This text has issues and questions that deserve an independent blog post. I will be breaking Roman’s 6 into two sections
I want to dedicate a blog post to discuss baptism, faith, the question of justification by faith alone and how to confess baptism as delivering the forgiveness of sins with salvation by faith alone through grace alone. I will seek to do this in two sections, first I will simply interpret the text. In this section I will not try to systematize the text with any theology. Once the text has been extracted, the theological issues raised by it will be discussed. I have wresstled with some of these questions for awhile and now i want to discuss. I do not want this to be a “I’m right you’re wrong you’re going to hell” thing but I want it to be a chance to examine the Bible and compare different views of baptism. I once thought of baptism as a human work, but the scriptures have made me re-think this.
The thesis of this article is: baptism is a means of grace God uses to forgive sins. This is demonstrated through textual analysis, considering context and grammar. Objections to this sre considered and answered
Romans 6:1-10
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”
Paul is arguing against sin, he is answering the question “if we are saved by faith alone, why not sin all day long?” Paul’s answer rests in baptism, because baptism delivers the forgiveness of sin. According to v. 3 baptism unites [greek: into] the death of christ. Christians are not to sin, because we have been baptized into the death and resurrection of christ. According to v.4 we do not sin because we are united to Christ’s death and resurrection through baptism. Just as Christ was sinless and was victorious over death, baptism enables us to be dead to sin and alive to christ. It does this by uniting us to the saving work of Christ.
We are united to Christ’s death and resurrection, baptism is the way we receive the cross into our lives. Whenever it is administered, the person is incorporated into the forgiveness of sins won by Christ. As it is God who performs this act, it is once for all. It can always be returned to and re-affirmed, but it is never repeated. Baptism applies the objective work of christ to us. What Christ did for the whole world is acctually made ours in baptism. Faith rests in this promise, that our sins have been forgiven. According to v.5, baptism makes christ’s work ours. What Christ accomplished is ours through baptism .
A paradox to work through
But if this is true, doesn’t this contradict justification by faith alone? Doesn’t this add a work to our salvation? Why is Paul introducing baptism as delivering the forgiveness of sins? I want to spend the rest of this post working through this question. I will seek to show that baptism is God’s act, that it is not a human work.
Is baptism a work? If it is, it can not deliver grace, it can not forgive sins, it can not save. If the Bible describes baptism as delivering any of those things than it is not a work. It is a means of grace which channels the forgiveness of sins from the cross into our souls. According to Acts 22:16 baptism washes away sin [ἀπολούω means, according to HELPS word studies “refers to an entire washing – the complete removal of sin and its debt”.} Titus 2;13 says we are saved “not by works of righteousness we have done’, but “by the washing of regeneration”, notice that this passage explicitly says that baptism is NOT a work. It is God’s grace applied to us
If baptism is not a work, why does it involve a human agent? After all, one does not baptize themselves, but they are baptized. Could this result in works salvation? No. just because a human is the one who mediates the action does not make it a work. Preaching is an excellent example, i Cor 1:21 says God saves by the preaching of the gospel. God can use means to deliver his grace to us, grace is not merely an invisible power, but it is brought in ways we can see, we can hear, we can taste, we can feel. Just because God uses a physical object does not mean God alone is acting in this.
Since baptism is not a work, it can deliver the forgiveness of sins. Because the Bible describes baptism as delivering the grace of God, as uniting us to Christ, it rules out baptism as a work. We must remember that chapter verse divisions were not in the original text. Paul repeatedly is saying “salvation is by grace through faith not by works” and in the next breath “baptism delivers the grace of God”. Is he contradicting himself? No, he understands baptism as God’s way of bringing grace to us.
I concede that this view of baptism challenges an Americanized view of baptism. Most Christians in the west, i think, would describe baptism as “me declaring my faith to the world”. However, the Bible describes baptism as God’s action. It is God who unites us to Christ. We are passive in baptism, it is something God gives us. It does sometimes seem when people are baptized it is something they have chosen, but it is biblically speaking a means of grace:
What is a “Means of grace “? It is a channel God uses to deliver his grace to us. The cross is the alone source of all grace and salvation: but that grace must be brought here. We can not go back to calvary to get the cross, so God has ordained certain means to deliver that here to us. Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Worship, preaching, and prayer are all means by which grace is delivered. Works are excluded in this category, so any discussion of “adding to the finished work of Christ “ is bogus.
Is it possible to be saved without baptism? Yes (see for example acts 16:31), for example if someone who was in a car accident on his way to be baptized, God honors his desire even though he did not receive the waters. Children who die in the womb are in the hands of a loving God. God’s grace is bigger than the font, he can work without the water. At the same time, baptism is the usual means of salvation. God is not bound by the waters, we are We can not list the circumstances where God might save without baptism, we only know this is Gods usual way. There is only one way of salvation through Jesus Christ but God can work in unusual ways in unusual circumstances . But that doesn’t mean the usual way (through baptism) is not a true avenue for the forgiveness of sins. We trust in God’s mercy in exceptional circumstances. The deathbed salvation is real.
What is our conclusion? We conclude baptism is an act of God’s grace whereby he unites us to the death and resurrection of his Son, he does this by grace alone. A sinner trusts in this forgiveness
All baptisms using the trinity with water are valid. It is not a matter of validity but of expressing the fullness of biblical teaching. Baptism is once for all, what God does he does right the first time and it can always be returned to.
As you can see I needed to split up this passage to flesh out certain ideas . I hope I gave a fair representation, my intention is not to divide but to teach scripture, not denominational beliefs.
Sources cited
Helps. Word studies
A Young Christian Theologian’s Wordpress 