For
centuries, men have debated the issue of whether water baptism saves souls or
not. Catholics, Orthodox, and even some
Protestants would say, yes, water baptism does save a person, or at least
contributes to his salvation. But we
would certainly disagree with that conclusion.
So, today we will look at just a few basic thoughts on baptism.
No doubt,
many of you are familiar with the old story of a group of blind men who were
attempting to describe an elephant by touch.
One man is holding the trunk and begins to describe that part of the
elephant. One is feeling the elephant’s
side and he describes that. Another is
holding and describing the tusk, another, the ear, etc., etc. And thus, they all have a different view of
what an elephant is. But what they are
overlooking in their descriptions is the fact that they are all neglecting to
take the whole elephant into account.
And it is
much the same way with particular groups who read certain Bible verses concerning
baptism, like Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, and 1 Peter 3:21 and insist that water
baptism saves the soul. But again, the
problem is that they are not looking at the “whole elephant,” i.e., they are
not taking the whole message of
Scripture into account.
First and
foremost, a thorough study of Scripture will reveal that a person is saved by the
grace of God, through faith (in the Person and suffering of Jesus Christ on the
cross), apart from any type of works that
we do (e.g., Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 4:4-5, 11:6). Of course, good works certainly do have an
important role in the life of the Christian, but they don’t save us.
We have a number of articles on this specific topic that demonstrate
this fact. (Don’t forget to see the “Comments” section of each article, as
well). See here:
The
conclusion of these articles is simply that works cannot save us. Good works are an expression of thankfulness
to God for saving us. They are the result of true salvation, not the cause.
We don’t earn salvation through them.
Helping your neighbor, giving to the poor, following the Ten Commandments
the best you can, being honest, not hurting anyone… these are all good things,
and God expects us to do these. But again,
none of this saves us. And baptism is no different. It is a good work that does not save.
But there
are also those who would agree that good works don’t save a person’s soul, but
yet, they still want to believe that our sins are forgiven in the ritual of baptism. So, trapped in their own dilemma, they will insist
that baptism is not a work. And since it is “not a work,” they can
still believe that baptism saves.
Problem solved, right? No, this
argument is invalid for several reasons.
See here:
http://theresurrectionstillspeaks.blogspot.com/2015/05/is-baptism-work.html
http://theresurrectionstillspeaks.blogspot.com/2015/05/is-baptism-work.html
If baptism
saves, then a person is necessarily an unbeliever
before his baptism. But never do we see
an unbeliever baptized in the New Testament.
Water baptism is for the believer. It is for one who is already saved, the one whose heart has been changed by God.
Ok, so if it
is NOT for salvation, then what is the purpose of baptism, then?
Baptism is
the parallel to Old Testament circumcision (Colossians 2:11-12). The purpose of circumcision was to identify with God, and circumcision has
always been a SIGN of the covenant that God had with His people (Genesis
17:10-11). But it was not circumcision
that saved Abraham, but rather, his faith
(Romans
4:9-10). In the case of adults,
if we want to be honest, there is certainly more “commitment” in the act of circumcision
than in the act of baptism. Yet, Abraham’s
painful circumcision DID NOT SAVE HIM. Likewise,
neither does baptism (circumcision’s New Testament parallel) save anyone today. Baptism is simply a testimony, a (usually)
public identification with Christ. It is
a sign, a symbol, a visible representation of what happened to us when we
surrendered to Jesus. Baptism is to show
the world that we have “died” with Christ, we are “buried” with Him, and we are
also “raised” in newness of life and in submission to Him.
Baptism is a
bold statement declaring your allegiance to Jesus Christ, and your commitment
to serving Him. Things are different
today, since the great majority of people in America getting baptized are not
risking their lives in doing so. The
early church faced death and persecution for those who identified with
Christ. During the early church period, if
you were baptized, you were often marked for death. But back then, most were not ashamed of their
Savior, and they were willing to die for Him.
This is one reason why baptism is
closely associated with salvation in the New Testament. Water baptism didn’t save them, but it
certainly demonstrated their level of
commitment.
Lest anyone
accuse us of “hating” or “dishonoring” baptism in any way, this is not the case
at all. We respect baptism and
acknowledge it as a very meaningful, God-ordained activity. It is a profound and important event which all Christians should do and it should not
be taken lightly. Baptism is one of two church
ordinances, the other being communion, or “breaking bread” / the Lord’s Supper. Communion is a symbol that points back to
what happened to Jesus on the cross, and baptism is a symbol that points back to
what happened to us, the believer, when we submitted to God and allowed Him to change
our hearts and lives.
Another
thing to remember when dealing with this topic is that, not every verse that mentions “baptism” or “baptized” is speaking
of water baptism. We will get into this more later on.
In Part 2,
we will discuss popular Bible verses on baptism. Stay tuned…
