Subject: Raven and John Reformed, Baptism? |
Bible Note: Greetings Raven! One of my problems with the position that baptism is necessary for salvation is that we are doing exactly what the Judaizers did in the early church. They taught that it took faith plus circumscision to be saved. The arguments they used are exactly the arguments used by those who hold to the faith plus baptism position. There are many Scriptures which specify that salvation is through faith alone. 1) Rom. 10:9-10 says, "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. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." 2) Rom. 10:13 - "for, ‘‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”" 3) Eph. 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." 4) 2 Thess. 2:3 - " But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." 5) 2 Tim. 1:9 - " who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time," 6) Titus 3:5 - "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit," 7) Heb. 10:39 - "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." We can go on and on! The clincher is probably Acts 16:30-31. There, the jailer specifically asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved. They responded, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Later, we are told that the jailer and his family were baptized, but nothing is said in their reply about baptism being necessary for salvation. The danger of this belief is illustrated in your final paragraph. You said: "To sum it up theres only to things to ask about a person after they die to know if they are saved. 1. Did they obey the Gospel? 2. Did they live a Christian life?" I'm assuming that by number 1 you mean accepting Christ. However, note number 2. Is our salvation predicated upon how we lived? This is exactly what Eph. 2:8-9 and the other verses above specifically taught against. We are not saved based on works or actions. No matter how one cuts it, faith plus baptism equals faith plus works. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |