Results 1 - 6 of 6
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Is baptism a work? | NT general Archive 1 | John Reformed | 66584 | ||
Dear Sir, Your beliefs surrounding baptism and salvation are entirely consistant with a man centered theology, wherein man is the captain of his soul and the ruler of his fate. I suppose you believe man can reject his salvation even after having been made a new creature in Christ. My heart goes out to you, John |
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2 | Is baptism a work? | NT general Archive 1 | Teacher | 66627 | ||
1 Tim 4:14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Paul tells Timothy not to neglect the spiritual gift that is within him. Wouldn't this imply that he COULD neglect it. Make the necessary application as you will, John. |
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3 | Is baptism a work? | NT general Archive 1 | John Reformed | 66646 | ||
Dear Sir, John 6:47 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them Notice: We are His workmanship" and "would" walk in them". It seems that it is God who is in control of our sanctification. This does not mean that we are to take a fatalistic attitude for God has foreordained the means as well as the ends. Phil 2:13 "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." And: 2 Tim 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen I place my confidence in Christ alone and no confidence in my flesh. Phil 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Eph 1:11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, You, who goes by the name "Teacher" need to be taught yourself. If you teach others to trust in what they do rather than what Christ has done, you are teaching another gospel. We know from Scripture that the unregenerate or "natural" man does not and cannot recieve the gospel. 1 Cor 2:14 "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." Arminians and calvinists are agreed that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of unbelievers to the truth of the gospel; which is to believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is their only hope for salvation. Once a person is born again he becomes a member of the Body of Christ and is to be baptized. John the Baptist preached repent and be baptized to the jews. This was a radical departure from the religion of that day which taught that the jews were secure because they were the children of Abraham thus the children of the promise. John told them that God could raise up rocks and stones to be children of Abraham if He wanted. They were not to rely upon their national birthright but on repentance and faith in the coming Messiah! Jesus also baptized those who acted out of faith and repentance (not Jesus himself, but His followers). And after His resurrection He commanded the church to do the same. But it is not the waters of baptism that cleanse us from the guilty stain of sin but it is the blood of Christ. You must see that! Jesus commanded baptism but baptism is an outward sign of one's faith and not a requirement for salvation. If it were a requirement it certainly would have been stressed much more strongly in Scripture. Your strongest proof text is: Mark 16:16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned...". Mark does not say "but he who has not been baptized shall be condemned". Neither does he say "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved and has not been baptized shall be condemned". It is God who saves us. We do not save ourselves. Those whom He has chosen unto salvation will be saved. John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:65 And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father Pray about it, John |
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4 | Is baptism a work? | NT general Archive 1 | Teacher | 66647 | ||
I refuse to read or respond to any post that attacks my point of view or character. I don't do it to anyone else out of respect and I expect to be given the same courtesy. Those who choose to be "selective" in their study of God's word can continue to do so without responding to me. Thank you. |
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5 | Is baptism a work? | NT general Archive 1 | John Reformed | 66658 | ||
"When the heart is cast indeed into the mould of the doctrine that the mind embraceth - when the evidence and necessity of the truth abides in us -when not the sense of the words only is in our heads, but the sense of the thing abides in our hearts - when we have communion with God in the doctrine we contend for - then shall we be garrisoned by the grace of God against all the assaults of men." (John Owens) It was not my intention to attack, but to warn you regarding the consequences of adding works or ritual cleansing to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I regret that you took my chastisement as enmity against you personnaly. The following is from a sermon given by John Piper: "The main thing I want to say is that doctrinal controversy is essential and deadly. And the attitude toward controversy in various groups of Christians depends largely on which of these two they feel most strongly. Is it essential or is it deadly? My plea is that at Bethlehem (Piper's Church) we believe and feel both of these. Controversy is essential where precious truth is rejected or distorted. And controversy is deadly where disputation about truth dominates exultation in truth. The reason controversy is essential in the face of rejection and distortion is that God has ordained that the truth be maintained in the world partly by human defense. For example, Paul says in Philippians 1:7 that he is in prison for the "defense and confirmation of the gospel." And Jude 3 says that we should "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." And Acts 17:2-3 says that Paul's custom in the synagogue was to "reason" from the Scriptures and "explain and give evidence" that Jesus was the Christ. So the preservation and transmission of precious truth from person to person and generation and generation may require controversy where truth is rejected or distorted. But controversy is also deadly because it feels threatening and so it tends to stir up defensiveness and anger. It's deadly also because it focuses on the reasons for truth rather than the reality behind truth, and so tends to replace exultation in the truth with disputation about the truth. This is deadly because thinking rightly about truth is not an end in itself; it's a means toward the goal of love and worship. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:5 that "the goal of our instruction is love." And he prayed in Philippians 1:9-11 that our "love . . . abound in knowledge . . . unto the glory and praise of God." Controversy tends to threaten both love and praise. It's hard to revel in a love poem while arguing with someone about whether or not your sweetheart wrote it." I would hope that you put your feelings toward my unwise remark aside and consider the context of my post instead. John |
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6 | Is baptism a work? | NT general Archive 1 | Teacher | 66666 | ||
If your statement in reference to my screen name was not intended as a barb, I will cast my feelings aside. Thank you. John Piper seems to be an intelligent man. What he says is very sobering and should be understood by all. The fact of the matter is that some people take a certain group of scripture and use it to defend their belief, others take another group of scripture and use it to defend their belief. What should be taking place is the first group should merge with the second and the all of the scripture studied and application made. All examples of conversion or discussion that includes performance of or references to baptism (water baptism into Christ), respectively, were recorded for a reason. Some say that it is what a person already saved does as an outward sign of their salvation. Some say it must be performed in order to be saved. Only one is correct. Which one does the bible support? Passages used to support the idea that baptism is not necessary speak nothing of baptism so how can they be used to refute it. On the other hand, passages that speak of baptism either relate it to forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16), coming in contact with Christ (Rom 6:4, Col 2:12), or as an act of obedience unto salvation (1 Pet 3:21). Baptism is no more a work than hearing the word of God, believing the word of God, repenting of sins, and confessing Christ before men are. But this is where many in the religious world stop. It doesn't stop until we come in contact with the death of Christ and we do that through baptism (again, Rom 6:4, Col 2:12). If you choose not to accept the entire teaching of the bible that is up to you. There is just too much supporting evidence in the bible in favor of baptism being necessary to obey and please God to honestly deny it. |
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