by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Answer:<\/strong> Why do we need a symbol? If the real thing happened, it happened. How does baptism have any value if it is just a symbol of what has already happened inside? Where does the Bible say that baptism is a symbol? When the 3,000 asked, “What shall we do?<\/em>” (Acts 2:37), did Peter say, “Repent, and let every one of you show a symbol of baptism that you already have remission of sins?” (Acts 2:38).<\/p>\n
If they were already saved and baptism was just a symbol, why did Peter continue with many other words exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation?<\/em>” (Acts 2:40-41).<\/p>\n
No! Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ is “for remission of sins<\/em>“, not “for a symbol that you already have remission of sins.” If they were already saved, there was no need to exhort them to “be saved from this perverse generation<\/em>” (Acts 2:40).<\/p>\n
Was Saul (Paul) told to “Arise, and wash away your sins, and then show the symbol of that by being baptized?” (Acts 22:16). No! He was told to “arise, be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Baptism is involved in both cases as the real moment of having remission of sins.<\/p>\n
Peter said baptism is not the symbol but the real or “antitype” (I Peter 3:21 NKJV). The salvation from the flood was the symbol or type, and the antitype to that was baptism. The antitype is the real, the figure that illustrated it was the waters that washed away a sinful world by the flood saving Noah and his family from that sinful world.<\/p>\n
There is a “form<\/em>” involved in baptism. We are “buried with Him<\/em>” in baptism, and we are raised up together with Him (Romans 6:1-6,16-17). Consider it this way: the 3,000 on Pentecost and Saul in Acts 22:16 each died to sin, were buried with Christ in baptism, and rose to walk in newness of life. But baptism was not a symbol that they already had their sins washed away and already had “newness of life.” Baptism was when they united with Christ; the blood of Christ was applied to them, and therefore, the moment they could rise to walk in the newness of life. Jesus’ blood does the washing, but when <\/b>does the blood apply to us and wash away our sins? In baptism, that is done with repentance in the name of Jesus Christ!<\/p>\n
The above quote is a common thought, but it is not biblical thought. No doubt that baptism would do nothing apart from the blood of Christ, but there is a moment when Jesus’ blood washes our sins. Paul says we have faith in the operation of God that He will cut our sins away when we are “buried with Him in baptism<\/em>” (Colossians 2:12). The moment God cuts our sins away is when faith leads us to “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins<\/em>“(Acts 2:38). The only symbol shown in baptism is death, burial, and resurrection. We conform to His death, burial, and resurrection by dying to sin, being buried with Him in baptism, and rising to walk in the newness of life. The newness of life comes after baptism, not before baptism. Those things happen in <\/b>baptism, not before baptism. We all need to return to Bible teaching and practice!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 have any value if it…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-79303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68708,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/baptismal-regeneration\/","url_meta":{"origin":79303,"position":0},"title":"Baptismal Regeneration?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":42170,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-baptism-more-than-a-symbol\/","url_meta":{"origin":79303,"position":1},"title":"Is baptism more than a symbol?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a question about a possible omission in a statement found on \"What Saves a Person?\"\u00a0It's specifically about this statement: \"Be Baptized:\u00a0God selected a simple method by which we demonstrate and declare our acceptance of His offer of salvation -- immersion in water. It is a physical\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":22932,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-acts-238-heresy\/","url_meta":{"origin":79303,"position":2},"title":"Is Acts 2:38 Heresy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tommy Thornhill \"Jesse L. Sewell was born in Overton County, TN in 1818. He grew up in a Baptist community and became a Baptist preacher of some note in his native county. In the course of time, he learned the truth about Acts 2:38 (i.e. that baptism was in\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\/2009\/05\/burntPage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":32199,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-place-of-water-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":79303,"position":3},"title":"The Place of Water Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Green \"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\" (Romans 6: 4). Many consider baptism an empty symbol. Let us briefly\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\/02\/baptism-near-mineola-texas-300x208.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/for-eis-the-remission-of-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":79303,"position":4},"title":"For (eis) the Remission of Sins","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton It is argued by some that \"for\" the remission of sins, as used in Acts 2:38, should be understood to mean \"because of\" the remission of sins you already have. They say it is like we use the term when saying, \"Take some ibuprofen for your\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":8987,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-have-to-know-that-baptism-is-for-the-remission-of-sins-in-order-to-be-forgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":79303,"position":5},"title":"Do you have to know that baptism is for the remission of sins in order to be forgiven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The question I pose is, \"Does one have to have the knowledge that baptism is for the remission of sins, for such to occur?\" I understand that if one is taught by one who knows the truth, this would not even be a question. 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