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gmc4Jesus -> RE: Are you saved but not baptized? (8/20/2008 5:50:44 PM)
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I can see this one has had a round or few. So what can I add? When we were initiated into a fraternity or organization, we had to go through some initiation process. We didn't bother to ask if we were members before or after, we just did it. When we go to the bank to take out a loan, the loan officer sits on the other side of the desk with the loan documents signed (in His blood) and the check in his hand. However, we don't get the check until we sign the loan documents (with our baptism). When we get a gift for Christmas or a birthday, it is in our possession, bought and paid for, waiting for our use, but it doesn't become completely and totally ours until we unwrap it, take it out of the box and put it on. (If that is a "work", then baptism might be considered a work, but I don't think so. Read on.) In Acts 2:, the people listening to Peter simply asked "What must we do (to be saved - KJV)" When Peter commanded that they repent and be baptized (immersed in water) in Jesus' name and they would receive the gift (eternal life and indwelling presence) of the Holy Spirit, the people didn't ask if they were saved before or after, but simply obeyed. Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:!5). Why do we make the "watergate" a stumbling block or bone of contention to salvation? Every denomination acknowledges two ordinances in the Church that Jesus and the Apostles established. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. According to Random House Dictionary, the word Ordinance means: 1. an authoritative rule or law; a decree or command. 2. a public injunction or regulation: a city ordinance against excessive horn blowing. 3. something believed to have been ordained, as by a deity or destiny. 4. Ecclesiastical. a. an established rite or ceremony. b. a sacrament. c. the communion. As such, an ordinance is not an option. It is to be observed, obeyed, adhered to. It is not an option. Jesus commanded it in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16). If Jesus commanded it, who am I to say I don't have to obey it? He alluded to it early in His ministry in His comments to Nicodemus (John 3:3-5) Paul refreshed on the symbolism of immersion into Christ of an adult penetent believer in many places. In Galations 3:27, he cites it as the symbol of putting on Christ. In Romans 6:1-5, he reminds us that immersion symbolized our dying to sin (and being born again aka John 3:3-5. Colossians 2:12 compares baptism to being buried and raised with Christ. Why would any believer not want to identify with Jesus in that manner? Peter tell us that "...baptism, which corresponds to Moses lifing up the serpent in the wilderness for people to look at, saves us... by the appeal to God for a clear conscience thorugh the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 3:21). All Paul ever did was expand on what Jesus taught. Can a person get to heaven without being baptized? If they sincerely believe in Jesus, but were never told or read about baptism before they died, the Bible clarifies that God judges justly. He knows their heart and that they would have obeyed if they had simply known. We are totally saved by grace. Water, without FAITH, repentance and confession, is nothing but a bath or a dunking. However, believing, repenting of sin, confessing Jesus as Lord accompanied with the initiation symbolism of immersion completes the Bible's call to salvation. No one will argue whether an immersed penitent believer is saved. So if you and I have confessed Jesus, repented of our sin and been immersed, there is no need to debate the issue. Most who argue against baptism remind us of the truth that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works. However, if "works" is "something you do to try to earn salvation", baptism doesn't fit that definition. First, it is something done to you, not by you. Second, if not accompnayed by believing in Jesus, repenting from sin and confessing your faith, it is only a bathing of a misguided person. If you, or I, have refrained from baptism because of we had not read what the Bible says or think we don't have to obey what the Bible teaches and what Jesus asks of us, then I would question how much you love Jesus. If you love Jesus, what does it matter? Now that I've said my thoughts, I will close that I do believe that we would do more for the Kingdom if we would expend our energy on reaching the lost than trying to force each other to agree on matters of Bible doctrine. Only one question is going to be asked when we stand before the judgment throne of God. That question is not going to be about some point of doctrine argued here or elsewhere. The question is going to be, "Who is Jesus?" May God fill you with even more of the love of Jesus and bless you as you search and seek to reach to those who don't yet know Him.
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