Baptism is an act, not a work

By Michael W. Gardner 

The most common argument I hear when people protest those that believe that Baptism is a part of the plan of salvation is that works cannot save us.  It is true that we cannot earn our salvation with works but it is not true that Baptism is a work.  You see, a work is something you do in exchange for something else.  If I work for you for an hour the U.S. Wage and Hour Law says you owe me at least a minimum wage.  By force of law I have exchanged an hour of my time for money.  I have earned that money.

 I cannot earn salvation.  It took the death of Jesus Christ to buy the Church.  Read Romans 3:20-31 and you will see that we cannot earn our salvation but you cannot deny that something is required.  It is not an action less salvation.   There is something required of us.  Verse 28 says we are justified by faith and not by works of Law.  Unlike the minimum wage we cannot use the law to exchange anything for our justification to our Lord but we must have faith.

 Now if I see someone straining under a burden and I help lift it off of him or her, have I done something for which I have a right to compensation?  No, we call it an act of compassion.  If we see someone with a sign that says “I have no food” and I slip them a couple of bucks am I entitled to repayment with interest?  No, we call it an act of charity.     

 So if I believe that Jesus is Lord, the son of the living God and complete that faith, as my Lord has asked, through repentance, confession and baptism have I earned anything by it?  No, because it is something that cannot be earned.  It is freely given to those that have faith.  However, I am compelled by my faith to obey my Lord.  If I have faith and it compels me to do anything short of obeying my Lord then is it the believing faith that justifies us with our Lord as it says in Romans 3:28?  No, because faith without works (or more properly, without acts) is dead.  (James 2:20)

 So, are we saved by faith only? No!  Are we saved by repentance or confession only?  No!  Are we saved by Baptism only?  No!  But yet the Bible says that we are saved by belief (Mark 16:16), we are saved by repentance (Acts 2:38),  we are saved by confession (Romans 10:9,10) and we are saved by Baptism (1 Peter 3:21).  None saves us alone but all save us through the completion of our faith just like Abraham’s act of faith in the attempt to sacrifice his son showed God that he truly was a servant of the most high God. (James 2:21)  What Abraham did was not a work but an act of faith.  Baptism is not a work but an act of faith that completes your faith and completes your salvation.  Have you obeyed God?