Glass Street church of Christ

site last modified
February 26, 2008

OBJECTIONS TO BAPTISM

by Randy Meyer

The Bible is very clear in its teaching on baptism’s role in our salvation. It is an act of obedience that is required of us by God “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). The Bible does not teach that baptism is “an outward sign of an inward grace.” Neither does it teach that baptism is the only thing necessary in our salvation. There are other conditions of pardon, which are hearing, belief/faith, repentance, and confession of Christ (Rom. 10:9-10, Luke 13:3). We do NOT have the right to question what the Lord demands. We must obediently accept it with the same attitude of Samuel, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears” (I Sam. 3:9), and unconditional acceptance of Christ who said “not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). If we want to do the will of the Lord, then we will submit to the teaching of the Bible by being baptized for the reason that the Bible gives.

There are many in the world today which still have reservations and seek to change what God has demanded. Although Acts 2:38 and Acts 22:16 state that baptism is for the remission of sins, Rom. 6:3-4 and Gal. 3:26-27 teach baptism puts us into Christ, and I Peter 3:21 assures us that baptism doth also now save us, man wants to dispute God’s requirement of baptism. Let us look at some of these false beliefs against the necessity of baptism.

OBJECTION: “The Bible says that we are not saved by works (Eph. 2:8-9, Rom. 11:6). If baptism is essential to salvation, salvation would be of works.” RESPONSE: We are no more saved by works than a man with a broken back, broken legs, and down in a deep well could save himself by his own actions. However, someone might drop him a rope with a hook on the end and instruct him to hook it onto his belt and they would pull him out. If he “obeys” their instructions, could he “boast” that by his own actions he had “saved” himself? Of course not! But was his obedience essential to his “salvation” from the well? YES! Even so, we do not earn our salvation when we obey God. But obedience is clearly essential to man’s salvation (Hebr. 5:9, II Thess. 1:7-8).

OBJECTION: “We are saved by grace. It is a gift of God. Gifts are free. If baptism is required, then salvation is no longer a gift..” RESPONSE: Gifts are free but our reception of them is often condition upon thing that we must do in accepting them. Consider an advertisement which said, “return this card with your address and telephone number and receive a free gift”. We understand that we do not get the “free gift” until we have met the required conditions. Then why is it so difficult to see that God’s gift of salvation is free but has conditions which must be met. (Hebr. 11:1-30, James 1:22-25, 2:14-26).

OBJECTION: “Before I was baptized, one night, when I was praying, I felt God’s presence as he spoke to my heart. Right then I knew I was saved.” RESPONSE: Such an objection is contrary to the teaching of I Peter 1:22 which states “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the trough through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart…” We only know that we are saved by knowing we have “purified your souls in obeying the truth” In I John 2:4, we find “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” How we feel does not prove anything about our salvation (Prov. 14:12). Our feelings are merely a product of what we believe. If we believe the wrong things, we feel the wrong things (Gen. 37:26, 27, 31-35, Acts 23:1, I Tim. 1:12-16)

Have you complied with the conditions of obedience taught in the Bible? Have you held some of the erroneous beliefs that baptism is not essential? If you have not fully obeyed God, won’t you now before it is too late.