Hi,
You said “....Man is saved by grace through faith not faith and water baptism.“
His commandment is that we must be baptized. If we disobey Him will we loose our salvation?
I would say that the Scriptures are specific here; salvation is by grace through faith, and not of works. (Eph. 2: 8-9). Yet, we are told to keep His commandments (1 Jn. 2:3-4), and if we don't, we lie about knowing Him. Obedience is expected, and that if you are saved, you will be in fellowship with other believers and not forsake the assembling together (Heb. 10:25). That by example and command, believers should be water baptized. That if we rely on the law for our salvation, we will be severed from Christ and He will be of no effect to us! (Gal. 5:4).
These seem like contradictions, but they are not. One thing is made clear, salvation is by grace through
faith. The question is, what is
saving faith? Jesus said that He is the Vine, and we are the branches. Every branch in Him
will bear much fruit! If one does not bear much fruit, He will prune the dry branch and throw it into the fire. (Jn. 15).
We have the Cause and effect. Jesus is the Cause of our salvation. Salvation is by grace and not by works, yet, if we are in Him, He will cause us to bear much fruit. The fruit is the
result, not the
cause of salvation. The cause of our separation from God is our sin and rebellion. God provides a way to deal with the penalty of sin, yet in order to receive forgiveness we must cease our rebellion to Him. This is
saving faith... turning to God in repentance and faith, and relying solely on His grace for our salvation.
Where does Church attendance, baptism, and being His witnesses come into this? As fruit! As evidence of our surrender to His sovereignty over our lives. Once a believer that has surrendered to God knows that God wants their testimony through water baptism, they will want to obey and have a "good conscience." (1 Peter3:21). Not to "get saved," but to please their Lord. In the same way, Church attendance does not save you, but it is beneficial to the believer, and it is the will of God that we be in fellowship one with another. The question then becomes, in the Early Church becoming a Christian was a death sentence. To be publicly baptized was to show your rejection of the world and your past, testifying to the cleansing and purification that your received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism was no small thing as it is today in most parts of the world, except in Islamic Countries. What suspicion would be upon someone that claims "I know Christ" yet refuses to obey Him? That they would not be water Baptized or be part of the assembling of believers for corporate worship? In the First century, no congregation would have accepted someone claiming to be a Christian that refused the offer to be baptized.
We are told that we cannot save ourselves, but it is of grace (Eph. 2:8-9), that if we are in Christ that we will bear much fruit (Jn. 15; Eph. 2:10), that anyone claiming to know Christ and not keeping His commandments is a liar (1 Jn. 2: 3-4), and that we (Christians) will know other Christians "
by their fruit." (Matt. 6:13-27). It is not a question whether someone is saved by grace through faith, and that by adding something to grace, voids grace (Rom. 11:6), and those that seek some law or requirement to get "saved" have severed themselves from Christ and grace (Gal 5:4). What constitutes a saving faith? One that obeys Christ as He works in and through us to good works! (James 2:18-24). Any true believer in Christ should joyfully submit to baptism on the grounds that is a command of Christ. Not to gain salvation, but to obey their Lord. How can one know the command of Christ to obey such a simple submission, adamantly
refuse to do their Savior's request? How can one be said to
know Jesus,
love Christ, to
serve Him, to
believe Him, or to
obey Him, and continue to snub the command? Is such faith a saving faith?