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Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up  /  Chapter 8: What Baptism Meant to the Early Christians  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 4
Justin Martyr says there is “no other way to obtain God’s promises” than to be “washed…for the remission of sins” and then “for the remainder to live sinless lives”; how do you reconcile that kind of statement with contemporary evangelical ways of talking about grace, assurance, and the role of obedience after conversion?
Another way to ask: Justin Martyr says God’s promises come through being washed for forgiveness, and then living a sinless life after. How do you fit that with how evangelicals talk about grace, confidence of salvation, and obeying after conversion?

Direct Answer Based on the transcript, Justin’s statement fits a framework where baptism is God’s gracious washing for past sins, and the expected outcome is a life that actually turns from sin—without treating baptism as a mechanical guarantee. Reconciling it with evangelical language would require taking obedience as an expected “live accordingly” response, while still seeing the washing as “independent of any merit.”

Support from Transcript:

  • Justin is quoted: “no other way to obtain God’s promises” than to be “washed… for the remission of sins,” then “for the remainder to live sinless lives.”
  • David explains early Christians believed baptism “canceled all past sins,” grounded in texts like Acts 22:16 (“wash away your sins”) and Acts 2:38 (“for the remission of sins”).
  • He stresses baptism wasn’t treated as magic: “They didn’t separate baptism from faith and repentance.”
  • He adds: “God was under no necessity to grant forgiveness… simply because a person went through the motions of baptism. A faithless person was not reborn.”
  • Justin’s other quote links baptism to being “convinced,” desiring to live accordingly, fasting, praying, then being “regenerated.”
Discussion Follow-ups Does your church’s assurance language leave room for the early Christian expectation of a changed life? How do we keep obedience central without turning baptism (or obedience) into merit?

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