By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. Jimmy Allen, Dr. James Bjornstad, Dr. Jerry Jones, Rev. David Kingdon; ©1982 |
Is baptism necessary for salvation, or is salvation by faith in Christ as Lord and savior apart from baptism? Is baptism part of man’s “faith-response” to the grace of God? |
Contents
Program 1: Is Baptism Necessary For Salvation? What is Necessary for Salvation?
- Dr. John Ankerberg: We’ve got some distinguished gentlemen on the stage, and tonight we’re going to get right down to the topic of the evening, and that is, “What is necessary for salvation?” I have asked one of you from each side to start us off with four minutes of defining your position of what do the Scriptures say about salvation. What is necessary, and where does baptism come in? Alright, Dr. James Bjornstad will start for the first four minutes, and then Dr. Jerry Jones will have four minutes. Dr. Bjornstad, if you’ll start us off please.
- Dr. James Bjornstad: I believe that salvation, as I study the Bible, is that which is given by God’s grace and that it is God’s doing, and that it is appropriated to us by faith or trust or believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior apart from and before baptism. I do believe that baptism is an ordinance which Christ commands us to participate in, but that it has nothing to do with salvation. I find this basically to be true of the entire Bible. One studies the Old Testament the theme, as well as in the New Testament, is “justification by faith.” Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him by God for righteousness. [Rom. 4:3] In Habakkuk 2:4 the same text, “The just shall live by faith,” which you find in the book of Romans. [Rom. 1:17]
- I also find that in the New Testament there are many instances in which salvation – remission of sins – is given apart from baptism. For example, in John 3, the statement to Nicodemus by our Lord was that unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. At that point, Jesus received an answer from Nicodemus in which Nicodemus said that “How can I be born unless I enter my mother’s womb the second time?” Jesus continues the natural argument and says that, “unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is flesh is flesh and that which is spirit is spirit.” [John 3:3-6] I take that to understand not only physical birth is necessary, but a spiritual birth which comes from trusting Christ. The same thing might also be said in Luke 23 of the thief on the cross who Jesus said would be with Him in paradise that day. [Luke 23:43]
- In Acts 2:38, I believe the passage is very clear, not for the position of the Church of Christ but rather for the position that I uphold. The beginning statement is in the plural, “You are to repent.” And then it says, “and be baptized,” which is a singular. Then the context from there, “each one of you.” But when it comes to the remission of your sins, humin is plural, which takes us back to repentance, and receiving the Holy Spirit again is plural, taking us back to repentance. So the passage actually teaches that when one repents, he not only receives remission of sins, but he receives the Holy Spirit. Then following that he is to be baptized, “each one of you,” which is the singular text.
- In Acts 10, the same thing could be said for Cornelius’ household. As I look at it in verse 44, the Holy Spirit fell upon all of those who were listening to the message. In verse 47 they receive the Holy Spirit, and if you look at Peter’s comments, “just as we did,” and then verse 48, baptism follows that. In Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” After he believes, he washes and then he is baptized. But the interesting statement in verse 34 is that he rejoices greatly because he believed in God. So I believe that the New Testament and in the Old Testament the Bible itself teaches that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ apart from and previous to baptism.
- Ankerberg: Okay. Thank you, Dr. Bjornstad. Dr. Allen, please.
- Dr. Jimmy Allen: We believe that in the Christian age which began on Pentecost day that people are justified by faith, that salvation is not merited; it cannot be earned, it cannot be deserved. But we believe in the Christian age that those who are justified by faith are people who have been baptized, and that baptism is not a work of man’s righteousness, but that it is a part of man’s faith-response to the grace of God.
- In Galatians 3:26-27, Paul said, “You are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” He affirmed in Galatians 3:26 that they were children of God by faith. And beginning at verse 27 he said, “For [and that word in the original language means to introduce the reason] as many of you as been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” That is, they were children of God by faith inasmuch as they have been baptized. So baptism is a part of man’s faith-response to the amazing grace of God.
- As far as the thief on the cross is concerned, we believe that he was saved. But the thief on the cross was saved before the new covenant went into force. According to Hebrews 9:16-17, a covenant does not become effective until after a man dies, and Christ had not yet died when He said to the thief on the cross, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” [Luke 23:43] So he was saved while the old covenant was still effective and he was saved before the new covenant had become effective. Baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was not valid for the thief on the cross.
- Jim said a while ago that in Acts 2:38, “Repent ye,” is the second person plural and that is correct; “and be baptized” is the third person singular, and that is correct. I’m not quite sure what he said after that, but I’m sure it will become clear during the discussion. At any rate, I would like to point out that we are told to, “repent ye [second person plural] and be baptized every one of ye.” Now that word is also plural. Humon is plural. “Repent ye, and be baptized every one of ye, and ye, shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” It’s like trying to determine what is the difference in saying, “All of you repent,” and “every one of you be baptized.” The only difference is “Every one of you be baptized,” is more emphatic. And it shows they were to “repent” first; “be baptized,” that’s second; and “ye shall receive remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.” I might raise this question. Suppose it read, “Repent ye, and have faith, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remissions of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?” What would be wrong with that statement grammatically if it read that way? If instead of saying, “be baptized,” it said, “have faith, every one of you,” what would be wrong with it?
- In the case of Cornelius in Acts 10:44-48, we believe that Cornelius received the baptismal measure of the Holy Spirit, not in order to save him, but to prove that Gentiles had a right to hear the gospel. There were three miracles performed in connection with Cornelius’ conversion: Peter had a vision on the housetop; Cornelius had a vision; and Cornelius and his group were baptized in the Spirit. And not one of these three miracles had anything to do with the conversion process. He was baptized in the Spirit according to Acts 10:46-48, and according to Acts 11:15-18, to prove to the Jews and Gentiles had a right to have the gospel preached to them. Acts 10:43, Cornelius believed; Acts 11:18 Cornelius repented; and Acts 10:48, Cornelius was baptized. And that’s in perfect harmony with the great commission.
- Ankerberg: Alright, let me ask you this, Jimmy. If Acts 2:38 says to “repent” and not to “repent and be baptized,” what would that do to your view? If it actually said that.
- Allen: It doesn’t say that.
- Ankerberg: If it did, would that be a devastating blow?
- Allen: No, sir. In Acts 11:18 we are told that Cornelius repented unto life, and the only thing specified in the verse is repentance. No, it would not be a devastating blow to me.
- Ankerberg: We’ll, let’s take Cornelius next, but let’s deal with Acts 2:38. Dr. Bjornstad, you said something about Acts 2:38, and we didn’t hear the ending apparently. What was it?
- Bjornstad: Okay, the point that was made by Jimmy is the fact that the statement, “each one of you,” plural. He’s correct, but his mistake is the fact that “each one” is the Greek word that is always used for “each one separately or individually.” Had Peter intended for the fact that it would have been “you repent” and “you be baptized,” he would have made both of them imperatives and he would have made both of them the second person. He did not do that. All I can do is quote what A. T. Robertson said years ago that is, “You can ignore the grammar and build a doctrine of repentance and baptism, but you do so by ignoring the grammar.” Had Peter intended it, he simply would have made both of them second person plural aorist tense. He didn’t.
- Ankerberg: And what I like about Jimmy and Jerry and David and Jim, is all of us agree that the Bible is our authority. We are not coming as people who do not know the Lord for our debating Scripture tonight. We believe that the Bible is the authority. It’s the very inspired Word of God. The words count, and so one side or the other is correct, and it’s going to be decided not on necessarily on what we think, but on what the Scriptures say. So that’s where we’re keeping it. And I know you gentlemen are supremely able to divide the Word of God, so let’s continue talking about that.
- Dr. Jerry Jones: Let me say something about this plural and singular. Stay in the same chapter and you can illustrate this. Look at Acts 2:8. It says, “How is it that we each hear them in his own language?” You see, you the plural and the singular, but they are overlapping. They are not talking about two different groups. You see, you have the plural then “each” is the same thing that you have over here. So they are overlapping. And this is just the way that the Greeks expressed it that way. So he’s not talking about two different groups.
- Bjornstad: But one mistake that he does make in that when he does it is that he doesn’t pick up on verses 9 and 10. Because the focus is on each one separately. They heard it in Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia. That is, each one of them heard the dialect themselves. So therefore I think what he is trying to indicate is to get out of the fact that you have a change from the plural to the singular. It’s not that they all heard the same thing. They all individually heard different things, just as each one must be individually baptized. That’s my point by the language.
- Jones: But the “we” includes all those people. There’s nobody excluded. You see, what he is trying to do is exclude some folks, but you see, the “each” modifies the “we.” So to say we’re talking about one group is to repent and the other group is to be baptized, it doesn’t fit with verse 8 because they are overlapping.
- Ankerberg: Jimmy?
- Allen: In Acts 2:38, he said “repent ye and be baptized every one of you.” And “repent ye,” is a collective. “Be baptized every one of you” is a distributive, where you deal with the people as individuals. It’s like saying, “All of you repent, and every one of you be baptized.” [Acts 2:38] If you had been present on the Pentecost Day and had heard that sermon about the death and the resurrection of Jesus, and if you had cried out, “what must we do,” and you had heard from the lips of the apostle Peter, “Repent ye, all of you repent, and every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” I submit to you the grammatical argument which is being made would have carried no weight. “For the remission of sins,” does not have person nor does it have number. “For the remission of sins” has neither. They were told, “all of you repent, and every one of you be baptized, for the remission of sins.” Jim, there is not person or number in “for the remission of sins.” Now, to which of the verbs does that go? Does that go with baptism, or does it go with repent? One more time, if he had said, “repent ye, and have faith every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,” this grammatical argument would not be made.
- Bjornstad: The point that I would make in response to that is simply the fact that he argues basically from the English language trying to make a point. If somebody did hear it in Greek – but it is written in Greek at this point – it’s very clear in the language. It begins with “you [plural] repent,” and then it goes on from there to tie together the remission of sins. Remission is singular genitive and then you have a plural regarding sins, of you, humin, is plural. It has to tie together with that which is commanded, which is plural. What is separate from that is the part that says that you are “to be baptized each one of you,” which takes a different form. Now you can argue from English all you want that you are saying the same thing, and that’s what my brother is doing over here. But from the Greek language you cannot do that. I think Greek scholars would tell you that.
- Ankerberg: So you are saying that a person that was listening in Greek would understand that there was a progression and that repentance is tied to remission of sins and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. And baptism is not because why?
- Bjornstad: Because it’s a third person singular and following from that, “each one of you separately,” the term that is used, is to be involved in that. So the other part that is tied to it, if you follow the language, has to relate to that which is plural command.
- Ankerberg: Could we make a comment either on that or could we make a comment in going on to the thief on the cross?
- Dr. David Kingdon: The arguments of our friends is the thief on the cross was not saved under the new covenant, because the new covenant was not yet in force on the basis of Hebrews 9:17, namely that the covenant or testament comes into force on the death of the testator, in this case, Jesus Christ. So He had not yet died, therefore, the thief on the cross was not saved under the new covenant, right?
- Allen: That’s correct.
- Kingdon: Now, could I ask you the question, who died first: the thief or the Lord Jesus Christ?
- Allen: I don’t know who died first, but Jesus was still alive when He said it.
- Kingdon: I can tell you who died first. From John 19, “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that sabbath day was a high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken [in order to hasten their death], and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. [So the two thieves had their legs broken in order to hasten their death.] But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs.” [John 19:31-33] So the new covenant was already in force before the thief died. And I don’t see how you can escape from it.
- Allen: The Lord saved the thief before he died.
- Kingdon: Where’s the text for that?
- Allen: When he said, “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” [Luke 23:43] The Lord didn’t say that when He was dead!
- Kingdon: Of course, He didn’t.
- Allen: The Lord was still living when He said it.
- Kingdon: Right.
- Allen: And according to Hebrews 9:16-17, the covenant did not go into force until after He died.
- Kingdon: But that doesn’t meet the point that the Testament came into force before the thief died.
- Allen: He was saved while Jesus was alive.
- Kingdon: He was going to be with Christ in paradise on the basis of the new covenant.
- Allen: That I deny.
- Kingdon: Well, that I affirm. He was given a promise, that he would be in paradise with the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Allen: Thus he was saved at that moment.
- Kingdon: No, not necessarily. We are not told precisely when he was saved. He was given a promise. We are not told at what point he believed the promise.
- Ankerberg: We’re going to have to pick this up next week. We’re out of time for now.
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