Saved by Faith

The question is often proposed, “why do I need to confess, repent and be baptized for salvation?”, when the Bible says we are saved by faith as noted in Ephesians 2:8-9”, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (ESV). 

 Romans 1:5 shows us faith includes obedience as noted by, “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations” (emphasis added) (ESV). 

There are many examples of people being commanded to be baptized or to baptize others (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:16 and Acts 10:48).  

Additionally, there are various examples of people being commanded to repent (Luke 13:3 and 5, Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Acts 17:30 2 Peter 3:9 and Luke 24:47). 

Likewise, confession is commanded to be performed in Matthew 10:32-33, Luke 12:8-9, Philippians 2:11 and Romans 10:9-10.

 If someone told you the tree located in your back yard is a peach tree, yet, the tree doesn’t have leaves like a peach tree and it occasionally produces an apple, do you think it’s really a peach tree? I hope you don’t think so. 

Likewise, if someone says they have been saved through faith in Jesus, yet they’ve never performed confession, repentance and baptism which are expressions of faith as taught in the Bible, do you think the person really has true faith as demonstrated in the Bible? I don’t think so, but it really doesn’t matter what I think, what really matters is what God thinks, and I believe God has clearly made known in the Bible what He expects with regards to confession, repentance and baptism. 

There are people who if they attempted to bake a cake the same way they approached the Bible would be sorely disappointed. Imagine a recipe for baking a cake which says, “put flour, baking powder, cocoa, sugar, two eggs, butter and milk in a bowl, mix the ingredients, put the mixture in a pan and then cook the mixture in an oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.” If any of these steps or ingredients were neglected, the quality of the cake would be less than expected. So, if we want to receive the blessings through Jesus as described in the Bible, we should follow all the “directions” as noted in the Bible, not just one or just a few of the “directions”. 

Yes, we are saved through faith but it’s a faith which includes obedience and obedience includes confession, repentance and baptism. 

Blessings! 

Mike