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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Baptism, Trinity, and Teachers? | Acts 2:38 | Mommapbs | 48244 | ||
Greetings Hank! This is a very old thread but I do have a question about this verse. So I'm putting it out there to some of the participants. The following is a statement from a denominational web site: "As with the first Christians, when a person repents and is baptized their sins are forgiven and the Holy Spirit begins to work in their life. (Acts 2:36-41; Romans 8:5-11)" I am troubled by this, not because I am an unbaptized believer, but because many who I know to be born again believers have not been immersed! It just doesn't "sit" with me that physical baptism is a prerequiste for forgiveness. Any comments? Blessings, Mommapbs |
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2 | Baptism, Trinity, and Teachers? | Acts 2:38 | Hank | 48264 | ||
And a happy hello to you, Mommapbs. My, but that is an old post you dug up! It's more than a year old and is sprouting whiskers :-).... Dear fellow saint, this is my best response to your question about baptism. The Bible teaches that "by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast." [Eph.2:8,9]. Now baptism is the immersion in water of one who trusts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. This immersion in the name of Jesus Christ [Acts 2:38] or of the Triunity [Matt.28:19] neither saves nor contributes to salvation in any way. Faith alone is essential for salvation [John 3:36], but Christ commanded that those who become His disciples should be baptized [Matt.28:19]. Thus bapism is essential, not for salvation, but for obedience. It is a witness to salvation but does not effect salvation. Baptism is the believer's testimony to his obedience to the command of Christ. The symbolism of water baptism [a] points backward to the death, burial and resurrecton of Christ; [b] points to the present in showing the believer's death to sin and resurrection to walk in the new life in Christ [Rom.6:4]; and [c] points to the future resurrection of the body when Christ comes again. [cf.Rom.6:3-5]. The foregoing concerns water baptism by immersion. But the term 'baptism' is applied also in reference to the coming of the Holy Spirit into the life of a believer at the point of regeneration [1 Cor.12:13]. (Some of this material has been adapted from the Believer's Study Bible published by Thomas Nelson)..... Obviously I believe that the statement you cited from a web site is not a totally complete and comprehensive representation of what the Bible teaches about salvation and the purpose and definition of believer's baptism, the reason being that this doctrinal statement -- I take it that that is what it is meant to be -- is derived from a single, isolated verse of Scripture. This is not good exegesis. Context, always there is context that must be dealt with. It is possible to pick an isolated verse here or there and develop from that lone verse a really odd-ball, heretical doctrine of one stripe or another. The Bible can be twisted to say just about anything one wants it to say, but this is not good exegesis and it is not rightly dividing the word of truth [2 Tim.2:15]...... As a parting footnote, I'd like to add that many posts exist in the archives on the subjects of salvation and baptism, and it is hoped that this post does not give rise to another long thread which would largely be duplication of what has already been said on these subjects..... Mommapbs, did any of this help with your question? I sincerely hope that it did. Yours in Christ Jesus. --Hank | ||||||
3 | Baptism, Trinity, and Teachers? | Acts 2:38 | Mommapbs | 48295 | ||
Greetings in Jesus' Name Hank! Yes, these comments helped clarify the issue for me. I had negelected to add that along with this denomination's statement of faith, baptism is a requirement for church membership. Not that I have a problem with this, but coupling it with their doctrinal position about baptism it has raised a "red flag" for me. As I tried to ferret out what you have provided from the thread, it became clear that I needed to send my query to specific participants. I respect your committment to Scripture. Thanks for the response! Blessings to you and yours today! Mommapbs PS: About growing whiskers . . .at least I TRIED to search before I posted!!! |
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