5. The Bible says that we are saved by grace and not by works, lest any man should boast. Baptism is a work.
Paul does write in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we are not saved by works. We cannot, by our good deeds, earn our salvation; it is the gift of God. Let’s read it.
Ephesians 2:8-9: “8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This is one of the most popular passages of Scripture in modern Christianity.
As previously pointed out, Ephesians is a letter to the saints at Ephesus. Remember, these people are already saved and this is not instructions to lost sinners. The critical question is how did these people get saved by grace through faith, and is there a written record? Wouldn’t that give us a truer meaning of what Paul is writing about than some preacher’s opinion 2000 years after the fact?
There is a detailed record of the Ephesians’ conversion in the nineteenth chapter of Acts. In verse 1, Paul met some disciples at Ephesus. They were probably introduced to Christ by a man named Apollos. Paul knew they were believers, but he did not know if they were born again, if they were saved. He asked them a peculiar question in verse 2: “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”
What a question. According to Paul, it is possible to believe and still not have the Holy Ghost. When they told Paul that they never heard of the Holy Ghost, Paul didn’t tell them that they received it unawares the moment they believed. No. As we said before, the first thing Paul did was question their water baptism (verse 3): “Unto what then were ye baptized?” When they said, unto John’s baptism, Paul recognized that John baptized unto repentance; however, he basically told them that their baptism wasn’t good enough. When the people understood that, Paul re-baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus. The only difference in Paul’s baptism and their first baptism was the name called over them as they went down in the water. In verse 6, Paul laid his hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues.
Paul was not satisfied that the Ephesians were saved until he had baptized them in Jesus’ name and heard them speak in tongues. Regardless of what any preacher says, that is exactly how the Ephesians were saved by grace through faith and not of works.
Just as Peter preached in Acts 2:38, the Ephesians had to be baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost in order to be saved by grace through faith. And when they received the Holy Ghost, they spoke in tongues just like the Jews on the Day of Pentecost. The gospel won’t change and the faith that was once delivered to the saints won’t change.
No, our works cannot pay the price for our salvation, but neither can we obtain it just by saying or thinking the words, “I accept Jesus as my personal savior.” The apostles told us the way to have our sins forgiven and to be born into the kingdom of God is: REPENT, AND BE BAPTIZED EVERY ONE OF YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS, AND YE SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST. Baptism in the name of Jesus is the only scriptural way to receive remission of sins. Jesus paid for our sins with His blood, but His blood is applied in water baptism.
Baptism is not a work we do to earn our salvation but an act of faith in response to God’s grace. Actually, the person being baptized doesn’t do any kind of work at all.
When someone dies, he doesn’t bury himself.
Just to keep things in proper perspective, we should point out that reciting the sinners’ prayer is as much a work as being baptized. Even “believing” is something that we do.