There are many folks these days who consider almost any "doctrinal issue" irrelevant and insignificant, and these will likely disregard the following. Yet, God appears to regard His will worth revealing, and thus worthy of our attention. Perhaps we should as well.

I was eating dinner with some friends and, across the restaurant, one of my fellow Christians was eating with his co-workers. He waved me over and I went to say Hi. One of his companions asked me to sit down because he had a couple of questions and we began to talk about some religious issues. As we discussed a variety of matters, the subject of salvation and God's demands came up, and another man at the table asked if I believed that one had to be baptized to be saved. I responded that I believed that the Bible did indeed teach that baptism is necessary to forgiveness, noting the commands of Mk.l6:16 and Acts 2:38. He replied, "Well I believe that we're saved by the blood of Christ." And he seemed quite surprised when I said that I believed the same thing.

For some reason, which I confessedly fail to understand, people have difficulty harmonizing the basis of forgiveness with the conditions of forgiveness. I don't accept that baptism is necessary for salvation because I think there's anything miraculous in the water. In fact, I believe that we have to be baptized to have our sins forgiven for the exact same reason that I believe we have to have faith to have our sins forgiven-- because God said as much. The water of baptism is no more powerful than is the trust that I place in Jesus Christ. The power to forgive belongs to God, just as the power to heal, to create, to resurrect, or to destroy belongs to God. Jesus clarified that He was possessed of such power in a number of places-- Mt.8:lf; 9:1-8; Jn.11:43f; etc. In fact, the conclusion of John's gospel is that such power proved that Jesus was the Christ and that He is capable of offering eternal life (Jn.20:30-31). And while that power may be exercised in view of my faith and the expressions of such, we must not confuse the source of saving power. God saves. The power is there. My faith is not the power. The water in which I am immersed is not the power. My repentance does not supply the power. The words of my confession are not a magic formula supplying the power. Arguably, even the literal blood of Christ itself is not the power. (Though Heb.9:12-14f emphasizes the import of His blood, it becomes clear that "blood" is equal to "sacrifice" in that passage - v.24-28.) There is no question that the blood of Christ is the basis upon which I can be forgiven and God can still remain just (Rom.3:21-26). That innocent blood was shed as a sacrifice for all of us who stand guilty before God (Isa.53). God can save those who come to Him because an appropriate sacrifice has been made (Rom.5:6-11). But, again, make no mistake. God does the saving. His divine power is exercised on our behalf that we might be forgiven, justified, and ultimately raised in a spiritual body (Col.1:12-20; Phil.3:20f). The question that remains is simple: Toward whom will God exercise that power? The answer is every bit as simple: Those who do what He asks (Mt.7:21f). Which is, by the way, the true measure of faith.

Which brings us back to the original question. Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Yes. Such is clearly demanded over and over-- Mt.28:18f; Mk.l6:15-16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Rom.6:3-5; IPet.3:21f. Do I have to believe to be saved? Yes. Such is clearly demanded over and over-- Mt.28:18f; Mk.l6:15-16; Jn.3:16f; Jn.8:23-24f; 11:25f; 20:30-31; Acts 8:12f ,35-38; Rom.5:lf; etc. Those conditions are not mutually exclusive. Baptism separate from faith will accomplish nothing. Belief separate from the expression of such will accomplish nothing (Jas.2:14f). But let's not stop there. The Bible doesn't. Belief and baptism without repentance won't save anyone (Acts 2:38; Lk.3:lf; Acts 17:30f; Rom.l0:9-10). And what about confession? Can we leave that out, in view of Mt.l0:32-33 or Rom.l0:9-10? Moreover, we cannot underrate all that repentance and confession demands of us. Are we saved when we believe and are baptized though we refuse to conform to the will of God? Do we really believe that God will exercise His divine power in favor of those who care nothing for His will or His concerns? Jn.8:31f and Jn.l4;15 seem to indicate that God will save those who serve Him out of love, and that goes beyond initial obedience. It seems clear that faith-- real trust in God-- is that disposition of mind that follows and obeys regardless of the demand, simply because it wants to please God. Note Heb.ll:6f. If that includes belief and repentance and confession and baptism and anything else, so be it. God's doing the saving. He has provided the sacrifice. He has set the conditions. My job is to trust Him and fulfill His requests of me. I fail to understand why that is such a source of conflict with folks.

Wait a minute. I do understand. In the end, most of us want to do what we want. What God wants is often immaterial. We'll argue about belief and baptism and blood and water and music and marriage and character and consecration. But in the end, unless we really, really want to simply serve God, we'll do what we want to do. And then try to justify it. It would be much easier to serve God the way I want. We could convert millions if we told them to do whatever they want. But, then, that wouldn't be faith at all, would it? At least not faith in the salvation provided by the power of God.

(taken from Reflections, October 17, 2007)