September 22, 2010
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Preaching through Hebrews
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
(Heb 10:26-27, 31 NAS)
How does one preach a sermon on sin from this text when there is serious, known but unconfessed sin in the membership?
You don't get specific with names or personalities or events, but you address the text faithfully and straightforward.
Then you come to Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Heb 11:7 NAS)
20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1Pe 3:20-21 NAS)
So, does baptism save one? Or is baptism the result of the appeal of a good conscience toward God, the new believers’ first obedience in faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Comments (2)
I Peter 3:21 is a case of a single verse seeming to make a statement in passing, yet that statement is contraindicated several times directly in other verses. In such cases, we should interpret what is unclear in the light of what is clear.
We know that salvation, meaning the process of accepting Jesus as Lord and asking Him for the forgiveness of our sins, is "not by works". If baptism caused salvation, then we would be saved by our act of being baptized ... in other words, by our works. Therefore, we must conclude that baptism does not save us from our sins.
My favorite go-to verse about becoming a Christian is Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." No mention by Paul here about baptism in the process of salvation.
What, then does Peter mean? Whatever he means, he cannot be saying that being baptized will forgive our sins. He must mean something else.
I think the key to this is to remember that the word "salvation" can apply to more than just becoming a Christian and having our sins forgiven. That is salvation, to be sure, because we are thus saved from eternal separation from God. But anything else that prevents a negative consequence is also a salvation.
For example, I drove carefully and thus was saved from a near auto wreck. I budgeted my money wisely and thus was saved from overdraft charges. I responded to confrontation with calmness and thus was saved from a heated argument. All of these are salvation, and none of them cause my sins to be forgiven.
Hebrews 11:7 is another specific example of this. I've never heard the idea advanced that Noah and his family were eternally saved from their sins just because they entered the ark. Instead, because of their obedience, Noah and his family were saved from the Great Flood, which otherwise would have killed them all.
From the I Peter verses, I observe the following:
* that baptism saves us from something,
* that the physical act of being baptized is not the baptism to which Peter refers,
* that instead Peter is referring to "an appeal to God for a good conscience", and
* that said appeal is made through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (in other words, by a Christian).
So, in chronological order, the actions are as follows:
* we become Christians through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (and thus are saved from our sins, which is a separate matter),
* we appeal to God for a good conscience,
* we are immersed (aka baptized),
* we are saved from something that Peter does not specify.
What Peter is talking about precisely is obscure. I could venture a guess, but will choose to refrain because I'm at least as likely to be wrong as to be right. One thing I can say with confidence, however, is that Peter is not talking about baptism saving us from eternal penalty of our sins. That is solely and completely the work of Jesus on the cross.
I wouldn't say that baptism is the result of an appeal, but rather that baptism is the appeal itself-- and that the appeal is being made by the entire body of Christ on behalf of the one being immersed, not by the one being baptized alone. Baptism participates in salvation because it is an appeal, being made to God, by the Church, on behalf of the one being baptized, to apply the salvation accomplished in the Resurrection upon the one being buried in the waters of repentance.
The worry that some folks might have to "does baptize save one?" is that they think a "yes" answer means that those who are buried in the waters go automatically to heaven (no matter how faithless or evil they might be), and that those who are not buried in the waters-- no matter how faithful or holy they might be-- are damned to Hell.
But as @BloodTyporeminds us, Christ and the Apostles use the terms of "salvation" in many different contexts, with many different meanings. We are clearly commanded by Scripture to be baptized as a seal of our faith. In this sense, it is not optional. And it is clearly a milestone along the road towards perfect union with God. If we desire Christ, we should accept the waters of repentance; we should not deliberately flee this seal of the Faith. In baptism we are publicly united to the Body of Christ and are publicly known as Christians.
But it is God who saves, and He saves whom He will save, regardless of their deeds or apparent faith. A faithless person will not be with Christ in Paradise just because he got dunked three times, and a faithful person will not lose Paradise just because he lost his life before achieving baptism.
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