Bible Question: Let me see if I'm understanding you correctly, The book of Galatians, ;1,2Cor.;Eph;Col;Phil;Romans;etc. were written to baptized believers or unbaptized believers? You put what Jesus tells us to do to be saved, (to be baptized) in the same category as the Law of Moses! 1 John 2:4 "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a lair, and the truth is not in him". How can John say this about believers, and you say Paul in his writing is excluding baptism, when Jesus is the one who told his disciples to preach and teach men what to do to be saved. Jesus told Ananias to tell Saul to "arise and be baptized and wash away his sins" Acts 22:16. 1 John 5:4-12 mainly vs.6-8 "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood, And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. vs.7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. vs.8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. vs. If we receive the witness fo men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. From the above passages what do we learn, We need to have faith in what God tells us to do, and do it without questions! Why do you look for a way out of what Jesus said? Do we as men dictate the terms of salvation or does God dictate the terms? |
Bible Answer: "The book of Galatians, ;1,2Cor.;Eph;Col;Phil;Romans;etc. were written to baptized believers or unbaptized believers?" They were written to churches, made up mostly of baptized believers (with some baptized unbelievers mixed in, to be sure). There was no concept of an unbaptized believer in the New Testament, just like there should not be a concept of an unbaptized believer today. You wrote: "You put what Jesus tells us to do to be saved, (to be baptized) in the same category as the Law of Moses!" I don't put baptism in the category of what Jesus tells us to do in order to be saved. I know: Mark 16:16. Please cite for me ANY other verse where Jesus links baptism and salvation. As has been clearly pointed out, that section of Mark may not be the divinely-inspired writing of Mark. You believing it was definitely in the autographs is a an article of faith on your part and not an extablished fact. You wrote: "1 John 2:4 "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a lair, and the truth is not in him". You are absolutely right. My obedience in baptism is evidence that I do indeed know Him, but it is not the means by which I came to know Him. 'Jesus told Ananias to tell Saul to "arise and be baptized and wash away his sins" Acts 22:16.' He certainly did. He also told a crowd of people, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Do you take this to mean that we should be cannibals? Jesus said of the bread: "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Do you hold it to be the literal body of Christ? Are we really eating Him? The sacramental elements point to spiritual realities; they do not create them. The water in baptism is a sign of washing away sins, just like the bread and the cup are the sign of Christ's body being offered for His people. The sign of baptism accompanies the reality of regeneration, but it is not the same thing as regeneration. You wrote: "We need to have faith in what God tells us to do, and do it without questions!" Like I told mouse2, that statement makes no sense. We can have faith in God and his character. We can have faith in what Christ accomplished. How does one have faith in a command? When you were a child, and your mother told you to clean your room, did you have faith in that commandment? There is nothing to have faith in! One can have faith in declaratives (the earth is round; God is one; Jesus's death paid the penalty for my sins). One either obeys or disobeys imperatives (honor your father and mother; eat your peas; don't play in traffic; be baptized). One is faith; the other is obedience. One results from the other, but they are not the same thing. --Joe! |