"Baptism doth now save you" and is not a work!

[eis]

In the Great Commission as given by Jesus found in:

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. " NASB

he tells them to baptize "baptizing them....", (obviously water baptism, because only He could baptize with the Holy Spirit)

And Peter's response while filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost he commands:

Acts 2:38-41

38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself." 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls. NASB

Baptism is a command that clothes one with Christ:

Galatians 3:27-28

27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. NASB

and unites us with Him in the likeness of his death:

Romans 6:3-8

3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

NASB

as well as:

Colossians 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. NASB

Certainly there is a promise from:

Acts 2:38 "receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit",

from

Romans 6:5 "we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection"

and in

I Peter 3:21 "baptism now saves you..." & Col2:12 ..." in which you were also raised up with Him through faith"

Knowing that the command & example of baptism in these verses agree in baptism of water, and that it truly is a submissive act, why do so many label it as a work and refute it's very importance in salvation?

Many have already agreed that one MUST have faith and MUST confess & MUST repent in order to be saved. All which require a doing, yet the one submissive act baptism in water is considered a work. Knowing that Romans 10:9-10 are a synecdoche, or figure of speech which a part, faith and confession are used as a whole to indicate that a fullness of faith will lead one to respond to the gospel to repent & be baptized to be added to the Lord's church, why are so many in denial as to the importance of full obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Why, if this is an act of submission that is done to one, rather than one doing is it considered to be a work?

[humbleseeker]

All Christians should be baptized, although I believe that salvation comes when a person first believes, then works take place because of faith. We do what we are commanded to do not to gain favor or salvation from God. but we are compelled by Christ love to do good works. We are told by God to be baptized then that is what we should do. I know of a church that teaches ones only come to salvation after they were baptized. I only went there a few times.

[nebula]

Here we go again. . . .

How about everyone just copy and paste what they wrote last time?

[CSLewis]

Hahaha -

so eis - sprinkle or emersion?

[eis]

Hahaha -

so eis - sprinkle or emersion?

Mocking is unbecoming.

[CSLewis]

Uh - I was laughing at nebula and asking you - sprinkle or emersion? Infant baptism?

[OneLight]

I don't know if there ever will be a way to help people see that salvation comes when one believes in Jesus and His completed work. After someone accepts the finished works of Christ, they move on to being obedient, starting with repentance and continues through until death, doing the works He has chosen us to do. Through foreknowledge, He elected us to become His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

There is absolutely no reason to add unto the works that He did for our salvation.

[eis]

Uh - I was laughing at nebula and asking you - sprinkle or emersion? Infant baptism?

There is no Scriptural reference or example of infant baptism.

Baptism indicates a burial in water and by definition is immersion. John baptized in the Jordan because there was much water there. Jesus came up out of the water. The Ethiopian enuch and Philip went down into the water and they came up out of the water. The example given is immersion.

So, immersion. I will not debate the hypothetical lack of available water issue because it has been well debated and has nothing to do with readers who may be baptized at their leisure.

[eis]

I don't know if there ever will be a way to help people see that salvation comes when one believes in Jesus and His completed work. After someone accepts the finished works of Christ, they move on to being obedient, starting with repentance and continues through until death, doing the works He has chosen us to do. Through foreknowledge, He elected us to become His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

There is absolutely no reason to add unto the works that He did for our salvation.

Many speak as if theirs is the final word on this issue. We disagree that baptism is an integral part of the salvation process and that it adds anything to His work. Baptism coupled with faith, repentance, confession & obedience are all important. I would agree that Scripture indicates that faith is most important because no one would act on the others without faith. Hence he who disbelieves is condemned.

[nebula]

"The work of God is this - to believe in the One whom He has sent."