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NASB | Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Hebrews 11:7 By faith [with confidence in God and His word] Noah, being warned by God about events not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family. By this [act of obedience] he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith. [Gen 6:13-22] |
Subject: Just what is the purpose of baptism? |
Bible Note: I can only speak from experience. Our first son was about 10 or 11 years old when he first came to me and his father about wanting to baptized and become a christian. My spouse and I looked at each other and agreed to talk about this at length at home. When we got home, we started talking to Josh, asking him questions about christianity. What did he need to do to become one? Why was it important to him? Did he realize the costs or the sacrifice involved? He did answer some of the questions correctly as he had been going to Bible classes all his life. He didn't know them all in spite of being able to check his Bible, you know open book style testing. After several more weeks of questioning and much discussion between us as his parents, Josh decided that he wasn't quite ready. We agreed. However, about a year and half later, Josh was ready. He answered those questions, this time with conviction and showed us in the Bible where those answers were to be found. Last of all, we reminded him of the costs and the sacrifices he must make. The next day, Josh was baptized and did indeed become a christian at the dear sweet age of 13. Now, several years later our son, that same Josh got a tatoo on his arm, against the advice of us, his parents. He has also displayed other areas of his life in which he has a weakness but he continues to struggle with His Lord. He has finally given up smoking and is now moving on to some of the other areas of weakness in his life. As you can imagine, all parents, especially christian parents who have lived their whole life in a christian home like I have, watch our children live and grow in a physical world and strive to develop a real and genuine spiritual relationship with God, the Father of all. Believe me, I have some small tidbit of knowledge and experience about gradually getting closer and closer to God both before and after our point of salvation. I'm convinced God realizes this difficulty in our human condition. Paul discusses this difficulty in Romans 7 and if Paul at this time of his life had difficulty with the baptismal meausre of the Holy Spirit living within him, you can imagine how much more difficult it is for us, without that Aid. Blessings to you in posing a good question. Country Girl |