Hi all, I was baptized today and wanted to encourage everyone here to learn about the Gospel and what is involved. There are many different Christian faiths, but the key to understanding the Gospel involves three things...repent, baptism and salvation. Repent or returning from your sin is the hardest one for most people, as living without sin or trying not to sin is truly difficult. Baptism is the symbolic removal of sin via immersion with Christs blessing. Salvation is the concept of accepting Jesus as your personal savior and understanding that it comes through him. This is just a snippet of the ideas involved but I cannot recommend enough researching these topics learning for yourself. God Bless, V.
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There is nothing symbolic about baptism…it is a work of God washing away your sins, and necessary for salvation. Baptism is the means by which Christ saves.
This is not true, salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Absolutely true. It represents the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for the believer as he is laid back into the water, submerged and then raised up. Baptism doesn't save; it is the outward expression of the saving God has already done.
Correct, the true baptism is by the Holy Spirit. Your heart is cut away from your flesh and filled with the Spirit. There is nothing wrong with water baptism as a show of faith, but it doesn't bring salvation.
I see what you're saying in simplicity. However, I think you are both right. Baptism gives you spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit. The symbolic sprinkling or submersion of water is an outward symbol of a spiritual covenant. One of the gifts of the Spirit is salvation. That never goes away. Faith in Jesus Christ leads one to baptism and that salvation never departs.
Since Baptism is a work of God, not man…to say baptism saves does not contradict salvation by faith in Christ alone…baptism is a means of grace. 1 Peter 3:21.
ACTS chapter 2 says that you must be repent (turn away from your sins), be baptized in Jesus name (take the name which represents authority, without a name it has no authority. Baptism is the washing away of the sin that you repented of), and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Baptism is as essential as repentance. Without baptism, there is no washing away of sins. At the wedding supper, the servants were told to cast out the man without a wedding garment. You must come in without spot or blemish, with the wedding garment on. To say that Baptism is not as essential as salvation, is to say that you can repent and just walk in still dirty without a bath. You soap up and scrub at the dirt on yourself in the shower, and you've got dirt that has been loosened by the soap, but if its not rinsed off by the water, then the dirt is still there.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the stories of men from different walks of life, telling the story of the life of Jesus on this earth from each one's perspective. Matthew was a rough man that liked to eat, so everything was in terms of food, among other things. Luke's account was with the perspective of a physician. The book of ACTS is the actions of the church. It is where God/Jesus came back in the spirit, as the Comforter, to dwell inside of us when we turn our lives over to him in the right way. Acts is where you find your salvation. Every book after the book of Acts, is a letter to a church, such as a letter to the church at Rome, or a letter to the church at Corinth. These books are telling people that are already saved from the book of Acts experience, how to stay saved, and how to treat each other, how to treat the prodigal/backslidden person, and how to treat sinners not yet saved. I challenge you all to find anywhere in the New Testament where anyone was saved without Baptism, and where anyone after Jesus died on the cross and rose again, was baptized and other way than in Jesus Name!
The thief who hung next to Jesus was saved. Was he baptized?
When did Jesus commission the Sacrament? Before or after He hung on the cross?
There were a lot of things that He said before the cross, like love your neighbor as yourself, or do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. He preached his greatest message at the sermon on the mount, but, that was all in preparation for what would be after His resurrection. He said that He would tear down the temple and rebuild it in 3 days. Everything that Jesus said and did as He walked on the earth, was to prepare us for after the cross. Man created the Trinity and the use of sacraments, beginning in 285-325 AD.
He was before the resurrection. He was still under the old covenant. The New Testament Grace dispensation did not start until after He arose and ascended up in to Heaven. Jesus healed the man with the withered hand, and then told him that his sins were forgiven him. Jesus, who is God, robed in flesh, told the thief that he would be with Him that day. He did it for Enoch, he did it for Elijah, so I assume he could do it for a man that asked personally for forgiveness at that time. All power and all authority are in Jesus. Anyone, after the resurrection and return of Jesus Christ as the comforter, are under the new covenant, beginning at Act chapter 2.
By asserting this, you are saying that what Jesus did was not enough to save you and that YOU must do something to partake in your salvation (baptism.) While baptism is good and believers should be baptized, it has nothing to do with one's actual salvation. It's an insult to God to say His gift is not sufficient.
Is the baptism of Christ a work of God or of men?
Of course, Jesus gave instructions to baptize in the name of the Father, Son & the HOLY SPIRIT