THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 1, NUMBER 39, OCTOBER 28, 2001

"NOT AS A RESULT OF WORKS, THAT NO ONE SHOULD BOAST"

I am sure that you recognize the title of this article as Ephesians 2:9. In the continuing debate with denominational preachers concerning the necessity of baptism for the remission of sins, Eph. 2:8 & 9 is always brought up. One argument that is made in an attempt to deny the essential nature of baptism for salvation is to say that baptism is a human work, and salvation is not of works. In addition to Ephesians 2:9, Romans 4:4 & 5 is frequently quoted. That passage says, "Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness." Thus, according to the argument, since baptism is a work that humans do, it can not be essential to salvation.

Baptism is a work, but it is not a work that man invented or came up with. In truth, baptism is no more a human work than belief. In John 6:28 & 29, we find the following exchange between Jesus and a multitude near the city of Capernaum. "They said therefore to Him, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." Belief itself is called a work. Who requires it, man or God? If I believe, have I earned my salvation? Does the responsibility for my believing rest upon my shoulders or God's? If we place the responsibility upon God's shoulders and I believe and you don't, did God fail with you? Did He arbitrarily decide that I would be a believer and you would not? Would that not make God the quintessential "respecter of persons"? The truth is that belief is a work that God has told me I must do to be saved. I am the one who must believe and when I do, I have not earned my salvation, I have simply obeyed God.

The same holds true with repentance. God requires it, He commands it. It is my responsibility to obey. In Acts 17:30, the Apostle Paul said, "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent." Who must do the repenting, God? No, I must repent. It is something that I must do! Does that then make repenting a human work, something whereby I can boast of earning my salvation? Absolutely not! It is simply doing what God said to do.

What about confession of my belief in Jesus as Lord? Does that constitute a human work whereby I merit remission of sins? In Romans 10:8 - 10, we read, "But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart - that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Who must do the confessing? The answer to that question is me, I am the one who must confess. It is not something that God does for me, I must do it! Does that mean I have earned my salvation? No, I have simply done what God has commanded.

By now all who really want to see certainly can. As a matter of fact; believing, repenting and confessing are things that I must do. Baptism, on the other hand, is something that I submit to - it is the only one of these things that is done to me. But the point is, it is a work. Baptism is a work that God would have me to do to have my sins remitted. That is precisely what Peter said in Acts 2:38, in answer to the question, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter's answer is as true now as it was on that Jewish feast day of Pentecost that followed the ascension of our Lord into heaven. He said, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

There is no legitimate reason or way to try to distinguish between belief and baptism by saying belief is a work of God and baptism is a work of man. The same can be said of those who try to make a similar distinction between repentance, confession, and baptism. All of these are required by God for salvation, originated in His mind, not man's, and are essential to salvation. To try to make such a distinction is purely arbitrary and dishonest. To say that one is an attempt to earn our salvation and the others are not is ridiculous. All of them are necessary works of obedience to God and leave no room for boasting.

As always, the Lord put it best. In Luke 17:7 - 10, we read, "But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come immediately and sit down to eat? But will he not say to him, Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk; and afterward you will eat and drink? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all things which are commanded you, say, We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done."

The greatest minds of all the people who have ever lived could be combined in an attempt to devise a plan whereby we could be saved and the result would only be failure. Our salvation cannot be merited or earned. We cannot through our own works place God in our debt. When we do what He has commanded us, we have no basis for boasting. We have only done what is our duty to do.

Greg Litmer

PRETTY PERTINENT "P'S" FOR OUR GOSPEL MEETING

Our gospel meeting with Moe Hafley is seven days away, that's all. I was thinking of some things that are essential to its success.

Preparation - A good bit of preparation has been done already with more on the way. Nothing is ever accomplished without the proper amount of time and energy having been put into it. Hours have gone into the preparation. How much time have you put in? Are you ready to help make the gospel meeting a success?

Prayer - No endeavor in the work of the Lord will be successful without prayer. We know that "the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much". (James 5:16) Please, pray that doors of opportunity will be opened through the upcoming efforts and that souls will be saved.

Preaching - I know that Moe will do his job. He knows what we are hoping to accomplish in this effort and has geared his sermons to that end. He will present the truth as best he can.

Presence - Will there be people here for Moe to preach to? Will you be here every single service? If you don't drive at night, call someone to come and get you. It would not be a chore for any of us. It would be a blessing to help. If the only visitors who come are people you invited, will it be possible for there to be any visitors?

Participation - If we all join whole-heartedly into the singing and pay close attention to the lessons, it will be a tremendously uplifting event.

Passion - By this I mean enthusiasm. What could we possibly do next week that is more important, more worthy of our complete support and passion? If we all look into our hearts and arrive at the truth that there is nothing more important or worthy of our support and passion, it will be a great week.