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Tag: Faith Alone

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028 – Baptism is an Outward Sign of an Inward Grace

Baptism is not an outward sign of an inward grace.

Well hello there. If you are just joining us, we are in the middle of a special series addressing the myriad of objections to water baptism. We began by way back in Podcast 012, “The Proponents,” where we discussed a bird’s eye view of the main issues. Next, we spent several Podcasts discussing nine scriptures commonly presented as proof texts by the anti-baptism side. Currently, we are going through the other common objections offered as arguments to prove baptism is not necessary for salvation. In this installment, we address that familiar phrase from the evangelical world,”Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace.”

Baptism is an Outward Sign of and Inward Grace.

They explain it like this: “Baptism is done to a believer to demonstrate that God has already performed His saving grace in the believer’s life. In baptism, the believer is merely responding to that grace which has already saved them.”

Since these believers think they are already saved, water baptism becomes a symbol, or a ritual to confirm publicly what has already transpired, the forgiveness of sin. Remember, the evangelical world teaches, baptism has nothing to do with salvation.

Since baptism is just an outward sign of an inward grace, it’s not critical and there is no urgency. Accordingly, it’s common for congregations to schedule special baptism services a couple of times a year, at which time, new converts are given the opportunity to obey this Biblical command. I think urgency is important and I’ll tell you why in a moment. In the meantime, let’s test the claim that baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace.

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026 – Paul Minimizes Baptism

Paul does not minimize baptism.
The scales of faith.

There are two sides in the argument as to whether baptism is necessary for salvation. One side claims it is necessary, the other side claims it is not. The latter points to a passage in 1 Corinthians as a proof text for their position. They say, “Baptism can’t be important because Paul minimizes it”

Here’s their proof text.

1 Corinthians 1:13-17
“Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel–not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

The argument here is, “Paul minimizes baptism.” He says, “He was not sent to baptize,” so it must not be all that important.

Finally, here’s a scripture which actually mentions water baptism, but, this scripture is still not about baptism. Let’s go back and put this into context. What is this scripture about?

Getting the Context

When we are studying out a topic, it is vital to make sure we have the right context. This typically means we need to go back just a little further in the text to see what might have been happening right before the writer makes a claim. Listen carefully to the actual context of Paul’s statements and the content of his heart. He is talking about a serious problem in the Corinthian church. People were beginning to follow a leader such as Apollos or Paul. If you had been baptized by one of these famous figures, that somehow made you more spiritual or special than if you had been baptized by a friend or neighbor.

This is the context:

1 Corinthians 1:10-13
“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas’”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

“Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.”

When we put this into context, it’s easy to see the real issue Paul addresses when he adds his comment about baptism. Paul’s concern is for the divisions this arrogant practice was causing. He states he is happy he personally did not baptize anyone else since it would give them a reason to be boastful or proud! He is not minimizing the importance of baptism. He is scolding the Corinthian church for putting significance into their own baptisms because the person who baptized them. And by the way… you get the idea that all the members were baptized.

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021 – We Are Saved by Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, by Christ Alone, Plus Nothing!

Baptism is an act of faith. Don't call it a work because it is a command and it can't be both.
We are saved by grace through faith when we obey.

Ephesians 2:8-10
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. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This passage teaches us quite a bit about the salvation experience. It teaches us that salvation is by grace. We can’t argue with that! Nobody deserves to be saved. This scripture teaches us that salvation is through faith. Again, no argument. It teaches us that salvation is not from ourselves which would be super boastful! It teaches us that God made us and He made us with a purpose; to do good works, which we surmise should happen after we are saved. And finally, it inspires us with the fact that God is intimately connected to us because He has actually prepared things for us to do!

This scripture has nothing to do with baptism but is often used to convince us that since baptism is NOT mentioned, baptism is not important. To make this scripture work as an anti-baptism proof text, we must employ two logical errors; the “all/only” error (Lesson 16) and the error that baptism is man made work (Lesson 13) instead of a clear command of God.

Special Use Case

But this scripture also holds a special purpose in the evangelical argument. It is the well-spring of three extremely popular phrases created to reinforce this position of “faith alone” for salvation.

The first popular phrase is, “We are saved by faith alone.” We have all heard this. The second phrase is, “We are saved by grace through faith plus nothing.” And, the third phrase is similar, “We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.”

I have heard some of the greatest Bible expositors and preachers in our modern era confidently make these claims. They are frequently brought to bear when the topic of baptism is being discussed. All of these statements sound really good but they have a problem… they are completely unbiblical.

What I am about to say might surprise you… but just consider carefully what you hear. If I am wrong, please show me where I am wrong.

When we hear someone say, “We are saved by faith alone,” we really should think about this because… they are actually misquoting scripture.

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020 – Confess “Jesus is Lord” to be Saved.

If baptism is a work then so is confession.
Why is confession not a human work?

Romans 10:9-10
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Wow! There is quite a bit of great information in this amazing scripture but baptism is not here.

This scripture identifies two of the five steps in the Biblical Plan of Salvation, confession and belief. Confession happens with the mouth and belief occurs in the heart.

The thing we must believe is that Jesus rose from the dead. No-one would do this if they did not believe in Jesus and they would not believe in Jesus if they had not been told about him by an evangelistic disciple. This means that everyone who makes the confession, “Jesus is Lord,” has heard the message and accepted the message which are the first two steps in the Biblical Plan of Salvation. But there is more…

There is a process.

When we accept the message, it means we are agreeing with what someone has taught us about Jesus… specifically that he died for our sins and was risen by God to life again. We are taught that if we want to be free from our sins and enjoy eternity in heaven, we should put our faith and trust in the work Jesus did, on our behalf, at the Cross. We are taught that He paid the price for our sin and there is nothing we can do to earn or merit the free gift of eternal life. This is the Gospel.

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019 – Trusting in Christ Alone is What Saves You.

Trusting Christ is only a credit. Ownership comes with obedience.
Trusting God brings a credit of righteousness.

Well, welcome. If you are just joining us, let me explain where we are in our quest. We are in the middle of responding to the arguments made in an article from gotquestions.org titled, “Does Acts 2:38 Teach that Baptism is Necessary for salvation?” At the end of that article, the author offers nine scriptures as proof texts for his conclusion that baptism is not necessary. These scriptures are commonly used in this argument and we have been reviewing each one. Romans 4:5 is the fifth scripture in this list. Here it is.

Trusting Christ for Salvation

Romans 4:5
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

My Evangelical friends explain this scripture as follows: “It is the man who trusts God who is made righteous, not the man who works. Do you see that? Works are of no value. The thing that saves you is trusting God.”

There are a couple of problems here. The Evangelical claims, we can not be saved by works and baptism is a work. No argument on the first part of that statement. We can not be saved by works. This is what this scripture is explaining to the Romans. But, this scripture does not call baptism a work. This scripture does not mention baptism. This scripture is not even remotely about baptism. In order to use this scripture as an anti-baptism scripture, I must buy in to the error that baptism is a work. We have covered this issue elsewhere but in my desire to keep each of these lessons modular and self contained let me review the error and then point you to the original lessons which deal in depth with the issue.

Baptism is not a work. Baptism is a command of God. Why does any church baptize a new believer in water? Because it is a command of Christ, right? We conclude this from the Great Commission. It does not require a doctorate in Rocket Surgery to understand this but baptism can not be a command of Christ and a work of human merit at the same time. That is impossible.

So, the first issue, “baptism is a work,” is not valid. Baptism is a command. I have no choice but to obey it. For a complete review of that topic please read or listen to my Podcast titled, “Who told you baptism is a work?”

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