Faith Takes Work
by Terry Wane Benton
The argument that baptism is a "work" but faith is not is not sound. There is far more work involved in faith than in passively letting someone immerse you in water. Think about it.
Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). Think of the mental work involved in listening to the evidence of God's message and "searching the scriptures" to find out what is so (Acts 17:11). The process of coming to conviction involves assessment of your life and how it stands with God, assessment of the evidence for Jesus being the Christ, the Son of God, and whether the evidence supports that conclusion. The teaching process with the hearing and learning from the Father (John 6:45) involves "laboring" for the food that does not perish (John 6:27). Mental and emotional labor is, in this case, far more "work" than passively allowing someone to immerse you in water in Jesus' name. In fact, when you have labored for the food that does not perish, the teaching is clear that you will receive remission of sins at a definite point of faith, namely, when you are immersed in the name of Christ (Acts 2:38-41; 22:16; I Peter 3:21).
You have faith in the operation of God, that He will do the work of cutting off your sins when you are buried with Christ in baptism (Colossians 2:12). So, faith trusts God to cut off the sins when He said He would. The hard "labor" on your end is in the teaching and learning that brought you to call on God to operate as you unite with Jesus in baptism (Romans 6:3-6). God does the work of grace when your faith leads you to repentance and baptism. Baptism is the point of God's work. It is not a work of the law of Moses. It is not a work of merit that earns you anything. It is simply faith calling out for God to do His work when He said He would, and you are simply calling upon Him and trusting Him.
Don't forget that faith involves the labor of hearing and learning, sorting, and coming into the power of conviction. This is where your action is greatly involved and brings you into reconciliation with God.
