Dear Brother
Faull,
I confronted my preacher about
his lack of mentioning baptism. I
am not sure that any newcomer
understands how to be saved
when visiting my church.
I think baptism particularly is
diminished from its proper place
into an act that is symbolic of salvation, but not actually
part of it; I don't subscribe to that. I want the simple Bible
truth to be preached and obeyed without any kind of
philosophic mumbo-jumbo.
I was told to preach Christ, not baptism. In my
understanding, I am preaching Christ. I only call up the
issue of baptism because it is precisely what seems to
be de-emphasized inordinately.
ANSWER
Phillip preached unto the Eunuch "Jesus" and the
Eunuch said "here is water what doth hinder me to be
baptized." Wonder how he knew he had to be
baptized just because he preached unto him Jesus. "
Just preach Jesus" is a cop out. When you preach Jesus
you surely tell his promise "He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved and he that believeth not shall
be damned."
Who would talk about a Savior and not say what the
Savior said you had to be do to be saved?
He said, therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins:
for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your
sins.” John 8:24
He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth
on me hath everlasting life." John 6:47
He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation;
but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24
He said, ”…if you do not confess me before men I will
not confess you before my father in Heaven.” Luke 12:8-
9
He said, “If you do not repent you will likewise perish”.
Luke 13:3
He said, “Except you are born of the water and the Spirit
you CANNOT enter into the kingdom of God”. John 3:5
He said, “Whosoever believes and is baptized shall be
saved”. Mark 16:16
He said, “Whosoever is ashamed of me AND MY
WORDS of him I will be ashamed”. Luke 9:26
Those who will talk about the Man and will not tell THE
PLAN OF THE MAN is OBVIOUSLY ASHAMED OF
THE MAN AND HIS WORDS.
Such a man is in a precarious position. It is one I would
not want to be in for any amount of money, praise,
acceptance, approval, salary, excuse, or numbers who
hear me preach.
God knows what men need. He put baptism in the plan.
Baptism is the point of pardon and if a preacher will not
tell people where the point of pardon is, he is not a
faithful preacher.
He is no better than a doctor who would not tell a person
of a cure for cancer when he knew of the medicine that
would cleanse them of the disease.
People have a sin problem and baptism into Christ is
where one receives the remission of sins and the Gift of
the Holy Spirit. In Christian baptism we get rid of the
guilt of sin, the consequence of sin, and the power of
sin.
A man who will not tell sinners that, is no preacher of
Jesus Christ
Baptism is a commandment after salvation, not a requirement of salvation. Jesus did it all on the cross. It is however a sign of our true commitment.
ReplyDeleteDitto. Romans 4:5 says, But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
DeleteGreetings Jerry and Kevin,
DeleteGod has always expected man to obey His commands as an avenue to receive His blessings. This concept is so common that it can be labeled as tacit. When the ancient Israelites were dying from the serpent bites (Numbers 21:9) God commanded them to look upon the brass snake to be saved. It was the act of gazing at the snake that was the point of healing. Having faith that God would heal them was not enough, God wanted them healed but on His terms, without their obedience, they would have died in the wilderness. The gazing was not an attempt at earning the healing just the point of contact with the healing.
The healing of the blind man at the Pool of Siloam (John 9:7) is another clear example of a necessary act of obedience. The blind man was told to go and wash. If he would have decided that he could just stay where he was and have faith that he would be healed, he would have died blind. His washing was not an attempt to merit the healing, just common sense obedience, nothing more and to label it a work is foolish.
There are many more examples in the Bible of this simple concept:
a. Naaman the Leper washing seven times to be healed. (2nd Kings 5)
b. Peter catching the fish after dropping the net.(John 21:6)
c. Saul being healed after finding Ananias (Acts 22:10-13)
d. Elijah fleeing to the Brook of Chorath to be fed. (1st Kings 17)
e.The Jews covering their door frames with blood for the angel of death to pass over them. (Exodus 12:23)
f. etc.etc.etc.
You are missing the point of Romans 4:5, it is the one who believes (trust) who is saved and with that trust comes the understanding to following God's avenue of salvation. Without this type of faith, many who proclaim to be Christian are not following the straight and narrow path but are turning to the left or right (Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 4:27, Joshua 1:7) etc.
Kevin, for your comment to be true the verses in Mr. Faull's article should not exist, but they do and can not be ignored. For the Bible to be consistent obedience should be part of the plan of salvation. We are told to "knock and the door will open" (Matthew 7:7-8). How sad to stand at the door and refuse to knock afraid that the knocking could be seen as a work.
I agree with obedience being a result of true salvation, just saying that there are times when baptism has not taken place and it does not mean one is not saved. Salvation (faith) produces works and works reflect our faith. They go hand in hand as Paul and James would write.
DeleteGreetings Jerry Carroll.
DeleteObedience is not a result of salvation, it is the avenue to salvation. When Jesus gave the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-18) he commanded baptism, it is not wise to try to find loopholes by looking for exceptions. ALL ten examples of conversions have baptism as part of the act of salvation. There is no logical way to read the Great Commission and come away with the notion that baptism and obedience in general are not part of the commission itself.
If you are telling people that confessing Jesus as Lord, repentance, baptism or faithfulness unto death are works and not needed for salvation, you are on the wrong side of the gospel and leading people to their doom. Believing unto salvation is and has always been a false concept that goes against the "flow and form" of the scriptures. If believing in Jesus was all that was needed, verses such as, "To the Jews who believed in Him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really My disciples." (John 8:31) would not exist.
Again, faithful obedience leads to salvation not salvation leads to faithful obedience.