Baptism: Saving or Not?

Romans 15:16 All the churches of Christ send greetings. 17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Why do people fall for false teachings? Naivete'.  I was sitting here pondering baptism. Baptism is something we do, and hence is works. On the other hand, it is us who obtains the water but it's God who washes away the sins! Therefore, perhaps baptism is not a work but another gift of grace. On one extreme are Baptists who believe that salvation is by "grace alone" (sola gratia) and churches of Christ who claim that baptism completes the process of salvation. Both believe in the born-again experience, so that isn't the issue. The Baptists argue if baptism saves, then that is salvation by works. Consequently, Baptism would be a sacrament to Churches of Christ, and an ordinance to Baptists. (Sacraments are saving and ordinances are obedience).

I wrestle with God quite often on this issue. It seems so straightforward - sometimes one way, and straight forward the other way at other times. I kind of look at it as, "I'm baptized, so either way works for me!' That is true, but what about others? This argument is an obstacle to true Church teachings. (We all have doctrines - Churches of Christ included, although they don't admit it.) False teachings cause obstacles. It would seem one must be right and the other wrong. I have a burden for both views. Churches of Christ seem to reject the Christianity of those who disagree. However, Baptists don't. That makes Churches of Christ more dogmatic, but dogmatism itself is not a test for truth - only scripture is.

Who is more right? It seems that based on scripture that Churches of Christ are. One must look further, though.

Oftentimes, Christians put God in their box. Dogmatic people have God in small uncomfortable boxes which accommodate few. Of course the gate is straight (Matthew 7:14), but we must take care that it has truly straight jams and lintels, or the box is just too small for God to have enough grace to accommodate anyone.

The "straight gate" is the doctrine of Christ. For all denominations, Jesus's doctrine must be the only doctrine. Because of heresy, the early church corrected error by issuing "creeds".  Creeds are formal statements on what the church believes. That is so that individuals do not create chaos in God's institution which "put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned."

The belief on Baptism is an obstacle. In the eyes of Campbellites, it makes sincere Christians lost because they fail to do the ritual right. In effect, ritualistic Christianity is Simonism. There is a method to Christ's "magic". Simon created a box. He wanted the formulae for doling out the Holy Spirit. He was promptly rejected and ejected! Why? Because the Holy Spirit does God's will, and God's will is that we not be able to control Him!

On the other hand, if baptism is saving, we do want everyone to be saved!

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The equation becomes S = C_L. Salvation is calling on Jesus's name - the Lord.

Luke validated that because by no other name is one saved. (Acts 4:12).

It seems so simple, right?  Let's look at another verse:

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved...

Here we have two conditions which must be met - belief and baptism.

S = F + B, where Salvation is (F)aith - belief, plus baptism. The problem with this is if the (F) aith part is skipped before the (B) aptism. That leaves only a wet sinner!

Which is it, then - Belief (by the name of Jesus), or Belief and Baptism?

It is arguable but belief is normally not considered a work although the individual must do that. That is because faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). That is enough to be born-again but subsequently, faith is a work (1 Thessalonians 1:3). To be born-again, God does the work, but to keep the faith (Revelation 14:12) one must perform works of faith - essentially staying on top of Satan by studying the word so as to depend on God's protection.

(Calvinists, please do not stop reading this. At worst, it will make you think! Likewise, for Baptists and Churches of Christ.)

Now, to solve the puzzle. Can both be right? It must be so or one is wrong! Scripture is not.

I also had a dilemma with Arminian doctrine. (I never cease to question!). The implication with conditional security is that one can be unsaved. That is an impossibility or one was never saved. So we Arminians contradict ourselves. Like the issue of baptism, there are two opposing doctrines on security, and both are apparently biblical. In order to clear the obstacle of baptism one must clear the obstruction of security.

There are much scripture which seems to support eternal security, and as many conditional security. That is once saved always saved. I am a strong Arminian but I believe once saved always saved. My contention is that Christians, even Arminians, fail to understand what saved even means because of sloppy translations, and ignoring certain other passages.

First off let's deal with saved again. That is impossible and heretical:

Hebrews 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

If one "falls away" that is apostasy. When one falls away, they effectually crucify Jesus again, testifying that it was everybody who crucified Jesus to start with. It would be shameful to try to make Jesus die again for what he already died. So forget being saved again! (Backsliding is another issue but not in the scope of this argument).

Since, we can't be unsaved, we must be un-something else. What is apostasy? We must examine what status a Christian  lives in.

Jesus refers to belief in him as being born-again.

1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

The new birth is becoming a new person - the sons and daughters of Jesus rather than sons and daughters of Adam. We were born the latter, and reborn the former. Jesus explained it more fully to Nicodemus.

John 3:5 Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

Churches of Christ take the water part and assign it to baptism.  However, most others take it as the first birth, which makes sense in that it is water which keeps the unborn safe until they live, and the Spirit which keeps the new creature safe until they obtain eternal life.

Both the unborn with the water birth and the living with the Spiritual birth are kept safe until they are saved. When does salvation occur?  In both Acts 2:21 and Mark 16:16 above, says "shall be saved". Both Baptists and Churches of Christ believe in shall be saved. I believe they interpret that wrong!

Shall be is any moment from the present until the end. Therefore, salvation could be right at the time of the new birth or it could be anytime thereafter. Of course, after one has already been lost is too late to be saved, right? Therefore, Christians are saved from damnation immediately after death. Salvation, then is at the moment of death. That's when the bus crashes and God yanks us safely away forever. We can never be put back on the burning bus (an analogy) again or we're not saved!

To be honest "shall be" is not part of the original Greek. Some say "should be" and others "will be".

Sozos is the Greek word transliterated "saved' in English. Just as the liberty of exercising context with "shall be", the translators exercised the same liberty with "saved".  A more contextural use is "safe" which is the first choice given by Strong's Dictionary.  Hence, both of those verses mentioned previously would imply "are safe". In effect, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord "are safe". Safety comes immediately, whereas salvation can be anytime subsequent to that.

This is validated by Paul's use of "hope of salvation". (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Hope is an expectation that something will happen. If one is born-again the hope should be that he will be saved. The question is, "When?" Logic and scripture point toward death as the time of salvation. Paul said just that:

Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Speaking to Christians who were born-again previous to that day, Paul tells them that that they are nearer to salvation than when they first believed. Since, salvation is spoken of in the future, those who had believed were looking forward to a future event. Hence, they had the hope of salvation.

Don't be dismayed. I am a Christian since I have faith. We are born again if we believe in Him - that Jesus is the Way to eternal life. However, I am not saved, but safe. I'm confident that I am saved because of the assurance of my salvation. My faith is so strong it's as if I'm already saved. However, there is a difference between being saved and having the assurance that I am. The difference is my own death! That's why it is so necessary to keep the faith strong by staying in the word, and obeying God's commands!

Therefore, both Churches of Christ and General Baptists need to appraise our own doctrines or beliefs. For Calvinists, all five points need to be revisited because Calvinism rejects most of what I write. (See how honest I am?)

Now for baptism. Is it a sacrament - thus saving? Looking at the time of salvation, when we're delivered from the fires of Hell, baptism needs to precede that because after death it would be too late. Hence, while one is "safe" and still alive is the time to be baptized. Of course, it would be in plentiful water, and scripture would even infer flowing water, but one must still be alive to be baptized. Even the rite of baptism commands immersion for total cleansing.

However, baptism must be subsequent to the new birth because if a sinner enters the water without seeing the Light, only a wet sinner emerges!

Baptism is then an act of obedience, and if one loves Jesus, they will obey. (John 14:15). Hence subsequent to the new birth and before salvation, baptism is to be accomplished.  It doesn't save the Christian but indeed testifies to the safety of the born-again person. It can be looked upon as a sacrament (part of the salvation plan), or an ordinance, (obedience because of one's new birth).  Either way, it is expedient to be baptized since a Christian gets the assurance of forthcoming salvation by obedience.

Then the question arises? What if a born-again person dies before the immersion? Are they still saved? Death brings the person to salvation. Before that, the person is safe. Eternal death is still possible except by grace. On top of that, the unbaptized person is not in apostasy- lost faith, hence is still in good standing with God.

Think of safety as the faith of Job. Because of his faith, God had put a hedge around him. He protected Job from death from Satan but he could have fallen away. He was being tested. In apostolic times, his faith would be born-again and his hedge that God put around him would be safety. When Job died he was saved by faith. He went from safety to saved.

The condition of the heart is what protects. If the heart has been circumcised, then safety is certain, and the assurance of salvation is positive. Abraham, when he was willing to sacrifice his only son, was safe because he was willing to make the sacrifice. Baptism, if a person is willing, is done in the heart. Those who reject baptism are not in obedience. Those who can't be but are willing are baptized by the circumcision of the heart.

Romans 2:29 ... circumcision is that of the heart.

That "circumcision" is when one is washed by water. When the body is sacrificed to the water, that is when the heart is circumcised. That can happen with faith even if the immersion cannot be done. That is by God's grace - the same way Abraham was born-again without Christ. He saw Jesus although Jesus wasn't there in body.

If one can see the truth without looking at doctrinal biasedness. this commentary does offer salvation to both Churches of Christ and Baptists. Oh, why are we so divided when we claim unity? Both can be wrong, or one - but this commentary leaves open the possibility that all may be right. Consider it.