BAPTISM
DOES NOT SAVE NOR HELP SAVE YOU
A favorite device of
the Devil is to have men look to their works for their salvation
instead of looking to Christ. He leads some to trust in their
morality, some to depend upon church membership, some to depend upon
confessions to priests; some he leads to trust in baptism. That is a
fatal mistake. The unanimous voice of all the Scriptures is that
people are saved by simple faith in Christ, without any act of
righteousness, and baptism is never mentioned as a part of the plan
of salvation. Baptism is an act of righteousness, it can in no way
save you from death and hell. "But after
that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing
of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." -
Titus 3:4-7
Salvation is A
Gift
Salvation
is a gift of God which is not deserved, is not bought, and cannot be
paid for. No church nor preacher nor the individual saved has any
right to claim credit when a soul is 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."
- Ephesians 2:8,9. In fact, we are told again and again in the Bible
that the man who trusts in Christ has everlasting life immediately,
"He
that believeth on the Son HATH everlasting life: and he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him."
- John 3:36.
False
Doctrine of The Scriptures
Some like to misinterpret
the Scriptures to mean something other than what it actually is. For
example Peter said, "Then Peter said unto
them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38. Some people think that this
verse contradicts the dozens of other plain statements in the Bible
that a man is saved by faith and saved immediately when he believes.
What they fail to do is read the rest of the Scripture.
This
was on the day of Pentecost, those who did not believe were mocking
the Apostles, Peter than stood up and began speaking to the people
and after he spoke to them this is what happened. "Now
when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall
we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto
you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many
as the LORD our God shall call. And with many other words did he
testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward
generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:
and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand
souls." - Acts 2:37-41. What Peter said to the people was
that they ought to repent (ask for forgiveness) first, then be
baptized to show their pardon of sins. When one repents, he receives
the remission of his sins. Then the obedient heart, following Christ
in baptism, is promised the gift of the Holy Ghost, an entirely
separate mutter from salvation. The Scripture, then, does not mean
that people ought to be baptized in order to be saved, it means that
they ought to be baptized after they are saved in order to show that
they received His Word.
Another misinterpreted verse is one
that Jesus said Himself, "He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned." - Mark 16:16. Christians are supposed
to be baptized as soon as possible after they are saved. In Bible
times they were usually baptized the same day, oftentimes the same
hour of their conversion, even if it were midnight as in the case of
the Philippian jailer. "And the keeper of
the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors
open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a
light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul
and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be
saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of
the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the
same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized,
he and all his, straightway." - Acts 16:27-33. In fact,
baptism is a public profession of faith. One can see baptism; one
cannot see faith in the heart. It is natural to think of baptism
following salvation, and Jesus said that those who believed and were
baptized should be saved. He did not mean to contradict the rest of
the Bible though, as you will see from the following words in the
same verse, for He added. "But he that
believeth not shall be damned." That makes it clear that
the matter which settles it is believing just the same as is taught,
"He that believeth on him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
- John 3:18. The above verse, John 3:18, settles it that the man who
believes in Christ is not condemned, whether or not he has been
baptized. It also settles that the reason a man is condemned is
"because he hath not believed." Salvation is settled by
belief in Christ, and only by that.
TRUST
JESUS FOR SALVATION
Now, one thing I would like
to point out is that there are times when it is not possible for one
to get baptized even though it is a command from Jesus, this proves
that it is not baptism that gets one to heaven it is Jesus. God has
just one plan of salvation. It is not a process. It is not a series
of steps. People are saved by faith in Christ, that way and no other
way. Everything else that God asks of a sinner in order to be saved:
repentance, prayer, coming to Christ, etc., is summed up and settled
when one depends upon Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. One
could not turn his mind or heart toward God (repentance), without
faith in Christ. You cannot come to Christ without believing on Him.
"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? "
- Rom. 10:14. Confession by the mouth simply proves faith in the
heart which has already secured salvation. God has no other plan of
salvation except that promised in John 3:16,18,36; John 5:24; John
6:47; Acts 16:30-31. "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."
People
Saved in The Old Testament, Without Baptism
We have the
record of many people in the Bible who were saved without baptism,
God has never had, but one plan of salvation. In the Old Testament it
was "not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins" In fact, the eleventh chapter of Hebrews tells
us of case after case of people in the Old Testament times who were
saved by faith. "To him give all the
prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him
shall receive remission of sins." - Acts 10:43. The only
plan of salvation taught in the Old Testament was by faith in Christ,
just as it was preached in the New Testament. Every Old Testament
sacrifice and ceremony was a picture and shadow and type of the Lord
Jesus Christ, "the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world!"
Now,
all of these Old Testament saints were saved without baptism, for
there is not a word in the Old Testament about baptism and no record
of a single person's ever being baptized before John the Baptist
began it. Baptism, then, is not a part of God's plan of salvation.
People Saved in The New Testament,
Without Baptism
Since the same plan of salvation was
preached in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, and people
were saved in the Old Testament without baptism, you would expect
them to be saved in the New Testament without baptism, and they were.
In Luke 7:37-50 is the story of a woman, a notorious sinner. Verses
47 to 50 in that seventh chapter of Luke tell us plainly that her
sins were forgiven her and that her faith had saved her. Read
carefully these Scriptures :
"Wherefore
I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, ARE FORGIVEN; for she
loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little."
"And he said unto her, THY SINS ARE FORGIVEN"
"And
he said to the woman, THY FAITH HATH SAVED THEE; go in peace."
Jesus plainly stated that the woman was already forgiven and
was already saved by faith. She knelt at the feet of Jesus, trusted
Him, and went away a saved woman. She was saved without baptism.
In
Luke 18:35-43 we are told about the healing and conversion of a blind
man. Verse 42 tells plainly, in the words of Jesus Himself, just how
he was saved:
"And Jesus said unto
him, Receive thy sight: THY FAITH HATH SAVED THEE."
Notice that salvation was received right there before he was
baptized.
That is the same plan of salvation given throughout
the book of John; in John 1:12, John 3:14-18, John 3:36, John 5:24,
John 6:37, and many other places. It is the same plan taught by Peter
after Pentecost, Acts 10:43. It was the same plan taught by Paul, the
apostle to the Gentiles, Acts 13:38,39; Acts 16:30,31; Ephesians
2:8,9; Romans 3:28 and Romans 4:5-8. People were saved in the Old
Testament by faith without baptism, were saved during the life of
Jesus by faith without baptism, and were saved after Pentecost by
faith without baptism.
That publican, about whom the Savior
has told us in Luke 18:13,14 was saved without baptism. Standing
there in the temple, he prayed, saying. "God be merciful to me a
sinner." Jesus tells us about him then, that, "I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified"! He was saved, then,
without baptism.
Thief on Cross
Saved, Without Baptism
The most remarkable case of
this kind is the thief converted on the cross as told in Luke
23:39-43. When that poor man turned to the Lord Jesus and asked to be
in His kingdom, the Lord Jesus replied, "Verily
I say unto thee, to day shalt thou be with me in paradise"!
He died that day on the cross as we are told in the Scriptures and so
could not have been baptized. But that day, according to the express
statement of the Savior, he went with Jesus to paradise. And some
happy day, all who trust in Christ will see him there.
No, baptism is not essential to salvation. Baptism follows, should follow immediately, but is not a part of God's plan of salvation. When you are baptized, be sure that fact is made clear to those who look on. If you have this salvation, this change of heart by faith in Jesus Christ, then follow Jesus in baptism as soon as possible.
