by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Some teach and believe that the water of baptism is in no way tied to regeneration or salvation. They think it is something you do after salvation as just a symbol of what already happened in your heart. We see no proof of that view in the scriptures. All verses that talk about baptism have salvation or the equivalent in the spiritual benefits given in <\/b>baptism where you unite with Christ and rise from the water to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-6; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; I Peter 3:21). No newness of life until you unite with Jesus’ death in baptism where HE SAID you will be saved.<\/p>\n
It is faith in God and His promise to operate and remove sins\u00a0when He said He would<\/strong> (Colossians 2:12), and He said He would when we are buried with Christ in baptism. The Ethiopian Eunuch did not have reason to rejoice until he came up from the water of baptism (Acts 8:33ff). He was not trusting in the power of the water, but in the promise of Jesus as to when He would cut away our sins (Colossians 2:12; Acts 22:16). The water does not do the cleansing (which is the concept of “baptismal regeneration”) but is instead the moment God uses the blood of Jesus to wipe our sins off the record (regeneration at <\/b>baptism). Some religions make the water the agent of regeneration, and the truth is that baptism in water is the moment <\/b>of God’s washing in the regeneration process.<\/p>\n Titus 3:5 says, “according to His mercy He saved us<\/strong>\u00a0through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.<\/em>” Washing<\/em> is involved in the regeneration process, and baptism is the time\u00a0<\/b>of that washing. Ananias told Saul to “arise, and be baptized, washing away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). The truth started the regeneration process, and as it worked in Saul’s heart, there was a readiness to hear what he “must do.” When he was told to arise and be baptized, washing away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord”, there are clearly several things tied together. Regeneration begins with repentance (dying to sin), burial with Christ in baptism, and uniting with His death, and this is the when of the cutting away of sins and the rising up to walk in newness of life, which is regeneration (Romans 6:3-6).\u00a0Baptism is in the process, but baptism is not the agent that makes the process start, and baptism is not the agent that makes the new life start, but baptism is the moment God cuts away our sins and gives us a new start.<\/p>\n So, we can speak of the “washing” of regeneration and know that God does this washing when <\/b>we are baptized into union with Christ. We know God does this washing in baptism because He said that was when He washes. Still, as we are being baptized, we do not have faith in the water, but rather “faith in the operation of God” (Colossians 2:12). We trust Him <\/b>to wash away sins. We are trusting His word about when <\/b>this washing takes place, and that is when our faith leads us to repent and <\/b>be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). The washing of regeneration takes place when we are baptized in Jesus’ name for the remission of sins. The water of baptism is not the power or agent of our cleansing but the moment of our cleansing. Jesus said so, and I believe Him.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Some teach and believe that the water of baptism is in no way tied to regeneration or salvation. They think it is something you do after salvation as just a symbol of what already happened in your heart. We see no proof of that view in the scriptures. All verses that…<\/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":[27],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-68708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95990,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptismal-regeneration-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":68708,"position":0},"title":"Baptismal Regeneration?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I have been accused from time to time in believing in \"baptismal regeneration\" because I believe baptism is the moment of salvation (Mark 16:16; Colossians 2:12-13), remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16), and regeneration (Acts 2:38,41; Titus 3:5). But like many topics there is a misunderstanding\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":10461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-true-that-the-purpose-of-baptism-is-not-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":68708,"position":1},"title":"Is it true that the purpose of baptism is not for salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could I be baptized in a pool if I wanted to? One more question and I promise I will leave you alone: Would you agree with me if I said: \"the purpose of baptizing is not for salvation, but for a public testimony of repentance and faith in Jesus\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":68208,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-baptism-was-a-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":68708,"position":2},"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":87257,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-martin-luther-taught-about-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":68708,"position":3},"title":"What Martin Luther Taught About Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton While Martin Luther may have taught the idea of salvation by \"faith alone,\" you might be surprised to learn that he did not think faith alone excluded baptism. It was an umbrella term that included repentance and baptism. So, he didn't place baptism in the category\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":79303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-baptism-a-symbol\/","url_meta":{"origin":68708,"position":4},"title":"Is Baptism a Symbol?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Jesus's blood saves us. It has nothing to do with baptism. Water baptism is symbolic of what happens to us when our sins are washed away by His blood.\" Answer: Why do we need a symbol? If the real thing happened, it happened. How does baptism\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":56269,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-flood-and-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":68708,"position":5},"title":"The Flood and Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Frank J. Jamerson via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 13, March 30, 2008. Many of the teachings of the New Testament were prefigured in the Old Testament. The Old Testament story is the type and the New Testament lesson is the antitype, or that which is prefigured. One of\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68708","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=68708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}