by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Romans 6:1-11<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. A frequent objection raised to baptism is that it is a work<\/p>\n
A. “We are not saved by works.” we are told.<\/p>\n
1. Romans 4:4-5 – Faith justifies<\/p>\n
2. Ephesians 2:8-9 – Saved not as a result of works<\/p>\n
B. Now certainly baptism is something done, hence it is a work.<\/p>\n
1. But what kind of work is it?<\/p>\n
a. Is it a work of man striving to merit salvation?<\/p>\n
b. Is it a work of God done by man in obedience to his faith in God?<\/p>\n
2. Too, we need to consider who is working<\/p>\n
a. Is the person being immersed working salvation for himself?<\/p>\n b. Is it God who forgives and renews life through the blood of Jesus\nand the working of the Spirit?\n
II. Baptism is a work of faith<\/p>\n
A. Works of merit<\/p>\n 1. Works done to earn a result. The result is granted because the worker\ndeserves his due.\n a. Such work would bring pride in personal accomplishment – Romans\n4:2-4\n
b. Such boasting is excluded from salvation – Romans 3:24-28<\/p>\n
c. Not of yourselves – Ephesians 2:8-9<\/p>\n
2. There is no way we can earn salvation by our deeds<\/p>\n a. All the good that we do cannot outweigh the sin that we do – James\n2:10\n b. The curse of the law was the need to keep all the law – Galatians\n3:10-11\n 3. If salvation was based on merit, then we have each earned death – Romans\n6:23\n
B. Works of faith <\/p>\n 1. These are works done to receive a result. The result is granted even\nthough the worker doesn’t feel he deserves it.\n
a. Their obedience does not merit the gift – Luke 17:10<\/p>\n
b. Salvation then rests on God’s mercy and His grace.<\/p>\n
2. These same works can be called works of God<\/p>\n
a. Faith is a work of God – John 6:28-29<\/p>\n (1) Consider our opening: “Faith is a work and we are not\nsaved by works!” It just doesn’t work.\n b. Repentance is commanded by God, and therefore, is a work of God\n– Acts 17:30\n c. Confession is commanded by God, and therefore, allows such a one\nto receive salvation – Romans 10:8-10\n 3. Though faith, repentance, and confession are commanded, they do not\ncause the doer to be owed salvation.\n 4. They are works that God has ordained men to do in order to receive His\nsalvation, but when everything is said and done, that salvation is still\ngranted by God’s grace.\n
C. Baptism is a work of faith<\/p>\n
1. Baptism requires faith<\/p>\n
a. Faith is absolutely necessary – Mark 16:16<\/p>\n
b. See as a prerequisite – Acts 8:36-37<\/p>\n 2. Baptism, along with repentance, is an act of faith by which one receives\n(not earns) the forgiveness of sins – Acts 2:38\n
3. Baptism is an act of faith by which one receives a new life – Romans 6:3-4<\/p>\n
4. Baptism is an act of faith that unites us with Christ – Galatians 3:27<\/p>\n
5. Paul emphasizes that baptism is not a work of merit – Titus 3:4-7<\/p>\n a. God does not save us by works of righteousness (works to earn\nsalvation)\n b. God saves us by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the\nHoly Spirit (an allusion to baptism).\n 6. I am unaware of any passage that calls baptism a work of merit where the\none being baptized is owed salvation. Like faith, repentance, and\nconfession; baptism is an act of faith by which we receive salvation.\n
III. God is at work in baptism<\/p>\n A. We are buried and raised with Christ “through faith in the working of God” –\nColossians 2:12\n
B. It is God who does the work, not man – Colossians 2:13<\/p>\n
1. Men are dead in their sins<\/p>\n
2. But God makes a man alive, forgiving him of his sins<\/p>\n
C. Thus, it is God who saves us, not we ourselves.<\/p>\n 1. God saves us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the\nSpirit – Titus 3:5\n
2. Baptism washes away sins – Acts 22:16<\/p>\n
3. It grants forgiveness of sins – Acts 2:38<\/p>\n 4. Baptism saves, not in the physical action, but because God grants salvation\nthrough His Son – I Peter 3:21\n D. Illustration: Consider baptism as a spiritual operation performed by the Great\nPhysician\n 1. When a person needs physical surgery, faith is required in the skills of the\nphysician, else we would not agree to lie upon the operating table\n a. But when the surgery is over, did I earn or merit my healing\nbecause I submitted to being placed on the operating table? NO!\n b. Yet to be healed, it required both faith in the surgeon and a\nwillingness to submit to the surgery.\n 2. My faith in God and in the death of His Son prompts me to submit to the\nspiritual operation of baptism where God does His work of cleansing my\nsoul by the blood of Jesus and the renewing of the Spirit – Colossians 2:11-12\n
IV. Sadly, many people reject baptism because they see it as something you do<\/p>\n A. But the reality is that baptism is the most passive act of faith required of us by\nGod.\n
B. Faith, repentance, and confession are all acts which require much from the worker<\/p>\n
C. But baptism is something done to us.<\/p>\n D. It would make more sense to object to faith, or repentance, or confession as they\nrequire active effort than to object to the passive effort of baptism\n E. Even Martin Luther, who came up with the phrase “salvation by faith only,”\nunderstood that salvation by grace through faith did not preclude baptism. In his\nSmall Catechism, he wrote,\n 1. In answer to the question, “What gifts or benefits does baptism bestow?”,\nLuther wrote, “It effects forgiveness of sins.”\n 2. Concerning the sinner, “Through baptism he is bathed in the blood of\nChrist and is cleansed from sins.”\n 3. “To put it simply, the power, effect, benefit, fruit, and purpose of baptism\nis to save.”\n 4. In response to those who call this a kind of salvation by works, he said,\n“Yes, it is true that our works are of no use for salvation. Baptism,\nhowever, is not our work but God’s.”\n
F. If Luther can understand this simply concept, why can’t others? Why can’t you?<\/p>\n 1. Baptism \n is a work of God, and we are saved by faith in the working of God – Ephesians \n 2:10 \n
2. Acts 22:16<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 6:1-11 I. A frequent objection raised to baptism is that it is a work A. “We are not saved by works.” we are told. 1. Romans 4:4-5 – Faith justifies 2. Ephesians 2:8-9 – Saved not as a result of works B. Now certainly baptism is something done, hence it is a work.…<\/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":[32],"tags":[52,55],"class_list":["post-63804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-baptism","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87864,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-resist-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":63804,"position":0},"title":"Why Resist Baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Marvin Rickett Nearly all denominations resist the Bible's doctrine of baptism in one manner or another. Some resist it by saying it is not essential to salvation. One can be saved without ever being baptized. Others resist it by teaching that one is saved before one is baptized. He\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":68208,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-baptism-was-a-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":63804,"position":1},"title":"If Baptism Was a Work","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The claim is made that baptism cannot be part of the salvation process (the process from lost sinner to saved and justified in Christ) because it is claimed that \"baptism is a work\" and \"we are saved through faith and not of works\" (Ephesians 2:8-9). However,\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":10966,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptism-necessary-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":63804,"position":2},"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":45180,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-we-not-be-saved-by-works-of-righteousness-but-are-saved-by-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":63804,"position":3},"title":"How can we not be saved by works of righteousness but are saved by baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know that our faith is justified by works and that the faith of the Bible is obedient faith. Therefore, faith encompasses baptism and it isn't a meritorious work. However, if we are obedient in our faith wouldn't it be counted to us as righteousness as it was Abraham?\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":77346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptism-grace-and-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":63804,"position":4},"title":"Baptism, Grace, and Works","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Belknap There are many people today who believe that baptism (immersion) is not essential to being saved. I truly believe this is one of Satan's grandest lies that he has successfully spread throughout the ages. What greater way is there to snatch souls away from God than to\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":761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-water-baptism-a-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":63804,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63804","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=63804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}