The Bible disagrees with your conclusion. 1 Peter 3:20-21 tells us that Baptism saves. We are saved through Baptism and continue to be saved.
You should not base a doctrine on a single proof text. We can't exclude all other texts on the subject.
Salvation by Faith in Christ
Gospel of John 3:16
“Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Gospel of John 5:24
The one who hears and believes “has passed from death unto life.”
Gospel of John 6:47
“He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
Gospel of John 11:25–26
“Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
Salvation by Grace Through Faith
Epistle to the Ephesians 2:8–9
“By grace are ye saved through faith… not of works.”
Epistle to Titus 3:5
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.”
Second Epistle to Timothy 1:9
God “saved us… not according to our works.”
Justification by Faith
Epistle to the Romans 3:28
“A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
Epistle to the Romans 5:1
“Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.”
Epistle to the Galatians 2:16
“A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.”
Salvation Through Calling on the Lord
Epistle to the Romans 10:9–10
Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart — “you shall be saved.”
Epistle to the Romans 10:13
“Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Acts of the Apostles 16:30–31
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
Forgiveness Through Christ’s Blood
Epistle to the Ephesians 1:7
“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
First Epistle of John 1:7
“The blood of Jesus Christ… cleanses us from all sin.”
First Epistle of John 5:11–12
“He that hath the Son hath life.”
I answered this in #6. It is God who saves us through the sacrament of Baptism. The water does not, water is a sign of the sacrament. God sometimes uses objects, for example, Jesus used spittle, spat into the clay and put it on the blind man's eyes. Then the man washed in the water. This points toward Baptism. It was not the water that healed the blind man, it was Jesus. Water is the normal sign of the sacrament, there is also Baptism by desire such as in Luke 23:39-43
The difficulty with "sacramental grace" (the idea that the act itself conveys salvation) is the doctrine of Justification by Faith.
In Romans 4:9–11, Paul argues that Abraham was declared righteous
before he was circumcised. Circumcision was a "seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised."
In Luke 23:43, Jesus assures the thief of paradise despite the absence of baptism or the Eucharist. This suggests that while sacraments are good, they are not strictly
necessary for salvation if faith is present.
Traditional orthodoxy leans heavily on
ex opere operato (from the work performed), suggesting the sacrament works by its own power. However, Scripture emphasizes the internal state of the believer:
1 Peter 3:21: While Peter mentions baptism saving us, he immediately clarifies: "...not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God." The "saving" power is linked to the appeal to God, not the water itself.
1 Corinthians 11:27–29: Paul warns that partaking in the Lord’s Supper in an "unworthy manner" brings judgment. If the bread and wine had inherent salvific power regardless of the heart, the spiritual state of the recipient would be secondary to the physical act.
Acknowledging the critique does not mean dismissing these acts as unimportant but their true biblical power lies in their role as visible words—vivid symbols of a spiritual reality that has already occurred.
| Sacrament | The Symbolic Reality | The Timing of Grace |
| Baptism | Burial and Resurrection with Christ (Romans 6:4). | Follows the internal "circumcision of the heart." |
| The Lord's Supper | Communion with the Body of Christ and proclamation of His death. | A "remembrance" ($ἀνάμνησις$) of a finished work on the Cross. |
These practices are most beautiful when viewed as a public seal of an internal reality. By grace, the believer has
already been washed; by grace, the believer is
already sustained by the life of Christ. The act as a "means of grace" not by creating salvation, but by nourishing the faith of the person who has already been redeemed and making a public profession of their faith.
