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NASB | Romans 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; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 10:9 because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. |
Subject: when a I saved and when baptised |
Bible Note: Dear Steve, Thank you for your reply and please forgive my delayed response. Your shear number of verses require a bit of work to address! You previously wrote in part: “If Acts 2:38 is interpreted as you interpret it, then we must reject other scripture. For example, what do you do with the following scriptures if your interpretation of Acts 2:38 is correct (John 3:16, Romans 4:1-17, Romans 11:6, Galatians 3:8-9, Ephesians 2:8-9, etc...)?” Letting Acts 2:38 speak for itself (as we should with all scripture), the gift of the Holy Spirit (salvation) is only received after water baptism. We should note that this is a gift received by all those who have believed, confessed, repented and are baptized. The baptism you refer to for Cornelius and his family was the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Only completed twice in the Christian Age; once for the first Gentile converts and once for the first Jewish converts (the Apostles). Thus we have the example of the very first preaching of the Gospel of Christ: Acts 2:38 38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. NAS Now, the other verses you list as being irreconcilable are: John 3:16 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. NAS We should note that “should” as in “should not perish” is completely conditional and must be subject to something else (i.e. obedience) and thus can not be honestly used to support the “grace alone” doctrine. Romans 4:3 3 For what does the Scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." NAS We know that Abraham believed God because he did what he was commanded to do. He moved to another land, he offered up his son, etc.. All things requiring action (James 2:21-23) Romans 11:6-7 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. NAS The works referenced are works of the Mosaic Law. Fulfilled by Christ and no longer applicable (Romans 11:1-24) Galatians 3:6 6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. NAS It was only though Abraham’s actions that his faith was proven and the previous scripture fulfilled (James 2:21-23). Finally, Ephesians 2:8-9 simply does not say God requires nothing of His people for salvation. In fact, verse 10 specifically states that we were created for the good works God has commanded of all Christians. The passage, in context, instructs us that God’s plan of salvation was not brought about by any action of man, either Jew or Gentile, but is God’s gift to man through Christ Jesus. There was nothing any of us could have done to cause God to send His Son to be our sacrifice for sin. It was solely His choice; His design. Ephesians 2:8-10 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. NAS As an added bonus, we can also note that the Apostle Paul taught the reason for his own water baptism was to wash away sins. Acts 22:16-17 16'And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.' NAS If Paul’s sins had not been cleansed, how could he have been saved? In fact, he was not saved until he emerged from the waters of baptism, having fulfilled God’s commandment leading to eternal life. Best regards, AO |