Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 1 John 5:6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 John 5:6 This is He who came through water and blood [His baptism and death], Jesus Christ--not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. It is the [Holy] Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. [He is the essence and origin of truth itself.] |
Subject: What does baptism consist? |
Bible Note: Greetings Arrow1, Salvation through Jesus Christ means to be saved from sin and death and hell unto righteousness and heaven and everlasting life. Salvation has past, present and future aspects: we are saved from the penalty of past sin through Christ's atoning death on the cross, from the power of sin through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives right now, and ultimately from the very presence of sin when we are in heaven. This question was asked by the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:30, and was forthrightly and simply answered by the Apostle Paul when he said: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). Jesus Himself said: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16, KJV). Therefore, personal faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and of His victorious death and resurrection is the means by which salvation is received. The substitutionary death of Christ for our sins is the basis on which God counts us as justified in saving us through faith, and this is demonstrated and guaranteed in the victorious bodily resurrection of Christ from the grave. But natural man is proud and tends to resist the idea that there is nothing he can do to save himself, and that he must trust in Jesus Christ to do it all. However: 1) A person cannot be saved by believing and practicing any religion he or she chooses (Acts 4:12). 2) A person is not saved by keeping God's laws, for there is no one who can keep His law perfectly (Galatians 3:10; Romans 3:10,23). 3) No one can be saved through doing good works. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5). 4) Baptism is not the means of salvation. Paul said: "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel" (1 Cor. 1:17). The gospel, by definition, is the "good news" of Christ's atoning death and resurrection, and it is by believing the gospel, not by baptism, that men are saved (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The thief on the cross was saved, but never baptized (Luke 23:42,43). 5) We are not saved by joining a church. To the members of the church in Laodicea, for example, Christ said: "Because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16, KJV). It is extremely important to be baptized and do good works with the right motive. If the unsaved person does them to earn salvation, he is deceiving himself and "frustrating the grace of God" (Galatians 2:21, KJV). The true Christian does these and other good works out of love and gratitude to the Lord Jesus for saving him (2 Cor. 5:14,15). "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV) Blessings to you, Makarios |