Obey the Gospel

Mark Dunagan
11/16/14 - Sunday Morning

Obey the Gospel

“And to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8).

Obviously knowing God and obeying the gospel are critical when it comes to going to heaven. Yet we live in a world where many religious people are saying that all you have to do is believe the gospel, that faith alone is all that is necessary for salvation, yet the above verse clearly speaks of obeying the gospel.

Ephesians 2:8-9

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast”.

From these two passages some claim that faith is the sole condition for salvation. Yet there are a number of serious problems with such a point of view:

• It first violates the context of chapter 2. This letter was written to people who had been dead in sin (2:5), then made alive together with Christ and raised up with Him (2:6). Yet this is the language that is associated with being baptized, “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God… When you were dead in your transgressions… He made you alive together with Him” (Colossians 2:11-12). Clearly God does the work in baptism, and just as clear, it is in baptism that God makes us spiritually alive.
• It is rather silly to argue that Paul is teaching in Ephesians 2:8-9 that faith is the only condition for salvation or that baptism is a work that does not save, when in fact, Paul (the writer  of Ephesians 2:8-9) had been baptized for the removal of his sins!  (Acts 22:16).
• It is just as foolish to argue that baptism is not necessary, when in chapter 4 of this letter, baptism is mentioned as being absolutely necessary (Ephesians 4:4-6).
• It is incredibly inconsistent to argue that repentance, confession and baptism are not necessary for salvation, when the Bible says they are (Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10), but then turn around and say that you must say the “Sinner’s Prayer” to be saved, when there is no command, example or even a hint in the Bible of such a teaching. The real “work” that does not save is the human invention of the “Sinner’s Prayer”. The apostles never taught such and in all the conversions recorded in the book of Acts, “Saying the sinner’s prayer” is never mentioned. Yet, they were all told to be baptized (Acts 2:38; 8:12, 36-38; 10:48; 16:15; 30-34; 18:8).

Personally I would feel very uncomfortable complying with a condition for salvation and thinking that I had obeyed the gospel — when I could not find such a condition or teaching in the gospel! How about you?

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life”.

From this well known passage some have argued that faith is the only condition for salvation mentioned and therefore, one is saved at the moment of faith.

• Such a view of “faith” here as being “faith only” does not agree with the context of John 3:16.  Observe the beginning of the chapter.  Being born of water and the Spirit are mentioned as being conditions for entering the kingdom of God (3:5). Being born of water is an obvious reference to baptism, which Jesus places both prior to entering the kingdom and prior to salvation in (Mark 16:16).
• Before we leave this chapter the Holy Spirit once more reminds us that the “faith” that saves is an obedient faith and not a mere mental belief, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life” (John 3:36). Observe that to believe is to obey, for the opposite of believe in the passage is does not obey.
• Right before John 3:16, Jesus gives the example of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness (3:14), and parallels that example with Jesus being lifted up on the cross and us believing in Him. Yet the deliverance that occurred in the wilderness with the bronze serpent was not a faith-only situation. First of all, it included repentance, the people cried out for help and acknowledged they had sinned (Numbers 21:7). Secondly, it was not enough to just believe in the serpent, one had to look at it (21:8). The Israelite who claimed to believe in God’s solution, and just pray to God in his tent, but refused to look at the serpent — died!
• Then do not overlook the phrase should not perish in John 3:16. People who believe in Jesus should not perish because such faith should lead them to repent, confess Jesus, be baptized and remain faithful to Him. Yet, there are people who believed in Jesus — and stopped there and were never saved (John 12:42-43). They were people who believed and were baptized and then fell away (Hebrews 6:4-6). So the faith of John 3:16 is neither merely mental or a one-time act.

The Thief on the Cross

A common argument, still being made today is that Jesus forgave the thief on the cross, there is no mention of him being baptized, therefore, baptism is not necessary for salvation (Luke 23:40-43). I find a number of things very wrong with this line of reasoning.

• The thief is not an example of salvation by faith only — for the man repented, defended Jesus, confessed Christ as the Lord and the promised Messiah and acknowledged or owned up to his own sins: Luke 23:41-42
• We also hardly know anything about the background or past life of this man. To argue that he was never baptized, that is, never baptized under John’s baptism is purely an assumption. We don’t know if the man had been a thief for most of his adult life, or a man raised in a good home, faithful at one time to God, and then fell away.
• To use the thief as an example of being saved without being baptized also completely ignores the distinction between the Old and New Covenant. Jesus’ will, the New Covenant, which includes the command to be baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16) went into effect after His death (Hebrews 9:15-17). Therefore, the attempt to use the thief as an example to undermine or contradict the teaching found in Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38; 22:16 or 1 Peter 3:21 demonstrates a real lack of understanding one of the most basic Bible principles, that is, the distinction between the Old and New Covenant. Please stop preaching or advising people about spiritual things if you don’t understand this difference!
• Along the above lines, Paul in Romans 6:3 says that we are baptized into His death. It is obvious that the command to be baptized found in Mark 16:16 did not apply to the thief, for it had not yet been given by Jesus and Jesus had not died. One clearly cannot be baptized into the death of Jesus — if Jesus has not died! This is why the thief, as well as all those who lived before Jesus and His death were not baptized for the remission of their sins.
• Since the story of the thief made it into the Bible, it must have been a well known even to the apostles, and yet they repeatedly commanded people to be baptized. Peter even said, baptism now saves you (1 Peter 3:21). Therefore, the apostles and early Christians did not view the example of the thief on the cross as an argument against baptism.

Mark 16:16

“ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned”.

Observe that this verse follows the command to preach the gospel to every creature. Therefore obeying the gospel includes obeying the command to believe in Jesus and submit to baptism. Some have tried to argue that since the end of the verse reads he who has disbelieved, instead of, he who has disbelieved and has not been baptized, that baptism is unnecessary.

• Such a view completely ignores the first part of the verse. The command is clear, Jesus placed both faith and baptism prior to salvation, so did the apostles (Acts 2:38).
• Jesus did not have to add and is not baptized, because the failure to believe stops a person dead in their tracks (Hebrews 11:6).  It I don’t believe, being baptized is just getting wet. Both conditions are essential. Just like believing without being baptized, or believing without repenting or confessing keeps one lost as well (John 12:42-43).

So — have you obeyed the gospel?

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net