciples performed the baptisms.
"Although Jesus Himself did not baptize, His disciples did."
— John 4:2
John 3:5
"Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
"This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth."
— 1 John 5:6
It further states:
"For there are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one."
Water baptism is a symbol.
1 Peter 3:21
21 The meaning of that water symbol—that is, it does not signify the removal of physical filth from the body, but rather the commitment of a clear conscience to God. Baptism, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, now saves you;