Where Water Baptism Belongs:
Answering the Objections (Part 7 of 7)

Part 7 of 7 · Without Shedding of Blood: The Old Testament Foundation

In Part 6 we saw that Abraham was counted righteous by believing God, years before he received any outward sign.

This final part brings the Old Testament foundation to bear on the verses most often used to tie remission to water. Several of them have a full study of their own in my 12-part series. Here I show how this foundation answers each one.

Reading Acts 2:38 in Harmony

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38, KJV)

Bible teachers have long debated the force of the word “for” in this verse. The Greek preposition eis can express purpose, and some scholars argue it can express a basis. So I do not rest my case on that debate. I rest it on the harmony of Scripture. Jesus Christ has already told us what brings “the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Whatever Peter meant by the same phrase, he could not have meant that water produces what Leviticus 17:11, Matthew 26:28, and Hebrews 9:22 say only shed blood produces.

Peter’s own preaching shows how he understood remission. At the house of Cornelius he preached that “whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). While he was still speaking, the Holy Ghost fell on all who heard the word (Acts 10:44). Only then did Peter command them to be baptized (Acts 10:47-48). I walk through the rest of Peter’s witness in Acts 2:38 in Peter’s Full Witness.

Answering the Strongest Objections

Some answer that baptism is the place where God applies the blood. Exodus 12 and Leviticus 16 show where God placed the blood in His own pictures of redemption. In Egypt it was on the door posts, and on the day of atonement it was within the vail before the mercy seat. Neither place was a pool of water. The fulfillment matches the picture, because Jesus Christ carried His own blood into heaven itself.

Others point to Acts 22:16, where Ananias told Saul to arise, be baptized, and wash away his sins. That verse ends with the words “calling on the name of the Lord.” Paul later wrote, “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Sincere believers read that verse differently, but no reading of it can overturn Hebrews 9:22. I treat it in full in Acts 22:16: Calling on the Name of the Lord.

Still others point to Hebrews 10:22, where believers draw near with hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and bodies washed with pure water. The writer keeps those two things distinct. In Hebrews, the blood of Jesus Christ purges the conscience (Hebrews 9:14), and Hebrews calls it “the blood of sprinkling” (Hebrews 12:24). The washing of the body is outward, and the writer never assigns remission to it.

Some also point to Galatians 3:27, in the same chapter that calls believers Abraham’s seed. Paul says first, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). Readers differ on whether verse 27 speaks of water baptism or of the Spirit placing a believer into Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). On either reading, the verse before it grounds sonship in faith in Christ Jesus, and verse 29 defines Abraham’s seed as those who are Christ’s. I treat it in full in Baptized into Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10 itself settles the question a few verses earlier.

“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:17-18, KJV)

Remission rests on the one offering of Jesus Christ, and nothing more is needed. A rite that must be added before remission is granted would stand where Hebrews 10:18 says nothing more stands.

Where Water Baptism Belongs

Water baptism still matters, because Jesus Christ commanded it. It is the obedient confession of a saved believer and a public picture of burial and new life with Jesus Christ (Romans 6:4). Peter calls baptism a figure that saves “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” and he adds that it is “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh” (1 Peter 3:21). I study that verse in 1 Peter 3:21: The Answer of a Good Conscience. Like the Red Sea after the Passover, and like circumcision after Abraham was counted righteous, baptism has a real place, and that place comes after the blood.

Closing Thoughts

If you have been told that your sins remain until you reach the water, open your Bible to Leviticus 17:11, Matthew 26:28, and Hebrews 9:22, and then read the account of Abraham in Genesis 15. Every sin God remits is remitted through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That remission is received by grace, the undeserved favor of God, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, which means trusting Jesus Christ Himself to save you. Once that is settled, baptism can become what Jesus Christ meant it to be: the glad obedience of someone already forgiven.

Search these Scriptures for yourself: Acts 2:38; Acts 10:43-48; Acts 22:16; Romans 10:13; Hebrews 10:17-22; Galatians 3:26-29; Romans 6:4; 1 Peter 3:21.

This completes the series. For the New Testament witness, read Salvation in Jesus Christ, beginning with the Introduction.

Go Deeper

• Be Baptized, But Know What Saves You: Water Baptism and the Blood of Jesus Christ
• The Blood, Not the Water: Does Baptism Save?
• Christ’s Blood, Not Baptismal Water, Washes Away Sin

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“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)