Subject: Unforgivable sin |
Bible Note: The basis of salvation is the death of Christ on the cross. Until I come in contact with this death I am lost. I come in contact with this death through faith that Christ died for the sins of the world and that through him I am redeemed. This is an overview of salvation. There are more specific things that must be considered. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. So what is involved with believing? First and foremost we must believe in Christ. Who He is, what He did, and for what purpose. Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." In an earlier post you cited scripture containing the phrase "will be saved". Would you agree that the word "shall" is a form of "will" (Mk 16.16)? Matt 10:22, Mk 13:13 "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. Matt 24:13 "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. The account of Matthew includes these two phrases above. But it also contains, "Matt 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Matt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Matt 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Mark 16:16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. John 10:9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. John's account also includes John 3:5 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. Jesus speaks of two "births" here, one of water (baptism), one of spirit, response to the gospel of Christ. Later in the text Jesus uses an example. John 3:14 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. Those who were bitten by the serpents had to look upon the serpent Moses lifted up in order to be healed. Was it this act that saved them or their belief that they would be saved if they looked upon the serpent. If they didn't look upon the serpent with belief would they be healed? No. The same is with baptism. Those that are bitten by sin must be baptized before it is remitted (Acts 2.38, 22.16), believing it will be once they do. A sinner is not healed unless they do. Acts 2:21 'AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.' You stop short of the complete story. Acts 11:14 and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.' We have already discussed this at length. Cornelius's salvation began when he was baptized. Acts 16:31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." Another example of stopping short of the complete story. What happens in vs 32, 33. The word of the Lord was spoken to them and they were baptized. Rom 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Rom 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Rom 10:13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." The same person who wrote the passages above in Romans also wrote Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 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. 5 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, 6 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; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. When do we come in contact with Christ's death? When are we buried with him? When do we walk in newness of life? When do we become united with him? When is our old self crucified? When is our body of sin done away with? When are we freed from sin? When we are baptized. |