TPW 75 Eastern Orthodoxy James 2 Justification Response to Critic on Baptism and Works

I received an email in response to an old video here:

https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?m=t&s=5317151991

Here is the text of that email:

You tried to separate baptism from belief. But it may not be in Paul's argumentation in Romans 4 but it is clearly linked in scripture elsewhere:

Mark 16:15-16

Acts 2:38; 9:18; 10:43-48; 18:8; 22:16

Rom. 6:3-4

Gal. 3:27

1 Peter 3:21

These are just a few that connect faith with baptism. For one who prides himself in using scripture you sloppily dealt with this one and scripture agrees with the Priest. How is baptism a work? It is a work of God to wash man from his sin once he has believed and repented. Where in the Jewish law does it command us to be baptized?

BTW you did some nifty dancing with James 2. Bad exegesis again. If what you are saying is true then James only applies to people who claim to have faith. Which begs the question because wouldn't that be every Christian?

Paul talks about faith apart from works (of the law) he is reference the heresy of the judiazers who claimed you had to be under the law and observe it in some external way to be saved (Romans 2?). James distinguishes a different kind of works, in fact he is talking about faith and works apart from "works of the law" because the law hadn't been given yet. See the difference? James 2:22 is a keyverse. His faith and works were "Sunergeo". Dang, there is that pesky EO synergism.

This episode is my response