IS BAPTISM A WORK?

It is the belief of many Protestants that a person is only saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, i.e., by the work that He has done on the cross, apart from any works that the person can do.  This is indeed the biblical model (Romans 3:28; 4:4-6; 11:6; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5, etc.)

But some groups, while maintaining that man is saved apart from his works, will nevertheless still hold to the idea that water baptism saves.  But this causes a problem.  You can’t say that we are not saved by works, and then turn around and say that we are saved by baptism, since baptism is a work.  The logic just doesn’t follow.  If we are not saved by works, then baptism cannot save us.  It is very simple. 

 

However, they will try to get around this by saying that baptism is NOT A WORK, thus trying to escape an obvious dilemma that they have created for themselves.  But any physical act or ritual is a work.  And water baptism certainly falls into this category.  But some will argue that baptism is not a work because it is “passive,” i.e., it is something that you let someone else do to you, so you are not working.

Well, if being passive disqualifies water baptism from being a work, then it would also disqualify circumcision from being a work, since this also is something that you let someone else do to you, as well.  And no one can argue that circumcision is not a work of the law. (Romans 2:25; 3:28-30; 4:1-10)

Furthermore, would anyone dare say that Jesus’ suffering on the cross was NOT a work?  (John 4:34)  But wasn’t His suffering also passive?  Wasn’t it something that He specifically allowed them to do to Him? (Isaiah 50:6; 53:7; Matthew 26:51-53; John 10:17-18)  Absolutely!  So, even things that are considered to be passive can be a work.  And such is baptism.  So, the “passive” argument fails.

It is our experience in discussions with those claiming that baptism is not a work, that they always seem to eventually drift toward James chapter 2 (all about Christian works), because they KNOW that baptism is a work!

All right, so some may be saying at this point, “Ok, ok, so maybe baptism is a work… but it’s a ‘work of God,’ not a work of man, therefore, it saves.”

Our response would be that it is true that God ordained baptism, but 1) it is still a ritual (work) that man performs, and 2) We must understand that God has many different kinds of works.  For example, Creation is a work of God (Psalm 19:1), but Creation does not save the soul.  Balaam’s donkey speaking was an act / work of God (Numbers 22:28-30), but it saved no one.  Many works of God are acts of violence, destruction, or punishment (e.g., Revelation 16), but they do not save.  All these things can be used by God to cause obedience, give direction, to spare lives, etc., but none of these events directly saved the soul of anyone.  So, just because something is a work of God does not necessarily mean that it saves.  The conduit that God has specifically assigned for salvation of souls is FAITH.  Faith (not baptism) is the access point of salvation (Romans 5:2). 

   

Usually the last desperate attempt to prove this “baptism is not a work, therefore it saves” argument is an appeal to John 6:28-29:

28) They said therefore to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

29) Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (NASV)

And they’ll say, “You see!  Jesus said that even believing is a work, therefore, works can save!”

Strangely enough, these people start off by saying that works do not save, although, they believe that baptism does.  Then they go from trying to prove baptism is not a work, to saying, “Well, it really is a work, but Jesus tells us that another work (believing) can save… therefore, works do save, after all.”

Obviously, these people have some confusion issues.  Anyway, in John 6, Jesus is not officially classifying belief or faith as an actual work, or He’d be contradicting His own Word (Romans 11:6).  He was saying this for effect.  Basically, He was telling this works-minded group, “You want to be saved by your works?  Ok, here is your so-called ‘work’ that you need for eternal life.  It’s BELIEVING in Me!  There’s your ‘work’!”

 

And this same Jesus, through the writings of the apostle Paul, emphasizes over and over that salvation is not earned, but is a gift.  It is by grace, obtained THROUGH FAITH.  Paul makes a clear distinction between the gift and the work:

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. (Romans 11:6 - NASV)

So, those who claim that works don’t save us, yet, baptism does, are simply playing word games.

To clarify one last time, the biblical pattern is:

1)   Baptism is a work

2)   Works don’t save us

3)   Therefore, baptism does not save

It can’t get any simpler than this.  

See also:

http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2015/05/on-baptism-part-1-few-basics.html