We have already discussed Acts 2:38 and its implication for those who believe a person must be baptized in order to be saved. Now, here are a few more verses that are used to assert a person needs to be baptized in order to be saved.
Acts 22:16
“And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’”
Claim: The basic claim for those who espouse baptismal regeneration is that baptism will wash away sins, as it did here in the case of Paul.
Response: The first thing we ought to take note of in the passage is the time element. This is becoming a reoccurring theme for many of these verses that we have discussed so far. In this passage, Paul is giving his testimony of his salvation experience on the road to Damascus. Paul had already become a believer in Christ after his encounter with Christ, and then afterwards as he was led to Damascus, Ananias restored his sight and told him that he needed to be baptized. Therefore, baptism and salvation in Paul’s case was not linked together. Furthermore, baptism was Paul’s public identification with the “name of the Lord” which everyone knew he opposed. A few years prior to this event in Acts 22:16, Paul declares that baptism God did not send Paul to baptize but to preach the Gospel (1 Cor. 1:17). If baptism was an essential element in salvation, then why did Paul not include it in his words?
As in Acts 2:38, so also in this verse there are some grammatical issues that can help us better understand this passage. The verse contains four segments or parts: (1) arise (participle); (2) be baptized (imperative); (3) wash away your sins (imperative), and (4) calling on the name of the Lord (participle). Each of the two commands are connected with their respective participle modifier. So, the verse would read something like this: “arising, be baptized; wash away your sins, calling on the name the of the Lord.” Participles are noun modifiers which will make us ask the questions: “How are we to be baptized?” by arising. “How are we to wash away our sins?” by calling on the name of the Lord. Looking at the grammar should clear up and confusion that this verse teaches baptismal regeneration.
Titus 3:5
“he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Claim: Baptismal regeneration advocates believe this passage to say that Jesus saves us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.
Response: We will make four simple points in response to the above claim. First, Paul declares that we are not saved, “because of the works done by us in righteousness.” Clearly, any works (including baptism), do not save us. Second, Paul says that we are saved by, “regeneration.” He is talking here about spiritual birth at salvation that places us in Christ. There is no mention at all of a water baptism. Third, Paul says that we are justified by his grace, not by any work or actions of our own. Fourth, in the next verse (3:8), Paul refers to those who “have believed in God” as the recipients of this salvation.
1 Peter 3:18-21
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Claim: Proponents of baptismal regeneration say that this passage teaches that baptism saves by virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection. The Roman Catholic Church takes the doctrine a step further in this verse saying that the act of baptism itself brings saving grace to the recipient.
Response: The text says “baptism, which corresponds to this…” At the very outset we see that Peter is making a comparison (to prove his point) with Noah and the flood and baptism. Baptism, in this context, is just a figure, a shadow, symbol, or picture of salvation. The person that is being baptized is not more saved by water baptism than Noah was through the flood. Hebrews 11:7, speaking about Noah says, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Noah acted on his faith in obedience to God, but his salvation came through his faith, not as a result of his obedience in building the ark. That last phrase of the verse is so important for understanding this passages context, “became an heir of righteousness [salvation] that comes by faith.”
Back to 1 Peter, we find some other helpful evidence. The salvation spoken of here is not from the penalty of sin (that is, justification). The “salvation” (or saving) that Peter talks about is from a soiled conscience (that is, justification). Let’s take a minute to explain. Justification means that when God looks at a believer in Christ, he does not see any sin because He is looking at him/her through the blood of Christ. No longer does He see our sin because Christ has washed those sins away on the cross. In the theological world we call this positional sanctification meaning that we now have a position (in Christ) or place in Christ’s kingdom. The other side of the coin is what we call progressive sanctification. This is more of the process of following Christ, whereas the positional aspect of sanctification is a one-time event. So, in progressive sanctification, we are trying each day to do what is right and follow Christ will all our hearts, minds, and soul. But, we are human, and we mess up, fall down, and get distracted from the goal, therefore this progressive side of sanctification will not be fully mastered this side of heaven. Romans tells us that God is in the business of conforming his children into the image of his son, this is progressive sanctification. Also in Romans 7, we get a picture of Paul as he also struggles with this progressive sanctification. He says, my mind tells me to do one thing, but then my body does something else. He is talking about his struggle with doing what is right and following Christ each day (all Christians in all ages have this struggle, even Paul!).
So, both positional and progressive sanctification are part of salvation, just different in their function. Now what Peter says in this verse is that being obedient to God and being baptism will save us from the knowledge of wrong in our conscience. Baptism is a part of our progressive sanctification, not our positional sanctification. Peter is not talking about saving a person from eternal punishment in hell; he is talking about saving a person’s conscience from being seared because they have not followed the Lord in believer’s baptism.
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From the Scriptural evidence we have looked at, reasoned through, and discussed, our conclusions should not surprise us. Those who teach and practice baptismal regeneration are teaching and practicing something that does not find its roots in the Scriptures. Many passages in Scripture, written by a variety of men, all are congruous as to what necessitates salvation – faith, and faith alone. Although at times some writers liked to use other terms to express salvation (belief, repentance, save), they did not include baptism as part of their theology of salvation. Unfortunately, those who advocate baptismal regeneration are not the only people group that tries to distort the Scripture; cults are notorious for distorting the Scriptures as well as some mainline denominations. With more than 30,000 different kinds of denominations there is bound to be some confusion, but the confusion is ended for baptismal regeneration as the ultimate authority has weighed in on the matter – God’s Word.
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