I am delighted to engage in this limited written discussion with Brother Robert Waters on the subject of water baptism.
The proposition I have pledged to affirm states: The Scriptures teach that one is saved at the point of faith, before and without water baptism.
1. Saved
I want to begin by defining what I mean by saved in this proposition. The Bible speaks of salvation in several different senses. Sometimes the Bible speaks of salvation in the present tense and is referring to one who is in a right relationship with God. In other cases, the Bible speaks of salvation as something yet future that we will receive at the Second Coming—salvation in heaven. In between these two meanings I am convinced the Bible speaks of salvation in several other different senses. For example, sometimes the Bible speaks of salvation as a process of growth in which each day we grow closer and closer to the full reality of salvation. Since the Bible speaks of salvation in so many different ways we must make clear in the beginning how we are using the term “saved” in the proposition.
When I use the term saved in this proposition I am referring to the initial state one enters when he moves from alienation from God because of sin to the sate of being in a harmonious relationship with God as a result of forgiveness.
2. Faith
I want to turn now and look at the word “faith” in my proposition.
When I speak of faith or belief as the point of salvation I am not speaking of mere belief in facts. James says, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder,” (James 2:19 NASB). The demons intellectually know that God is one and that He exits and they even shudder when they think of that reality, but they do not believe or have faith in the sense that my proposition speaks of it; nor do humans who have faith in this sense have the kind of faith my proposition speaks of.
The faith my proposition speaks of involves three elements. First, the faith of my proposition involves complete confidence in God, as opposed to confidence in self. In the light of revelation concerning Jesus Christ, this confidence extends to the idea that salvation is made possible through the means of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Second, the faith my proposition speaks of involves the idea of inward repentance. Inward repentance is the full acceptance that one is a sinner and thus responsible for his sins, and includes a resolve to turn from sin to obedience to God’s will.
Third, the faith of my proposition includes the inward choice of love as the ultimate choice of one’s will. In other words, it involves the choice of love (for God first and love for one’s fellowman second) as the first and entire purpose of all that one does in life.
I urge the reader not to rush past this point. As the debate proceeds, no doubt many passages referring to faith or belief will be used. The reader must be careful to discern whether or not the faith involved in each case is the kind of faith I have just defined, or if it is some other kind of faith as the example from James 2 illustrates.
I say again for emphasis, I am not affirming that mere mental ascent to certain facts saves. True, biblical, saving faith is much deeper than that.
3. Baptism
I realize that many people who will read this discussion are now members of (sof-sign out front) churches of Christ. Within those churches baptism is constantly emphasized, and a culture has been built around supporting the idea that unless one is baptized in water they are not saved. Furthermore, the idea exists within many in (sof) churches of Christ that anyone who denies this is saying that baptism is unimportant, or that the denial of this is an affirmation that one can know that God’s will is for him to be baptized and have the opportunity to do it, but chose not to and still be true to his claim of faith.
I want to emphasize from the very beginning that I believe baptism is God’s will for the believer. Furthermore, it is my position that if one should say that he has saving faith, and that he knows it is God’s will for him to be baptized, but he simply chooses not to, that my belief is that such a one does not have true, biblical, saving faith.
As I pointed out above, true faith involves an inward repentance that devotes itself to doing the will of God. True faith wants to keep every command of God, including the command to be baptized.
This debate is not over whether or not baptism is God’s will for people of faith. I believe that it is. This debate is not over whether or not obedience in regard to baptism is necessary. I believe that it is necessary in the same sense that I believe it is necessary that any other command of God be obeyed.
This debate is over whether or not one is saved at the point that he has the kind of faith that wants to obey God in baptism, or whether his salvation waits until the actual moment of immersion in water.
4. The Issue
As I have just said, the issue in this debate pertains to the actual point of salvation. Is it at the point of faith, or is it at the point of water baptism?
When we come to understand the issue our first question might be, “Is this really worth debating?” I freely admit that in one sense it is really kind of a foolish debate. In most cases when one decides to place his faith in Christ baptism follows within minutes. So, at first glance, debating the actual point of salvation may seem to be unimportant and not worth our time and effort.
There is, however, a very important reason to debate this subject. If one adopts the idea that salvation waits until outward acts of obedience are completed then, if he is consistent, he will maintain that idea throughout his Christian walk. Adopting this view of salvation means that every misstep or every failure in one’s outward deeds becomes a challenge to his salvation. It breeds a relationship with God that is full of the wrong kind of fear and uncertainty about one’s relationship with God.
This in turns often leads to greater and greater efforts to make the outward deeds what they ought to be, and that in turn leads to greater and greater realization of just how short our outward deeds come of God’s expectations of us. Failing this way, people, often in an act of desperation that is searching for some kind of peace and comfort about themselves and their relationship with God begin to become blind to their own misdeeds and they create a very legalistic approach in their religion so they can define in some easy, achievable way their salvation in terms of deeds properly done. They reduce their religion to church attendance, taking the Lord’s Supper and other outward acts. The Bible calls this approach seeking salvation by works.
On the other hand, those who understand that salvation takes place at the point of faith handle their sins and shortcomings in a much different way. Since they don’t define salvation as the sum of their works, each sin has the same effect each success has—it drives them to deeper faith and reliance upon Christ for forgiveness and salvation. The Bible calls this salvation by grace through faith.
In this system salvation is not the sum of our works. Instead, our works reveal the quality of our faith and are a tool to help us to develop deeper faith in Christ. Sin is serious, but if one has true faith in God he realizes that his life will never be completely free of sin on this earth.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8 NASB)
Hence, salvation is not about perfect doing, but about deeper and deeper faith in Christ. The wonderful thing is, that freed from fear and condemnation (Romans 8:1) one is free to serve in ways that those engaged in seeking salvation by works can never dream of.
Consequently, our decision on this seemingly unimportant issue pertaining to where the actual point of salvation is will have long term effects in our Christian walk. This makes it an important issue to debate.
Argument 1.
The Bible states that salvation is by faith, apart from outward works.
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT." (Romans 4:1-8 NASB)
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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB)
After making the statement quoted above in Romans 4 Paul goes on to clarify what he is talking about when he says salvation is apart from works. He uses an outward work his readers were very familiar with—circumcision—to illustrate his point.
Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, "FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. (Romans 4:9-13 NASB)
In another passage Paul associates the idea of circumcision with baptism.
And in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Colossians 2:11-12 NASB)
If we can understand Paul’s argument on circumcision then we ought to be able to understand the Bible’s teaching on baptism just as clearly. The Christian’s circumcision (the removal of guilt) takes place at the point of faith, and is symbolized in baptism, just as Abraham entered a relationship with God through faith and then later (many years later) circumcision symbolized that relationship.
In the Hebrews letter, the “blood sprinkled heart” (the removal of guilt through the blood of Christ) and baptism are spoken of as separate things.
Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22 NASB)
Yes, they are closely associated. One of the first outward acts of a person who has chosen faith is baptism, but there is a distinction between the idea of faith and the idea of baptism. One leads to the other. There is a difference between sprinkling and immersion. One is the point of cleaning, and the other symbolizes that cleansing in an outward way as the language of the Hebrew writer in chapter 9 indicates.
It is not my goal to encourage anyone to neglect being baptized, or to think of baptism or any other outward work God has commanded as being optional or unimportant. My goal is to call the attention of my brethren in churches of Christ back to a salvation that comes as the result of faith, and not one of works. The works view of salvation has filled churches of Christ with sectarianism, legalism and judgmentalism. My only goal is to arrest those problems by calling us back to a better understanding of God’s will for us.
Argument 2.
The Bible states that salvation is by faith or belief.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1 NASB)
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NASB)
I’m sure Brother Waters will want to present a negation of these passages and when he does so I will be happy to review it, but for now I think the reader should be impressed with the fact that the Bible clearly states salvation is by faith.
Yes, true faith will work. James makes that clear in James 2. But notice, first comes the faith and then comes the works. Also notice, that James does not write James 2 to the unsaved, but to the saved to encourage them to exercise their faith with good works, and the example he uses in the passage of Abraham does not refer to Abraham’s initial salvation but to his faith working years later. This point is very significant.
Argument 3.
The Bible teaches that outward works like baptism symbolize or picture the true spiritual inward reality of salvation.
Christian baptism, like the washings (Hebrews 9:10, from the Greek baptismos) of the Old Testament, is a regulation for the body, but it cannot make the worshipper perfect in mind or conscious anymore than the baptisms of the Old Law could.
The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings (baptismos, jh), regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. (Hebrews 9:8-10 NASB)
Christian baptism is a shadow and type of salvation, but not the reality of it. It pictures that salvation, inward transformation, cleansing, and forgiveness that takes place in the heart. It pictures the death of Christ and faith in Christ, which are the substance, but baptism itself is not the substance but a shadow or symbol.
Many in churches of Christ, in teaching baptism as they do, are making the same mistake the Jews did with the outward works of religion in the Old Testament.
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." (Romans 9:30-33 NASB)
So it is with those who wrap salvation literally in baptism—they pursue it as though it is by works instead of by faith. Consequently, the one who dies on the way to the baptistery is lacking because he lacks the outward works, as brothers Steve and David Willis have affirmed during the past week on Marslist. The inward work of conversion has been done, but no, according to them the outward work must be done before salvation comes, and even a tragedy making it impossible for one to do so leaves one without hope. This is not the grace of God I read about in the Bible. This involves an undue emphasis upon outward works.
Brother Waters, in your first negative will you please tell us whether or not you believe that one who has true faith, but who dies on the way to the baptistery is saved?
I’m sure that in his rebuttal Brother Waters will treat us to a list of passages that speak of baptism and connect it with one or more aspects of initial salvation. I just want the reader to remember that I don’t deny any of those passages. I just believe Brother Waters is making literal what the Bible clearly teaches is symbolic. Baptism has no real power to actually forgive sins, wash sins away, or to save. Baptism does symbolize all of those things.
I urge the reader to consider this affirmative carefully, and Brother Waters reply. We have agreed to three exchanges, and then we will trade places and he will affirm his point of view. Your job, as the reader, is to take your Bible and carefully compare what Brother Waters and I write to the pages of God’s word and make a decision about which one is truly teaching the will of God. God bless each one as he does this, and may His Spirit move in each heart to reveal the truth of the gospel.