With any biblical subject, the complete teaching of God’s Word must be studied. Religious error often results from seeing part of the truth, while failing to see the complete truth. Notice a few “two-sided coins” of Scripture that demonstrate the need for examining the full picture on biblical subjects.
God’s Grace & Man’s Work: Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”
No submission to works gives us reason to boast. No matter how many good works we do, if we have sinned even once (which we all have – Rom. 3:23), we face eternal death without God’s grace (Rom. 6:23). Salvation is not earned by man’s work.
Yet, works are needed from us in order to receive the gift of salvation. Philippians 2:12 says “So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
Salvation is not “by grace alone” and/or “through faith alone.” Works, among other things, are necessary in order to be saved (cf. Jas. 2:14-26). Salvation requires both God’s grace and man’s work.
More generally, salvation requires both the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and faith and obedience on our part.
God’s Love & Righteous Judgment: God’s choice to offer us salvation was motivated by love. He demonstrated love when His Son died for our sins (Rom. 5:8). Because of His love, God really will send the righteous to heaven (Matt. 25:46).
Yet, God is also a perfectly just God who really will send those who do not obey Him to hell (2 Thess. 1:5-9). The “righteous judgment of God” (2 Thes. 1:5) will not allow sin to be ignored, but the love of God allows sin to be forgiven when one submits to God’s terms for forgiveness.
God’s Providence & Man’s Free Will: One way God demonstrates His love for mankind is through His providence.
The “providence of God” is not a term used in Scripture, but the principle is taught. For instance, the apostle Paul prayed for the Philippian brethren to grow in love, discernment, sincerity, and righteousness (Phil. 1:9-11). Prayers such as these demonstrate an expectation that God works to help His children serve Him.
While God does work through His providence, this does not mean that He forces anyone to do right. God chose to create mankind with free will. God’s preference is to help us submit to Him, but we have “free will” and must choose to obey (cf. Matt. 23:37).
What Baptism Is and Is Not: Another two-sided coin of Scripture involves what baptism does and does not do.
Some teach that baptism is not necessary for salvation. God teaches otherwise.
Those on the Day of Pentecost were told by the Lord’s apostle, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Before becoming a Christian, Saul of Tarsus was told by Christ’s messenger, Ananias, “Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Baptism is necessary for one to get “into Christ” (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27), and is thus necessary for salvation (1 Pet. 3:21).
While we must not de-emphasize the necessity placed by God on baptism, we must not make baptism out to be something that it is not.
For instance, God does not promise that baptism washes away unrepentant sin. Notice that in Acts 2:38, the command “Repent” is connected to the forgiveness of sin, just as baptism is. Upon being baptized, we must steadfastly submit to Christ’s doctrine revealed through His apostles (Acts 2:42). Even if we do this initially, we can fall “away from grace” (Gal. 5:4) if we later turn away from God.
These examples help us to see that we must look at the totality of what Scripture teaches on any subject. May we examine God’s Word in this way, viewing every side of each biblical “coin.”
– Michael Hickox