Water Baptism Can Prevent Salvation

Answering a question on Quora:

Why is water baptism required for salvation from the wages of sin...?

Water baptism is not required for salvation. It is a new believer’s first act of obedience to God after having entered into salvation.

“Baptism” has two meanings. When reading about “baptism” in the Bible, always ask yourself which kind is meant.

The “baptism” that saves is done silently by the Holy Spirit. The water ceremony symbolizes part of it, namely, the death to self called “repentance” and our spiritual regeneration (more on this, below). Baptism by the Spirit also makes believers members of the universal church with unique roles and giftedness to aid in the functioning of the body of believers. See 1 Corinthians 12:4–11 and especially verses 12–13. Also see Romans 12.

The obvious meaning is the ceremony of being dunked in water. By going down into the water, we identify with Christ’s death, and it represents that we died to self during the process of conversion. By coming up out of the water, we identify with Christ’s resurrection, and it represents the new, regenerated life of our spirits in Christ. Read the first paragraph of Romans chapter 6. (You will notice that pouring, sprinkling, and dabbing do not fulfill the symbolism. Even the Roman Catholic Church baptized by immersion for over 1,200 years.)

1 Peter 3:21 is often cited as evidence that water baptism saves. However, the verse says baptism is “an appeal to God for a good conscience.” In other words, it is about obeying God to gain assurance that our faith is sincere.

Many churches claim that baptism places people into God’s New Covenant, so it is analogous to the Old Testament ceremony of circumcision. That ignores that the Old Covenant was between God and a nation (not individuals), whereas the New Covenant is directly between God and individuals. The New Testament not only does not support the claim; it actually contradicts the claim. See Ephesians 2:8–9.

Paul’s epistle to the Galatians dealt with an early church heresy that added ceremonies to faith as requirements for salvation. The specific ceremony was circumcision, but I’m sure you can see the principle without having it spelled out. Paul used terms such as “foolish” and “bewitched” (chapter 3) to describe those who fell for the heresy. In fact, the term “fallen from grace” refers not to losing salvation (the pop definition); rather it refers to those who add ceremonies to simple faith as requirements for salvation (chapter 5).

Peter did advise the Jews who had just murdered Christ to repent and be baptized. However, the salvation of gentiles in Acts 10:44–48 shows that salvation and Spiritual baptism precede water baptism.

Baptism to be saved puts the cart before the horse. It tries to makes the result into a cause. It tries to make our meritorious work of going through a ceremony into a way to earn a gift. Can you see the contradiction in “earning a gift?” And if someone has tried to earn a gift that is acquired through faith alone, have they really received the gift?

I was “baptized” (dabbed) in a mainline church as a child. It did me no good. Many others who were “baptized” became atheists, joined heretical churches, or joined cults. What did me good was hearing a corrected, biblical gospel when I was mature enough to grasp it. Then I got baptized God’s way.

We don’t get baptized to acquire salvation; we get baptized to assure ourselves and tell the world that God has already saved us. 

Copyright 2021 Richard Wheeler. Permission granted for non-remunerated use, provided credit is given where credit is due.

Born Again, and Proud of It?

From a question on Quora:

Is it a sin to be proud of yourself and others about being "Born Again"?

Yes, it is a sin to be proud of yourself and others for being born again. Pride indicates that you credit yourself with accomplishing something or having some attribute that makes you better than others.

Now, be careful about saying that others are proud of themselves. They could be boasting of what God has done to make conversion more palatable or attractive to those who have not been born again. The apostle Paul boasted about how gentiles had been turning to God in order to make Jews want what God was doing for non-Jews. Or the intent could be to encourage shy people to share the faith. It’s easy to misread others’ motives, and we should always assume the best about people. 

To be born again, you must understand that you are no better than anybody else. In fact, you are under the same judgment as everybody else because “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” There is nothing in your nature that makes you superior to others in God’s eyes. 

No good action you have done can make up for the bad things you have done because we already owe those good actions to our Creator. “My good outweighs my bad” is like saying “I’ll pay June’s rent with what I failed to pay in May;” you still owe May’s rent. 

Being born again is a gift from God. All we can contribute is getting our pride and self-righteous attempts at self-justification out of the way, and in despair, submitting to His offer of redemption and mercy, trusting God 100% and ourselves 0%. 

Did you give spiritual birth to yourself? There is no pride in being born again. God the Son experienced the darkness of separation from the Father and experienced torture and death on the Cross. God gave you conviction of sins, enlightenment of the understanding of the gospel, and faith to trust in Him. God regenerates the soul, endows and seals with the Holy Spirit. God forgives, credits you with Christ’s payment, and credits you with Christ’s righteousness. God adds you to the universal church and predestines you to the resurrection, the transformation of your body, and everlasting life in His glorious presence. Just what do you think you contributed to all of that? 

There is relief over having escaped judgment. There is rejoicing over receiving God’s undeserved favor and the blessings that come with redemption. There is gratitude and a determination to demonstrate that gratitude by reforming, that is, turning away from former sins and learning to do those things that are loving and right. There is a desire to develop knowledge of God, relationship with God, and relationship with His other children. There is concern about those who have not experienced redemption. 

But there is no pride in yourself. Pride in yourself could be just a sign of immaturity. But it could also be a sign that you don’t understand the gospel. Study the scriptures, especially the epistles. Learn. Examine your life. Be certain.

If you are proud, be proud of God. Rejoice in the dignity of being His child and all that being born again entails, but give the glory to the God who did it all.

Copyright 2020, Richard Wheeler. Posting this on Quora probably put it in the public domain, and I don't mind its use by individuals or for non-monetary purposes. However, please respect intellectual property and give credit where credit is due.

Regeneration or Faith First?

Addressing one aspect of God's sovereignty, Hyper Calvinists claim that God regenerates a person's spirit. As an extreme application, you don't have to repent from dead works and put faith in Christ's gift of redemption to be saved; if you believe, it's because you've already been saved.

The reasoning goes that a man does not give birth to himself (John 3:3-8) and that people dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) cannot choose to believe the gospel (1 Corinthians 2:14).

God's act of regenerating is part of the process of salvation. God must regenerate

1. before faith OR
2. simultaneously with faith OR
3. subsequent to faith

If either (1) or (2) is true, then God cannot save through faith. This contradicts Ephesians 2:8.

For by grace you have been saved through faith....

Therefore, (3) must be true. Regeneration must follow faith.

The argument that dead men cannot have faith depends on "dead" meaning "devoid of animation." If that definition were true, then the "dead" in hell could not perceive torment. "Dead" must have a different meaning.

Namely, as physical death is separation from the body, spiritual death is a separation from God that includes disability with respect to righteousness. This definition of "death" allows that God can partially heal spiritual disability and give faith to the "dead" before regeneration.

Thus, God can give faith, then save (regenerate) through faith; and Ephesians 2:8-9 is not violated.