There are different kinds of
works mentioned in the New Testament. We read about "works of the
law" (Galatians 2:16), "works of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19),
"works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:11), "our works" (2
Timothy 1:9), "works of the devil" (1 John 3:8), etc. We are not
saved by any of those works. However, to say that there are no works involved
in salvation will take one further than he wants to go because belief is a
work (John 6:28-29). Must one believe to be saved? Then works are involved in
salvation. Baptism is the same kind of work as belief. Both are works of God.
Baptism is distinguished from
meritorious works in the New Testament. Titus 3:5 says that God saved us
"not because of works done by us in righteousness" (i.e.,
meritorious works) but by "the washing of regeneration" (i.e.,
baptism). Hence, baptism is not a meritorious work.
By being baptized, one is
simply meeting the conditions of God's grace. It is no different than Noah
building the ark, the Israelites marching around the walls, Naaman dipping in
the Jordan River, or the ten lepers going to show themselves to the priests.
They were not engaging in meritorious works; they were merely meeting the
conditions of God's grace.