The Grace of God in Baptism (Titus 3:4-7)

Most Americans of a Christian persuasion believe that baptism has little to nothing to do with the grace of God. One wonders have they never read Titus 3:4-7? The truth about God’s grace and its relationship with baptism is clearly set forth in Paul’s passage to Titus which reads as follows:

"But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7 NKJV)

I encourage the reader to compare this passage, as rendered in the New King James Version just quoted, with its rendering in other reliable translations such as the English Standard Version and the New American Standard Version. It would also be good to read it from the New International Version. It is always good to read a passage from more than one translation to make sure you understand what is being said.

What does the passage teach? It teaches what it says. We are saved by God’s mercy, and we are justified by his grace. To be saved is to be justified. If you are not justified, you are not saved. But is that all the passage says and teaches? No!

It teaches when God saves us by his mercy or grace, whichever term you wish to use, he uses means to do so. What means? Well, what does the text say? It says, "Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." (NKJV) The washing of regeneration is baptism.

The word "regenerate" is defined, according to my little paperback Merriam Webster Dictionary, 1994, "1: formed or created again 2: spiritually reborn or converted." Since that is its meaning the New International Version phrases it, "the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."

One who knows the scriptures immediately calls to mind the words of Jesus in John 3. Jesus says, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3 NKJV) He says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (John 3:5 NKJV) What Paul taught in Titus 3:4-7 Jesus had already taught in John 3:3-5.

The word washed or washing is a reference to baptism. Paul says to the Corinthians, after listing a group of sins that people get caught up in, "And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God." (1 Cor. 6:11 NKJV) How were they justified? Read Titus 3:4-7 again and you will be told.

How did Jesus cleanse the church at Ephesus? "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." (Eph. 5:26 NKJV) The washing is done with water. It is baptism. Ananias told Saul, soon to be Paul, "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16 NKJV) The washing was done in baptism.

The writer of the book of Hebrews encourages Christians in saying, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Heb. 10:22 NKJV) The washing is with water; the washing is baptism.

Now back to our original text in Titus-- Titus 3:4-7. Certainly, Paul teaches we are saved by God’s mercy, by his grace, for he very clearly states that, but if we will be honest, he just as clearly states that he saves by grace using means, and that means is "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." The English Standard Version and the New American Standard Version both say, “by the washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5 ESV) rather than “through” which the NKJV uses. It is all one and the same.

When does God’s grace save? How does it save? Paul tells us in Titus but people would rather rely on their traditional interpretations than on plain statements of scripture and as long as that is the case little can be done. Part of the problem is when people think of grace they too often have in their mind one thought only--that salvation is all God’s doing and absolutely none of our doing. It is basically unconditional on man’s part. My mind cannot read the Bible and conjure up any such line of reasoning. Noah is a case in point.

Noah found grace in God’s eyes (Gen. 6:8) and was saved from drowning in the flood, but Noah had something to do on his part to be saved. There was an ark to be built. Was Noah saved by works? Just because God gives man something to do in order to be saved does not mean the thing required of him is a work that merits or earns salvation.

Noah had to build an ark to be saved because God required it, but it was not wood and pitch in the form of a ship and hard work that saved him. Surely, we can see that. It was the grace of God that built the ark, then floated it, kept it from sinking, and then finally brought it safely to rest. It was God’s grace that told Noah beforehand what was coming, the flood, and how to save himself. God’s grace saved Noah, but not without effort on Noah’s part. That effort consisted of believing and obeying. It is the same for you and me today.

If you can ever find a passage in the Bible, Old Testament or New Testament, which teaches or shows that any man was ever saved or could be saved by works apart from God’s grace please forward the passage to me. The fact that God gives you something to do to be saved does not mean that by complying with that act you no longer need God for you have worked (earned) your way to heaven.

Paul says in Titus that we are saved "not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5 NKJV) and yet in the very same verse we read it is "by the washing of regeneration …" (Titus 3:5 ESV). Anyone who can add two plus two and come up with four can clearly see then that in God’s eyes baptism is not a work of righteousness which we have done that merits salvation by works, and yet that is one of the arguments men make time and time again against baptism. They say baptism is salvation by works and they thus contradict Paul in Titus.

Baptism is as much a part of God’s grace for us today as was Noah’s ark building. "By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." (Heb. 11:7 ESV) Noah had found grace in God’s eyes. (Gen. 6:8)

Now, let us say I want to become "an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith" just like Noah. Do you suppose there is anything for me to do? How about the washing of regeneration? Just as God’s grace led Noah to build an ark because of God’s word, God’s grace should lead us to be baptized because of God’s word. In fact, the word of God is referred to twice in the New Testament as "the word of his grace." (Acts 14:3 and Acts 20:32) There is a reason for calling his word that. Grace is found in God’s words of instruction for man. God was under no obligation to save Noah or to save you or me. He was under no obligation to tell Noah what he needed to do to be saved and he was under no obligation to you and me to tell us the way of salvation.

I hope you did take special note in your reading of the Titus 3:5 passage that Paul says "he saved us." When we submit to baptism it is not us saving ourselves by our own power or by our own works. Without God baptism means nothing. Noah built the ark, but he most certainly did not save himself apart from God. God could have sunk the ark at any point in time even after it floated. You and I are baptized, but that does not mean we saved ourselves. It would take a fool to believe that.

One of the things I do is a little substitute teaching in a high school of about 1100 students. Sometime back, I was subbing in a World History class and was thumbing through the textbook while the kids were otherwise occupied. I was a social studies major in college and enjoy history. Quite by chance, one of the pages that opened up had a few paragraphs dealing with Christianity. I was amazed to find the following statement that I am going to quote here: "Christians believed that through the rite of baptism their sins were forgiven by the grace of God." This had reference to the early years of Christianity.

The quote was taken from the textbook World History by Prentice Hall, written by Elisabeth Gaynor Ellis and Anthony Esler, page 170, for high school classes. The year the book was put out was 2010. The reference was to the time of the establishment of the church in the first century. That is all I have taught in this article and that is what Paul taught in Titus to all who will open their eyes just a little bit.

With that, I am going to bring this article to a close. I have taught the truth for I only told you what Paul said in Titus. He said it; I repeated it.

(If the reader should wonder why I did not discuss the latter half of the passage in Titus relating to the "renewing by the Holy Spirit" the answer is because men do not dispute that part of the passage. That is not where the battle rages. We all agree the renewing of the Holy Spirit is essential. I also add that this article was written originally years ago even though I am just now posting it. It was revised but very little.) 

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How Was Noah Saved Through Water

How was Noah and his family saved through water?  Peter, in 1 Peter 3:20-21, says they were but just how is a little hard to understand without some study and thought.  The passage reads as follows:  “When once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.  There is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)

How was Noah and his family saved through water?  What was he saved from?  What is an antitype?  Was he saved by grace or by works (he did build the ark)?  There are a lot of questions.  Let us start from the beginning. 

We are all aware of the story of how the flood came about.  After God made man in due time mankind came to be great sinners before God.  “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5 NKJV)  God determined to destroy man for his evil, an evil so great it grieved God in his heart and made him sorry he had created man. (Gen. 6:6-7)

However, the text then says, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Gen. 6:8 NKJV)  One cannot emphasize too much the teaching of this text.  However, the story of Noah and his salvation goes against almost everything that men today have to say about grace.  Grace today, as men see it, means you need to do nothing at all toward your own salvation other than believe in Jesus.  If more was required of you that would be, so they reason, salvation by works. 

How did God show Noah grace?  Was it not by telling him what was going to happen (judgment was to befall the inhabitants of the earth and life on the earth be destroyed) and what he (Noah) needed to do to save himself?  That was it exactly.

But, in today’s world of so-called Christendom, this is not grace.  Why?  Because Noah had to work, some say, based on Gen. 6:3, one hundred and twenty years on the ark.  Peter spoke of the longsuffering of God waiting in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared (1 Peter 3:20) so it was no short-term project.  Noah received grace but had something to do, an obligation to fulfill if he was to be saved.  Being saved by God’s grace does not mean man has no part in his salvation, that man has nothing to do.  Ask Noah.    

There is also one other very important New Testament verse on Noah’s salvation.  “By faith Noah, being divinely warned (God’s grace-DS) of things not yet seen, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Heb. 11:7 NKJV)  Noah was saved by grace (God’s giving him warning and instruction) and by faith (he believed what God had told him without which he would have been doomed) and he was saved by works for he built the ark which afforded him safety. 

We can easily see in Noah’s case how grace, faith, and works all combined to bring about his salvation, and yet we somehow or another seem to be blinded to the fact all three work together today in the Christian era to bring about man’s spiritual salvation.  James himself declares “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26 NKJV) but no one seems to take him seriously.  We say if a man is baptized to be saved it is being saved by works and thus ridicule the idea.  Why do we not ridicule Noah who built an ark (worked) to be saved?

Is it ignorance, is it prejudice, or is it something else?  I have no answer.  This much I do know—Noah was saved by grace through faith the same as we are today (Gen. 6:8, Heb. 11:7).  He was moved so much by faith that it instilled within him “godly fear” (Heb. 11:7) and put a diligent work (or obedience) ethic into his life.  “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26 NKJV) which is exactly where Noah would have been without works. 

There is a difference between a work of obedience to God’s command and a work that merits salvation.  The Bible condemns the latter.  You cannot merit your way to heaven by works.  Don’t you think Noah was well aware that the God who caused the flood was just as capable of capsizing the ark Noah had built if he chose to do so?  Do you really believe that people who believe the Bible teaches that baptism is necessary to be saved think that they are saving themselves apart from God when they are baptized?  If the ark of salvation floats, whether it be Noah’s or our own, it is only because the grace of God allows it. 

How was Noah and his family saved through water?  By water, they were saved from a sinful world, separated from it, separated to God.  They became creatures in a new world, one without sin.  The water that brought death to others brought life to them as it lifted the ark up placing them in a place of safety above the waters of destruction. 

Do you think it strange that the water that brought salvation to the 8 brought death to the multitudes?  One cannot help but think of the waters of baptism of our own era.  The water that brings salvation to some (Mark 16:16) will bring death to others who are willingly disobedient to the command.

This brings us to Peter’s use of a word somewhat strange to many--the word “antitype” used in verse 21 in the New King James Version and also the word that is found in the Greek text.   Let me quote that to you again.  “There is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism.” (NKJV)  Some of the more modern versions phrase it like the ESV or nearly so, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you.”  The New American Standard is very close to this when it says, “And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you.”  Many of the things in the Old Testament symbolized or we might say were types of things that would come to be under Christ in the new dispensation.  The waters of the flood in the days of Noah were the type while baptism today is that which corresponds to it, baptism is the antitype.

The text does not say baptism is a symbol of salvation already achieved; it says it “saves us.”  If we wish to deny that baptism saves us today we do two things.  (1) We deny the very words of the text of Peter.  (2) We put Peter in the position of having misspoken about all of this.  If our baptism is not an antitype, does not save, then Peter misspoke.  If our baptism is an antitype then baptism saves (no one says it saves alone without grace and faith).

What did the water do for Noah and how does it correspond to baptism today?  (1) Both place those who are obedient by faith (believers) into a new spiritual world.  The world Noah entered through water was cleansed of sin.  The world we enter when baptized is a spiritual world that has been cleansed of sin, our personal sin.  [see Acts 22:16, Acts 5:25-26, Titus 3:5]  (2) Both salvations were by grace for Noah was warned and given an opportunity for salvation and so are you and I.  God was under no obligation to warn Noah and give him a way to be saved and the same can be said of you and I today thus both were acts of grace.

I would not begin to know how many verses there are in the New Testament telling us about baptism and our need for it but let me give it a shot--Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, 1 Peter 3:21, John 3:5, Eph. 5:26, Col. 2:11-12, Titus 3:5, Mark 16:16, Matt. 28:18-20, Rom. 6:3-6, Gal. 3:26-27, 1 Cor. 12:13, Heb. 10:22.  These were just those that came to mind without using a concordance.  I barely touched the Book of Acts.

Like Noah, we have been given a warning.  We will like him be obedient with “godly fear” or else we will take God on by being disobedient.  Who do you think is really saved by grace?  Is it the man who hears and believes and obeys or is it the man who hears and disbelieves and does not obey?  Who truly has “the answer of a good conscience toward God”? (1 Peter 3:21 NKJV)  I am sure Noah’s conscience was clear as he obeyed God and did all he was told out of faith.  How does a man have “a good conscience toward God” all the while being disobedient?  Will he say I didn’t know?  Will he say I heard the passages, I read them, I just did not believe them?  Will he tell God it was God’s fault for being unable to communicate effectively?

What saved Noah?  The answer is God’s grace, Noah’s faith, and Noah’s obedience.  If you and I are saved today it will be because of God’s grace, our faith, and our obedience.  When we speak of obedience we are talking about works of obedience, that is faith obeying.  Yes, everything depended on God’s grace for without it Noah was helpless, a doomed man.  The same can be said of you and I but just like Noah we must act if God’s grace is to benefit us.  We must believe and respect God enough to obey him.   

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