Baptism and Salvation (A Critique of Baptismal Regeneration)
Scope
of this article:
·
It
is a critique of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration and baptismal
justification.
·
Mode
of baptism (sprinkling, immersion) is not the scope of this article.
·
“Infant
baptism or believer’s baptism?” is not the direct scope of this article.
Regeneration
precedes Baptism
Consider the following passages:
Romans 8:7, 8: “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit
to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
·
Those who are in the flesh cannot
please God. They are at war against God (hostile to God). It cannot submit to
God’s law.
·
Ask the question: Is baptism pleasing to God? Is desiring to
be baptised pleasing to God? Of course it is. It is his command. Obeying it is
pleasing to God. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Therefore,
regeneration (removing the heart of stone) has to occur before baptism.
Romans
3:10, 11: “…..it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All
have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.””
· No sinners seek for God. Not even one. No one
understands the truth. Those who are in the flesh do not seek for God and His
truth.
1 Corinthians
2:14: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are folly to him, and he is not
able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
·
Those who are in the flesh (natural man) are not able to understand spiritual
things.
Romans 7:18:
“I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”
· There
is nothing good that dwells in a sinner.
These
all passages points to a biblical and spiritual reality: a person cannot love
Christ, trust Him, and obey His commandments unless they are regenerated (their
nature is changed).
Those
who holds to baptismal regeneration have to believe that: A spiritually dead
person (who cannot please God, who does not seeks for God, who does not
understand the truth) is capable of undertaking a spiritual act (baptism) that
brings about their spiritual life. How does that work?
The
Scripture explicitly states that God changes the heart of sinners so that (in order that) they may
fear Him and obey His commandments.
Jeremiah 32:38-40: “And they shall be my people, and I will be
their God. 39 I
will give them one heart and one way, that
they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their
children after them. 40 I
will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from
doing good to them. And I will put
the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.”
·
It
is not by fearing Him that we receive a new heart. Those who receives a new
heart fears God.
Ezekiel 36:26, 27: “And I will give
you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And
I will remove the heart of stone from
your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And
I will put my Spirit within you, and cause
you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
·
It
is not by walking in His statutes (baptism) that we receive a new heart. Those
who receives a new heart will walk in His statutes and will be baptized.
Therefore,
regeneration precedes baptism.
Baptism is not
included in Saving Faith
Don’t
misunderstand me on this point. I am not saying that baptism is not related to
saving faith. Baptism is related to (in fact, very closely related to) saving faith. But, the Scripture
differentiates baptism and faith (believing). For example,
Acts
8:37 (KJV): “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (Believing is distinct from getting baptized) (See also Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 18:8). If
baptism was included in the saving faith, then these phrases would be meaningless.
Therefore, no one can say that baptism is included in
the definition of saving faith. So, if anyone should say that baptism is
necessary for justification, then they could not hold strictly to the doctrine
of justification by “saving faith” alone. They are forced to subscribe to a
view something like “justification by saving faith and baptism”. But the
Scripture clearly states that faith is not only a necessary but also the sufficient
condition for justification.
Faith precedes
Baptism
Acts
8:37 (KJV): “And Philip said, If thou
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (A person is baptised after he/she believes in Jesus Christ)
Acts
10:43-47: “To him all the prophets bear witness
that everyone who believes in
him receives forgiveness of sins through
his name.” 44 While Peter was still saying these
things, the Holy Spirit fell on all
who heard the word. 45 And the believers from
among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed,
because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the
Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing
them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can
anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”” (Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will receive
forgiveness of sins (according to the all the prophets). Then, we read that “the
Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word”. That implies that all who heard
the gospel believed. We can rightly assume that their sins were forgiven at the
time of their belief [because that is
what the prophets prophesied]. They received the Holy Spirit before baptism.
Then they were baptised.)
Acts 8:12: “But when they
believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and
the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
Acts
18:8: “Crispus, the ruler of the
synagogue, believed in the Lord,
together with his entire household. And many of
the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were
baptized.”
“We are justified at the very first act of
genuine saving faith in Christ, and then baptism follows.”
We have seen that saving faith precedes baptism. But saving
faith is not only a necessary condition for justification, it is sufficient as
well. That is the testimony of the Scripture.
Romans 4:1-5: “What then shall we say was gained by
Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For
if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about,
but not before God. 3 For
what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to
him as righteousness.” 4 Now to
the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work
but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”
Galatians
3:1-8: “O foolish Galatians! Who has
bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was
publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of
the law or by hearing with faith?
[Remember: Gentiles
receives the Spirit before baptism when they heard the gospel; Acts 10:43-47] 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by
the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in
vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does
he who supplies the Spirit to
you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that
it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you
shall all the nations be blessed.” [Faith is a sufficient condition for receiving the Spirit and
justification, i.e., being counted as righteous].
Our justification from sins takes place at the point (instant) of
saving faith. And we have already seen that faith precedes (and is distinct
from) baptism. But if a person is already justified and has sins forgiven, and
has received the Spirit at the point of saving faith, then baptism is not
necessary for forgiveness of sins. Therefore, justification does not take place
at the point of water baptism.
Church and
Salvation
If baptism were required for salvation, then no
one could be saved without another party being present. Someone must be there
to baptize a person before he can be saved. This effectively limits who can be
saved and when he can be saved. The consequences of this doctrine, when carried
to a logical conclusion, are devastating.[1]
That would mean that a person’s justification depends not only on his/her faith
but also on the willingness of a third person (or community).
Summary
Let me conclude this article. It was my intention to
scripturally prove that regeneration, faith and justification precedes baptism.
This is so clear from the Scripture.
But that does not mean that saving faith is a dead
faith. I am not talking about that kind of faith. That kind of faith is good
for nothing (just as James explains in his letter). Saving faith produces
fruit, the fruit of obedience. It is a faith that perseveres until the end. It
is a faith that trusts Jesus and love Him above all others (their parents,
friends etc.).
|
False Doctrines: 1.
Baptismal Regeneration 2.
Justification by “saving faith + baptism” 3.
Baptism is not necessary for a Christian All those who are holding to any one (or all) of the above statements
are guilty of serious doctrinal error. |
For
Further Reading
(I have not delved deep into the exposition of several
proof texts that are raised by proponents of baptismal regeneration (even
though it is tempting to do so). It is because this article should be short.
More importantly, there are many able explanations given on those texts. Some
of them I am recommending for your reading):
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/is-baptism-necessary-for-salvation
https://www.gotquestions.org/baptism-Mark-16-16.html
https://www.gotquestions.org/baptism-Acts-22-16.html
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