Where the Reformation Went Wrong

Throughout church history there have been those promoting unscriptural teaching, but there have also been those who stand foursquare, and risk their life defending truth. Stephen, was martyred for defending the truth in Acts 7. Polycarp of Smyrna, an apparent acquaintance of the apostle, John, was commanded to deny Jesus by Roman officials, but famously said, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and My Savior?”  He was burned at the stake in 155 AD.

Justin Martyr, an associate of Polycarp, was moved to write apologies, i.e. defenses, to inform the Roman emperor that the church was not a threat. He wrote Apology One about 157 AD, in which he said, “no one is allowed to partake [of the Lord’s Supper] but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins,” confirming church doctrine regarding communion and baptism.

Tertullian of Carthage, in the early 200’s, penned the treatise, “On Baptism,” in which he wrote, “the prescript is laid down that without baptism, salvation is attainable by none (chiefly on the ground of that declaration of the Lord, who says, ‘Unless one be born of water, he has not life.’)” Note that in the third century it is accepted that when Jesus said “water” in John 3, He meant water.

In the third century, Cyprian of Carthage, in Epistle 75 states that, “in baptism every one has his own sins remitted,” confirming a solid belief in verses such as Acts 2:38, 22:16, and others. In 597 AD a British monk, Augustine of Canterbury, sent a letter to Pope Gregory asking about the efficacy of baptizing infants. Gregory’s answer was that it was preferred practice to teach first and baptize afterward, but a child as young as a newborn infant could be baptized if in danger of death. Of baptism, Gregory also said, “[baptism] is that by which everyone has their sins washed away.” Both the concept of a Pope, and the idea of infant baptism are not Biblical teachings.

In the same epistle mentioned above, Cyprian explains that in case of bed-confining sickness, a person may be sprinkled instead of baptized (immersed.) Then adds, “if they escape the evil of their sickness, and get well, they should seek to be baptized.”  In 753 AD Pope Stephen declared sprinkling and pouring acceptable in “cases of necessity,” and in 1311, the council of Ravena officially declared sprinkling was proper in any circumstances of conversion, evidence of a slow drift away from truth.

By the 1400’s baptism had devolved to the right person using the right water and saying the right words and you were saved.  The condition of the heart didn’t matter. On a par with Last Rites and Extreme Unction, baptism amounted to something a priest does and says that is intended for the salvation of a person who may have no idea what is happening. This is profane baptism, not Biblical baptism.

Another error was the teaching on penance, something a sinner can do to absolve themselves from the guilt of sin. It involves behaviors from confessing to a priest, to buying indulgences, to saying the rosary, Hail Mary's, Our Father's, to climbing stairs on one's knees repeating a chant on each step, and more. All of these things were done to "earn" one's way out of the guilt. The heart and attitude were not involved. The soul, conviction and conversion were ignored.

The reformers were appalled by "works salvation.” This is what they saw in the teaching on baptism of the Catholic church. They were right (Rom. 4:4,) but they missed one important thing. No where in the Bible is baptism taught as a "work," which to the reformers (and the apostle Paul) meant "a thing you do whereby you earn your salvation outside of the grace of God.” This definition matters.

The Bible teaches baptism as the place where one receives God’s grace. Sadly, the reformers did not distinguish between the church’s profane baptism and biblical baptism. Those two are not the same.  The reformers opposition to baptism as a work, led them to opposition of baptism, itself, having any part in salvation. Christian understanding of baptism being necessary for forgiveness of sins was rock solid until the reformation.  Luther and company went from ending a problem on the left to creating a problem on the right. God, and His Word, were always firmly in the middle.

Eph. 2:8-9 makes it clear that we are saved by God’s grace.  Trying to Walk’s May 18 article, “Understanding Grace,” makes the important point that Jesus’ death on the cross is God’s grace for mankind. It is not mysterious, nor magic. It is straightforward. Jesus Death, Burial, and Resurrection is God extending His grace to mankind.

How does one access that grace? It’s not by penance, and it’s not by praying, and it’s not by calling on Jesus as Lord. It’s by, obeying the will of God Matt. 7:21.* We have been taught to have an adverse reaction to “obey” as if that means we are “working” to be owed our salvation outside of God’s grace. Obedience to God’s will is not a work outside of God’s grace. It is in the middle of God’s grace. It is covered in God’s grace. Jesus said it is the means of getting to Heaven.

We place our faith and trust for eternity on the “work” Jesus did on the cross, His Death, Burial, and Resurrection. Baptism is a symbolic re-enaction of the things we are putting our faith/trust in. Col. 2:12, “having been buried with Him in baptism, wherein you were also raised with him through faith in the working

of God who raised Him from the dead. And you . . . did He make alive together with Him . . .” In baptism we are buried with, raised with, and made alive with, Christ.  Are we doing work?  No!  God is doing the work and we are simply having faith in the work that He is doing. These are the words of the Bible. God’s grace is the death of Christ on the cross. In baptism we are with Him, He is with us connected in, trusting in, the salvation work that God has done through Christ on the cross. It is in baptism that we have access to God’s grace.

In Romans 6, Paul discusses baptism, and how it unites us with Christ. Starting with verse 3 he says, “Don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him through baptism into death that like as Christ was raised  . . . so we also might walk in newness of life.”  Paul goes on to say we were united in the likeness of His death and we will be in the likeness of His resurrection. He says our old man was crucified with Him, that we died with Christ and we shall also live with Him.  All of this comes through baptism and the unity with Christ that is achieved in baptism as nowhere else.

God doesn’t bestow His grace on all who call on Him as Lord.* Those who obey His will are the ones who will access His grace at the point of baptism.  Obedience is not a work outside of God’s grace, obedience is covered by God’s grace, smothered in God’s grace. Have you accessed God’s grace, or have you followed the error introduced when the Reformation went wrong?

*ETA: Peter in Acts 2, and Paul in Rom 10 quote Joel saying, “all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” God’s word does not contradict itself. The teacher who says, “Mr. Jones (the principal) says you must go to the office,” is telling the student she is acting under the authority of and in accordance with the will of the principal. She is doing what he wants, not what she wants. She is “calling on his name.” Jesus says only the people who call on His name in that sense will be saved. He indicates that there will be those who “vocally” call on his name that are seeking to be saved outside of the will of God because they think they were good enough to qualify. Jesus says that is not the case. That is not truly calling on the name of Jesus.