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Does Water Baptism Save?
A Biblical Refutation of Baptismal Regeneration |
Baptismal Regeneration is the teaching which says that water baptism is an essential requirement for salvation. According to this teaching, if a person desires to be born again (born into God's family) then he must be baptized in water. Those holding to this doctrine teach that apart from water baptism, a person cannot be saved, cannot be born again, cannot see the kingdom, and cannot enter heaven.
Introduction:
The following was written to some friends in the Church of Christ (a church that believes that water baptism is necessary for salvation):
Dear Friends,
I wanted to write to you concerning some of the things we talked about, especially concerning salvation and baptism. I’m sure that you would agree that there is no more important subject than that of God’s salvation and how a person can obtain this salvation. Our eternal salvation hinges upon whether or not we understand what God has revealed about the terms of salvation. Long ago the question was asked by a man who was in desperate need: “WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?” (Acts 16:30). How we need to see what God’s answer is to that all-important question! The issues at stake are nothing less than life and death, heaven and hell.
I greatly appreciate the desire of you both to follow what the Bible says and what the New Testament teaches, rather than to follow traditionalism and modern day teachings which in most cases have departed from the true teachings found in God’s Word. This is my desire as well. There is a great departure from the faith in these days, and our only hope is to go back to the Bible, which is the very Word of God.
I’m going to share several things from the Bible, and I hope that you will give this letter careful thought and that you might search the Scriptures daily to see whether these things be so (compare Acts 17:11). I’m not asking you to take me at my word. I simply want you to take God at His Word and receive whatever He has said as absolute truth. The only question we must ask is this: “What saith the Scriptures?” (Romans 4:3).
Let us now go to the Scriptures to see what the Bible teaches about salvation, about what a person must do to be saved and about the relationship between salvation and water baptism.
1. The Bible teaches that to be saved a person must “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.”
In Acts 16:30 the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas this crucial question: “What must I do to be saved?” What answer did these men give to this needy jailer? Did they say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be baptized and thou shalt be saved”? If baptism is necessary for salvation, then why is nothing said about baptism in Acts 16:31? It’s true that this man was baptized (verse 33), and yet this does not change the fact that Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” If water baptism was a condition of salvation, then this would have been the perfect place for Paul to have said so.
2. The Bible teaches throughout the New Testament that FAITH and FAITH ALONE is necessary for salvation.
I would urge you to read carefully and prayerfully the following verses of Scripture:
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John 1:12-13 John 3:15 John 3:16 John 3:18 John 3:36 John 5:24 John 6:35 John 6:40 John 6:47 John 7:38-39 John 11:25-26 John 20:31 Acts 2:21 Acts 10:43 |
Acts 11:17 Acts 13:38-39 Acts 15:11 Acts 16:31 Acts 20:21 Romans 1:16 Romans 3:22 Romans 3:26 Romans 3:28 Romans 3:30 Romans 5:1 Romans 10:9 Romans 10:11 Romans 10:13
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1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Galatians 2:16 Galatians 3:2-9 Galatians 3:14 Galatians 3:24 Galatians 3:26 Ephesians 2:8-9 2 Thessalonians 2:10 2 Thessalonians 2:12 1 Timothy 4:10 2 Timothy 3:15 Titus 3:8 1 John 5:1 1 John 5:11-13
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In all of these passages FAITH is mentioned as being essential for salvation. In none of these passages is water baptism mentioned. If baptism is a necessary part or an essential part of salvation, then why is nothing said about baptism in these passages? If a man must be baptized to be saved, then why do all these verses fail to say so? For example, in Acts 10:43 why didn’t Peter say, “whosoever believeth in Him and is baptized shall receive remission (forgiveness) of sins”?
3. EPHESIANS 2:8-9 is a passage which God has given to answer this key question: HOW IS A PERSON SAVED? This important doctrinal verse says nothing about water baptism.
How is a person saved? “For by grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Why is there no mention made of baptism? Why didn’t Paul say, “For by grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH AND BAPTISM . . .”?
4. Water baptism is a WORK (something that man does to please God), and yet the Bible teaches again and again that a person is not saved by works.
Here are some examples:
Titus 3:5—“Not by WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which WE HAVE DONE, but according to His mercy He saved us.”
2 Timothy 1:9—“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, NOT ACCORDING TO OUR WORKS.”
Ephesians 2:8-9—“For by grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast.”
Romans 3:28—“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith WITHOUT THE DEEDS OF THE LAW.”
Romans 4:5—“But to him that WORKETH NOT, but BELIEVETH on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
In other words, salvation is not DOING something; it is KNOWING someone (John 17:3). Salvation is not based on what we might do; it is based on what Christ has ALREADY DONE (John 19:30). Salvation is not TRYING; it is TRUSTING (John 6:47). If salvation could be earned by anything we do, then Christ’s death was a waste (Galatians 2:21). Salvation is not WORKING; it is RESTING on the WORK of Another (Romans 4:5). Good works are not what a man DOES in order to be SAVED; good works are what a SAVED MAN DOES (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5-8). God’s holiness utterly condemns the best man (Romans 3:10-23); God’s grace freely justifies the worst (1 Timothy 1:15)!
The Roman Catholic Church also teaches a form of Baptismal Regeneration. The following is taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994):
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| Does Water Baptism Save? A Biblical Refutation of Baptismal Regeneration |
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***Who should people trust, you or Jesus’ apostle Peter? ***
Whom should I trust? The Apostle to the Circumcision, or the Apostle to the Gentiles.
9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Galatians 2:
11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
WHY was Peter so scared of “by works a man is justified” James!
Decisions, Decisions! I think I will stick with St Paul.
**St Paul mentions that by GRACE you are saved in almost all his letters.**
Do you even read the first few verses of those letters, where Paul is greeting those people? Or do you just go to the verses that suit your theology, and that overule the Lord’s commissions (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16; Luke 24:47; and John 20:23), and his messenger, Peter (Acts 2:38)?
I can have an 8 yr old read those intros, and that child will see that they were written to ‘saints, and ‘brethern’, and the ‘faithful’, and ‘churches’.
That means he is addressing folks that already know how to be born again. He doesn’t have to spell it out to them all over again. There are times he alludes to it:
Romans 6:3; “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”
4. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:....” (That’s certainly not Spirit baptism, because the Spirit is life.) “..that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the GLORY of the FATHER, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
5 “For if we have been planted together in the LIKENESS of his death, we shall be also in the LIKENESS of his resurrection.”
Being born again requires obedience, which is NOT ‘our OWN works’. As Paul said to the saints in Rome:
16 “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 17 Being THEN made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
The Red Sea: the passover lamb saved the first born, but the Red Sea saved them all;...”our fathers were under the cloud, and ALL pased through the sea; and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” 1Cor. 10:1,2 (They were born of the water and of the Spirit, in type and shadow) I’m not sure why the Red Sea was ever named the RED Sea, but I don’t believe it was coincidence.
Col. 2:12 is quite similar: “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the operation of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Buried,...risen,.....That sure is clear to me: Paul is referring to water baptism, and Spirit baptism, as separate events, and that both are required.
Heb. 6:1-3 is written to those born again: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection: not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgement. And this we will do if God permit.”
(Notice the ‘doctine of baptisms’ is plural?)
**Romans 10:....But notice Paul did not say anything about it anywhere.**
Remember, he was addressing born again folk, lamenting the unbelieving Jews. He was letting them know that God could save anyone. He says, as long as they hear the gospel from a preacher sent from God, there is hope. To see what the preachers sent from God preached to the unbelievers, one must go to Acts.
It is by the grace of God that he ALLOWS you to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. You have been told. Maybe you love brother, sister, father, mother, family tradition, or your church tradition, more than you love Him. Rightly divide the Word. Block out your emotions and confirm the Lord’s commissions are being observed in Acts 2:38. It takes faith the believe and obey it.
***the slave of sin is crucified with Christ, ***
On the cross, not in the water. Why else would Paul state “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus”. He certainly did not get them when he got baptized.
***He says that to be “of Christ” requires being baptized into Christ.***
Into Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit. Again not water.
When we go into the water, our sins have already been remitted on the Cross through the death of Christ. The rest is merely symbolic.
**That’s when the Eunuch received the Spiritual baptism...When he no longer needed a man to teach him...And THEN, he got wet...**
Your vain interpretation doesn’t jive with the Samaritans conversion. I could put that whole passage on here for you, but you have heard before, and it appears that you still don’t believe.
Why would anyone spend that much time and effort to refute something as simple as water Baptism????
well,, water baptism is not what saves a person, and the Bible is clear on this for those who care to actually read it
I just never thought something so clear would get so many responses
First of all, Christ is God, He can do whatever He wants to do....secoldly, the thief on the cross was under the old covenant...not yet saved by Christ's Crucifixation....
**Of the doctrine of baptisms,**
That would be a reference to the OT sprinklings, laverings and pourings. Remember, he is writing to the HEBREWS, probably non-believers, not believing gentiles. That is why he uses OT scriptures to show how the OT for told of the Messiah.
Laying on of hands would be placing the hand on the head of the sacrifice.
***Why would anyone spend that much time and effort to refute something as simple as water Baptism?***
Because some persons will claim your own baptism is null and void because you didn’t cross the t and dot the i THEIR WAY! and then you must be re-baptized in their church by their preacher with their baptism.
They are no different than these below.
ACTS 15:
1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
(Notice that Holy Ghost was before Cornelius was baptized.)
23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out FROM US have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
GALATIANS 2
2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:
4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
I CHOSE NOT TO BE BROUGHT INTO BAPTISMAL REGENERATIONIST BONDAGE!I’ve been down that road before and didn’t like it!
I will keep my LIBERTY in Christ.
**That would be a reference to the OT sprinklings, laverings and pourings. Remember, he is writing to the HEBREWS, probably non-believers, not believing gentiles.**
You need to read carefully intros to some of the chapters. Look at these:
2:1 Therefore WE ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which WE have heard, lest at any time WE should let them slip.
3:1 Wherefore, holy brethern, PARTAKERS of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of OUR profession, Christ Jesus.
4:1-3 Let US therefore fear, lest, a promise being left US....For WE which have belived do enter into rest..
6:1-3 Therefore LEAVING the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let US go on to perfection; not laying again the FOUNDATION of REPENTANCE from dead works, and of FAITH toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgement. And this we will do, if God permit.
“And this we will do, if God permit”? Do what, if God permits?....Do you think that the writer is telling them that they are not going to preach and teach those things anymore? God forbid.
**That is why he uses OT scriptures to show how the OT for told of the Messiah.**
The writer is taking advantage of their Hebrew upbringing, to show them the deep understanding they need to have, when reaching out to the lost Hebrews.
So here's a simple question for you: This person YOU say is saved without baptism, which category does JESUS say is he in?
Jesus doesn't say...However John and Paul make it crystal clear that people are saved without baptism...The scriptures have been posted numerous times...
What Jesus does here is show you that baptism without repentance will get you straight into hell...
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Paul says baptism is where the old man, the slave of sin is crucified with Christ, and the new man, the free man is raised with Him.
And then Paul explains to the Collosians that this baptism is a circumcision...A spiritual circumcision...Made without hands...Not a drop of water anywhere...
Col 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
He says that to be "of Christ" requires being baptized into Christ.
That's right...And it just got explained to you...
“Water” Baptism saves us because “water” Baptism IS “spirit” Baptism. Or, you know, just Baptism. Since baptizo already implies the use of water.
Scripture tells us that Baptism accomplishes the following:
Cleans you from iniquity, gives you a heart of flesh rather that of stone. Ezekiel 36:25-33
Makes you a disciple of Jesus. Matthew 28:19 (with teaching)
Forgives your sins. Acts 2:38 (With repentance)
Gives you the Holy Spirit. John 3:5, Acts 2:38.
Joins you with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Romans 6:2-5, Colossians 2:12.
Clothes you in Christ. Galatians 3:27.
Regenerates you. Titus 3:5.
Saves you. 1 Peter 3:21.
Doesn’t mean that baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation, for indeed all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13), but that verse doesn’t mean you get to take the eraser to what the Bible says Baptism is and does.
Look at the situation when Paul wrote this to the HEBREWS. He was not the Apostle to the Hebrews but he still loved his people.
The city was full of Christian believers! Temple priests and sects of the Pharisees were believers! They had seen the miracles, tasted the good gift of God. Forward with Christ!
Then they balked..
Paul in Hebrews compares them to the Israelites in the wilderness who tasted the grapes, liked what they saw, were ready to go into the Holy Land and take it, then they balked, and God gave them no second chance. God allowed them 40 years to die in the wilderness.
Paul is comparing the Hebrews of his day with those in the desert and his letter is his way of pleading with them to continue forward into God’s Rest. Continue forward! Don’t retreat and don’t start over again! Don’t go over the same old ground again! If the nation balks it will be impossible to renew them to repentance even as those who balked at going into the Holy land had 40 years to die in the desert.
They balked, and 40 years after the death of Jesus, the nation and Temple ceased to exist.
If you read HEBREWS with this in mind it becomes a very understandable letter and those warnings for the nation, of losing and falling away suddenly become understandable and lose the terror for believers today.
**Since baptizo already implies the use of water.**
Not necessarily. Jesus had already been baptized in water when he said this.
Matthew 20:22
But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
And this.
Luke 12:50
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
These are obviously NOT water baptism.
**If you read HEBREWS with this in mind it becomes a very understandable letter**
I understand it quite alright. Nevertheless, I pulled out an old KJV bible of mine, “the Pilgrim Study Bible”, by Oxford University press (1948), which has a commentary throughout it. The teachers writing in it also don’t regard water baptism in the name of Jesus being for the remission of sins (of course, I disagree), BUT they DO say:
“The Epistle was addressed, in the first place, to Hebrew Christians of Palestine and the East, to guard them against unbelief and to strengthen their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ”.
I have no idea who wrote the commentary you are siding with.
Thank you for posting the scripture. After reading my post tonight I am embarrassed how it was written. I have had the flu and on heavy meds. Feeling better now and hopefully writing better.
***I have no idea who wrote the commentary you are siding with.***
I have no commentary and no longer trust them. I don’t use a study bible. I came up with this after years of personal study in Hebrews.
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