I respect your willingness to step up to the plate, sincerely. I am not a bully, but I mean what I said. Your answers, although appreciated, are deficient.
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Cause in this post, you quoted just about every bumper sticker cliche that protestants have to offer.
Like what?
Baptism is a first step of obedience of a believer. It is an act of obedience after we are saved by trusting Christ. Many people trust Christ but die before they are able to be baptized, like a deathbed conversion. And like the thief on the cross.
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If you have studied it out, because I cannot assume that you have not, then share those scriptures to justify your stance that baptism is such a work as referenced in Romans 3:28.
Baptism is something WE do, thus making it a work. Its that simple. For salvation, Christ has done the work and sat down at the right hand of the Father. We accept what he has done as a free gift as Romans 5 and Ephesians 2 say.
1. I asked you to share a scripture that baptism is a work as referenced in Romans 3:28, but let’s just say Romans. You shared your opinion and not scripture. In my experience (which of course is not all encompassing) this is what protestants have always done with this question. Something to the effect of “Well, it just is.” Not very convincing.
2. I’ve read the chapters Romans 5 and Ephesians 2 but did not have all of it memorized. I just read them and compared them with your statements: For salvation, Christ has done the work and sat down at the right hand of the Father. We accept what he has done as a free gift…
All praise to Christ for what he has done, of course, no argument there. But neither does Romans 5, nor in Ephesians 2 say or allude to our part being “We accept what he has done as a free gift.” In the most general and descriptive sense, yes of course we accept rather than reject His free gift. But in terms of what Jesus and the apostles instructed us, they did not say nor allude to “you get saved at the point you accept the free gift.” This idea is what I call a logical deduction, conjecture, and a filler in the absence of concrete scripture. There is not recorded in the Bible an instruction or example when someone “accepted the free gift and was saved.” Synonyms don’t count. Believing in Jesus John 3:16 (which is not an exclusive phrase) and “accepting Christ’s free gift to be saved” are distinct concepts.
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Add to that, scripture for the over quoted notion that baptism is a believer's first act of obedience. Scripture, not just your opinion. I base my request on your claims.
Look at Acts 16. The Jailer asked what he must do to be saved and they told him to believe on Jesus and he would be saved. The very next thing, after he believed and was saved, is he got Baptized. And that is the pattern throughout the Book. Baptism is always the believer' first act of obedience, as a result, not a condition of salvation.
In this scripture, what can be seen are chronological events:
-Jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved”
-Paul responded “Believe and you will be saved, you and your entire household” – Paul did not say ‘believe only’ or 'just believe'.
-He and his household were baptized.
This scripture does not say they were baptized as an act of obedience - that’s filled in by those who believe in that teaching.
This scripture does not specify at what point they were saved.
This scripture does not say they were baptized for forgiveness of sins.
This text describes what happened ‘only’ and not ‘why’.
Sincerely - Keep trying, but there are no scriptures Book, Chapter(s), and Verse(s) that allude to the purpose of baptism as an act of obedience. You made this claim enthusiastically, you have the burden of furnishing a scripture for this idea. It is wrong to teach this idea without some Biblical foundation.