Doesn’t the following verse very plainly show that baptism is not a work of man, but rendering obedience to God’s will?<\/p>\n
“buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead<\/em>” (Colossians 2:12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33). I have noticed my points are based on what God’s words say when discussing baptism. The ones defending “faith only” have to tell me Scripture after Scripture that they mean something different than what they actually say. The working of who? God! Correct? How can one misunderstand this verse?<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
Your point is well-made. Baptism is a work of God, something we are required to do. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:10). However, when people do not want to see, they can be very blind, as the Pharisees frequently demonstrated. Jesus told the formerly blind man, ” And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind’<\/em>” (John 9:39). That continues to be true today.<\/p>\n
To avoid the obvious, those who believe in salvation by faith only will declare that the belief in the working of God refers to Jesus’ resurrection and not the baptism. But, of course, the reason for baptism is that it represents Jesus’ resurrection. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life<\/em>” (Romans 6:3-4).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Doesn’t the following verse very plainly show that baptism is not a work of man, but rendering obedience to God’s will? “buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). God is not the author…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,131,55],"class_list":["post-15168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-colossians","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-water-baptism-a-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":15168,"position":0},"title":"Is water baptism a work?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is water baptism a work? Answer: I have always been amazed at the dread shown by people toward the word \"work.\" You would think that it was a dreaded disease or something equivalent to sin. The word \"work\" by itself is neither good nor bad. It simply refers to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63804,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-work-of-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":15168,"position":1},"title":"The Work of Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 6:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A frequent objection raised to baptism is that it is a work \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe are not saved by works.\u201d we are told. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Romans 4:4-5 - Faith justifies \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ephesians 2:8-9 - Saved not as a result of works \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now certainly baptism is something done,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85095,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/obervations-on-the-significance-of-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":15168,"position":2},"title":"Obervations on the Significance of Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Nathan Smelser I have a few observations on the oft-overlooked significance of baptism in the New Testament. When Paul writes to the saints and faithful brethren in Colossae, he repeatedly contrasts their formerly dead state with their present life in Christ. For example: \"...having been buried with Him in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28071,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-washing-of-regeneration\/","url_meta":{"origin":15168,"position":3},"title":"The Washing of Regeneration","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Ward via The Lost River Bulletin, Vol. 58, No. 4, September 2008. The denominational world has spent centuries trying to oust baptism from God's plan of salvation. One of the most common efforts centers on works. Notice this argument in syllogistic form: First Premise: Works do not save:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-efficacy-of-baptism-in-our-faith-in-god-does-that-mean-faith-is-more-important-than-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":15168,"position":4},"title":"Is the efficacy of baptism in our faith in God? Does that mean faith is more important than baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is meant by Colossians 2:12, \"in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead\"? Is it teaching the efficacy of our baptism lies in our faith in God? If so then one of the faith\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37907,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-it-be-faith-or-the-faith-in-ephesians-28-and-colossians-212\/","url_meta":{"origin":15168,"position":5},"title":"Should it be “faith” or “the faith” in Ephesians 2:8 and Colossians 2:12?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings brother Hamilton, I am perplexed as to what the later part of Colossians 2:12 means, \"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye have risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.\" Does this part of the scripture\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}