People often discount the role of water baptism in salvation by saying something like this: “Baptism is not necessary for salvation because baptism is a work. Romans says…”. They proceed with referencing something they don’t understand and sometimes misquote. They may even mis-reference the Scripture verse on which they place their souls. People who hold this disparaging view of baptism usually believe the only way to obtain salvation in Christ is by mere belief in Him, which they believe is not a work. By the word, work, they mean an illegitimate, or, non-salvific, human activity by which a person is attempting to be saved.
The point we wish to make in this post is that baptism is an act of faith; it is not a work. Admittedly, there are some semantics involved here so let’s distinguish between an act of faith and a work.
Definition of an act of faith
Relative to salvation, I define an act of faith as an action corresponding to biblical revelation. True faith is always based on Scripture (Romans 10:17). The Bible reveals baptism in Jesus’ name to be for the remission of sins (Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 22:16). Therefore, following through on baptism is an act of faith— faith in a biblical tenet, not a work designed to circumvent faith.
Abraham, the father of the faithful, is a good Old Testament example of faith. His leaving his homeland without knowing where he was going was an act of faith. But it was not arbitrary faith. It was revelation-based (Genesis 12:1). It was obedience to a divine directive. The writer of the book of Hebrews said that Abraham obeyed out of faith (Hebrews 11:8). He left his dwelling place because he believed God to be faithful to His Word.
There is also a sense in which Abraham’s faith and obedience can be considered works— because action is involved. James described Abraham’s actions in that way. When he summarized Abraham’s acts of faith, he said Abraham was justified by works (James 2:21). But his works were only in correspondence with his faith, which was based on God’s Word. Faith, by definition, is always seen in its corresponding action (James 2:18; e.g., Mark 2:5). For this reason, James could say Abraham was justified by his works, though it was not work in the sense of attempting righteousness (right standing with God) apart from the specific revelation of God. He simply believed God and acted on it. Similarly, faith in Jesus will move a person to obey what He prescribed for salvation. And that obedience is never derogatorily classified as works.
Definition of works that are condemned in Scripture
A condemned work in the New Covenant dispensation is an attempt to gain salvation by an act other than what is prescribed in the covenant. The tenets of salvation, instituted in the Great Commission and fulfilled in the book of Acts (Hebrews 2:3), do not fall into this category.
Baptism requires action but it is a prescribed action that is associated with, and actuated by, faith in biblical revelation. Sure, someone could decide to be baptized having no faith at all. His baptism in that case would be worthless. But someone who is earnest in his faith will want to receive the remission of sins that is promised in the Word of the Lord through baptism in Jesus’ name. It is indeed an action, but an action prompted by faith in Jesus.
Baptism is commanded.
Baptism is not a work in the negative sense. In other words, it is not an effort apart from biblical revelation to attain salvation. In the sense that it is an action, someone may still insist it is a work. To this argument, we would say, if baptism is a work, it’s a work— more precisely, an action— that is prescribed.
Prescribed is a serious enough term but the Bible even expresses the requirement of baptism more forcefully. In Scripture, baptism is a command. It was revealed as an imperative by Peter on the Day of Pentecost along with repentance. And, about ten years later, it was commanded by him as well upon the Gentile converts who had just received the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38; Acts 10:48). In keeping with his order for Jews and Gentiles to be baptized, Peter said in his Epistle that baptism saves (1Peter 3:21). That’s a reasonable and necessary conclusion when it is understood that baptism is for the remission of sins.
Baptism is an imperative of the New Covenant. Jesus made this clear as well in the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:47). Nothing on the order of a biblical command could be condemned as a work. Even if someone prefers to call baptism a work, it’s incumbent upon him to obey the command if he wants to be saved. It’s not so important what a person calls the command; it’s very important that he regards it as an imperative and does it.
Being careful about semantics
Semantics have their dangers. A person can get hung up on viewing Scripture semantically and miss its message. For example, those who categorically regard salvation as being devoid of works of any kind may easily dismiss the Bible’s message of salvation involving baptism due to a misunderstanding of the true nature of faith. They may fail to see how baptism is itself faith. Failure to see the Bible’s true message while constantly engaging it is not a new error. Consider the failure of the Jews in Jesus’ day. They were constantly in the Scriptures and properly regarded them as the source of life, which is all well and good. But Jesus told them they were all the while missing its message (John 5:39). Hardly anything could be sadder.
Another example of semantics possibly interfering in the interpretation of Scripture regards simple faith itself. Most people would not consider the act of believing a work. Yet Jesus referred to faith in Him as such (See John 6:29). Certainly, believing, in a strict sense, is an action. It’s an action of the mind and of the will, which still requires effort. And, in this strict sense, any human effort could be considered a work. Jesus also implied in this verse that faith in Him is a human responsibility. It is, therefore, a tenet of the Gospel, requiring a person’s response, which is an effort.
Another pertinent example of this is receiving the Holy Ghost. Who would think of that as a work? Yet, the Apostles of Jesus said that God gives the Holy Ghost to those who obey Him (Acts 5:29-32). That statement makes a very strong impression. Obedience is typically associated with human effort of some kind. Similarly, the writer of Hebrews said that salvation comes to those who are obedient to Christ (Hebrews 5:9). We don’t believe the New Testament offers a works-based salvation in the sense of performing meritorious works of righteousness to obtain salvation, yet its great salvation does involve Christ-ordained tenets requiring human commitment, will, and obedience, all of which come through effort. And effort is work. The most effortless course to take would be atheism. It doesn’t require anything.
Baptism could never be considered a work in the negative sense.
Again, work, in the negative sense, implies an effort to gain righteousness apart from biblical revelation. It’s an attempt at self-justification. Justification means being made right in the sight of God, which necessarily and primarily involves remission of sins. No mortal has ever devised a means to remove sins. There is simply no human remedy to sin and its consequences (Psalms 49:7-8). Self-justification is humanly impossible. That’s why reconciliation to God has always involved a God-authored means to deal with sin.
Under the New Covenant, Jesus made baptism functional in justification. He specified in the Great Commission that baptism in Jesus’ name is for the remission of sins (Luke 24:47), which explains why He declared baptism to be salvific (Mark 16:15-16). Therefore, on the very basis of the stated functionality of baptism, it could never be deemed a human work. If it was a work, then it could be rightly said that we, by baptism, justify ourselves because baptism in Jesus’ name definitely remits sins (Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 22:16). But, patently, human beings cannot effect their own remission of sins— except by explicit obedience to the specific means offered by Christ in the Gospel. Therefore, obeying the important tenet of baptism can never be considered a works-based substitute for salvation. Rather, obeying what has been authored by Christ in order to receive remission of sins is the purest and truest kind of faith in Him. It is literally by obeying the terms of the Gospel that we are justified by faith in Christ.