The Church of God affirms that water baptism does not ____ and does not ____.

• A. baptize; empower
• B. condemn; justify
• C. save; regenerate
• D. sanctify; transform

Answer: (C)

Water baptism, in this teaching, is an outward sign of faith, not a means by which a person is saved or given new life. Salvation and regeneration come from God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ and are the work of the Holy Spirit, not the water rite itself. Baptism publicly identifies a believer with Christ, symbolizing dying to the old life and rising to new life, but it does not itself remove sin’s penalty or impart spiritual birth. That’s why the Church of God affirms that water baptism does not save and does not regenerate.

You can think of baptism as obedience after faith—an important step that proclaims what God has already done in a believer, while the real saving work and new birth come from Christ and the Spirit. The other ideas don’t fit as well because they would imply baptism itself performs or initiates processes (like empowering, sanctifying, or transforming) that, in this view, are accomplished by God’s grace and the Spirit, not by the act of baptism itself.