On Baptism and Salvation:
What is Baptism, and why is it in the Bible? In I Pet 3:
[20] Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
[21] The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Here we see that we are saved by something that could be confused with “the putting away of the filth of the flesh.” This indicates immersion in water, as we will see later. In the same context, we learn that this is called “Baptism.” If God commands something, we expect it to have some purpose or design.
It is very plain then, that Baptism is associated with salvation, based on the I Pet quote above. But so are several other things. For Example, we know we are saved by Grace (Eph 2:8)
[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
We know we are saved by Faith (Mk 16:16.) This indicates that the person being immersed is to be a believer.
[16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
We know we are saved by calling on the name of the Lord (Ac 2:21, 22:16)
[21] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[16] And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
And we are also saved by Hope (Ro 8:24,25.)
[24] For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
[25] But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
The question that the logician must ask next is: In what order do these occur? The traditional order we are familiar with is, “Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, and be Baptized.” We see that Ro 10:
[13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[14] How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
[15] And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Working backwards, we see that there was a Preacher, he was sent with the Gospel of Peace and glad tidings of good things. This believer who is to be immersed it to be taught before doing so. They shall all be taught of God does not preclude a Preacher being the mechanism. Jno 6:45 says that they who will be taught of God (purpose to do so) will come to Christ to be taught. Christ is no longer in Earth, so we teach in his stead per Mk 16:15.
He was heard, those hearing believed, and called on the name of the Lord. Where then was Salvation accomplished? In Mt 10:
[22] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Salvation does not appear to be more connected to any one event than any other, and is not complete until death, seen also in Heb 7:
[22] By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
[23] And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
[24] But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
[25] Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Having seen that Baptism is at least as clearly associated with salvation as Grace or Faith, what makes it stand out? In Ac 2 the apostle Peter had just told the Jewish audience that had been looking for the Messiah, the Christ of God, that they had killed him. In vs 37 they said:
[37] Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
[38] Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We see that this element of salvation stands out, because it is “for the remission of sins!” Here we should also note that every account of a New Testament person being saved, baptism is established in every instance. Not only so, but Jesus himself was baptized(Mt 3:13-17,) establishing the reflexive case and freeing his followers from forever explaining how he was an exception to the rule. Looking at Ro 6:
[3] Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
[4] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
[5] For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Who would want to be left out of this rite of passage? It only remains to note how it may be accomplished. In Jno 3:
[22] After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the
[23] And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.
It is easier to do, if there is “much water there.” In Ac 8:
[38] And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
[39] And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
They went down Both into the water before it was done. One person Baptized the other person, and then they both came up out of the water. This, together with the I Pet 3 passage at the top of the paper, shows that baptism is by immersion (which is what the Greek word that is transliterated meant.)
What then of the person who wants to be saved “like the thief on the cross?” It should first be noted that there is no proof the thief was not immersed before his crucifixion. Not only this, but the person who told him “This day will you be with me in paradise,” also said “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” I am not confident that a person who cannot himself forgive my sins, can authorize an “exceptional” salvation for me. I could as easily appeal to the hope passage, and say “I HOPE I am saved!” If that absent faith could save, even an atheist could be saved. If we are choosing our OWN salvation, by mis-application of Phil 2:12 (without obedience?) I could as easily say “I want to be saved like Enoch,” instead of the infamous thief. He was translated, but just as we cannot choose ourselves to be translated, we cannot choose ourselves to be saved by confession alone. Not only so, but Ro 6: shows that we are baptized into Christ’s death for the purpose of being raised again. The thief was crucified too, so you can’t “get out of crucifixion...” Only lose hope of being raised with Christ, after refusing his approved command in obedience.
If I am to face an accuser on judgment day, I cannot say I earned salvation by baptism, but I can argue with a Satanist: God cannot lie. Satan can lie. If I make a bargain with Satan, at that point in time when I have fulfilled my end of the bargain he can say to me “I lied… I will not honor the contract.” This is not true of God. How can I enter into a contract with God? Can I say “God, IF you will save me, I will %X%?” That would actually represent earned salvation. However, if I am baptized, I have a will and testament from Christ that I will be saved by the conditions met above. Baptism represents to me a contract with God that God can point to and say to Satan: There was no earthly reason to do this. It was done strictly and solely on Faith, and that in the face of crucifixion. He can then hang his hat that I ACTED on my faith, and justly honor the contract, all of Satan’s accusations notwithstanding.
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