For obvious reasons, God’s plan of salvation is one of the most important subjects in the Bible. It is a pity that man has corrupted it so badly. Man says that God’s plan involves simply saying the sinner’s prayer, something we have no example of in the New Testament. We do learn that Saul prayed after he saw the glorified Christ on the road to Damascus, but his praying did not save him (Acts 9:11). It appears that Saul prayed for three days (ver. 9), but when Ananias, who was sent to Saul by the Lord (vers. 10-12), came to him, he told Saul what he had to do to be saved.
Acts 22:16 (ESV)
16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
It is clear that prayer did not save Saul. In scripture, there is no such thing as the sinner’s prayer. What Ananias did tell Paul to do was to be baptized. Is baptism a part of God’s plan for salvation? The correct answer scripturally is yes, without question. It is what allowed Paul to walk in the newness of life.
Romans 6:4 (ESV)
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Why did Paul say he was baptized into Christ? Anyone who answers this question honestly will realize that baptism is an essential part of God’s plan of salvation. Paul said he was baptized in order that he might walk in the newness of life. Since what Paul was writing was a part of “the faith,” preaching the necessity of baptism is a part of contending for it.
Why did Paul say that he was baptized in order to walk in the newness of life? What happens in baptism to allow such? The answer is found in the first part of the verse. Paul said, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death…” It was the death of our Lord, that is, the shedding of His blood, that made redemption possible. Paul said, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7). How is that blood contacted? Paul said we are baptized into it. That is why Ananias told Paul to be baptized and wash away your sins.
The common rejection of baptism is based on the false doctrine that says we are saved by faith alone. Do me a favor—find one passage in the bible that says that. The only time faith alone is mentioned in the bible is in James 2. Do you know what it says? Here it is.
James 2:24 (ESV)
24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Interesting, isn’t it? The bible actually teaches that we are not saved by faith alone. Some have concluded that Paul and James contradict each other on the subject of works. While James says we are justified by works, Paul says we are not (Romans 4:1-5; Ephesians 2:9). However, there is no contradiction between these two men, both of whom wrote by the inspiration of the Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16). The solution to this apparent problem is realizing that they were talking about two different kinds of works.
Paul spoke of works of the law, which is equivalent to speaking of sinless living because that is what the law demanded. This is what “faith only” advocates regularly miss. They equate works with obedience which leads to a false conclusion about obedience. Obeying God is an absolute must when it comes to being saved and the bible is clear about this (Matthew 7:21; Hebrews 5:9).
James spoke of works of faith or obedience, of which baptism is an example. There is nothing meritorious about works of obedience. A person does not deserve salvation just because he obeys God, unless, of course, he does it perfectly and never sins. Remember, sin is the only thing that separates a person from God. The problem is we have all sinned (Romans 3:23), making earning our salvation by meritorious works impossible. Still, we must do what God tells us to do to have our sins forgiven, including being baptized for the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38). To deny this is to pervert the gospel, and those of us who love the word of God will contend for the faith to the end.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.