Is baptism necessary for salvation? Sadly, there are those who say yes, but while there are some verses you could twist to make it seem so, the Biblical position is that baptism is not essential for salvation, though it is vital for obedience.
In his first epistle to the church in Corinth, Paul says two very interesting things for this topic. First (second chronologically, but first for today’s point), Paul says that we are saved by holding fast to the Gospel. He then describes the Gospel: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Note the absence of baptism here, either as a requirement for salvation, or even at all.
Earlier on, when addressing divisions in the church, he also makes the statement “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” He even goes on to say he is glad that it was not he who baptised most of them. Why would he say these things if he believed baptism is essential for salvation? If that’s what he believed, he would essentially be saying “I am glad I didn’t contribute to your salvation”, and “Jesus didn’t send me to save you, but to preach salvation”. Such would be absurd.
Baptism, rather than being required for salvation, is "merely", for lack of better term, a sign of it. Those who truly believe the Gospel would naturally seek to be baptised, whereas a refusal to be baptised would be a sign of a false conversion. Baptism is a requirement, but not for salvation. Rather, it symbolises that we are “dead” with Christ and raised with Him (Romans 6:3-4). If you are truly a Christian, but have not yet been baptised, you are still saved. Nevertheless, I strongly urge you to be baptised.