Does Baptism Save Us? Part 1

When we speak of salvation, we often refer to passing from death to life, from eternal separation from God to reconciliation with God through Jesus.  The Bible, though, makes many uses of the word salvation or saved.  For example, 1 Timothy 2:15 says that believing women will be saved through childbearing, yet no one believes that giving birth reconciles a woman to God.  We must understand “saved” to refer to another kind of salvation.  Paul uses the word saved in 1 Timothy 4:16 when he tells Timothy to, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”  If we say that our eternal reconciliation to God depends on how well our teachers watch themselves and their doctrine, we deny the sufficiency of the work of Jesus for us and hang our salvation on the abilities of a merely human teacher.  Paul wants Timothy to watch himself and what he teaches so that his hearers will flourish in their faith and be saved from the anguish and shipwreck that results from believing false teaching.  

According to Jesus, "Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”  (John 5:24)  Who has eternal life, according to Jesus?  Whoever hears Jesus’ word and believes God.  The New Testament repeats this unqualified statement concerning receiving eternal life through believing in many places:  John 1:12; 3:14-16, 18, 36; 6:40, 47;  Acts 13:48; 16:31; Romans 4; 10:9; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 John 5:13.  

Clearly, we receive eternal life when we believe the good news of Jesus. We experience eternal life through uninhibited access to the Father through Jesus.  He counts us righteous and forgives our sins so we can enter boldly before the throne of grace.  All of these benefits come to us through faith apart from works so that man cannot boast of his own abilities (Romans 4:1-12; Ephesians 2:8-9).   

Some parts of the Bible seem to say that forgiveness of sins, and thus salvation, depends on water baptism.  This definitely contradicts the teaching of Jesus on receiving eternal life when we believe.  My next post will work through these passages and the relationship between baptism and the forgiveness of sins.