While all branches of Christianity believe that water
baptism is required (Matthew 28:18-20), we tend to disagree about its
significance – what it accomplishes.
Most Protestants do no regard water baptism as salvific (a
means of salvation) but merely as a symbol of the salvation that the Holy
Spirit has accomplished through Spirit Baptism. In contrast, the Catholic and
Orthodox churches regard water baptism as salvific. In a pamphlet entitled What Orthodox Christians Believe, the
Orthodox claim that:
·
Baptism is the way in which a person is actually
united to Christ. The experience of salvation is initiated in the waters of
baptism…some consider baptism to be only an “outward sign” of belief in Christ.
This innovation has no historical or biblical precedent. Others reduce it to a
mere perfunctory obedience to Christ’s command. Still others, ignoring the
Bible completely, reject baptism as a vital factor in salvation. (6)
While the Catholic and Orthodox positions represent a
sincere attempt to grapple with the teachings of Scripture, there is much
Scriptural content that argues against a salvific water baptism. Here are
several considerations:
1.
It is clear that it is Spirit baptism that is
salvific: “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).
If water baptism is also salvific,
then two distinct baptisms are necessary
for salvation, but this is the very thing that Paul had argued against: “There
is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs
to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4-5).
If Spirit baptism is the One
salvific baptism, then water baptism is merely the “outward sign.”
2.
The Bible gives us two examples of people who were
saved without water baptism – Cornelius (Acts 10:46-47) and the thief crucified
alongside of Jesus who had demonstrated faith in Jesus without water baptism (Luke
23:39:43), proving that water baptism is not essential to salvation.
3.
There are approximately 150 NT verses that
mention the need for faith or trust in Christ in regards to salvation without
any mention of water baptism. In addition to these, there are also numerous
verses that cite the flip-side of faith, repentance, as necessary, without
mentioning water baptism. Besides these verses, the OT does not mention water
baptism as necessary to reconcile believers to God.
4.
There are also NT verses that cite faith as the
means of salvation apart from any
works or deeds (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:28).
However, there are other verses – and these are cited by the
Catholics and Orthodox – which seem to mention water baptism as a requirement
for salvation:
·
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
·
“And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized
and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” (Acts 22:16)
However, in both of these verses, water baptism can be
construed as an act that merely accompanies the profession of faith/repentance rather
than the act itself of being
submerged or sprinkled with water. Peter explicitly taught that there is
nothing about water itself that saves but the public profession of faith that accompanies
that accompanies:
·
Baptism, which corresponds to this [Noah’s Ark],
now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God
for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21)
Instead of water being salvific, it serves as a symbol of
the Holy Spirit’s “washing” at salvation:
·
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God
our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in
righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration
and renewal of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:4-5; Ephesians 5:26-27)
Does the idea of a non-salvific baptism find support within
the early church? While the Early Church did regard water baptism as a salvific
washing, there is some ambiguity about what this “washing” represented. It
seems likely that they might have had the figurative usage of Isaiah in mind:
·
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove
the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good;
seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the
widow’s cause. (Isaiah 1:16-17)
Isaiah wasn’t referring to a literal washing with water to
purify the believer but to water as a symbol of a cleansed and repentant heart.
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