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NASB | Romans 6:4 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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 6:4 We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in newness of life [abandoning our old ways]. |
Subject: What if you don't obey that command? |
Bible Note: "this is some subject!!" No kidding. This was the same center of attention when I began my two-week vacation from the forum. Nice to see that the massive size of this beaten-to-death subject is still causing my computer to overheat every time I load this thread. You wrote: " Now, given my case, since I was not water baptized immediately after making my confession, was I being disobedient to God?" While I do not believe baptism is an action that must precede salvation, I do think that too many churches make light of it. The biblical model does seem to be getting baptized upon profession of faith (at least in the "believer's baptism" model). I, unfortunately, waited much longer than you did between my profession of faith and my baptism, due in part to the fact that I grew up in such an environment of "easy-believism" that no one once approached me and encouraged me to get baptized. Was I justified before God in the interim period? Yes. Was I being disobedient? I would have to answer "yes" to that as well. "If God commands that after we believe, we get baptized immediately, was my getting water baptized weeks later done in vain? " Of course not. But I personally have a problem with the frequent temporal lag between profession and baptism, as if it were simply a nice "extra." It is important, it is commanded, and it is a means of grace; it just isn't a means of grace that JUSTIFIES us before God. --Joe! |