Subject: Is baptism a work? |
Bible Note: Tim: 1. Gal 3:5 - again, God giving us the Spirit doesn't tell how He does it - simply implies that He does. 2. By definition, any of the Epistles were written to those already Christians - what did Peter say in Acts 2:38 Acts 2:38, "Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."" This is the FIRST directive given by an Apostle under the New Covenant on the Day of Pentacost (Jesus had JUST left them and gave them the Great Commission Mt 28:19) and it is pretty clear - at least to me. 3. Therefore, when I read ANY of the Epistles that were written to Christians I assume that they had already: 1. Declared Jesus Lord of their Life; 2. Repented of their sins; and 3. were baptized so they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. By definition, read the opening remarks of all the Epistles. They are written to existing Christian churches or existing ministers of Christ - therefore the scripture has to be taken in context of that. The Gospels were written to those wanting to become Christians and even Jesus said you must be "born again" of the water and the spirit. So you read the Gospels to learn how to become a Christian and you read the Epistles to learn how to live as a Christian - that is my take on it. Finally, to your last point is doesn't say they were not baptized. I could tell you that I went to Buffalo and not tell you that I happen to go in a car, but I did. I just happened to leave that fact out. Reading exclusions from scripture has been shown wrong by various concurrent testimonies regarding the Resurrection in the Gospel - all read a little different and are simply different perspectives of the same event. Tim, again the scary part of this is that scripture says there is "one baptism" - we all need to figure it out for ourselves. However, given that the road to destruction is wide and the path to heaven is narrow - by definition, a lot of truly sincere people will be wrong. All I know is that my reading of the Bible - the Great Commission, Peter on Pentacost, etc. - all point out to the significance of baptism. Clearly, this is against what has been preached since the evangelical "road shows" in the mid 20th centurey where alter calls were the "main event." Note, that was an invention of the 20th century Bible road shows - nothing in scripture about "praying Jesus into your heart." Tim, the key assumption that we are both challenging is "who" is the scripture talking to and then what is the context. My fundamental premise is that all Epistles are written to already existing Christians - struggling at times maybe - but Christians nonetheless. If one believes this then one must look deeper to determine how they became Christians in the first place. Between the already mentioned Great Commission (Mt 28:19), Peter's response to "what do we do?", and Paul's insistence on having the various folks he converted baptized tells me that baptism is significant. It is NOT an "after thought" of becoming a Christian - because then, again by definition it becomes an "act" and we both know you are saved by grace, not by deeds. Good dialogue - I have spent a lot of time on this subject. Especially growing up Roman Catholic and then leaving the church because of the wrongs that I personally saw in the church, has caused me to really understand the significance of baptism. Note, and as you know, the Catholic practice of infant baptism has absolutely no Biblical foundation. Tim,what you believe is what the majority of "Christians" believe - I know I am in the minority. Nonetheless, I truly believe I received the gift of the Holy Spirit when I was baptized on 16 apr 00 and that my sins were washed away. All the best to you in your journey. A Disciple of Christ. Don |