Conversation 4
Mr. Waters—A pleasant spring morning, Mr. Wright.
Mr. Wright—Yes, sir, a beautiful morning; I am a lover of a fine morning like this.
Mr. Waters—I think we all enjoy this spring morning after the very disagreeable weather we have been having. You are getting ready for gardening?
Mr. Wright—I am clearing away a little so as to be ready when the ground becomes in condition.
Mr. Waters—Well, Friend Truman and I came over to talk with you a while this morning if you have a few moments to spare.
Mr. Wright—I seldom get too busy to talk with my good neighbors. Let us go into the house.
Mr. Truman—I have been telling Friend Waters of your conversation with Mr. Works on the subject of salvation.
Mr. Waters—Mr. Works was telling me something about it. He said you were well versed in the Bible and that you rather got the better of him in the argument.
Mr. Wright—It was not my being so well versed, but my having the truth that gave me the advantage.
Mr. Waters—I do not altogether agree with Mr. Works myself. I believe in salvation by baptism, and I am fully able by the Scriptures to verify my position.
Mr. Wright—I myself belonged to a denomination at one time that believed that water washes away sins, but I found that after I was baptized, I went on sinning just as I did before.
Mr. Waters—Do you mean to say that you do not believe in salvation by baptism?
Mr. Wright—No, sir, I have not said so; there is a salvation by water, but it is not that salvation that saves us from sin and makes us children of God. There are several salvations spoken of in the Bible. There is a salvation by works, a salvation by baptism, and a salvation by grace through faith.
Mr. Waters—Well, this is something new to me; I have never met anyone who believed in salvation by grace who would admit any salvation by baptism.
Mr. Wright—The subject of salvation is very interesting and easy to understand when we rightly divide the Word of God. Salvation in one text may not mean what it does in another text. It is like the two men who went from the East to Texas. One upon his return said that Texas was a low, level, fertile, and warm country. The other said that Texas was rough and rocky, a desert waste. Now both of these men were right, or would have been, if each had limited his description to a certain portion of Texas; but when one attempted to apply his description to the whole state, he became wrong.
The same is true of salvation. It has more than one meaning, and whoever attempts to give it but one meaning becomes wrong and will find his position in opposition to many plain texts of Scripture.
Mr. Waters—These are new thoughts to me, and I can see now where they will put you in advantage in an argument, but I am by no means yet ready to surrender my position.
Mr. Wright—Those who have the truth will always have the advantage in any Scriptural discussion.
Mr. Waters—But there is a text which says that “baptism doth… now save us.” (1 Peter 3:21)
Mr. Wright—I know that there is, and that is why I say there is a salvation by baptism. But what is the nature of that salvation? Is it a salvation from sin? A salvation that makes us Christians? A salvation that adopts us into the family of God?
Mr. Waters—I think so, sir.
Mr. Wright—Then, let me ask you to explain one text. Open your Bible to Acts 16:30. There a jailor addressed Paul and Silas saying, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Now, if salvation were by baptism and by baptism only, why did they not tell him to be baptized?
Mr. Waters—What did they tell him?
Mr. Wright—I will read it right from the Book. “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31) You will have to admit that there is a salvation by faith in Christ, else this text stands directly opposed to you.
Mr. Waters—Let me read you the text where it says that baptism saves us. Let me see, where is it?
Mr. Wright—You will find it in 1 Peter 3:21.
Mr. Waters—Yes, it says: “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us.” So you shall have to admit that there is a salvation by baptism.
Mr. Wright—I have already done so. Now in the light of God’s Word, let us consider the nature of the salvation by believing and the salvation by baptism. We shall consider first the salvation by faith. Will you please read John 3:16?
Mr. Waters—Yes, sir: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Mr. Wright—Believing on Jesus Christ will save us from perishing and will give us eternal life. Where is the text that says that much for water baptism? Please read the first part of verse 36.
Mr. Waters—“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” (John 3:36)
Mr. Wright—Now read 1 John 5:1.
Mr. Waters—“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”
Mr. Wright—Next, read Ephesians 2:8.
Mr. Waters—“For by grace are ye saved through faith.”
Mr. Wright—One more text, please—Galatians 3:26.
Mr. Waters—“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Mr. Wright—We could go on reading texts similar to these for a long time, but these are sufficient to give us an understanding of the true nature of the salvation that is by faith. It saves us from perishing, gives us eternal life, effects the new birth, making us children of God.
Mr. Truman—Praise the Lord! Oh, may He help my unbelief!
Mr. Wright—Now, let us consider the salvation that is by baptism. Turn to the text again, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth now save us.” Read the next words.
Mr. Waters—“Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.” (1 Peter 3:21)
Mr. Wright—There we have the meaning of baptism. It is a figurative salvation. The salvation of Noah was typical, or in other words, a figure of our salvation by Christ Jesus. So baptism is a figure like unto it. In verse 20, we read that “eight souls were saved by water.” (1 Peter 3:20) Now it was not by the water, but by the ark they were saved; but in the salvation of Noah and his family there was water, and so it says, “saved by water,” although the ark was the real means of salvation. Jesus is our salvation, and baptism is a figure of our salvation in Him. You see, in our hearts, we die to sin, to self, to the world. A death takes place in our inner being. Paul says, “I am crucified” (Galatians 2:20); “For ye are dead” (Colossians 3:3); “Being dead to sins” (1 Peter 2:24); “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2) A resurrection then takes place in our souls; we are “born again” (1 Peter 1:23); we “[pass] from death unto life” (John 5:24); we are “risen with Christ” (Colossians 3:1); we are saved from sin and made new creatures in Christ. Now this is a work wrought in the soul all unseen by the human eye. Jesus has placed an ordinance in His church to represent to all men the real work wrought in the heart. Being buried in water signifies a death; being raised up signifies a resurrection. This work has been done in the soul, and baptism is a figurative salvation. A man repents of his sins, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, is saved from his sins, by grace, and then is baptized. He is saved both in the real act of grace in his soul and by the figurative act of baptism.
Mr. Truman—How beautifully the Word harmonize when we divide it rightly!
Mr. Waters—If this were the only text that speaks of salvation by baptism, I might think of surrendering my position, but there are others, and then just think what a strong church we have and what a body of learned ministers who teach that baptism is a saving ordinance; why, I would not think of believing anything else!
Mr. Wright—Baptism is not a saving ordinance, but an ordinance figuratively representing salvation. Look at the large body of learned ministers in other denominations who do not believe as your body of learned ministers! So you see we cannot take what a body of learned ministers say, simply because they say it. Now, Mr. Waters, if God, in His plan of salvation had made baptism the means of salvation, then no one could be saved unless he were baptized. The thief on the cross went to heaven without being baptized; Jesus said to the woman who washed His feet with her tears, “Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace.” (Luke 7:50) He said nothing to her about baptism, and you, I do not think, are ready to say that a man cannot repent in his dying hour, believe on the Lord Jesus, and go to heaven without being baptized.
Mr. Waters—There are exceptions to all rules.
Mr. Wright—There is no exception to God’s plan of salvation by faith. No man who has been enlightened by the gospel can go to heaven without believing on Christ, but he can go without being baptized in water.
Mr. Waters—Of course, we all believe that we should believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Mr. Wright—But to believe on Christ to the saving of the soul is more than an intellectual belief or assent. It is believing with the heart that the blood of Christ now cleanses the soul from all sin.
By the way, Mr. Truman, I have one of those books, What Shall I Do to Be Saved? You may take it. I am sure its instructions are according to the Bible.
Mr. Truman—Thank you, I shall surely read it.
Mr. Waters—I am very glad I came over today. I am willing to admit that I have learned something. I do not mean by that, that I am being converted to your views, Brother Wright; I have been in this way too long for that.
Now, before I go, I want to give you just one text for you to think upon until I come again. It may be you have never read it; it is Acts 22:16. Ananias speaking to Paul said, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins.”
Mr. Wright—Yes, I have read that text and have been expecting you to quote it before now. Let me give you for your consideration Revelation 1:5: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”
Mr. Truman—This is interesting to me. It appears to me as if you are in a tangle now.
Mr. Wright—I hope to have you both come again soon. In the meantime, let us ask God to teach us His way.
Mr. Truman—I shall come just as soon as I can get Mr. Waters to come.