Churches of Christ and baptism
What if I died without baptism?
Restoration Movement pioneers on baptism and salvation (two gracEmails)
Born of water and the Spirit (two gracEmails)
Remission of sins: faith & baptism (three gracEmails)
A preacher friend and gracEmail subscriber writes: "Edward, From your commercial message for the Billy Graham Crusade I see that you once again are hinting that baptism has nothing much to do with salvation. Am I correct? Yes or no?"
A preacher in the Churches of Christ, among whom and from which I also serve God in his universal church, asks why the Gentiles at Cornelius' house were commanded to be baptized if they already were saved.
A gracEmail subscriber asks whether there are any examples after Acts chapter 2 of people being saved before they were baptized in water.
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "What you say are Bible truths but they are not all of the truth. In addition to belief, immersion is necessary for salvation. To preach a half truth is to preach a lie. I pray for those who will be subjected to your false teaching.... Your very soul is at risk."
A gracEmail subscriber asks point-blank, "Do you believe in baptism?"
A New Zealander writes, "I was wondering what statements of faith are held to by Churches of Christ. Down here they ... believe in baptismal regeneration and consequently not in the baptism in the Spirit (which is what I call regeneration)."
A visitor to the web page containing these articles writes, "I repented and placed my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in April of 1961, but I was not baptized in water until ten years later. If I had died during that interval, would I have gone to heaven or hell?"
The question is asked, "Is baptism really necessary for salvation?"
A sister on the U.S. Gulf Coast agrees that we are not saved by our works but insists that we are saved by being baptized in water. Baptism is not a "work," she says, since it is "obedience," and obedience is necessary for salvation.
"You said that the Restoration Movement's founding fathers did not believe that their people alone were true Christians, and that they considered other believers in Jesus Christ as God's children even without proper baptism. Can you give any quotations showing that?"
A gracEmail subscriber writes, "Jesus says that 'no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.' ... Is this a reference to baptism in water?"
Peter unequivocally states ... that whoever believes on Jesus has remission of sins. Yet ... the same apostle commands baptism "for remission of sins." How are we to understand these apparently different statements?
If we translate Acts 2:38 literally, Luke quotes Peter as saying: "Repent [plural] and let each one of you be baptized [singular] in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your [plural] sins." If we read the sentence with the plural words together, it says: "Repent [plural] for the remission of your [plural] sins, and let each one of you [singular] be baptized [singular] in the name of Jesus Christ." This insight is especially meaningful in light of the background in Luke's Gospel and also in view of the specific audience Peter was addressing.
Someone writes: "You seem to take the approach that people were initiated in different ways into the church, suggesting that Acts 2 is ... for Jews and Acts 10 is ... for ... Gentiles."
A gracEmail reader writes, "Yes, Jesus paid it all, and salvation cannot be earned. But there still remains the question of how one 'appropriates' salvation. We talk in circles about this. I'm still seeking a biblical theology ...."