There is christians who say, you can’t be saved if you haven’t being baptized by water.. well, that is not true.
Jesus is the one who baptizes us...
And we have Holy Spirit and fire.
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:”
Matthew 3:11
Praise Jesus.
You might be surprised to learn that the overwhelming majority of Christians who accept the historic teaching of baptismal regeneration actually don't believe that a person can't be saved apart from baptism.
Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, etc all believe that Baptism is the ordinary means by which God works to give us faith and bring the saving work of Jesus by His death and resurrection into our lives. To work new birth, grace, and salvation by the work of Christ alone.
None of those aforementioned churches believe that without baptism it is impossible for a person to be saved. Our view of God's grace and the power and work of His salvation is a lot bigger than that.
Before I was a Lutheran I was quite surprised to discover this, as I had been taught that Catholics believed that we are saved by our works, and that those works included things like Baptism. But, of course, that simply isn't what Catholics believe, and it's not what the Orthodox believe, nor is it what Lutherans believe.
Lutherans believe in salvation by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, on Christ's account Alone. Salvation cannot be accomplished by human works and effort--our will, our works, our efforts can't earn us salvation. That's why we believe that salvation is only by God's grace, only through faith, and only on Christ's account.
It's actually because we believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and on Christ's account alone that we say that God works to save us through "
Means". In other words, salvation isn't something invisible that just spontaneously happens in some people, God is actually the One who is at work converting people, giving and working faith in them.
Since we aren't saved by our works, then to teach that we must come to God by our own power, act or choice of will, is saying that we are saved by our works. A work, as defined in the Greek of the New Testament, is anything that is done. If you do something, then it is your work; if God does something, it is God's work.
So even if you are making a decision to follow Jesus then that is a work, an act of your will, something you do. Am I saved by my own work of my human will, or am I saved by the work of God--by His grace alone?
Lutherans answer that it is by God's grace alone. I contribute nothing, not even my "yes" to Jesus.
So salvation does not arise from my works, but is entirely the work of God alone. And God works through things. There are "Means"; for example the Scriptures say that God's word is powerful and efficacious. The Prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 55:11 that God's word never returns to Him void, but rather it accomplishes the thing He sets it out to accomplish. What is the purpose of the preaching of the Gospel? Well, Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that "it is the power of God to save all who believe". In Romans 10:17 we are told that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ".
The purpose Jesus Christ told His Church to preach the Gospel is because the Gospel is not a dead word, but a living one, as God's word is "living and active, sharper than a two edged sword". So the preaching of the Gospel actually results in people coming to faith, it results in conversion, it results in people being saved. It does this because the Gospel actually accomplishes what it promises. The Gospel declares the forgiveness of sins, and actually renders that forgiveness real, through faith; faith which God Himself gives through the same power of His Gospel, of His word.
But if we read our New Testament seriously, we'll see that Jesus called and commanded His Church not only to preach the Gospel, but also to baptize the nations in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We see, just like the preaching of the Gospel, that Baptism is one of the Means God has given by which to work grace, to give us faith, to declare us righteous and forgiven of our sins.
How is it possible that getting wet with water could do this? Well, water can't do this, and our Lord Jesus says, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Jesus took mud and spit and made a blind man see. Because it's not about the water, or the mud, or the spit, it's once again about God's word. It is the word that gives faith, the word which declares us righteous and forgives us, appropriating Christ's perfect, finished work upon us by which we are justified and reconciled to God.
It isn't the water, it's the word. The word which God has attached to, and connected to water, in the context of Baptism. Without the word, it's just getting wet.
How can we know that God's word is attached to this water? Because the Scriptures say so quite plainly. In Ephesians 5:26 St. Paul writes that Jesus Christ cleansed His Church "by the washing of water with the word". Also, the Lord Jesus Himself tells us in John 3:5 that we are born anew of God by the new birth of "water and the Spirit". Paul echoes the Lord's words here when writing in Titus 3:5 that "He saved us, not because of works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of new birth and renewal of the Holy Spirit."
So what sorts of promises are attached to Baptism? Well, that's simple as seeing what the Bible says.
In Acts 2:38 we read that Baptism is for the forgiveness of sins and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.
In Romans 6:3-4 we read that by Baptism we have died, been buried, and raised up with Christ.
Colossians 2:12-13 says the same.
In Galatians 3:27 we read that we have been clothed with Jesus Himself in Baptism.
Does water do that? No, of course not. But Baptism does, because it's not about the water, but about the word--the word God attaches to the water in Baptism.
And, again, it shouldn't be strange to find that God uses ordinary things like water. Didn't God have Moses strike a rock and cause water to flow? Didn't God have a bronze serpent set up that all who gazed upon it would be healed of snake bite? Didn't God use the waters of the flood as judgment over the world? Didn't God use water to give safe passage to the Israelites to escape the Egyptians? Did not God cause a donkey to speak? Did He not use fire to show forth His power to the three companions of Daniel in the fiery furnace? Was not Naaman healed of his leprosy when he dipped three times in the river? Did not Jesus use mud and spit to heal the blind. Did not the woman who was found with a blood issue find healing when she touched the linen that clothed Jesus' body?
Throughout the Bible, over and over again, we see God doing incredible things through ordinary means. Is it that hard to conceive that God is still the same God. He has not promised us all that we'll have our blind healed by a mixture of mud and spit; but He has promised that all who are baptized belong to Him, by the power of His own grace. Saving us by His means, not our means; His works, not our works.
-CryptoLutheran
