Episode 1: Is Baptism a Work?
Summary
Question: is baptism (immersion in water) a work or is it faith?
Romans 3:28 There is such a thing as the works of the law. The scripture is very clear that no one is going to be justified by the works of the law, in fact the book of Hebrews calls them dead works.
Ephesians 2:8-10 The works of the law are before you’re in Christ and works of faith are what follow when a person is in Christ. We’ve been created IN Christ Jesus FOR good works. These are good works that you can’t do before you’re in Christ. So there is a distinction between works of the law and works of faith. At some point there is a crossover.
Ephesians 2:4-6 We were dead in our trespasses, but God, being rich in his mercy, saved us and raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. The question is how does that happen?
Acts 2:38 This is the point when a person goes from lost to saved, from condemnation to no condemnation. So what is immersion then at this point? It obviously can’t be a work of the law because the law never had anything to do with immersion in it.
Galatians 3:26-27 Verse 27 is the detailed shot of how you become a son of God through faith in verse 26, and that is by being immersed into Christ. So immersion from the Scripture is not a work at all, not even a work of faith. It is the transition from the law of Moses over to the faith of Christ. Immersion is not a work that the individual does, the tense is always middle voice or passive, something that the individual participates in. Someone else is doing the work.
Colossians 2:11-12 The big work is done by God Himself, and immersion is where God does the work. This is where the individual’s old self is crucified with Christ, and the new self comes out of the water. Our immersion is our participation in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. So salvation, by faith through grace, clearly includes immersion. Immersion is the transition point from being under the works of the law to being able to actually participate in the works of faith.
