{"id":39052,"date":"2021-10-25T11:16:37","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T16:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=39052"},"modified":"2021-10-25T11:24:58","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T16:24:58","slug":"justification-by-works-and-baptism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/justification-by-works-and-baptism\/","title":{"rendered":"Justification by Works and Baptism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n

At the end of Romans 3 and the beginning of Romans 4, we encounter the most famous of Paul’s teachings: justification by faith in Jesus. Throughout the context, he contrasts it with justification by works. Abraham was not justified by works, nor was David, nor can we be.<\/p>\n

From this magnificent spiritual truth, a host of false doctrines have sprung. In particular, many have argued that justification by works means doing anything, but justification by faith means doing nothing. Thus, the argument continues, baptism cannot save us because it’s a work. Instead, we should seek salvation by praying to Jesus and acknowledging our need to Him.<\/p>\n

There are several Scriptural problems with this claim, but one of the most prominent is its misunderstanding of works in the context of Romans. Paul doesn’t use “works” to mean doing anything right. He uses it to mean doing everything right.<\/p>\n

This, indeed, is the point of the first three chapters of Romans. The Gentiles can’t justify themselves by works because they are sinners. The Jews, even though they have the Law and seek to follow it, are sinners too. They can’t justify themselves by works either. Thus, Paul concludes in Romans 3:20 that no one can be justified in God’s sight by the works of the Law.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In all of human history, there only has been one man who was baptized as part of justifying himself by works. That one was Jesus. In Matthew 3:13-15, John at first refuses to baptize Jesus because he recognizes that the Holy One is more righteous than he is. Jesus replies, however, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness<\/em>.” God’s prophet commanded baptism, so Jesus obeyed the command even though He had no need of forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Jesus was justified by His obedience, but this only happened because He lived a life of unbroken obedience. Should anyone have the temerity to call Him to account, He could assert His right to spend eternity with God because of His moral perfection. That’s justification by works.<\/p>\n

However, none of the rest of us seek baptism because we are fulfilling all righteousness. We seek it because we haven’t fulfilled all righteousness. We aren’t spiritual successes like Jesus. We are failures, and we know it. Our only hope lies in His power to cleanse and redeem, and through baptism, we call on His name, appealing to Him to wash away our sins.<\/p>\n

Our baptism isn’t part of justification by works. It’s not asking for what we deserve. God forbid that I should ever get what I deserve! Instead, we seek justification by faith apart from works through baptism.<\/p>\n

Baptism actually does what sinner’s-prayer advocates think the sinner’s prayer does. In baptism, we don’t proudly stand before God and present our spiritual credentials. Instead, we humble ourselves before Him and plead for His mercy, the mercy that we so desperately need and that our loving God is so eager to extend.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew W. Bassford At the end of Romans 3 and the beginning of Romans 4, we encounter the most famous of Paul’s teachings: justification by faith in Jesus. Throughout the context, he contrasts it with justification by works. Abraham was not justified by works, nor was David, nor can we be. From this magnificent…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,53,1071,47,55],"class_list":["post-39052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-faith-alone","tag-justification","tag-salvation","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39149,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/justification-by-works-in-james\/","url_meta":{"origin":39052,"position":0},"title":"Justification by Works in James","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Earlier, I wrote about Paul's discussion of justification by works in the first four chapters of Romans. In it, he says that justification by works requires perfect obedience to God, which no one but Jesus has achieved. Thus, Christians must seek salvation by faith apart from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/abrahams-sacrifice-of-isaac-226x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/works-in-the-book-of-romans\/","url_meta":{"origin":39052,"position":1},"title":"Works in the Book of Romans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0XXIII: 2, pp. 43-45, January 11, 1979 Frequently Paul mentions works or deeds in his epistle to the saints at Rome. Whatever he means by \"works,\" the term expresses something opposed to grace and faith. He insists that justification does not find its source in works.\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":7082,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-justification-by-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":39052,"position":2},"title":"Isn’t justification by faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Isn't justification by faith alone? Answer: It is common for people to approach the Scriptures with blinders on, seeking to prove their point by selective use of passages from the Bible. I find it amazing that when I state that justification is\u00a0not by faith alone that people turn this\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":618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-romans-51-teach-we-are-saved-by-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":39052,"position":3},"title":"Doesn’t Romans 5:1 teach we are saved by faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Doesn't\u00a0Romans 5:1\u00a0teach that we are saved by faith alone? Answer: Romans 5:1\u00a0says, \"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.\" This proves that justification requires faith, but your stated goal was to prove that justification was by faith\u00a0alone. There is no\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":10966,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptism-necessary-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":39052,"position":4},"title":"Baptism: Necessary for Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Allen Dvorak It is virtually undisputed truth that man is saved by divine grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). However, some have concluded from this fact that there is nothing that man can or must do for his salvation. It is frequently argued that \"water baptism can't possibly be necessary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/baptism2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42364,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-justification-through-faith-is-a-sinner-forgiven-when-he-prays\/","url_meta":{"origin":39052,"position":5},"title":"Is justification through faith? Is a sinner forgiven when he prays?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, I was reading your article on\u00a0the NIV\u00a0and I found it very informative! I just want to start off by saying thank you I had no idea there were a few discrepancies I needed to be aware of. With regards to this, I had a question. I\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\/39052","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=39052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}