Refuting Baptismal Regeneration, Part 1 of 6

Is water baptism essential for salvation? This is a question that causes much division in Christendom. Some say water baptism is absolutely essential and that it coincides with faith; one must believe and be baptized to be saved, Mark 16:16. Others teach that water baptism is one of numerous sacraments given by God to impart grace to a recipient, and by means of this imparted grace the recipient may receive eternal life. In my own learning regarding Scripture, I believe and am convinced that water baptism is not necessary for receiving eternal life. I address this issue for one reason: if water baptism is essential for salvation, then anyone who teaches that a person may be saved without it is preaching another gospel, Galatians 1:8-9. Likewise, if water baptism is not essential, then everyone espousing its preaching is guilty of adding to the gospel, Revelation 22:18.

I pose a logical series of questions: Does water baptism, of itself, effect regeneration? Does the Bible teach this? If it does, why is faith necessary? If one needs to receive baptism “in faith” as it were, then why is our faith in the ordinance of baptism, and not in Christ? This teaching of works is not grace! “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work,” Romans 11:6. Faith is passive: it is acceptance of a truth presented to you, followed by reliance/trust in said truth. Faith has an object. No matter how you frame it, baptism is a work; you are doing something to earn salvation.

Let me put it in a way that may offend: if I (holding a faith only position) am wrong, then I am not preaching the biblical gospel, have not believed the biblical gospel, and am therefore unsaved. If anyone espousing its opponent (faith + water baptism = salvation) is wrong, then they have not believed the gospel, not wholly trusted Christ alone, and thus are unsaved. If someone considers the doctrine of water baptism and its place in the universal church a trivial matter, I implore you to consider the consequences of believing another gospel, and the curse God pronounced upon all who do. I will treat this topic exhaustively, and I pray with both humility and fairness.

For the sake of expediency I reject the second option out of hand; that of sacramental salvation working hand in hand with faith. This is the doctrine Rome is built upon, and it has unfortunately infected a fair deal of evangelical thinking as well. It is faith OR it is works; the Bible is crystal clear that it cannot be both, Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:1-5; Titus 3:5. Augustine championed water baptism, especially infant baptism. He taught that children, if they died unbaptized, went to Hell. Constantine, who is famous for being Rome’s first “Christian” emperor, waited almost until death to be baptized so as to not risk sinning. During the Reformation, both Martin Luther and John Calvin carried this unbiblical doctrine into their respective denominations. John Calvin wrote in his Institutes: “God in baptism promises remission of sins, and will undoubtedly perform what he has promised to all believers. That promise was offered to us in baptism, let us therefore embrace it in faith.”

Ancient heathens, hundreds of years before the Christian era, practiced baptism. In certain of the Chaldean mystery religions, before one was brought into the secret fold, they were initiated via water baptism (specifically immersion) as a token of one’s implicit obedience. Tertullian wrote of the religions of Isis and Mithra, that water baptism was the method of initiation into their cults. The ancient Hindu religion, according to Asiatic Researches Vol. 7, stated that the Brahmins boasted of being “twice born” by means of baptismal regeneration. This doctrine, begun in Babylon the Mother of Harlots, trickled into perverted form throughout all religions, and likewise corrupted the symbol our Lord made of baptism by suggesting that baptism itself is a means of regeneration and entrance into the universal church and eternal life; utterly contrary to the overall theme and message of the Bible.

This pagan doctrine entered Christendom courtesy of Rome, which had the constant penchant for adopting and “Christianizing” all manner of heathen ceremony and ritual under sanctified titles. Hence, baptism as a means of regeneration predates the time of Christ in many religions and cultures; but water baptism within the church was never meant to carry such connotations. To secure this point regarding Rome, we need look no further than Bishop Hay’s book, Sincere Christian. He writes that water baptism is of “absolute necessity for salvation,” that it will “regenerate us by a new spiritual birth, making us children of God,” that the merits of Christ’s death are granted via water baptism so “as to fully to satisfy divine justice for all demands against us, whether for original or actual sin.” Finally he writes about infants, confirming Augustine’s position, “if they are not actually baptized with water, they cannot go to heaven.” Where is this written in God’s word?

Joseph Smith, in his Book of Mormon, also took up the gross error of Baptismal Regeneration when he wrote, “Yea, blessed are they who shall…be baptized, for they shall…receive the remission of their sin…Behold baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling of the commandments unto the remission of sin,” 3 Nephi 12:2; Moroni 8:11, The Book of Mormon. Later, however, Joseph Smith’s “god” changed his mind when he prompted Smith to write, “All who humble themselves…and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into the church,” Doctrine and Covenants. James Talmage, who wrote The Articles of Faith, and was a Mormon Apostle, added, “God grants the gift of the Holy Spirit unto the obedient; and the bestowal of this gift follows faith, repentance, and baptism by water…The apostles of old promised the ministration of the Holy Ghost unto those only who had received baptism by water for remission of sins.” Yet the focus for Joseph Smith and Mormonism is still their works, and not faith in Christ as God, heard through His gospel, which causes regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit within us. B. R. McConkie, writing on behalf of the Mormon Church in What Mormons Think of Christ, says, “All men are saved by grace alone without any act on their part…But it is received only on the condition of faith, repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end in keeping the commandments of God.” I know fellow Bloggers whose “gospel” mirrors these very words. I weep for their unwillingness to repent.

Paul wrote: “[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” 2nd Timothy 1:9-10. John added, “But as many as received Him (Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,” John 1:12. Augustine, Constantine, Luther and Calvin were mistaken on this point; water baptism is not a part of the gospel of salvation, and does not regenerate the believer, as we shall see.

Does every Lutheran or Calvinist believe this? Hardly; these are general statements about the primary teachers and founders of their denominations; not a statement indicting every Christian who is a Lutheran or Calvinist. Roman Catholics, on the other hand, are another story. I must confess with utmost candor that if you are a faithful Catholic, your faith is in the “one true Church”, the sacraments of that Church, and the penances done in the name of that Church to merit Heaven. Erasmas, who was Luther’s sparring partner during the Reformation, acknowledged sacramentalism’s value on behalf of the Roman Catholic position he wrote from; and that with the Pope’s complete approval.

Before proceeding allow me to say this: not everyone who espouses Baptismal Regeneration is unsaved; nor is every Roman Catholic. But if they are saved, then it is despite their own peculiar beliefs rather than due to them. A Christian may be saved by faith in Christ alone at first, become entrenched in this doctrine, and have their view altered. They are saved, but in error. Likewise with a Roman Catholic; they can hear the genuine gospel, believe in Christ, and be born again; but this will not likely come from Rome, since Rome teaches salvation by man’s efforts. My goal is to reason with anyone who is willing to hear me out about this topic. It is a point of whether or not we have added to, or taken from, God’s word, Revelation 22:18-19. We must give careful heed to such matters, and this is what I pray we shall do.

We shall begin first with the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament era, and the respective visible signs God gave to His people. God gave Abraham circumcision as a seal of the covenant He made with Israel, Genesis 17:10. This covenant was deadly serious; God warned Abraham that anyone who was not circumcised among the people God called His own would be killed: aka, cut off from his people, Genesis 17:14. So jealous was the Lord for this covenant that He struck with Israel, when He sent Moses to speak with Pharaoh, God met him along the way to kill him! Why? Moses, who was to be God’s representative to the people, had not circumcised his own child, Exodus 4:24-26. If he was to lead God’s people and be used as a vessel of deliverance, he must lead by the example of humble obedience.