>>Christ chose to save us<<
I wouldn't label baptism as a means - it's an ordinance, and meant to take place AFTER someone has been regenerated by the Spirit, as a public confession of faith.
The means that God uses will involve His Word, so while people may be saved while AT church, in hearing the message, it's dishonest to say that the church is what saves.
So, why was our Lord baptized?
"There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21)
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5)
"Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5) Baptism is not MERELY an ordinance. It is the sacrament through which the Spirit comes to us to regenerate us. It is through baptism that we are buried with Christ, the means of remission of our sins.
The means that God uses will involve His Word, so while people may be saved while AT church, in hearing the message, it's dishonest to say that the church is what saves.
Dishonest? No, it is the truth. Christ established a Church, not a Bible or a Book. This Church He commissioned to preach and teach the world, to BAPTIZE them in the name of the Trinity, making them children of God. It is through the Church that we even receive this preaching and teaching, whether in oral or written form. And finally, it is the Church through whom Christ acts in proclaiming His saving Word and through whom He also sanctifies His people, making them holy. It is through the Church that Christ continues to remain present among His people today. THEY continue the incarnation.
Regards