M What Is Necessary For Salvation Student: Teacher, I have heard many people say that salvation is by faith and that baptism is unnecessary. But I have heard others say baptism is necessary. Can you tell me what is required to be saved? Teacher: That is indeed a difficult question to answer! The Bible is not very clear at all. Indeed, the Bible is very confusing about this matter. S: What does the Bible say? I thought such an important matter would have very clear instructions. T: Well, for example, the Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:31), and "He who believes on me (Jesus) has everlasting life" (John 6:47), and "if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved." (Rom 10:9) S: That seems pretty clear; all you have to do is to believe and confess and you can be saved. T: That's right! And, since baptism and repentence and calling on God are not mentioned, then we can say that those are unnecessary to be saved. S: But you said the Bible was confusing. It seems quite clear. T: Ah! But the Bible also says, "repent and be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost" (Act 2:38). Further, it says, "be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16). S: But that does not say anything about salvation; only about how our sins can be removed and how we can get the Holy Ghost. T: Yes, that is true. But Paul says that without the Holy Spirit, we are not part of Christ. (Rom 8:9) And, of course we cannot be saved without our sins being removed! S: But teacher, the passage says nothing about faith! T: That is correct! So we can say that faith and confession and calling on God are unnecessary to be saved. S: I begin to see what you mean about the Bible being confusing. Does it give any other instructions? T: Indeed, it does. It also says, "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom 10:13; Acts 2:21). S: Aha! So all we have to do is call on Jesus, and we will be saved! That seems pretty easy, and clear. T: Right! And, again, neither faith, nor repentence, nor confession or baptism are mentioned, so... S: I understand! So, they are not necessary to be saved! You only need to call on Jesus. T: That is exactly what the Bible teaches! But now, consider this. In the Bible Jesus says, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (John 6:54). What do you think about this way of salvation? S: I do not think I would like to have to eat someone's flesh and to drink their blood, even if it meant I could be saved! Are you sure Jesus said that? It sounds horrible! T: Well, I do not know for sure if Jesus said it, but the Bible says He did. S: It still sounds terrible. I think I prefer some other way of salvation. I like that one about calling on Jesus' name. That sounds easy enough. T: Yes, I agree. Eating human flesh and drinking blood both sound horrible, but the Bible also says that Jesus said, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life." (Jn 6:53) That sounds as if doing this is not optional! So, no matter what else we do, I guess we will have to eat his body and drink his blood. And I agree with you. Calling on Jesus' name sounds like the easiest thing to do. That faith business seems so unsure. I mean, what is faith? How can you be sure you have it, or have enough of it? How can you be sure it is true, saving faith and not just ordinary faith? S: Yes, that has worried me, too. Does the Bible say anything about raising your hand after an invitation? T: No, the Bible does not say anything about raising your hand after an invitation to be saved, or even as a sign that you have been saved. It says something about "raising holy hands" but does not clearly say how you get your hands to be holy. S: Is there an easier way still? T: Well, the Bible does say, "through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved" (Acts 15:11). S: Ah! I like that one! That means I do not have to do anything at all! Jesus' grace will save me, just like that! Is there not also some verse that says something about being justified with God? T: You mean the one that says, "when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son...being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Rom 5:10). Yes, that certainly is God's grace! S: So Calvin was right. Actually, we do not need to do anything. God will do it all. T: But consider what else the Bible says, "Unless you are circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1). S: What? That sounds like another non-optional requirement! I thought circumcision was part of the Law that was done away with in New Testament times. T: But, the Bible says it, so it must be true. Have you been circumcised yet? S: Not yet. But how can a woman be saved then? The Bible does not say anything about women being circumcised. T: That is true. But of course Paul also taught that whatever man is circumcised, must keep the whole law and can no longer depend on Christ to save him. And anyway, women have their own cross to bear. The Bible says they, "shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety" (1 Tim 2:15). S: Wow, it sure seems as if men have it easy when it comes to being saved! T: Actually, if you remember what we have already discussed, it is as easy for one as for the other since in Christ, "there is neither male nor female". S: You were sure right when you said the Bible was unclear and confusing in its teaching about how to be saved. Teacher, what do you think? How can we be saved? What is required? T: Well some Bibles say, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16). S: So, we need to believe and be baptized. But we do not have to repent or confess or call on Jesus' name. T: It sounds like that is it. But the baptizing part must be unnecessary, because it says, "he that believes not shall be damned." It does not say "he who is NOT BAP- TIZED shall be damned." S: But, Teacher, would it make a difference if he were baptized but did not believe? And why would someone be baptized if they had not believed? And who would baptize an unbeliever? So there is no need to say, "he that believes not and is NOT BAP- TIZED shall be damned." T: I think you are right. And it also follows then, that since it does not say, "...and does not repent..." that repentance, while important, is not necessary. That is the same as it says, "He that believes on Him is not condemned, but he that believes not is condemned already" (Jn 3:18). Clearly, we are condemned if we do -1not believe-0, NOT because we do -1not repent-0! S: That is a lot to think about. Do you know of any other scriptures that say something about salvation's requirements? T: Just one other major thing. Jesus said, "he that endures to the end shall be saved" (Mt 10:22; 24:13; Mk 13:13). S: I wonder what that means. In what way endure. Until what end? Surely, the Bible is most confusing about what is required to be saved! Now, I am worse off than before. Teacher, is there a solution? What must I absolutely do to be saved? T: Well, one suggestion is that you choose one of the scriptures mentioned above and do what it says. Certainly, God will not blame you if you obey His word! S: That sounds good, but which scripture should I pick? T: To be on the safe side, why not pick two or three scriptures. Surely, that should cover enough of the requirements to get you into heaven. What do you think? S: I think the safest way is to choose ALL the scriptures, and any others I can find in the Bible that mentions being born again, having my sins removed, becoming holy, get- ting into Christ, having eternal life, and being saved. T: I think that is probably the wisest course. And in that case, you might also examine the following passages: Mt 26:28; 28:19; Lk 24:47; Jn 3:5; Tit 3:5; Acts 18:24-26; 19:2-6; Rom 6:3-4; Col 2:12; Gal 3:26-27; Phil'p 2:12; Heb 10:22; Jam 2:24; 1 Pet 3:20-21; 1 Jn 1:9; 5:1; and also, Rev 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21. ---------------------------------------- Of course the above conversation is intended to be ridiculous and the reader should not take anything but the last two speeches seriously. The painful thing to consider though, is that many of the reasons given above for excluding something as necessary for salva- tion are commonly heard in our time for excluding baptism. Probably the most frequently quoted verse is Rom 10:9 as being the most authoritative instruction about what is abso- lutely necessary for salvation. Since it says nothing about baptism, today's Evangelical world concludes that baptism is not required. But what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. The passage also says nothing about repentence so, to be consistent we should conclude that repentence is also unnecessary. The same reasoning applies in the case of other passages that are so misused. Of course, we might notice that if repent- ence is necessary, then so is baptism, since the two are joined in the same verse (Acts 2:38). However, no sincere Christian would think of excluding faith or repentence or confession from the list of salvation's requirements. In this it should be noted that if repentence and confession are accepted as absolute requirements, then the current Evangelical posi- tion that faith alone saves is wrong. We should say instead that repentence and confes- sion along with and motivated by faith, saves. And if it takes faith plus repentence plus confession, why could it not include baptism also, as the scriptures plainly indi- cate? Even though Peter says that baptism saves, no Biblically based believer would as- sume Peter meant that baptism by itself, apart from prior faith, repentence and confes- sion, could save. If the reader follows the final suggestions and studies and accepts ALL that the New Testament has to say about being saved, remission of sins, being washed clean, entering Christ, receiving the Holy Spirit, etc., it is safe to say that the way of entering sal- vation will be found as follows: By God's grace, Jesus was sent, and voluntarily came, to shed his blood/life in our place while we were yet sinners. This was done so that whoever believes this, repents, and confesses Jesus as LORD (NOT: as savior), submits to being baptized into Jesus (Acts 2:38; Gal 3:26-27) for the remission of sins will have his sins washed away by means of God's grace, Jesus' blood, the believer's faith, and the presence of the Holy Spirit which comes to indwell him. By this means he will be born again, regenerated, and become a new creature. (Jn 3:5; Tit 3:5; 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15) This condition of salvation will continue as long as the believer continues to have faith and to act faithfully in fulfilling the Father's will. (Mt 7:21-23; 10:22; Gal 5:4; Col 1:23; Heb 6:4-6; Rev 3:5) Finally, if the reader still wishes to maintain that baptism is not necessary for salva- tion, let him answer the following questions: Can one be saved and enter the kingdom of God with their sins unremitted? Is there any other means than baptism clearly stated in the New Testament, after the Church and the New Covenant began, by which the believer can be washed clean of their sins and can enter Christ? How do you explain the fact that, all the early Church Fathers that commented on Jesus' words to Nicodemus: "Except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Jn 3:5) taught that Jesus was talking about baptism? (Augustine, Luther and Wesley taught the same!) For more information, read the Bible, and/or contact: David L. Mohn or Fong Yuk Chi 149 Java Road, Rm 223 North Point, Hong Kong Ph/Fx: (852) 2561-8459