Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
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: Isn't Baptism neccessary for salvation?? |
Bible Note: Greetings, disciplerami; If God requires baptism for salvation then it seems he has placed enormous practical obstacles before the new believer. Below are some statements that seem to follow from your position. If you could show that any of them are incorrect, it might help to understand your position. 1. One cannot baptize oneself. There are no examples or any mention of such a thing in the Bible. 2. If one cannot baptize oneself, then God has ordained that no one can or will be saved without the participation of another human being. Of course, God is sovereign and can save anyone he pleases, but that fact offers no guidance for those who are earnestly seeking him. 3. If the participation of another human being is required, it would be helpful to know whether or not that person is qualified for the job. For example, I wonder if a non-believer or an unsaved person can baptize. Can a Hindu who knows the right words or a huckster posing as an evangelist or an unsaved preacher who thought it an attractive line of work baptize? Jesus' commission was to his disciples, not to unbelievers. And there are no examples in the Bible of unbelievers baptizing. So it seems the baptizer must be a saved believer. 4. If the baptizer must be a saved believer, then the new believer must know what only God and the would-be baptizer know - whether or not the baptizer is saved. If we just assume that God will always provide a saved baptizer, then we have to assume that everyone who ever responded to a huckster's alter call is deluded and condemned (even though Paul said in Phillipians 1:15-18 that it's the message, not the messenger). Or, we could assume it is only necessary that the new believer earnestly seek a qualified baptizer, but the Bible gives no guidance. In Acts, the people who were told to be baptized were told in person by a qualified baptizer; so this problem never arose. 5. Unlike the examples in Acts, not everyone comes to faith in the presence of a qualified baptizer. So new believers who come to faith in Jesus in isolation are not saved. Persons who are given a Bible or hear a passing missionary or listen to a Christian radio station and believe are stuck in limbo if no qualified baptizer (whatever that may be) is nearby. They must wait for one to show up or go seek and hope to recognize one. There can be no battlefield or deathbed conversions; the thief on the cross was the last one. 6. Peter's sermon in Acts 2 was not very forthcoming. He quoted Joel - "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" - without qualification. But he should have added "and, oh, by the way, Joel's words aren't really applicable anymore. Not only do you have to call upon the name of the Lord, but now that you have killed Jesus, you also have to be baptized to be saved". To mention baptism as a requirement only after the main message was kind of a bait-and-switch tactic. We can't accept that Peter was guilty of shady dealings; Tim's explanation of Acts 2:38 solves that problem. Or, we could assume that Joel's message was only to his OT listeners and that it was no longer valid or sufficient by the time Peter quoted it. But then we're back in the same dilemma. Why would God inspire Peter to quote an invalid or insufficient prophecy? I don't expect you will change my mind (although forum members have changed my mind in the past, so is is possible). Nor do I expect to change yours. But since this a "place of ideas", I assume you might be willing to support yours by showing me my errors Thanks. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |