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NASB | 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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:5 Jesus answered, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. [Ezek 36:25-27] |
Subject: Where does it say "MUST be baptised" |
Bible Note: Basically, I guess you're seeing my responses as dodges because there is no specific verse in the Bible that has all the steps of salvation in a nice perfect, 1-2-3 style format. We have to study all the examples of God's disciples following the instruction/teaching from the Apostles. I work in an office environment that is guided by contract law so that's the mentality I've developed when I study God's word. Since there is no Standard Operating Procedure as mentioned above for this gift of salvation, we're forced to study all of God's Word to come up with a conclusion, just like we do with civil law or contract law. We look for precedents and specific phrases and try to make sense of it all. I'm convinced that God's Word does NOT contradict itself but some of the passages are difficult to understand. I'm also convinced that if we take all the passages that seem to be related to this subject of accepting salvation from God, and then put those actions in some kind of logical flow, we can be assured we have God's plan of salvation. Now, if one of those steps in that process is too much, it couldn't hurt; we'll have followed the process as closely as we could. In this sense we "covered all the bases" and then some but no harm done. BUT however, if we were to leave one of those steps out of the process and meet God not having put our faith in His process, what can we possibly say to our God on Judgement Day? How can anyone argue with this kind of logic? But in an effort to be fair, I'd like to challenge you to quote Book, Chapter and verse in one passage where you get your specific steps to salvation. Tell me where God specifically tells anyone the exact process in a step-by-step fashion what it takes to be saved. Remember we're talking about one specific passage from one Bible person, or one single example that's all inclusive. I'd love to hear from anyone on the Forum take up this challenge. God bless you all. Just so we're clear on this process, God's process. The steps as I see them is: 1) Hear the Word of God, the Gospel of Christ 2) Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God 3) Repent of one's sins which includes the resolve to not go back to a life of intentional sin 4) Be baptized for the remission of sins, contacting the blood of Jesus in faith 5) Live faithfully the christian life to death or to the end of time, this dispensation whereupon the Lord comes. |