Articles
What you Could Say (Long Answer and Longer Answer)
One lady said to us, "Baptism isn't required for salvation because that's a work and we're not saved by works." She quoted Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
What you could say: This is THE classic argument against the need for baptism, so it's worth being prepared for. Usually when this comes up, a good thing to do is to ask the person, "Do you believe we need to do anything at all to be saved?" Most people will admit yes, we need to say a sinner's prayer or we need to ask Jesus into our heart or, in the case of this woman Terry and I spoke to, she quoted Romans 10:9 - "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
It's really helpful to get the person to admit we need to do something, because then the natural question to ask them is the question we asked this woman: "How come baptism is a work that earns our salvation, but confession with the mouth isn't?" She was saying if we get baptized, that's "works salvation," but if we confess with our mouth, that's not. Do you see the glaring inconsistency?
In her case, she was trapped, so she made up a definition of the word "work" as something "in the 5 senses." When I asked about confessing with the mouth in Romans 10:9, which involves the senses of touch (of tongue to roof of mouth) and hearing, she then tried to change the meaning of the word "confess" to mean something done internally in the heart, not externally (even though the verse clearly says to confess with the mouth and believe in the heart; confess externally, believe internally).
She had to resort to those things because her belief that we literally have to do nothing to be saved or it's "works salvation" falls flat on every page of the Bible. Now, sometimes people will say, "You don't have to do anything but believe, which isn't a work." The problem is, Jesus called belief a work in John 6:28-29. They asked Jesus, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." Do you see? Even if someone says all you have to do is believe, that's still a work. That's still an action of some kind, something we must do, even if done in the mind.
[If you'd like to, follow me deeper for a better understanding of the root of the problem here]. Remember a couple weeks ago when I warned against reading our modern day questions into the Bible as if the Bible was written to answer our questions? Here's the modern day question people bring to the New Testament: "Is faith all that's needed or does Jesus require me to do any works for salvation? - Faith or works?" Then they treat the faith vs. works discussion in Romans and Galatians as if it were written to answer that question. It wasn't. Nobody was asking that question in the New Testament. The question in the New Testament was, "Do I need faith in Jesus at all to be saved, or is keeping the Law of Moses sufficient? - Faith in Jesus or works of the Law?"
See the difference?
The faith vs. works discussion in Romans and Galatians was about the source, grounds or basis for our salvation. Can we be saved based on a system of law (like the Law of Moses), or is the only grounds or basis for our salvation found in Christ? It wasn't a contrast between doing something for salvation and not doing anything. It was a contrast between relying on a system of law to save us and relying on Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to save us. Are my works the source, basis or grounds of my salvation? Or is Jesus' work on the cross the source, basis or grounds of my salvation? The New Testament argues it's clearly Jesus' work on the cross that makes salvation possible!
Paul says in Galatians 3:21, "...if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." In other words, if I can make myself righteous through a system of law keeping, then why would Jesus have had to endure all that?
The truth is, none of us can be righteous on the grounds or basis of our own works of keeping God's law. Why? Because we've already broken God's law! "All have sinned and fall short of God's glory" (Rom. 3:23) and "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). "By the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." (3:20). A system of law can't save us; it only shows us our faults and how sinful we are for breaking it.
Notice Galatians 3:21 again. Paul doesn't say, "If we have to do anything to be saved, then Christ died needlessly." That's the way our modern day question frames it. He said, "If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." If the source, basis or grounds for attaining righteousness is based on works of the law, then Christ died needlessly.
He wasn't addressing people who actually believed Jesus was the source, basis or grounds for their salvation, but then weren't sure whether confessing or repenting or getting baptized would somehow negate God's grace and violate Ephesians 2:8-9. That's SO foreign to the New Testament issue.
The debate was over the source, basis or grounds for our salvation. Is it a system of works or is it faith in Christ? That's completelydifferent than the modern day debate over "Does Jesus require me to do anything to be saved or is faith all I need?"
Baptism is required for salvation, but it isn't the source, basis or grounds for our salvation; Jesus' work on the cross is. Without His sacrifice, baptism is pointless and empty. The reason we get baptized is because we believe Jesus IS the source of our salvation so when He commands us to believe and be baptized to be saved, we do it! People today try to argue that if baptism is necessary, we're saying it's the source or grounds for our salvation, Jesus' sacrifice is nullified, and we get to boast before God about our works. It's just absurd.
I know that was long, but I hope you can see the folly of reading our modern day issues into the text without understanding what it meant to the original audience. I'm fully convinced if people understood this, no one would ever have a problem with baptism being necessary for salvation again. The people in the New Testament sure didn't! If you have further questions about it, I'm happy to clarify!
