Doctrine/Theology

Neither baptism nor any other work is required for one to be justified, but rather faith in God who justifies the ungodly apart from works (Rom. 4:5). Several reasons can be offered for separating baptism from justification.

First, Peter affirmed that Cornelius had already received the Holy Spirit before he baptized him (Acts 10:47; see also Rom. 8:9). Second, Paul was clearly justified before he was baptized (Acts 9:1-18; 22:6-16). Third, the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized as a result of his faith in Christ, not as a condition for being justified (Acts 8:26-40). Fourth, if baptism is required for salvation, then baptism is an essential part of the gospel. But Paul apparently did not think so, for he explicitly tells the Corinthians that “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel,” effectively separating the two (1 Cor. 1:17).

But water baptism is far from being an option when it comes to obedience to Christ. No one can consider himself a disciple of Christ who has not publicly identified himself with Christ in water baptism (Matt. 28:19). Baptism “saves” us in the same way that the waters of the Flood “saved” Noah and his family (1 Pet. 3:20-21). Noah was saved through water, not by water. He, like everyone else, is saved by faith alone (Heb. 11:6-7). But, as Noah’s obedience was a condemnation to the unbelieving, rebellious antediluvian world, so our obedience in baptism, an answer of a good conscience toward God, is a condemnation to the rebellious present world that rejects the death and resurrection of the Son of God. By publicly testifying to our faith by water baptism, we are “washing ourselves” of our identification with this cursed world system, and instead, identifying ourselves with the only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Scripture teaches that faith alone is the condition for salvation. A simple evidence of this is that the explicitly evangelistic gospel of John never once mentions repentance as a condition for salvation, but repeatedly exhorts us to faith (Jn. 1:12, 3:16, 6:47, 7:38, 11:25, 14:1, 20:31). Furthermore, salvation is clearly by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8) and no degree of repentance divorced from faith can be said to save anyone (e.g. Matt. 27:3-5; 2 Cor. 7:9-10)

But true saving faith, while not simply a synonym for repentance, undoubtedly includes the element of repentance. The emphatic teaching of Scripture is that “God now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Hence, faith and repentance should be viewed as two sides of the same coin, with faith being the “positive” side and repentance being the “negative” side. While repentance departs from unbelief in the gospel, faith is the positive inclination toward trust in the gospel. Repentance is “leaving there,” while faith is “coming here.”

Another way to look at faith and repentance is through the law of non-contradiction. The Bible describes saving faith as “being fully persuaded that what God has promised He is also able to perform” (Rom. 4:21). There are only two relationships a sinner can have in regards to Christ: either the sinner has saving faith in Christ or the sinner does not have saving faith in Christ. And to have saving faith in Christ is not the same as to not have saving faith in Christ.

Therefore, when a sinner exercises saving faith in Christ, he by that very act “repents” of the previous state of not having exercised saving faith in Christ. In other words, God’s call to repentance is the call to faith, and His call to faith is the call to repentance.

Strong Calvinists assert that Christ died only for the sins of the elect, not for the whole world. Several verses are cited in defense of this view, including, but not limited to Matt. 1:21, John 10:15, John 17:9, Acts 20:28, 1 Cor. 15:3, Eph. 5:25. In all the above cited verses, there is an element of exclusivity to the extent of the atoning work of Christ: He died for our sins, Christ gave Himself for the church, He prayed for His own, etc.

Indeed, these verses indicate that Christ died for the elect. What is missing in the entire Bible, however, is any verse that explicitly teaches that Christ died only for the elect. The very opposite, in fact, is true. Scripture teaches that “God so loved the world,” and that Christ is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world” (Jn. 3:16; 1 Jn. 2:2; cf. 1 Jn. 5:19).

Another key passage cited by Strong Calvinists is Romans 5:15-19. Those who hold the limited atonement view point out that “the gift . . . abounded to many,” and that “by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” A careful analysis of the passage, however, reveals unquestionably that Paul is using “many” in contrast to “one,” not in contrast to “all.” The word “many,” is actually used interchangeably with “all” and refers to the same group of people: the whole world. Further, a Strong Calvinist must admit that if Christ died only for some, then Adam’s sin only affected some, for that is the parallel that Scripture reveals in the text.

Finally, the Strong Calvinist can never genuinely tell someone that “Christ died for you.” Since, following the TULIP acronym, Christ died only for the elect and the elect are only known by their perseverance to the end, then it follows then no one can know with certainty this side of heaven that Christ died for him. Yet the Apostle Paul explicitly refers to a specific individual in the church at Rome “for whom Christ died” (Rom. 14:15).