“We
are not saved by baptism; we are saved by grace.”
Indeed,
we are saved by grace. But just what is ‘grace’? The Oxford
American Dictionary defines grace as: God’s loving
mercy toward mankind. Other words that may be found in a thesaurus as
synonyms for “grace”
include: mercy, favor, kindness, blessing, and
compassion.
And
it is because of God’s mercy, His favor, His kindness, His blessing and His
compassion that He has provided mankind with a salvation plan! We are saved by God’s
mercy. We do not deserve the blessings God has given us.
Ephesians 2:4-9
But because of his
great love for us, God, who is rich in
mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you
have been saved. And God raised us up with
Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in
order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by
works, so that no one can boast.
Baptism in no way
minimizes or nullifies God’s grace
as some critics argue that baptism does. They make this argument because
they do not understand the role baptism plays in God’s salvation plan. Baptism
confirms and verifies God’s grace to us! God’s grace is manifested in
baptism! And after we are baptized, His grace continues to
cover us.
Notice this passage says:
God
made us alive in Christ when we were dead—and this is God’s
grace.
God raised us up with Christ
God
expresses His grace to mankind by giving us Christ Jesus
God’s
grace is through faith.
When did God make us alive when we were dead,
and raise us up with Christ? What
is Paul talking about?
Romans 6:3-5 describes just such a scenario-- when we were dead in sin and
God raised us up with Christ:
Do you not
know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in
a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like
his.
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). And when we had sinned and were dead, and had received only what we deserved, God in His mercy and grace provided a way for us to be saved—He provided His Son, Jesus Christ. And without Jesus, baptism is meaningless. Baptism, coupled with faith, is the means by which we become unified with Christ. Baptism is how we are “put into” Christ.
It is by God’s grace that He has given us a salvation plan—and this salvation plan, though His Son, Jesus Christ, includes faith, repentance and baptism.
We should be grateful and thankful beyond measure that God has provided a salvation plan for us who deserve nothing but death.
We are saved by God. We are saved by grace. We are
saved by faith. We are saved by baptism (1Peter 3:21). We are saved by all
of these combined because in baptism God’s grace is manifested
through our faith. In baptism, God’s salvation plan to mankind—which is
purely a gift by His grace-- becomes a reality.
2 Timothy 1:8-11
So do not be ashamed to
testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in
suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy
life--not because of anything we have done but
because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before
the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing
of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an
apostle and a teacher.
What is Paul talking about? He is talking about God’s salvation plan for mankind as revealed in the Scriptures. Paul is telling us it is by God’s mercy that He has given mankind a salvation plan. We did nothing to “earn” it. This salvation plan was in God’s mind before the world was even created. Paul also tells us this salvation plan (the Gospel, i.e. “good news”) is something that is taught. And if it is taught, it must also be learned by those on the receiving end of the teacher. Where do we learn about this “good news”? Through the Scriptures:
2Timothy
3:14-17
But as for you, continue
in what you have learned and have become
convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned
it, and how from infancy you have known the holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.
And--
Colossians 1:5-7,12-14
the faith and love that
spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have
already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
that has come to you. All over the world this
gospel is bearing fruit and growing,
just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's
grace in all its truth. You learned
it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ
on our behalf…
…giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
How does God
“bring us into the kingdom”? Remember
when Jesus said no one can enter the kingdom unless they are “born of water and the Spirit”? Notice the mention of redemption
and the forgiveness of sins with being in Christ (“in
whom”). And we know we can only be in Christ by being baptized
into Him:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? –Romans 6:3
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus, for as many of you as were baptized into
Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. -- Galatians 3:26-27
For
we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body…--1Corinthians 12:13
And
that body is the body of Christ—the church (Colossians
1:24).
In him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished
on us with all wisdom and understanding. – Ephesians 1:7-8
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus Romans
8:1
God’s grace involves a
bigger picture than we sometimes realize. Supposedly,
at one point, there was a rebellion in heaven in which some of the angels chose
to follow Lucifer and abandoned their positions in heaven in rebellion against
God. For these, God has provided no salvation plan. There is no hope for
them, no chance of salvation. They will be eternally damned to hell when the
Day of Judgment arrives. God has not provided a way for them to attain
redemption. But for mankind, on the other hand, God in His mercy and grace has
given us His Son and a way to be redeemed. He has given us a salvation plan! And this is by His grace. God did
not give Jesus to the rebellious angels. He only gave Jesus to mankind. God had
this salvation plan in mind from the very beginning:
Titus
1: 1-3
Paul, a servant of God
and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of
God's elect and the knowledge of the truth
that leads to godliness-- a faith and knowledge
resting on the hope of eternal life, which
God, who does not lie, promised before the
beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light
through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior
What is this “faith
and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life”? It is the
Gospel—God’s salvation plan.
Are we not saved by
faith? We must believe just as we must be baptized. Yet those who argue
baptism is a “work” will never argue believing is
a work! But believing is something we must do!
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to
believe in the one he has sent."—John 6:29
Are we not saved by
grace? Of course we are! Baptism is just one component of God’s
salvation plan. Are we not saved by God’s salvation plan? Baptism is the manifestation of God’s grace. It is
the materialization of God’s salvation plan in an individual’s life. When combined with faith and repentance, baptism,
Peter says, saves us!
If we say we are not saved by baptism, we are saying we
are not saved by God’s salvation plan.
Here is yet another hint:
Acts 20:24-27
However, I consider
my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the
task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
"Now I know that none of you among whom I have
gone about preaching the kingdom will
ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the
blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
Notice
how Paul talks about the good news of God’s grace and then in the very
next breath talks about the kingdom. We know from John 3:3-5 that
we enter
the kingdom through baptism! And what is the will of God?
1Timothy 2:3-4
This is good, and pleases
God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and
to come to a knowledge of the truth.
God wants everyone to be saved and to know the truth. It is by God’s abundant mercy and grace that he provides us with a way out of the darkness. His salvation plan is available to every human being! His invitation is extended to everybody and it is by His grace that anyone gets an invitation at all. Yet even though His salvation is open to all, we must each, individually, respond to this invitation, to His grace, and to His call. We do this by believing, by repenting, by confessing our faith in Christ and by being baptized so that our sins will be forgiven.
The work of the cross is God’s offer of life…
Baptism is our acceptance.
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Sometimes people say that
it is by grace we are saved, not baptism. But that statement comes from not having
a proper understanding of baptism and its meaning and purpose. In fact, the
Bible teaches it is through baptism
that we come into God’s grace. (Romans 6:3-5) That’s what baptism is all
about! The two are tied together and we cannot be saved by one without being
saved by the other! Remember the apostle Peter even tells us in as plain
language as possible, “baptism which now saves
you…” (1 Peter 3:21). Baptism is the
vehicle God uses to put us under His grace and into the body of Christ. It is
baptism that ties your life today to the death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ nearly 2,000 years ago. People
erroneously separate grace from baptism. But it is the very act of a person
being baptized that bestows God’s grace upon them. Baptism is an act of
obedience to God’s Word. And when we obey God’s commands, He blesses us. Many
people confuse God’s unconditional love
with unconditional salvation. It is
because of God’s love that He gives us a way to be redeemed-- a way to be
saved. God loves us and wants all to be saved but all will not be saved. We
must respond obediently to the call of the gospel. God’s salvation is very
conditional. Remember Jesus said, “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
(Matt 22:14) Who are the chosen? Those who obey God. Obedience to God is a
condition. Jesus also said, “Those who
believe and are baptized will be saved…” (Mark 16:16).
That also is conditional. Anywhere in the New Testament when someone asks,
“What must I do to be saved?” they are given an answer. Notice how the answer
given to them recorded in Scripture is different than what most churches
teach today in answer to the question, “what must I do to be saved?” Study
the Scriptures and you will see everywhere that question is asked in the New
Testament period that baptism was always included as a required response
along with faith and repentance. And those who obeyed the gospel call
received God’s grace because through baptism they were put into Christ and into
the grace of God. Some will say, “we are not
saved by anything we do, but only by what Christ did.” In one sense that is
true. But in another sense, it is not. It is true we cannot redeem ourselves
from our sins by ourselves. Only the work Christ did on the cross could pay
the price for our sins, but we must
still obey and respond to the gospel. We cannot do anything to pay for
our own sins, but we can--we must embrace the gospel call of salvation.
Remember the apostle Peter said from the very beginning to “save
yourselves” (Acts 2:38-41) . Those who make the previous objection would not deny
we must believe in Jesus. Yet believing
is an act. It is something we must do! They also would not deny we
must repent (See Luke 13:3,5). Again, repenting is also something we must do.
Often times repenting will involve physical acts which someone must do
(returning stolen money for example). Believing
(See John 8:24) and repenting are
two acts we must do to be saved. Baptism is no different. Faith, repentance, and baptism are all acts we must do to
receive the blessings of eternal life. If you are one who states that we
are not saved by baptism because it is something we do, then you must also
take the position that we are not saved by repenting or believing either.
And that is a very awkward position to take when Jesus very clearly taught
that “your faith has saved you.” (Luke 7:50) |
See also parallel
discussion-- “we are saved by faith…”
And also The Gospel…