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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: jmgjazzum Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | salvation/baptism | Bible general Archive 1 | jmgjazzum | 13891 | ||
Hello, Justin I whole-heartedly agree that the righteous shall live by faith. But I do not want to be misleading. Our faith does not save us, but the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross to wash away our sins does. Baptism is an act of obedience to the plan for salvation that God has established. Baptism is the necessary display of the faith that we must have to be saved. Faith alone is not enough. I beg you to read James chapter 2, starting in verse 14. It is too long to reproduce here, but I believe the scriptures should often be left to speak for themselves, and this passage has a lot to say. Give particular consideration to verses 14, 19, 20, and 24. It is not just faith that saves us, but an obedient faith. I'm afraid I must ask you to provide scriptural support for the assertions you made in your first two paragraphs. Please don't take me the wrong way. It is IMPOSSIBLE to earn our way to heaven. I am not saying that deeds can in any way cause us to deserve salvation (legalism). Christ did the deed; He paid the debt we could never pay. But He set up conditions we must follow to recieve it. As to your hypothetical situations, I am not God, and not a judge, and I honestly don't know the fate of the souls you have listed. But I do not believe that God, once giving someone the opportunity to know the Truth, would deny them the opportunity to obey that truth. I am glad that, despite our differences, we still have one thing in common: Christ. This is more than most of the world can say. I pray that there be no animosity between us, and how much I wish that Satan had never distorted God's message (For either of us - I do not claim to have a perfect discernment of God's word) that it would seperate those who love Christ. I believe this forum is an excellent tool for God to reveal His will for us, and I pray, too that He will do so! You may find it funny that my name is Justin, too. In Christian love, JMGJazzum |
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2 | salvation/baptism | Bible general Archive 1 | jmgjazzum | 13827 | ||
Part 2: So how does this relate to baptism? God's word cannot be ignored for the sake of convenience. Let's look at what the bible says. Although I have written out the verses here, I encourage you to look them up and read them in their contexts. "John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." Mark 1:4 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." Mark 16:16 "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'" John 3:3-5 "Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." I Peter 3:21 Acts 2:36 - "'Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified.' Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?'" (Acts 2:36-37) Stop. The next verse is in my mind the climax of the bible. Ever since the first sin in the Garden of Eden, God has had one purpose: to reconcile man and God. This is essentially the theme of the bible. Before man sinned, he was in a perfect relationship with God, graphically Illustrated here: (God)(man). After the initial sin, the situation became like this: (God)]SIN[(man). Sin seperated man and God. God attempted to alleviate this problem by wiping out the sin (the flood). It came back. He attempted the law system, but this was limited only to the Israelites, and the religious leaders (Pharisees) were making it very difficult. At last God pulls out His trump card. Free salvation for all mankind. The Messiah. The Perfect Sacrifice. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, to wash away our sins, restoring our relationship with Him and giving us an eternal home in Heaven with Him! Jesus knew this. By the time of this verse, His apostles knew it, however no one in this crowd knew or understood it. But NOW was the time to joyously announce it to the world! The Good News! Redemption is available now for me and for you! The crowd asked, "What shall we do?" (v. 27) Peter stood up and said, "Repent, and accept Jesus into your heart and you shall be saved." No? Then he stood up and said, "Repent, and say this prayer with me, and you shall be saved." No? What does the bible say? Acts 2:38 - "Peter said to them, 'Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" "So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls." Acts 2:41 Notice "be baptized ... for the forgiveness of your sins," and the fact that the SOULS were ADDED after they were baptized. Will you risk deviating your soul from what God has stated? What if Noah didn't want to cut any more gopher wood and decided to make the ark a little smaller than what God had told him? Would God still have saved him and his family? We don't know, but the question for you is, will you follow what God has said, or what man has said? "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin." Romans 6:3-7 |
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3 | salvation/baptism | Bible general Archive 1 | jmgjazzum | 13826 | ||
Friend - I must begin by telling you that the question you have asked concerns the single most crucial topic an individual can consider in their life - their own salvation. This is a question that you must answer, because you and only you are responsible for your own soul. I will do my best to help you be aware of what God's word says, but in the end, you must decide. That said... Throughout the bible, it has been shown to be a severe risk to deviate from God's specifications for His plans. Look at this example: "Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD." Leviticus 10:1-2 God had given specific instruction concerning burnt offerings and incense in worship of Him. Although God had not forbidden the fire Nadab and Abihu offered, He did not tolerate their deviation from what He DID command, and killed them instantly. Examine this story, too: "Now David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose and went with all the people who were with him to Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the Name, the very name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim. They placed the ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart. So they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark. Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals. But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God." II Samuel 6:1-7. The ark of the covenant was the most sacred physical object that Israel had. God had given specific instructions concerning its transportation - specifically, that it was to be carried only by Levite priests using poles. David willfully deviated from these rules, using a new idea, a cart pulled by oxen, to transport the ark. Uzzah, a priest who also knew God's wishes, and knowing how sacred the ark was, steadied the ark with his hand to keep it from falling, and instantly died. One may ask, 'If Uzzah was trying to do good, why did God kill him?' The truth is, although Uzzah had the best of intentions, he would never have been in the situation if he, as a priest, hadn't agreed to David's proposed method for moving the ark. The point is that deviating from God's stated will, even with a clean heart, conscience, and the best of intentions, can be VERY risky. (Continued in part 2) |
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