Everyone has probably heard the expression, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” Apparently, some people believe that principle applies to salvation. They think, “If I can find enough people to agree with me, then that proves that my position is right.” In actuality, however, truth is not determined by popular vote. This attitude was expressed a few months ago by an e-mail correspondent who would never answer a question or deal with a passage of Scripture by reasoning through a verse himself; he would always cut and paste from what someone else wrote. In fact, he was incapable of answering a simple question; so, after about 100 exchanges, I terminated the discussion.
Recently, a different fellow, who shall be called Swagger, wrote to tell me that I had “missed the whole point of the gospel.” He rambled on for a few paragraphs and then quit by saying that Max Lucado has done a wonderful job communicating to people the heart of God (which is false). I wrote back and asked him if he might clarify what was the intent of his e-mail. Swagger apologized for not being clear and then began to explain his position and why he had written in response to my article on Max Lax (Feb. 25, 2001).
Swagger: The word ‘Metanoia’ is translated ‘Repent’ in the New Testament, which means to change one’s mind. So what are we to change our mind to and from? The answer, in context, is to the Gospel and away from evil ways or anything that is opposed to Jesus. This is what is meant by ‘believe in Jesus’, for even the demons know who Jesus is, but they do not believe the Gospel; that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, the Messiah. Without belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior, there is no salvation. Often, the idea of believing is expressed by the word repent. In the context of John 3:16, a person cannot believe (trust) in Jesus Christ as taught in the verse without repenting (changing his mind about Jesus) in the process. [Note: all misspellings and incorrect punctuation is his.]
This meaning of repent is belief in Jesus that Max Lucado adheres to; admit that Jesus is Lord of your life, agree with Him in all He teaches, and accept the salvation Jesus gives freely, and which is impossible to earn. This IS repentance! The acts that follow are not ‘repentance’, they are the deeds that are worthy of repentance.
Gary: You say many right things about repentance, but your position that it is included in belief is wrong and cannot be substantiated. Repentance is a change of heart, resulting in a change of life, as the verse you cited demonstrates. But it is separate from faith, and that fact can be seen by what occurred at the close of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost. Many of those present were pricked in their heart when they became convinced through Peter’s preaching that they had crucified the Son of God who had been raised from the dead. They said, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
It is obvious that they believed. Now consider this carefully. If what you outlined were true, then Peter should have said, “I see that you have already repented because you believe. Furthermore, this means you are already saved, and there is nothing further you can do to avail yourself of salvation. Why are you even asking that question?”
The fact that repentance is not included in belief is seen in Peter’s answer: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…” (Acts 2:38).
[Note: The reader might wonder why Swagger is trying to include repentance with faith. The answer is that, in order to teach “faith only,” one must do something with repentance, since it is obvious that it is essential; so teachers of this false doctrine attempt to include it in faith. The true-false questions later expose this error.]
Baptism
Swagger [from the same e-mail]: But what about baptism….
An excellent theological explanation of the spiritual meaning and symbolism of the ritual of baptism is a tiny book written by Dr. Larry Dyer: Baptism, the Believers First Obedience. Google it, I think you can purchase it for under $6.
Baptism is the first of many commands that Jesus and the Apostles gave to Christians. Each command is valuable and important to the Christian and Christian community. But on none of these commands (including physical baptism) does our salvation depend. Salvation for the believer is already settled, and no believer can say he is not Baptized. The ritual of baptism we perform on each other with water (whether dripped or doused) is only a symbol of what just happened when we truly believe (repent) in Jesus. The moment we believed in Jesus, we were baptized. The physical ritual is only a symbol of what happened. This is why I personally like the full body baptism of new believers. The symbol is that of dying and being raised from dead to living. This is exactly what happens when we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. First we die. We die from our old self under the penalty of the old covenant, which brings death. We are no longer under the law, where sin brings death. We are raised to a new liberty in Christ and we are now under the power of Grace. We have all been baptized by the spirit the moment we ‘believe’. And, even a man in the desert who is 1000s of miles from water is baptized upon his belief in Jesus as Messiah!
Gary: Peter did not tell them that baptism was a command they should obey some time later. It was necessary for salvation. This is the way that someone accepts God’s gift of salvation. It is the gospel as preached by an apostle inspired of the Holy Spirit.
Now let me predict that you are going to object to the facts just presented and argue that baptism is not necessary in order to be saved, but before you do, you should notice that no one objected to what Peter said on that day. In fact, those who gladly received his word were baptized (Acts 2:41).
I know this is not what you have been taught, but this is what the Bible teaches. Please give it serious contemplation, and study the text carefully. There is much more that could be said, but this will do for a start.
Looking forward to hearing from you again.
Swagger: We do disagree, it appears, on some of the basics of the Gospel. We seem to agree on “Belief” in Jesus as key to salvation, but we disagree on the meaning of repentance and role that ritual baptism plays in the believers sanctification. It appears to me you have exchanged the old law for a new law (which is the false Gospel that Paul speaks of). Apostle Paul was saying if you add any works to ‘salvation by grace’, you believe in a false Jesus.
You take a great liberty in assuming the listeners in Acts 2:37 became ‘believers in who Jesus is’ when they were ‘cut to the heart’ after Peter reminded them they crucified a man created by God. I would also be cut to the heart if he reminded me that I murdered a man of God, but I would not necessarily believe he is the Messiah. This requires repentance in their heart and mind as to who Jesus is and who they are in relation to Jesus; they need him as Savior. Peter went on to explain they needed to be saved from their sins, and yes, the first command to a Christian (after he is saved) is to be baptized. The statement you made, “it is obvious they believed (in Jesus as Messiah)” is simply a false assumption, which sets you up for continued false logic.
Reader, see Acts 2:33-36, especially Acts 2:36 to see what pricked their heart (Acts 2:37). They believed Jesus was “both Lord and Christ” (Messiah). And if you doubt that Christ is the English term for the Greek word Χριστός (Khristós) which is a translation of the Hebrews word transliterated into English as Messiah, check Wikipedia or a lexicon for yourself. Christ and Messiah have the same meaning.
You cannot take instances like Acts 2 apart from all other scripture. We find many cases where Jesus requires that we believe and the Apostles tell us to ‘believe’ or ‘repent’ in order to be saved, without mentioning baptism (i.e. Luke 8:13, John 1:12, John 3:16, John 3:18, John 6:29, John 8:24, John 11:25, John 12:36, Acts 15:6-11, Acts 21:25, Rom 4:24, Rom 6:8, Rom 10:9, Rom 10:14, I Cor 1:21, Gal 3:22, I Tim 4:14, Heb 11:6, I Pet 1:21, I John 3:23).
But in no case will you find that a person is told to be saved by baptism absent from believing. John the Baptist declared that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit; whereas he (John the Baptist) only baptizes with water. Given the various instances where water baptism is not mentioned as a requirement of salvation, logic alone should tell you that a person is saved by faith in Jesus as Savior, absent baptism by water.
The case is very specifically answered in Acts 16:30-34. Paul answers the question of what must they do to be saved and he answers: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Later he takes them down to be baptized (fulfilling a command, but not part of his answer to the question regarding the requirement of salvation).
The fact that no one objected to Peter’s command to be baptized in Acts 2 is of no logical consequence. I also didn’t object to the command of baptism by water, but I understand it is a ritual, and the real baptism occurred when I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, yes a free gift, a gift, a gift. How about you? Are you saved by God’s grace alone, by accepting the gift of salvation which was purchased on the cross by Jesus? Or, are you saved because you accepted the gift, and you were baptized, and you later repented, and you did other things? If so, when do you declare you’ve done enough to be saved?
As I said brother, I do love you, but I don’t agree with you,,,, [The reader can judge how much love Swagger shows throughout this correspondence.].
Gary: I was hoping that you would keep your response brief and to the point, but instead you wandered all over the place. It would take hours to answer all of the false statements you made; so I will start with a few (and in order). If you wish to respond to those and resolve them, then we can move on.
1. First of all, baptism is not a ritual. It is not described as a ritual; it is not called a ritual. There is nothing ritualistic about it. You have made an assumption that is not valid.
2. The old law has been replaced by a new law—the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25). The false gospel Paul was referring to in Galatians 1:6-9 was that of the Judaizing teachers who were binding requirements from the Law of Moses upon Christians (cf. Acts 15:1-6). That action is totally irrelevant to this discussion. It sounds as though you are trying to slur rather than discuss the Scriptures.
3. You imply that baptism is a work (of man), and you are wrong. It is the work of God (see Colossians 2:12), in which He washes away our sins, thus sanctifying us (see 1 Cor. 6:11). In being baptized, man is simply complying with the command of God. It is not a work of merit and anyway, “How could one person be baptized in any better fashion than another?” It is a passive act of compliance with God.
4. Being cut to the heart would not by itself indicate belief, since the same phrase is used of those who stoned Stephen, but the fact that they asked what they should do demonstrated belief in what Peter had preached. This is further demonstrated by their doing precisely what Peter told them to do. They were baptized (Acts 2:41). They believed, repented, and were baptized. Aren’t you ashamed that you must waltz all the way around the barn to get away from this simple truth?
5. Peter did not tell them they were saved and then say the first command for all you new Christians is to be baptized. Your theology is blinding you to a very simple text. He told those who believed his message (not an assumption, but a fact) to do 2 things: repent and be baptized. Anyone with a 4th-grade education (and not prejudiced by false doctrine) can understand this situation. Read the text a little more thoughtfully and try not to defend the errors you have been taught.
Swagger: (1) Regarding your statement that Baptism is not a ritual, again we disagree. In short, below is an excerpt from ‘Answers.com’ regarding Baptism, which I happen to agree with and I have been trying to get you to realize:
“Baptism is a sacrament, and it is performed as a ritual. All sacraments are rituals; ritual is not a bad word. Rituals are signs that incorporate a sacred meaning. Marriages, for example, can be represented by a ritualistic exchange of rings.
“Baptism is both a ritual and the reality of what takes place in a person’s life who gives his/her life to Christ Jesus. The scripture says of Jesus that he baptizes with fire and the holy spirit. When we perform a baptism in water, we are acting out, through a physical practice, an expression of what Christ does in the life of the believer. When He allows the fire of trials to take place in our lives, He is submerging our old sinful self so that we might rise in the image of Him; in newness of life. This is where the holy spirit brings us comfort to know that He is with us.
“Baptism is expressed in the process of planting as well. When the seed is placed under the earth it undergoes a shedding of the exterior skin so that the life within can be produced. It then rises from the ground, a wonderful new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Through baptism (the actual baptism that Christ performs) we shed our tendencies to focus on meaningless external things, and have our relationship to God which is of the heart.
(2) Regarding Paul’s message to the churches of Galacia: again we disagree. Paul was clearly saying there is only one Gospel, that of Grace, which is again what I have been trying to convince you from the beginning. Grace is apart from works, whether you consider the works of ‘circumcision’, ‘water baptism’, or saying ‘Hail Mary’.
(3) As stated above…water baptism is a work of men (i.e. John the Baptist); whereas, the baptism of Christ occurs at the time of belief on every believer, even the man 1000s of miles away from water (are you saying the man in the desert is not saved when he believes?). The baptism in Col 2:12 refers to the spiritual baptism of Christ on the believer, not the water baptism that men perform. NOTE: If you think different, then you must also argue with the same ignorant logic that the ‘circumcision made without hands’ in Col 2:12 is the same one as the physical circumcision made by the doctor!! Both the circumcision made without hands and the baptism referred to in Col 2:12 are spiritual, not physical. Both physical acts are rituals, symbolizing the spiritual realities. You have to admit I got you on this one.
(4) Your assumptions of truth rely heavily on what you assume the audience of Peter knew and believed before and after he told them they needed to repent and be baptized. Since you assume the audience ‘believed’ already, then Peter was telling them what they need ‘to do’ as obedient Christians; which again is what I have been saying all along. Christians are commanded to do many things, but this is after Salvation is a settled issue.
(5) Peter indeed did not tell them they were saved. He told them how to be saved, after the message pierced their hearts. He told them to repent (believe in Jesus as the Messiah), and be Baptized (be crucified with Jesus and raised to the new covenant). Water baptism is the ritual that was performed as a sign that they did exactly that.
Gary, it is truly your theology that is legalistic, and misses the point of the grace Jesus bestows on all who believe in Him. You rattle on about the audience at Pentecost, but only offer conjecture and circular reasoning as to why they believed before Peter told them to repent (as if that makes some theological difference). You totally ignored my point that there are many statements by Jesus and the Apostles that to be saved you must believe in Jesus, with no mention of water baptism.
Do you see what baptism symbolizes? The act performed by water is a symbolic ritual. Every prominent theologian I can think of agrees with that.
[To be continued]