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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. |
Bible Question:
Is it true that only baptized believers have an unrestricted privilege of approaching Jehovah in prayer? Also; Does a person have to be baptized, in order to be saved? |
Bible Answer: Romans 10:1-4,12:1-3,14:1,22-23 The answer is, what do you believe about it? The Holy Spirit works in each of us through our reason and conscience, telling us what is right. The malefactor believed in Jesus as Messiah, and confessed (his sin, and) with his mouth that Jesus was Lord (capable of saving him). (In Luke 23:42-44 the malefactor said Lord, remember me when thou comest into your kingdom-Jesus' response was Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise). Further, the malefactor wasn't baptized with water, and he had an unrestricted privilege of approaching Jehovah in prayer, but I believe the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the necessary baptism. The immersion or christening is an outward symbol or ritual of the Holy Spirit's cleansing. Romans 14:1 touches on ritual. Abraham wasn't baptized; he wasn't even circumcised until way after God accepted him as righteous based on faith. But Paul says in Ephesians 4:6-12 that God is in all of us, and Jesus went down to hell, preached the gospel to its tenants and took those souls who believed before Jesus came, to heaven with him, and I'm sure this includes all the old testament prophets, who were unbaptized. We cannot, indeed must not judge another's salvation, but we can be assured of our own, by resting on the promise of Romans 10:9. God loves (and listens to the prayers of) you and me and everyone--the whore, the drug addict, the insufferable snob--and that's the true meaning of John 3:16, 17. But there's an objective part (God so loved the world) and a subjective part (that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life). I pray that you'll hear God's saving voice of love and forgiveness over the enemy's ranting of guilt. Yes, we are all guilty, but we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus. That's why we pray in Jesus's name. |