Alexander Campbell lived in the early 1800’s and was very influential in guiding Christians back to the Bible as the only source of teaching and authority in the church. His views on baptism led to a reclaiming of the apostolic ground on the subject. Campbell was very fond of a story about a shipwrecked crew and their rescue.
In the story, a kind man sees the crew of a sunken ship clinging to pieces of the wreck in violent seas. They are powerless to save themselves. The man tells his son to take his boat and row out to rescue the sailors. The man’s only begotten reaches the doomed men and offers them salvation if they will get in his boat. They readily accept his offer and comply. Once in the boat, the grateful sailors pick up the oars and help row themselves to safety. The excited crowd gathered on the shore describes the scene in different terms that all explain the same event. Some say the man on the shore saved the men; others describe the son’s brave rescue; another credits the boat, some even detail how the sailors rowed themselves to safety.
The point of the story is simple. Proclaiming a single element as the “only” thing that saved the sailors would fail to tell the truth of the event. It would also make the rescue impossible. Remove the oars and the boat never arrives at the scene. If the son is unwilling to go, the men drown. If the man never sees, cares, or sends there is no brave savior, dry boat, capable oar, or safety on the shore. The same principles apply to our salvation.
It is Jesus who saves by the will and good pleasure of our Father in Heaven (John 3:16; I Timothy 1:15). The lost must realize their helpless condition and agree to the terms of salvation (Matthew 16:24-25; Mark 16:16). There are no footsteps on the shore without getting in the boat and rowing (Matthew 25:34-39; John 3:3-5; Acts 2:38). In the process of salvation, there are things God does and things people must do. The only “only” is that it all comes from God (Romans 3:21-26; Ephesians 2:8-10).
Campbell listed seven specific “causes” in the rescue. In his story the boat is baptism into which if the sailors had refused entry there would have been no life. It is the same today. We should never let ourselves focus on one piece of the puzzle when talking about saving someone’s soul.
It is always instructive, when talking to someone who wishes to be contentious about this issue, to remember that in the Bible the words “faith” and “only” appear together in just one verse in all of Scripture. The verse is James 2:24 (NKJV): “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
There is a great old song that goes, “Why do you wait, dear brother, O why do you tarry so long? Your Savior is waiting to give you a place in His sanctified throng.” Ananias told Paul, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”-Acts 22:16. Quit arguing and get in the boat! -JS
1 Campbell, Alexander. Morris W.A. “The Writings of Alexander Campbell: Selections Chiefly from The Millennial Harbinger.” Eugene Von Boeckmann, printer. 1896. p 247-248. print.
Leave a Reply