Faith, Baptism, and the Blood of Christ


Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him (Romans 5:9 NKJV).

I don’t know how it could be stated any plainer. The means by which God is consistent with His perfect justice, and yet forgives sinful people like you and me, is the precious blood of Christ.

Mankind will not be saved by works of human merit (“I’ve earned heaven, now let me in!”), but by the grace of God, as this text plainly teaches: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8 NKJV).

The Bible also says that we are saved by the gospel of Christ: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Romans 1:16 NKJV). If God says that it is through the gospel that He saves people, surely common sense would enable us to see that we must believe and obey the gospel if we are to be saved by it.

Of course it does! God even spells it out for us. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1 NKJV). And continuing: And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Hebrews 5:9 NKJV).

The Bible even says we are saved by baptism: The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21 KJV). However, as the 1 Peter text just cited makes clear in the parenthesis, obeying the Bible command of baptism does not mean that we earn our salvation. It is still by the grace of God, through the blood of Christ, appropriated into our lives by faith in Jesus.

Is there a conflict between faith in Jesus, the blood of Christ, and baptism? Are we “saved by the waters of baptism instead of the blood of Christ”? Of course not. That is, not in the sense in which the statement in quotation marks is usually taken.

A complete and objective reading of the gospel of our Lord will show that all of the matters discussed above are involved in our salvation. We are saved by the blood of Christ which has been offered as a result of the grace of God. We actually receive the benefits of the justifying blood of Jesus when our faith in Him leads us to be baptized into Christ.

Here’s the text that puts faith and baptism together: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27 KJV).

Man has been known to cause trouble by adding his own opinion to God’s word before (see Matthew 15:8-9). Let’s not read what we wish the Bible said, or what we have been told the Bible said into its pages. Let’s take it for what it says, interpret the Bible by the Bible (primarily by looking at all its texts on any given subject), believe it, obey it, and then receive the blessed benefits of The Christian Life.