Baptism: Condition of Grace

I hope to be able to properly address the question about: "What is a condition of grace?"

God pours out his grace freely to those willing to accept Jesus as the "way and the truth and the life". (John 14:6) However, believing is not enough. The condition is baptism. Much like if you were given a very large check, but you had to go to the bank to receive it; action is required. Belief alone does not get you all the way there. As Jesus' brother James says; 'I will show you my faith by what I do' (James 2:18) and, 'faith without deeds is dead'. (James 2:26) Simply believing is not enough, your actions should confirm your belief.

While there are a great many scriptures which speak to our salvation being by grace, there are also a number which say that our sins are washed away at baptism. How do we reconcile this? Well, both are true! It is only because of God's grace that we can be saved! We deserve death as a punishment for our sins. However, through Jesus, we can be reconciled to and enter into a relationship with God. If we have faith that Jesus is the Messiah who died for our sins, and then are baptized, our sins will be washed away. Many people will call this a 'work', but I'd have to disagree.

As Gordon Ferguson states in his book Romans: The Heart Set Free (pg 86) the basis of forgiveness is the blood of Jesus, and the condition is baptism. We are saved by grace through the blood of Jesus; this is the basis. The condition to accepting God's grace is baptism. If someone writes you a check and tells you to pick it up at the bank, is it really 'work' to go to the bank and pick it up? Or as Ferguson points out, would you brag to people about 'how hard you worked'? Or would you say, 'I received this check by grace, all I had to do was drive to the bank and pick it up!" I think it's clear that the check is received by grace and not works. But it does take faith and action to go to receive that check just as it takes faith and action to be baptized; "in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." (Acts 2:38)

I believe the entire (or at least most of the ) problem with the watering down (no pun intended, well initially at least) of baptism is that interpreters of the scriptures have forgotten, disregarded or not paid attention to the original context of the scriptures. It has been said, though I'm not sure by whom, "Scripture can never mean what it never meant." The point is, it can't mean something to us that it didn't mean to the original hearers. God knew that we would be reading Paul's letters to Corinth, Rome, Ephesus, etc. but it DID have meaning to them as well. It wasn't written solely for us. What good would that be to those Christians, and how would that encourage them? Along those lines, if Paul is writing to Christians who have already been baptized, would he really need to go into the details of baptism? It is highly doubtful.

Much like Jesus' rebuke of the CHURCH in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) was written to Christians and not non-believers, Paul's letters to Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica, etc. were written to Christians. They may have been children who still needed spiritual milk, but they had already been born again. (John 3:3, 5-7) There was no need for Paul to discuss how one became a Christian, but discussion was necessary as to how one STAYED a Christian. (Paul did bring up baptism throughout some of his letters, but it wasn't a focal point) Paul emphasized grace because the Judaizers were emphasizing observance of the Mosaic Law as necessary for salvation. He was reminding them that death came by the law, and salvation came by God's grace, and observing the Jewish Law would not, and could not save them, but would instead condemn them. He did not need to focus on baptism, because it was moot, as his audience had already been baptized.


Here are a few scriptures which address baptism as a CONDITION of salvation:

"And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16)
Paul is recounting his conversion experience. Paul's sins were washed away at baptism.

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:26-27)
Paul reminding the Galatian churches that they were clothed with Christ (saved) at baptism.

"In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." (Colossians 2:11-12)
Paul telling the church in Colossae that they died to their former life and were raised to a new life during baptism.

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7)
Paul tells Titus that we are saved; "through the washing of rebirth" (baptism)

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him." (1 Peter 3:18-22)
Here Peter says that the flood of Noah's day symbolized the water of baptism. As the Great Flood purged the world of sin, so does baptism (through faith in Jesus, by the power of God and by His grace) cleanse the individual of sin.

Thanks for help on this post go to Gordon Ferguson (who I've yet to meet, but will certainly someday) and his book; Romans: The Heart Set Free and convesations with my friend Andy Confer as well as his book; Three Woes For Babylon: Revelation; the Same Yesterday, Today and Forever of which I have an advance copy.

Why Islam?

I just read this article on CNN.com and it got me to thinking. Why not Christianity? I don't have $48000, but that's not a great deal of money for advertising on 1000 subway cars running in New York City for a whole month. A typical billboard can run around $1000 dollars per month. This program is running at $48 per month per ad. That is a steal in any market, but New York!? We are talking a population of 8,000,000 and a Metro population in the 20,000,000 ballpark. Add in millions of visitors and you are talking about a huge audience for $48 per ad. So if the question IS why Islam? The other question should also be, why not Christianity? A personal note to this post is, our family is expecting to be in New York around the times this ad will be running. I don't know if we'll be able to go, but we are trying to make it happen. If I do go, I'll be sure to take some pictures.

Refined by Fire

"But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver."
(Malachi 3:2-3a)

The brother who preached at church today finished out his sermon by mentioning this scripture and the one at the end of my blog post. He was in the ministry for 15 years and while he was in the ministry this scripture came up during a bible discussion. A sister at that discussion decided to make an appointment with a silversmith to get some insight into this. She didn't tell him why she wanted to see his work other than general interest. The silversmith explained to her that you have to hold the silver in the hottest part of the fire to make sure all of the impurities are burned off. You have to watch it carefully however, because you can ruin it if it isn't in the hottest part of the fire. Also if you aren't careful, and keep it in the fire too long, you will destroy the silver as well as burning off the impurities. She asked him; "If you can't keep it in too long, how do you know when it's ready?" He replied; "When I can see my reflection in it."

Isn't this how God treats his children? He holds us in the hottest parts of the fire, not to hurt us, but to purify us. It's certainly not easy for us, but God is right there, watching, feeling the heat as well, and making sure we are right where we need to be, until He can see Himself in us. This world brings trials, but God does not disappoint us. He is always there, always caring, always watching, allowing us to go through trials, yet keeping His eyes on us the whole time, purifying us. The purification process is not always pleasant, but it is good. I have been feeling this heat of purification for awhile now. I need to be reminded (and was today) that God is always there, always watching. He is making sure we are right where we need to be, to eventually show His likeness in ourselves. I need to remember that Abraham waited until he was as good as dead (from Hebrews 11:12) to receive the son God promised him. Moses spent 80 years away from the palace that he could have lived in, and 40 years in the desert leading God's people to the Promised Land that he would never enter. David, who spent his whole life fighting for God, would never see the temple that he planned feverishly for. These men (and many other men and women in the bible) never saw, or waited a VERY long time to see, what God really had in store for them. But they trusted that God knew what He was doing, and that the trials they endured were God's plan for their life, even if they struggled through it. The next time you are fighting through a difficult challenge in your life, remember that God is there, watching carefully. Making sure you are right where you need to be. Hopefully you'll be able to say as Paul did shortly before his death:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Independence Day

Independence Day is not just the day (or weekend) that Will Smith releases his new $200 million movie every year. It is the day we remember when our forefathers declared independence from England. They declared independence from tyranny. They decided they would not stand for being treated as less than human without a say. It is a day we remember those who said no to tyranny, and a day to remember those who have died to defend our freedoms. Yes there is Memorial Day and Veterans Day to remember our troops. However, on Independece Day, July the fourth, it is good to remember the Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen who have fought, and those who have given their lives to preserve the freedom that was declared 232 years ago.