Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16). Did Jesus not understand the truth concerning the grace of God? Did he violate God's grace by declaring that one must believe and be baptized in order to be saved? Does inspiration ever use the term "grace" in a way that would properly remove from this verse the necessity of believing in Christ and being baptized in order to be saved? Does anyone, accordingly, have a right to remove baptism as a condition of salvation by saying that it violates grace? Such an attempt is folly.
If one is baptized because he is already saved, then what is the salvation that the Lord said follows baptism? "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved?" The term "shall be saved" follows "He that believeth and is baptized." You cannot save a saved man! It makes no sense to say to a saved man, you "shall be saved" and use "saved" in the same sense in both instances. Saved from what? "He shall be saved" is modified by "believeth and is baptized." This describes which "he" is to be saved.
When those on Pentecost asked Peter, "what shall we do," he replied: "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). Was grace present in the miracle which occurred, in Peter's preaching? Was grace present when he convinced those Jews that they had crucified Christ? Inspiration means "God breathed." Was grace present in Peter's inspired words when he said: "Repent and be baptized [both required] for [unto ASV] the remission of sins?" If the word "for" means "because of," as the writer teaches, then the verse would read "Repent and be baptized, because you have already been saved." Webster says, the copulative conjunction "and" is used to "join elements of equal grammatical value." It couples both, "repentance and baptism." There is no eternal value in either, separately. Therefore, if repentance is required in order to be saved, then baptism is also required. Who is ready to deny that repentance is not required (Acts 17:30; Luke 13:3)?
Was God's grace violated when the three thousand who repented and were "baptized for [in order to, not because of] the remission of sins" (Acts 2:41)?
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8). This verse teaches that we are saved by grace (God's part) through faith (man's part). How does one get faith? "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom.10:17).
Paul said: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Rom 1:16). Paul referred to that gospel as the "gospel of the grace of God" and "the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance..."(Acts 20:24, 32). Note the terms, gospel "of" the grace of God and the word "of" his grace simply mean that God's grace is the source of that gospel, which is the word of God. Without the gospel we would not even know of God's grace.
The statement was made that, "Either salvation is by grace or not at all." When Paul stated that the gospel is the "power of God unto salvation," does that "violate grace"? Of course if doesn't. God's grace provided that gospel. That gospel among other things teaches: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;" "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. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him." "Repent, and be baptized... for the remission of sins;" "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins;" "Baptism doth also now save us" (Mark 16:16; Acts 8:37-38; 2:38; 22:19; I Pet. 3:21).
When Peter stated that baptism saves us, does that mean one is saved without the grace of God? No. When we read that we are saved by grace, does that mean we are saved without baptism? No. The Bible simply does not say we are saved by anything only. "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Heb 5:9)."In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Th. 1:8). There are two choices. One is to "obey", the other is "obey not." Which do we choose?
"If any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God" (I Pet. 4:11).
Don H. Noblin
This article was published in the Northeast Arkansas Tribune (Paragould, Arkansas).
For questions or comments about this article, email Don H. Noblin. If you decide to email me, please include the title of the article. Thank you.