It is almost as if the Holy Spirit was looking down the stream of time, and He knew that somewhere, somebody was going to come up with this idea that baptism’s a work of human merit if you say it’s a part of the plan of salvation. When you read Titus 3 and verse 5, you see that the Holy Spirit anticipated this false doctrine: “…not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves…” See, He’s talking about those works of human merit. We can’t be righteous enough to save ourselves. “…not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to His MERCY He saved us…” Anyone who is saved will be saved because of God’s MERCY and GRACE! But that’s still not all the passage. “…not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit….” Now, what does “washing of regeneration” mean? It means the same thing that “being born of water” in John 3:5 means. It means the same thing that Peter meant on Pentecost when he said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins.”

So, where does Paul put baptism in Titus 3:5? Is it a part of “works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves”, that cannot save us? No. He says that it’s part of the merciful plan of God. That’s what baptism is. It’s what God has ordained. It’s not what I have come up with, or any other man has come up with.

And look at Colossians 2:12 in this frame of reference: “…having been buried with Him in baptism…” This one says “baptism” itself. “…having been buried with Him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with Him through faith in myself—to be saved because I’m being baptized?” No. “…through faith in the working (or “operation”] of God, Who raised Him from the dead.” When one is properly taught on the subject of baptism, he does not invest his faith in himself in doing this act. He invests his faith in GOD, Who has promised to save him from sin through the blood of Christ IF he will comply with His Will in this act of obedience.

If we could just get our friends to see this ONE POINT, it would be such a huge hurdle to help them over. Baptism is not a meritorious work.

But another question. We’re about to wind up. Does the Bible say anything about the relation between the blood of Christ and baptism? Indeed, it does. And as with the question before, if we could get our friends to see this one point, they could not deny the clarity of what the Bible teaches about baptism.

Sometimes, when we study with our friends and we get to a passage like Acts 22:16: “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins…,” they will say something like this: “You just believe that the power is in the water. Just get them in the water and that water will wash all their sins away.” Well, if that’s what this passage taught, that’s what I’d be teaching, but that’s not what this passage teaches, nor does any other passage in the Bible so teach. I have never met anybody who thought that there was enough water in all the oceans of the world to wash away one sin! That’s a “straw man” [misleading; beside the point; evasive; worthless]. Nobody believes that, and in fact, this verse does not say that. It does not say what washes away sin—we have to look elsewhere in the Bible to find that out. This doesn’t tell us what does wash away sins.

Revelation 1:5does tell us what washes away sins. He has “…washed us from our sins in His Own blood.” The old song has it just right. “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Well, what IS Acts 22:16 saying, then, about baptism? Here’s what it is: not what washes away our sins, but WHEN our sins are washed away! The WHAT is the blood; the WHEN is baptism. “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the Name of the Lord.” And incidentally, that “calling on the Name of the Lord” phrase does not mean you can get up from being baptized and start praying now. That’s not the meaning of the term. It means that, this is the way in which you CALL on the Name of the Lord for SALVATON—by being baptized and having your sins washed away!

Romans, chapter 6 and verse 3, already noted, but not with this emphasis, puts both of these together in one statement—baptism and the blood of Christ: “Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” There’s the blood in His death; there’s the means of access to it—baptism. And we come into Christ and His death and His shed blood for our sins when, and only when we are Scripturally baptized.

Does the Bible tell us WHEN to be baptized? Yes, it answers that question. In Acts 2, and verse 38, the people told to repent and be baptized—verse 41 says, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Do you think those people came with their towels and their change of clothing rolled up under their arms? They had no idea what they were going to hear, or that their hearts were going to be pricked and cut to the core. Do you think they were going to be convinced that the Man that they’d called to be crucified seven weeks before would be the One they were going to name as their Savior and be obedient to Him? But they did it anyway—that same day.