Is it possible to trust in your baptism as much as you trust in Christ Himself? I believe that it is. If one believes that baptism saves them, they have moved too much of their trust to a symbol and away from the Savior, Jesus Christ.

I have received questions about what I believe about baptism. Obviously, it is not what I believe, but what Scripture teaches that is important. But, because of my writing on justification by faith, some believe that I have rejected or "thrown out" baptism. Nothing could be further from the truth. I believe in baptism and teach it as did Peter and the Apostles. Every one who trusts in Jesus Christ should be baptized. No one who truly trusts in Jesus will refuse biblical baptism. The biblical manner of baptism for the NT church (and the modern church) is by immersion in water with the name of Jesus Christ spoken over the believer. In Acts 2:38 Peter meant by, "be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" that one is to "be baptized as a believer in Jesus Christ." [A Translator’s Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles, UBS, ‘72, p. 60] The "name" stands for the person in which one has faith.

All of this being true, it is very important to realize that baptism is not something someone does. The verbs for "be baptized" and "you shall receive" are passive voice. This means that those to whom Peter spoke in Acts 2 were to be acted upon. It was not something that they do to or of themselves. Baptism in this sense is not a work. They are to SUBMIT to baptism and they are to RECEIVE the Spirit, all as a result of their faith. Baptism is not saving. One is not justified through baptism. One is saved when they are justified. Justification comes at the point when Jesus is trusted in true faith. True faith is the confident trust that one is right with God through the gift of Jesus Christ as one’s forgiveness and righteousness. This is a personal relationship between the believer and God. It is not merely a confession or mental acknowledgment. It is a profound assurance or confidence in Jesus. Since baptism come after this faith, baptism is not an act of obedience for salvation. It is act of obedience to the God who has saved them.

What is Baptism? Baptism is the sign and seal of righteousness by faith. SIGN: Means something which points to something else. In this case baptism points to the counting of the believer righteous by God through Christ. We can look at a sign as a signature. It is the marking by which one identifies their agreements or possessions. SEAL: It means the impression made by the signet which thereby marks property or legal agreements or authorizations. Sealing is that which marks God’s signature upon something. In Romans (4:11), it is circumcision which is the seal or marking of those who have believed God for righteousness. God gave Abraham circumcision as an assurance that his faith had been counted as righteousness. Baptism is our assurance that we are justified by faith.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are signs or symbols of the greater reality of Christ’s death and resurrection. The key to understanding a SIGN is that a sign is to be looked THROUGH rather than looked AT. A sign is a "window" into a higher reality which is higher than the sign itself. A sign tells about something else and not itself. In the case of baptism or the Lord’s Supper, the higher reality is salvation through Jesus Christ. The sign (baptism) is not the OBJECT (Christ), but it is a MEANS for looking at the OBJECT. Baptism is a window into the reality of a believers’s identification with the death and resurrection of Christ by faith.

Just like circumcision is a sign so is baptism a sign. Abraham, he was justified in Gen. 15:6 when he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. But the sign of circumcision was not given to him until Gen. 17 which was some 14 years later in his life. The apostle makes a strong point in his question in Rom. 4:10, "Did God accept Abraham before or after he was circumcised?" Paul’s answer was that it was "before his circumcision." (v. 10). Why? "He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised." (v. 11) The point Paul is making is that circumcision was a symbol to show what God had already done. Baptism certainly means more than circumcision did. But it acts as a sign just as circumcision did.

Baptism is also a seal, in that it assures the one baptized of the promise of the Gospel. Baptism is an assurance of our entire salvation through faith in Christ alone. This is a marvelous understanding of the meaning of baptism. Our baptism is not an assurance of itself. It acts to assure us that Jesus indeed has saved us through faith in Him.

We should always take care not to trust in baptism more than Christ. In a chapter in a recent book by Max Lucado, he says this: "Putting your trust in a symbol is like claiming to be a sailor because you have a tattoo or claiming to be a good husband because you have a ring or claiming to be a football player because you have a letter jacket." He is not saying that baptism isn’t part of every Christians commitment. It is. I believe that every single person who trusts in Jesus Christ should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Albeit, it is because they are saved and not in order to be saved.

"Please understand. Symbols are important. Some of them, like communion and baptism, illustrate the cross of Christ. They symbolize salvation, demonstrate salvation, even articulate salvation. But they do not impart salvation. . . . [God] saves us, not because we trust in a symbol, but because we trust in a Savior. . . . ceremonies don’t make me a Christian. ‘God justifies the believer, not because of the worthiness of his belief, but because of [Christ’s] worthiness.’" [Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace, pp. 50-51]

In the O.T. the Jews developed a ritual of washing or immersion called a miqvah. This rite was to be performed by all Jews before keeping sacred practices and especially before going to the Temple to offer sacrifices. The miqvah was for ceremonial cleansing to prepare one for offering up sacrifice. [Charles Page, Jesus & the Land, p. 59] It was the sacrifice which made the atonement and not the miqvah! Baptism was a miqvah for the Jews on the Day of Pentecost. It pointed them to the sacrifice or atonement of Jesus Christ. After this miqvah, they did not have to obtain a lamb (from the sellers at the Temple Mount) and then present it to the priest to be offered at the Temple. The Lamb had already been slain. Salvation was already performed for them by Christ.

This baptism or miqvah (washing) pointed them to Jesus Christ. It did not bring Atonement. Their tradition concerning washings did not communicate in any way that washing brought atonement. [When I was in Israel I saw the remains of dozens of miqvah baths at the south teaching steps of the Temple Mount. It was there Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost. It was there the three thousand were baptized, in the Name of Jesus, in miqvah baths. In studying various ruins throughout Israel , you could tell the Jewish home by the presence of a miqvah. Washing in preparation FOR atonement fit perfectly into the custom with which they had grown up.]

When John baptized unto repentance or remission of sins, the baptizand’s atonement was not accomplished through the baptism. It was to be accomplished by the Lamb of God, yet to be slain. All washings or baptisms pointed forward to Christ in the O.T. In the N.T. washings or baptisms point backward to Christ. John’s baptism was a sign, or a window on Christ as the Lamb of God. John said that JESUS was the "Lamb who takes away the sins of the world." He pointed his disciple away from his baptism to Jesus.

We can better understand baptism by looking at the Passover. The Passover event in the O.T. was a mighty act of God’s salvation. Through it, the Exodus was made possible. The Passover meal (Seder) was established as a sign or window toward the salvation of the Exodus. Each time the Seder was kept, it was and is a memorial to commemorate the salvation of Israel by God. It acts as a sign or a window by which to view the salvation which God gave them and continues to give to all future generations.

The Lord’s Supper and Baptism are like the Seder meal. They serve as signs to let us look on the mighty acts of God’s salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Neither baptism nor the Lord’s Supper save or make atonement. They both point toward and show forth Jesus Christ’s acts of salvation. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are recitals or confessions of faith in the salvation one has through Jesus Christ alone.

There are two passages in the New Testament which are cited to prove that baptism saves. One is Mark 16:16. In this verse, Jesus emphasizes the importance of faith. Notice he says that condemnation comes to the one who does not believe, not to the unbaptized. The focus is on faith, which is followed by baptism. You will find that faith is the constant element in salvation in the Bible, even where baptism is not mentioned. Baptism is never disconnected from faith. Most Christians believe this. But faith is often mentioned as the way to salvation, without mentioning baptism. It is consistent with Scripture to conclude that faith is the constant means and therefore the only basis for salvation in the NT.

The second passage is in 1 Peter 3:20,21. It is said that this verse proves that baptism saves a person. But Peter is not saying that. He is saying that the baptismal waters are like the waters of the flood. They picture one’s coming out of the waters of judgment by the resurrection of Christ. It is not the waters which deliver or save. It is Christ by His resurrection. Peter makes it clear in verse 18 that Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension bring us to God, thus saving us. Peter is speaking of baptism as a sign or symbol of the salvation of Christ.

Does Christ or Baptism save you? The Bible says it is Christ. We trust in a Savior and we are assured by a symbol. The symbol points to and glorifies Christ. It is blessed of God as long as it points us to the Savior and inspires us to totally trust in Him.