by Dub McClish<\/p>\n
Despite the most explicit statements of Scripture to the contrary, most Protestant denominations deny that baptism is a condition of God’s forgiveness of our sins. Some reason that acceptance of such would equal salvation by one’s own works. Others reject the necessity of baptism because of their erroneous dictum of salvation by “grace alone” and “faith alone” (not realizing that this logically must exclude either “grace” or “faith”). To maintain their “denial syndrome” relative to baptism, men have invented numerous ingenious ploys to avoid the force of explicit statements of inspired men, including those made by Jesus (e.g., Mark 16:16; John 3:5; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27; Titus 3:5; I Peter 3:21; et al.).<\/p>\n
Those who teach and practice the New Testament doctrine concerning baptism in God’s plan of salvation have been accused of teaching “water salvation.” Acts 22:16 may elicit this accusation more often than any other passage: “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.<\/em>” When we emphasize the plainness of this declaration that the guilt of sins is removed, but in the act of baptism, we hear the retort: “You believe that water will wash away sins.” If this passage so states, then we would all be obligated to teach it. However, neither this nor any other statement in Scripture teaches such a thing, and we have never encountered anyone who believes such an obvious heresy.<\/p>\n One must look elsewhere to discover the only agent that can “wash away<\/em>” the sins that will bring eternal condemnation, if not forgiven. Jesus “poured out<\/em>” His blood for remission of the sins of mankind (Matthew 26:28). We are redeemed by Jesus’ blood (I Peter 1:18-19). He “washed us from our sins in his own blood<\/em>” (Revelation 1:5; cf. 7:14). The old hymn asks, “What can wash away my sin?” and flawlessly answers: “Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Unless one applies Jesus’ blood to his sins, he will be eternally lost. What, then, does Acts 22:16 teach? Not what<\/strong> washes away sins, but when<\/strong> one’s sins are “washed away<\/em>.” The “what” (as noted above) is the blood of Jesus; the “when” is in the act of baptism. Romans 6:3 explicitly makes baptism the access to Jesus’ blood by saying one is “baptized into his death<\/em>.” The Scriptural conclusions are unavoidable:<\/p>\n by Dub McClish Despite the most explicit statements of Scripture to the contrary, most Protestant denominations deny that baptism is a condition of God’s forgiveness of our sins. Some reason that acceptance of such would equal salvation by one’s own works. Others reject the necessity of baptism because of their erroneous dictum of salvation by…<\/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":[52,47],"class_list":["post-88910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism","tag-salvation"],"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":88910,"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":63804,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-work-of-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":88910,"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":7847,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-you-misinterpreting-the-scriptures-unless-you-teach-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":88910,"position":2},"title":"Aren’t you misinterpreting the Scriptures unless you teach faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I agree with you on many points however I believe that you make many hasty judgments and contradict yourself many times over.\u00a0 Whether you are Nazarene, Pentecostal, Baptist Church of Christ, etc. it truly does not matter because salvation is not found in your denomination rather in Christ Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0\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":13329,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-true-faith-mean-the-command-to-be-baptized-does-not-save-a-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":88910,"position":3},"title":"Does true faith mean the command to be baptized does not save a person?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I guess I would not mind seeing the other side of my argument.\u00a0 It is simply this: true faith saves you.\u00a0 I could go in-depth of what I mean if you would like me to, but I guess I just want to hit on the issue.\u00a0 I believe that\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":1038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-authority-is-there-for-re-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":88910,"position":4},"title":"What authority is there for re-baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where does the Bible authenticate re-baptizing anyone who believed in Jesus and was baptized in His name? Answer: I know of none. Baptism is an act that is done once. \"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were\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":91555,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-baptism-a-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":88910,"position":5},"title":"Is Baptism a Work?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Vicky Buckwalter It is not uncommon to hear some insist that baptism is not a work. Yet I fear that, in responding to criticism from denominational voices who accuse the Lord's church of legalism, we have grown hesitant to admit that baptism is indeed a work-specifically, a work authorized\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\/88910","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=88910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n