Steven Carlson (who seems to be a Campbellite), wrote the following which refutes the common but false claim that water baptism is an act of man and falls under the “works” condemned by Paul in Rom 4:1-8 that legally obligate God to give salvation as a wage (μιθος) to man:
In contrast to work performed by us, Paul identifies the work that is performed in baptism as work that God accomplishes specifically through our faith. Writing to the Colossians, he teaches that baptism is not an act of man, but a spiritual act in physical form through which God does His work (Colossians 2:11-12). We are buried and raised with Christ in baptism. It is something that occurs ‘through faith in the working of God.’ Our sins are washed away in baptism. That washing away of sins is an act of Go, not man. Baptism, then, is an act of God to which men submit (passively) and cannot be considered a meritorious work of man.
A special point should be made about Paul’s letter to the Colossians. While he spends some time reviewing baptism and the role it plays in God’s plan, his statements just prior to these remarks are just as important:
4. Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. 5. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7. rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8. Beware lest anyone cheat on you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9. For in Him dwells all the fullness of Godhead bodily; 10. and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:4-10)
The lesson on baptism provides a clear sense that, if there are ‘persuasive words that are deceiving’, or a ‘philosophy through which they may be cheated,’ or ‘traditions of men,’ or ‘basic principles of the world,’ baptism is not among them. These ‘traditions of men’ whether of drinks or festivals or Sabbaths, are discussed through the balance of the chapter. They do not include baptism. Furthermore, it is our symbolic death in baptism that is defined as the moment that we are separated from rules of the law (Colossians 2:20-22). The claim that baptism is a work of man is clearly rejected as Paul explains the obvious difference between the ‘traditions of men’ and the celebration of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in baptism.
Man cannot earn salvation. Those who teach salvation by works teach a false doctrine. It is a doctrine that contradicts the biblical teaching of salvation by grace, insinuating that a man could actually offer to God something of sufficient value that he might be worthy of eternal life. Yet nothing with the design of baptism suggests that God is indebted to us in any way. We bring nothing to baptism but a repentant heart and a desire to have our sins forgiven. This does not mean that we are entitled to forgiveness. Still, Scripture teaches us that Go has promised to forgive the repentant believer at the time of baptism (Acts 2:38)—and we know that God keeps His promises.
The debate concerning whether baptism is a human work or a spiritual act of obedience bears an uncanny likeness to a discussion between Jesus and the chief priests and elders about baptism that was performed by John the Baptist. Jesus asked them, “The baptism of John—where was it from? Was it from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25). We would do well to ask ourselves the same question as we consider the role of water baptism today. If we could honestly answer that Christian baptism is of human design, a much more reasonable defense could be offered that it is a man’s blatant attempt to somehow earn grace (an obvious oxymoron). If, however, baptism is of heavenly design, it is not our prerogative to abandon or devalue a ceremony that Scripture ties directly to our salvation (1 Peter 3:21). (Steven A. Carlson, Baptism and the Plan of Salvation: Restoring the New Testament Gospel [Holt, Mich.: Guardian Publishing, LLC, 2009], 194-96; emphasis in original)
