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Faith & Baptism
Ephesians 2:8
Anyone who is saved, will be saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). No
principle is more fundamental to New Testament teaching, yet few
principles are less understood. In the minds of many people, faith stands as an
isolated entity completely separate from its effect on people's lives. For this
reason, it's not uncommon to see folks who readily claim "faith" in Jesus, yet
live like the Devil.
Real faith, as portrayed in scripture, isn't just an abstract concept that
occupies one small corner of a disciple's life. Rather, one's faith IS his life.
His conviction is to shape every action he takes. As Paul states so eloquently,
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). To view faith apart from
its effect on one's life, is to misunderstand the nature of saving faith.
If the Bible's great chapter on faith, Hebrews 11, teaches us anything, it's
that genuine faith is an abiding trust and confidence in God that compels one to
do His will. Consider Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Although none was perfect,
each had a heart for God. Each one had a faith that was inextricably linked to
his conduct. Real faith obeys God, and obedience serves as the only valid
evidence of faith. Talk is cheap and lip-service to God is easy, as too many of
us know. But changing one's life to conform to God's will declares a faith that
is genuine. It's always a mistake to sever faith and obedience.
Which brings us to our discussion of baptism. Hebrews 5:9 says of Jesus, "And
having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey
Him." Now, can anyone rightly contend that obedience has nothing to do with
salvation? Remember that faith and obedience are not mutually exclusive
principles, but that they go hand in hand. What God wants is the obedience that
comes from faith! (See Rom. 1:5). Any attempt at "obedience," simply for the
purpose of boasting of one's works, is not Bible obedience. It is a presumptuous
counterfeit. Acceptable obedience is that which is born of faith in God. And
such is the nature of baptism.
On the surface of it, there's no inherent benefit from being dunked under water.
Yet the apostle Peter clearly states, "The like figure whereunto even baptism
doth also now save us..." (1 Pet. 3:21). Now if we're saved by faith as Paul
says (Eph. 2:8) and if baptism has something to do with it as Peter says, then
there must be some logical connection between faith and baptism.
The answer lies with Jesus. Before ascending to His Father, He instructed the
apostles to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He
who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned" (Mk. 16:15-16). In this simple statement, Jesus links belief to
baptism. At the risk of taking a passage out of context, "What God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder."
Christ's commission teaches that His condition for salvation is two-fold. Belief
and baptism. To omit either element is to deny the Lord's command. Belief
without baptism is an empty claim without proof. And baptism without belief is a
ritualistic waste of time. It's belief and baptism the Lord wants. But remember,
obedience is not something "tacked on" to faith; obedience is the logical result
of a faith that trusts God and takes Him at His word. No act speaks louder of
our absolute faith in the grace and mercy of God, than baptism, for baptism is
an act of faith. Two passages bear this out.
When some Christians in Rome felt that freedom from Mosaic Law afforded them the
liberty to sin freely, Paul soundly denounced such thinking as nonsense. "What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly
not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" (Rom. 6:1-2). The
question is, how have the saved "died to sin?" Paul continues ...
"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death?" (6:3). When did Jesus shed his saving blood for our
sins? At His death. When do we come in contact with His death? Paul says it's in
baptism.
"Therefore, we were buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ
was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk
in newness of life" (6:4). Baptism is not a mere "sacrament," so designated by
men. Neither is it a work that "earns" salvation as some seem to think. Baptism
is a statement of our faith in the saving blood of Jesus Christ, and the
hopelessness of being saved without it. Baptism is an act of faith that emulates
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But Paul teaches the same
principle elsewhere in even clearer terms.
The ancient city of Colossae was noted for its influential schools of pagan
philosophy and religion. Paul warns gentile Christians of the dangers of seeking
some "deeper enlightenment" when, in fact, they were "complete" in Christ (Col.
2:10). They had also been subjected to the influence of Judaizers who sought to
bind the Old Law, especially the rite of circumcision, on gentile converts. Paul
tells them they have already been circumcised spiritually - "without hands" -
and have put off "the body of the sins of the flesh" (2:11). How had their sins
been put off?
"Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him
through faith in the working of God, who has raised Him from the dead" (2:12).
When had their sins been put off? When they were buried with Christ in baptism.
Not because of the physical act itself, but because it was an expression of
faith! They were "raised" with Christ through faith in God's power to raise them
from spiritual death, just as He had raised His own Son from the grave. That's
what baptism is about - not a "meritorious work," but a declaration of faith in
God! And Paul explains the result of this
spiritual circumcision.
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has
made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses" (2:13). It is
by faith that we're saved, and that faith is declared when we submit ourselves
to the emulation of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, relying on God's
power to raise us up! Any separation of faith from baptism is foreign to the
Bible's teaching of salvation, and is an arbitrary distinction promoted in the
theologies of men.
For one to claim faith in Jesus, yet to argue against baptism, as taught by
Jesus, is incomprehensible. And to rely on the physical act of baptism alone, as
a ritual rather than a statement of faith, is equally foolish. Real faith always
seek to do God's will (see Rom. 3:31). Men have erected a wall of division where
God never built one: between faith and obedience. Let's not further aggravate
the confusion by mistakenly portraying baptism for the remission of sins as a
"work," entire of itself. Instead, let's speak in Bible language, showing that
baptism is a logical act of faith, and that baptism
without faith is useless.
By Steve Dewhirst
From Expository Files 4.6; June 1997
