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NASB | 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. |
Subject: why is baptism important |
Bible Note: The Greek word 'eis' can NOT mean "because of". One of the wonderful things about Greek is that is is far more explicit than English. Certainly in English 'for' can mean 'because of' but in Greek, the word 'eis' does not carry this meaning. Furthermore -- though I believe I have shown ample evidence that baptism is an essential element of salvation I can also show that 'faith alone' is not enough to save you. In fact the ONLY verse in the entire Bible that mentions 'faith alone' (Do the search yourself if you doubt this) is in James 2:24 -- You see that a man is justified by works and not by FAITH ALONE. (NASB, emphasis mine). The root meaning of the word 'eis' is 'into'. This passage should have, more properly, been translated "Repent and be baptised INTO the remission of sins." Correct translation in the first place would have removed all doubt about this issue. Proper interpretation cannot be based on ambiguous English words -- It must be based on proper translation of the original language. I have a dear brother in my congregation who has just finished 3 years ministerial training. There are at least 7 other members of the congregation (including myself) who have had training that included a study Koine Greek. We have already had to correct interpretation of this young man because of conclusions based on poor or ambiguous English translation of Scripture. To rephrase your last statement: "Hence, this verse, properly interpreted, indicates that water baptism IS CONCURRENT WITH the salvation experience." Tim |