Is Baptismal Regeneration Salvation by Works?

[josephleehamm]

Colossians 2:12 seems to be the most direct statement saying baptism is a work of God. "having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead." (ESV)

[solafidedeum]

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light...”
Let God’s Peace and Grace be with you (To The Reader). Praise God always. Amen🙏🙌

[robertnieten]

Baptismal regeneration is the result of the remission of sins.
During baptism, as the result of the shed blood of Christ, the Holy Spirit curcumcises the believers conscience, removing the guilt from past sins, and restoring it to its original childlike abscence of the guilt from wilful sins.
This is the washing of regeneration in Titus 3:5. The word "regeneration" defined means to return something to its original state. The original state of our conscience is that of a childs'.
This makes water baptism being " born of the Spirit"( John 3:5) and an important part of the new birth.

[dave]

Yes it is. But, it's salvation by God's work for man and not vice versa.

[raykidder]

I like to think of the dichotomy of faith vs works as compared to the dichotomy of luck vs skill. One can have faith that is distinct from works, with both being present and yet separate and distinct. An example is the faith in the Bible verses vs the works of Bible manufacturing, turning the pages, and the mental work of thinking about the meaning of what is read therein. This can lead to the faith and supernatural grace of answered prayers. Similarly, winning a million dollar lottery can have both the luck of obtaining the winning ticket, along with the skills of purchasing the ticket and then checking for the winning number, redeeming the winning ticket, and working with the bank for the deposit of your winnings. Winning such a lottery requires luck as skills alone are not enough.

[srich]

Is the preservation of the Holy Scriptures by hand before the invention of the printing press - salvation by works for subsequent generations, since the original manuscripts have not been around for a long time?

[gabrielemanuelandingemaaga]

Thank you for Law&Gospel, Word&Sacrament.

[MrPeach]

its both Gods and our work. We work together.

[roti]

Was the thief on the Cross justified by works when he appealed to Christ to save him? Was he justified by works by listening to Christ's Promise of paradise?

Baptism is both Appeal and Promise. Baptism contains Christ's Appeal, which is His Suffering and Death. It also contains Christ's Promise of forgiveness. This Promise isn't for everyone in general, but specifically to the person being baptized. It's like hearing Jesus forgive you individually at the Cross. Are you listening?

[dwbid]

The John 3:16 analogy doesn't hold water, pardon the pun. You don't open the Bible to John 3 :16 with the intention that that will save you. However with baptism you do it explicitly to get saved. 100 people can read John 3:16 and maybe none of them will be saved however if 100 people get baptized in order to be saved then it's certain that none of them will be saved as they are working for it.

Let me give you an analogy that will work. Let's say that everyone that climbs Mt Everest receives a medallion when they get down to commemorate it. You just climbed Mt Everest and are passively receiving your medallion in which you are doing NO WORK in receiveing it at least according to people who believe in baptismal regeneration. Now agreed climbing Mt Everest is a tad more work than getting ready to be baptized but the amount of work done matters not, its the fact that you HAD to do some amount of work.

[bobthrasher]

While baptism or even faith may be considered a work, it is crucial to recognize that your work in baptism is not what saves, it is the new creation that God does through your participation in baptism that saves. Our work is only a requirement to receive the work of God. This view satisfies Eph 2:9. The same can be seen in the Exodus where the Israelites had to walk to the sea and then across (after the miracle of God) to receive the salvation that was, decisively, provided by God.

[VndNvwYvvSvv]

"... gentile converts to (platform won't let me say it)". The opposite of salvation because that's the ministry which brings only death, LOL

[harrygarris]

Is there a difference between doing a “work” in an attempt to curry spiritual favor with God, and doing a “work” by intentionally letting go of one’s own autonomy to act in obedience to Christ, or are these both considered equivalent in terms of working for one’s own salvation?

[sheldonbennett]

No, it's not a work. According to John 3:5, it says you must be born of water and spirit. So just as in the physical you don't/can't biirth yourself, so as in the spiritual, you don’t/can't baptize yourself either. It's an action that is done to you. God does the work not us.

[mysticmouse]

There's no such thing as regeneration.

[IAmisMaster]

We are justified by good works as Paul says (Romans 2:13) and James says (James 2:24), we are just not justified works *of the Law of Moses* . Just like every Christian who correctly interpreted Romans, Galatians etc for the first 1400+ years of Christianity (Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, even Augustine, etc). So this is an irrelevant and autustic obsession of Lutherans to justify themselves in face of their own monstrous and ever snow-balling heresy Luther created.