Untitled Sermon (2)

INTRO:

Thank y’all for tuning into the debate.

Thank you Michael for being willing to debate.

Michael is a good guy and I’ve enjoyed getting to talk to him over the last couple of weeks.

The proposition I’ll be affirming tonight is that baptism saves.

By baptism, I mean immersion in water.

By saved, I mean one is delivered from their sins and its consequences; thus being reconciled to God, having their sins forgiven, and being sealed for eternal life.

INTERESTING FACTS

This is a very controversial topic, and one that can very easily get heated.

It’s my goal in the debate to be kind, but plain—I think Michael and I are good enough friends to where we can have some hard conversations.

This is a topic that didn’t have much confusion until about 500 years ago.

The position that I am taking tonight—saying that baptism saves—is the popular position.

Historically, the belief that baptism saves was nearly unanimously accepted (for more info see Ferguson’s book).

Not only that, about 70% of people who claim to be Christian affirm that baptism saves—so my position is the most popular position as well.

METHODOLOGY

Before I get into the substance of my opening affirmative, I wanted to make a comment about how these debates often go.

Many times in these debates those who take the faith-alone position will want to go to every other passages that doesn’t talk about baptism in order to create their doctrine of baptism.

This is a methodological error.

EX1. If I’m trying to figure out who the God of the Bible is I don’t go to the Quran. EX2. When I try to figure out the qualifications for deacons in 1 Timothy I don’t look at the list for the qualifications for elders.

Therefore, if the debate starts going to “well, baptism can’t save because of the thief” or “baptism can’t save because Ephesians 2 says its not of works” then we’ve gotten derailed and we’re no longer debating the issue.

This debate is about assessing what the baptismal texts say for themselves. To go to the peripheral texts is in and of itself an admission.

EXEGESIS

So what does scripture say about baptism?

There’s a plethora of baptismal texts, any of which are fully suitable as a starting place for this debate.

We have 1 Peter 3:21 which tells us plainly that baptism saves, and it does so through the working of Jesus.

We have Romans 6:3-4 which informs us that baptism is this beautiful picture of the DBR of Jesus, and that we too are raised to new life as we come up out of the water.

We have Colossians 2:11-12 which gives us a sneak peak into the spiritual realm; specifically how God is working to remove that heart of stone and placing in us a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26).

We have Galatians 3:27 which tells us we are placed INTO Christ in baptism.

We have Titus 3:5, where Paul separates baptism from that category of works that don’t save. He calls our justification in our baptism/washing as the work of the mercy of God.

We have John 3:3-5 tells us that being born again by water & the Spirit, baptism, is THE means through which we enter into the Kingdom of God.

And Matthew 28:19 where Jesus tells his apostles, and thus us, plainly to go make disciples by being baptized “in the name of” or “into the possession of” the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—a transfer of ownership; a transfer of relationship.

And on the heels of that statement from Jesus, we’ll go into the bulk of my affirmative by looking at how the apostles followed that command from Jesus in Acts 2.

The setting is the day of Pentecost.

The disciples have just witnessed the risen Jesus, who has commanded them to make disciples through baptism, ascend back into heaven.

They’re told to go into Jerusalem. And so they find themselves in the upper room.

The Spirit descends upon all of them in what appears to be tongues of fire—and they all begin to speak in tongues and Peter began to preach to the crowds.

Peter told his audience that they put to death the long awaited Messiah that their prophets had prophesied about.

In response, they cried out “Brothers, what shall we do?”

What do they mean by this question? Obviously they’re looking for a way to make this right—to save themselves from the wrath of God.

The scholars behind the NIV (those who would agree more with Michael’s view) who created the cross references link this question with the same question the jailer asks in Acts 16:30—“what must I do to be saved?”

Now, Peter’s response to this question is VITAL—does Peter respond the way that I would—by telling them to repent and be baptized? Or does Peter respond the way Michael would—by telling them that the mere belief saves them and that the fact that they’re even ASKING the question is evidence that they’re saved?

Acts 2:38, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of yours sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Peter tells this audience that in order to save themselves from the just penalty of their sin—crucifying the Lord of Glory—they were to bend their knee in allegiance, repent of their sins, and allow themselves to be immersed in water FOR the forgiveness of their sins and for the seal of His Spirit.

Does it get much clearer than this? Truly if God meant that baptism DOESN’T save us and DOESN’T give us the Holy Spirit. then He couldn’t have been MORE confusing.

I want to evaluate a couple of the statements made in Acts 2:38 before Michael gets up here just so you can plainly see that there is no way of getting out of Peter’s plain words here.

Forgiveness of Sins = Salvation:

What does Peter mean “forgiveness of sins?”

Obviously to have our sins forgiven is to have our sins washed away, which means that we are saved.

Paul in Acts 13:38-39 connects connects “forgiveness of sins” to “justification” which essentially means salvation.

So there’s no question as to what Peter is meaning here.

εἰς Argument:

Then we look at the broader phrase “for the forgiveness of sins,” and specifically that preposition εἰς that’s translated “for.”

Michael might want to argue that the term should be translated “because of,” so Peter would be essentially saying to be baptized because you’re saved, and Peter definitely doesn’t mean that.

When we look at the entry for this word in the most respected scholarly Lexicon, we see that the primary meaning of this word is denoting purpose—meaning, “be baptized SO THAT your sins may be forgiven”—this just so happens to be the way the NRSV translates this verse.

The same greek phrase is also used in Matthew 26:28, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Rule of Concord:

Michael also might want to break up the text and say Peter must be connecting “repentance” and “forgiveness of sins” and not “baptism” and “forgiveness of sins.”

I won’t make the argument for him, it’s a weird technical one, but let me just say that there’s no separating “baptism” from “forgiveness of sins.” Michael can try and make the argument, but he’s gonna have to deal with SEVERAL passages that share similar Greek constructions and answer why he doesn’t treat those texts the way he treats Acts 2:38.

How did the people respond to Peter?

Did they tell him, “No Peter, don’t you know that belief alone saves?”

No, v.40-41 tells us that “with many other words [Peter] warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number.”

What did they do? They obeyed the command to save themselves. How? By being baptized for the forgiveness of their sins.

CONCLUSION:

What will it take for Michael to win this debate?

Michael will need to very clearly show that when Peter says that “baptism is for the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38) and when Peter will later say in his epistle “baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21) that he doesn’t actually mean that.

Put simply: Michael will need scripture to be rewritten.

Michael can bring up all the supplemental passages that he wants to related to faith alone, but they will never be able to actually tell you what PETER means when he says “baptism saves.”

Michael will need Peter to say “baptism does not forgive sins” and “baptism does not now, nor has it ever saved you.”

John 17:17 says, “sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

Your job is to ask yourselves who is presenting what the Word of God actually says—who is telling the truth?