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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Only 900 "baptism" posts | 1 Cor 12:13 | kin | 27294 | ||
Acts 2:38 Mark 16:16 1 Peter 3:21 "this water saves you" Acts 22:16 "wash away your sins" Rom. 6:1-10 "or don't you know...?" Taking the sum of thy word and putting it in context with these passages makes it clear. As appossed to taking NO scripture and coming up with baptism is an "outward sign". Kin |
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2 | Kin, too much ritual in baptism? | 1 Cor 12:13 | Love Fountain | 27313 | ||
Dear Kin, I am intrigued by your persistence, but I'm not quite sure what you want to say. You keep referencing to the water which will wash away our sins. I think others are saying that we are saved by grace and baptism is an outward sign of that grace we have through Jesus. It has appeared to me that most of the baptisms in the Bible that I have looked into, before the Holy Spirit came forth it was always proceeded by the Word of God. Eph 2:8 says by grace we are saved through faith and Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So far I'd say grace, faith and the Holy Spirit come by the Word of God which is Jesus. 1Pet 1:25 says the Word of the Lord lives forever and is the Word of the Gospel that is preached unto us and John 4:14 says that whoever drinks the water that is given by Jesus will have everlasting life. In comparison I would say that the Water is the Word which is Jesus. What do you think? I think what you are trying to say(please correct me if I am wrong) is that you feel we give way too much ritual to baptism and have somehow neglected the true meaning of what baptism is, which is eating and drinking the water of life which is the reading and absorption of the Word given through Jesus from God. Am I close? Bless you, Love Fountain |
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3 | Kin, too much ritual in baptism? | 1 Cor 12:13 | Robert Nicholson | 27356 | ||
Kin and Fountain: I believe that you will find that the context of 1 Cor. 12:13 is teaching us that the moment we trusted Christ we were baptised by the Holy Spirit into one Body, the body of Christ which is sometimes referred to as the church which is his body. All believers are part of this Spiritual body. In V. 27 of 1 Cor. 12 we read "Now we are body of Christ and members in particular" This baptism is not ritualistic and occurs at the moment we rest in Christ. In Christ Robert |
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4 | Kin, too much ritual in baptism? | 1 Cor 12:13 | Love Fountain | 27384 | ||
Dear Robert, Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your response. You state,"the moment we trusted Christ we were baptised by the Holy Spirit into one body", and I agree with you. How did your trust in Christ come to you? Was it by hearing or reading the Word which is Jesus(John 1:1) Who gives us to drink of the water of everlasting life(John 4:14) and Jesus Whos Word lives forever(1Pet 1:25)? By comparison of John 4:14 and 1Pet 1:25 and many other verses in scripture I believe Jesus is the Word and the Word is the (Spiritual)Water we drink to everlasting life. What do you think? You say,"this baptism is not ritualistic and occurs at the moment we rest in Christ", can you please explain what baptism is to you, so I can understand what you believe and please tell me how do we rest in Christ according to your belief? Thanks for your input, I look forward to hearing more from you, as I search for understanding of God's will. I think each part of the body helps each other grow in understanding and faith. Bless you, Love Fountain Romans 10:14 How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?(NIV) |
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5 | Kin, too much ritual in baptism? | 1 Cor 12:13 | Robert Nicholson | 27469 | ||
Dear Fountain: Thank you for the kind response. I was a young boy when my father at age 35 got saved. We immediately began to hear of God and of Jesus. We were taught about the death of Christ and it was emphasized that we must be born again if we ever wanted to be with Christ in heaven. I spent many miserable hours wondering how to get saved. I was told that all I had to do was believe that Jesus died on the cross for me. I believed that and yet I knew that I was not saved. One day walking home from school, in rural Ontario Canada, I sat at the end of my laneway on the snowbank and once again I tried to believe and tried to feel saved. Finally, through my tears I simply asked God "please help me to get saved" My mind was taken off trying to believe and as I thought of the words of John 3:16 I realized that I was the whosoever for whom Christ died. In a moment, I rested my all on him for eternity and passed from death unto life. I believe that from John 3:3 "Except a man be born again or (born from above) he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Jesus reemphasized this in v.7 "Marvel not that I said unto you, ye must be born again". When the Holy Spirit takes up the word of God and opens the eyes of our understanding to the truth that Christ paid our debt on the cross and through him we are forgiven, the holy Spirit enters and changes us forever. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things have passed away, behold all things have become new" (2 Cor. 5:17) This of course does not mean that we will be a full grown Christian overnight, but we will have new desires with a view to pleasing God. And as we live our lives the Holy Spirit will be seen in our lives if we allow him to use us. I Cor. 12 :13 "For by one Spirit, are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles..." I believe this is teaching that when we are born again or when we have rested our all on the finished work of Christ, the Holy Spirit places us in the body of Christ. This is not water baptism. In fact the remainder of the chapter explains how we are "members in particular" and that we are interdependant on each other. Paul uses the metaphor of the human body to illustrate this. What about baptism: Part of the great commission given by the Lord Jesus was "baptizing them..." In the Acts it would appear that every believer was baptised. In the example of the Ethiopian in Acts 8 the question was asked "What doth hinder me to be baptised" Philip answered, "If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. The man responded "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We see the method of baptism in which Philip goes down into the water with the man and he baptised him. Believer's baptism is not a ritual, but is a commandment from the Lord. It is for those who have already been born again or saved. When we are baptised as in the days of old we are identifying with Christ in his death, buriel and ressurection. Our baptism proclaims that we intend to live for Christ and turn our backs on our sinful past. I agree with your comparison of John 4 and 1 Peter 1:25 that Christ is the living water and when we accept him by faith, he dwells in the heart of each beliver by his Spirit. Col.1:27 Oh Christ he is the fountain The deep sweet well of love The streams of earth I've tasted More deep I'll drink above There to an ocean's fulness His mercy doth expand And glory, glory dwelleth In Immanuel's land. Thank you for listening and may God richly bless your life. Robert |
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6 | Kin, too much ritual in baptism? | 1 Cor 12:13 | Love Fountain | 29970 | ||
Dear Robert, It has been a while since I have received this note from you and I apologize for not answering sooner. I hope you had a great New Years and Christmas. Your hope and faith touches my heart and it is obvious you have dedicated yourself to searching for the truth as I have as well. You have touched on a topic that I find myself totally immersed in, the heart. I too, like you, did not feel I was saved for only believing, except I looked at it from the point of, if all we have to do is believe why is the Bible so thick. Why has God written such an inexhaustible book if salvation was only to believe in Jesus?, this is what I would pray to understand. Yes, I do believe we are saved by grace but grace comes through faith and faith by hearing and hearing by the Word, which is the Word of God. It seems no matter what, God always takes me back to the Word. I like your reference to John 3:3, but even better I like John 3:5," Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God". The reason this verse has so much meaning to me is because when I was recently reading Jeremiah again in Jer 2:13 we read,"For my people have comitted two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. In this verse God says He is the fountain of living waters and I believe He referrences the broken cisterns to be symbols of man in the flesh body. We can go many places with water, but my point is that Jesus is the Word(John 1:1), the Living Word and both Jesus and the Word have very definite similarities in the Bible, and I believe Jer 2:13 is God telling us we need to have knowledge and wisdom within in our hearts and the lack of these is seen as evil to Him. "The blood of Jesus Christ...cleanseth us from all sin" 1John 1:7 "Ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken" John 15:3 Christ " Healed them" Matt 4:24 "He sent His Word and healed them" Psalm 107:20 "Christ hath made us free" Gal 5:1 "The Truth shall make you free" John 8:32 I believe we are saved by grace but I also believe we are to be ready when Jesus comes back as the Bridegroom and be presentable unto Him without stain, spot or blemish(spiritually), which is the great mystery Paul talks about in Eph 5. Every time I have seen so far in the Bible, when the Holy Spirit comes in unto people, it is always preceeded by the written or spoken Word and I believe it is the hearing and understanding of the Word which leads to repentance, belief, healing and cleansing. Ultimately I feel that baptism today is much too ceremonial, and I am confused by what it does. I see no spiritual significance with being baptized by a man. Please read Mark chapter 7, it is about ceremonially cleansing, God says ceremonially cleansing is likened unto cleaning cups and pots and likens it unto traditions of men, "making the Word of God of none effect". All I know is that I have never appreciated anything in my life that has been given to me half as much as the things I have worked for and to think I have eternal life based on grace and belief without having to do nothing else, just does not make sense to me. So much so that I believe God wants more from His children than I hear being taught in the world today. I am interested in your thoughts, thank you for listening to me this time. Jer 29:13 for ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. Bless you!, Love Fountain 1Pet 1:22-25 |
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7 | Kin, too much ritual in baptism? | 1 Cor 12:13 | Robert Nicholson | 30004 | ||
Love Fountain: Thank you for your touching response. I love and rejoice in the truth of 1Peter 1:22-25. Is it not wonderful, that our God doesn't give us all the answers at once, but he wants us to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of his dear Son"? And is if that were not enough, he will continue to reveal to us the unsearchable riches of Christ throughout all eternity! Happy new year. Your brother by his grace alone Robert |
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