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Water Baptism
Water baptism is a testimonial of faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Water baptism has never been, nor will it ever be a
means of securing the remission of sins.
The Greek word "baptizo" has been transliterated in our English
Bibles. The translators simply replaced the "o" with an "e". This is
called a transliteration not a translation, because in true translation work
the meaning of the work is carried over from one language into another.
Therefore the precise meaning of the word is not conveyed. If you consult
the finest Greek lexicons or exhaustive concordances, you will always find
that the word "baptizo" means "to dip" or "to immerse." The Greek language
has another word for "sprinkle." Careful examination will show that the
word "rhantizo" (sprinkle) is never used in connection with the ordinance of
baptism.
Usually when people hear the word "baptism," they immediately think of
water baptism. This has caused untold confusion concerning the doctrine of
water baptism. To demonstrate that baptism doesn't always refer to water
baptism, we will list ten different baptisms taught in the Bible. Most are
not related to water at all.
1) the baptism of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11)
2) the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11)
3) the baptism of fire (HELL) (Matthew 3:11)
4) the baptism of Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:13-17)
5) the baptism of death (Matthew 20:22)
6) the baptism of pots and pans (Mark 7:4)
7) the baptism of Moses (I Corinthians 10:2)
8) the baptism of believers (Acts 8:36-37)
9) the baptism of the Old Testament (Hebrews 9:10)
10) the baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts2:38; I
Corinthians 6:11)
We know that water
baptism is not a condition of salvation. Salvation is God's gift (Romans
6:23) and is received by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Bible teaches that
when a person believes the gospel message (death, burial and resurrection)
of Jesus Christ, that person is saved (when he believes or trusts that
message). Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." We
learn from I Corinthians 1:17 that water baptism is not a part of the gospel
message that saves. "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel." Here the gospel and water baptism are contrasted. Notice verse 14
where Paul the Apostle says, "I thank God that I baptized none of you, but
Crispus and Gaius." Think with me! If water baptism were a part of the
gospel and necessary to salvation, Paul the Apostle would be saying, "I
thank God none of you are saved." This is obviously unthinkable. So
therefore, we learn without question that water baptism is not part of the
saving message (gospel); it is not a condition of salvation.
The two baptisms that relate to heaven or hell.
The two baptisms that determine destination are the baptism of the Holy
Spirit and the baptism of fire. Jesus said, "He that believeth on Him is
not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John
3:18)." Jesus Christ baptizes all believers the moment that they believe
with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ will baptize all
unbelievers with fire when they are immersed in the everlasting lake of
fire, the eternal hell. A believer will never experience the baptism of
fire. An unbeliever will never experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be
Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to
drink into one Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13)." The baptism of the Holy
Spirit is the operation of God whereby we are placed into the body of
Christ. Every child of God has it. It occurs upon belief.
The baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins also
occurs at the moment of belief (Acts 2:38; I Corinthians 6:11). It deals
with the forgiveness aspect of our salvation whereas the baptism of the Holy
Spirit deals with our placement into the body of Christ. "But ye are
washed…in the name of the Lord Jesus (I Corinthians 6:11)." See also Acts
10:43, "To Him give all the prophets witness that through His name,
whosoever believeth in him shall receive the remission of sins." In this
passage in Acts 10, the people were saved and received the Holy Spirit
before ever being water baptized. Water baptism clearly came after
salvation. Peter says, "Can any man forbid water that these should not be
baptized which have received the Holy Spirit as well as we (Acts 10:47)?"
Water baptism comes after salvation (Acts 10:47). If you are saved and
have not been water baptized since salvation, you should now testify to your
faith in Jesus Christ by being water baptized. For the believer water
baptism is an: 1) act of obedience to the Lord's command to be baptized, 2)
a picture of the cleansing that occurred through the blood of Christ, and 3)
a testimony of your faith in Jesus Christ.
Take advantage of the next opportunity to be baptized if you have not
been baptized. You will be saved, whether you are water baptized or not, if
you have trusted Christ as your Saviour. But there is a blessing in being
obedient as a Christian.
* Written by Dr. Hank Lindstrom
The moment you put your trust in Jesus Christ, God who can read your
mind knows, saves YOU and gives you the Gift of God, eternal Life.
You do not need anyone to pray over you, or pray for you, because this is
between you and God in heaven. Because of your new trust in the shed blood
of Jesus Christ you are now a child of God. Before you trusted in Jesus, God
was your creator but now and forevermore he will be your father.
You are saved in a moment of time, because you are trusting in the
true Savior now, not working your way to heaven day by day which is not even
possible.
Once saved you can never be lost, for any reason. This is because you were
born spiritually the moment you put your trust in Him. Just like your
physical birth which brought you into this human world, your spiritual birth
gave you a new spiritual life that is permanent. You were born-again, made
righteous and holy in Gods eyes. In fact you have the righteousness of God
himself, your are sinless and perfect in God's eyes now and that's why you
can enter into a perfect heaven.
My favorite saying is:
God will not save anyone who is
trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved.
You MUST put ALL your trust in Jesus to be
saved, trust in the blood that He shed on the cross, trust that He is God in
the flesh, trust that He made the complete payment for your sins, not just
part; He paid for ALL of your sins (past, present, and future)! Trust that
He rose again from the dead after 3 days and 3 nights, and in return for
this trust, He gives YOU Eternal Life. All false Christians put part of
their trust in Jesus and part of their trust the Church and part of their
trust in themselves. If you put 99.99% trust in Jesus and 00.01% in
something else, you will go to hell. It must be 100% trust in Jesus and what
He did and 0% in you or your church! This
information in critical... (grace always cancels works!) You are going to
hell if it's by your works or you are going to heaven by Gods grace. It's as
simple as that.
So I guess the question comes down to who
are you trusting. Are you trusting yourself to get to heaven by being a good
person and giving lots of money to your church or are you trusting Jesus,
the lamb of God, that was slain for the sins of the world to get you to
heaven? You receive the Gift of God (Eternal Life) as soon as you stop
trusting in yourself, your church, your synagogue, your mosque, your money,
or any other works and put your trust in Him and Him ALONE, Jesus Christ,
Yeshua, The King of Kings, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the
Alpha and Omega, the Mighty God.
False religions are everywhere and
they will find you, the one true God and His plan of salvation must be
found.
If all this makes sense to you and
you would like to trust Jesus as your personal Savior right now then
tell the Mighty God in Heaven of your decision to trust Jesus Christ as your
only hope of heaven. Tell Him that you are no longer putting your trust in
your actions, or your church, or your church membership, or in your money,
or in your Rabbi, or in your synagogue or your Mosque but that you are
putting all of your trust in Him and the shed blood of the cross to pay your
sin debt. Thank Him for doing it for you! Thank Him for giving you the Gift
of Eternal Life that He paid for with His life. There is no greater deed
than that of laying down your life for another.
Will you trust Jesus as your Savior
right now, the one who shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary to
pay for all your sins?
Sinners Prayer:
Lord, I admit that I'm a sinner & I don't understand a whole lot about the
bible, but I do believe that Jesus Christ died & paid for my sins in full,
by His death & shed blood on the cross. I trust right now the He died for
me, was buried & rose again from the dead and will live forever more. I
trust Jesus Christ right now to save me, to be my savior, to forgive my
sins & to give me the GIFT OF GOD Eternal Life. Amen
By reading this sinners prayer aloud, you
are putting your trust in God and His plan of salvation. You are not saved
by saying this prayer, you are saved the moment your mind made the switch
from trusting in yourself to putting your COMPLETE TRUST IN JESUS
CHRIST. That moment may have been five paragraphs up on this page or that
moment may have been on another one of our pages. You will not feel any
different, but you will be changed and changed for the better forever. Once
you have trusted Jesus as your savior and received his gift of eternal life,
this gift can NEVER be lost. You can NEVER go to hell for ANY reason.
Your past, present and future sins were paid in full the moment you put your
trust in Him. You are blameless and Holy in God's eyes now and FOREVER. If
you have eternal life today what kind of life will you have in five years?
ETERNAL! What kind of life will you have in ten years? ETERNAL!! What kind
of life will you have in 50 years? ETERNAL!!! God does not give probationary
life or temporary life, His gift is ETERNAL LIFE! Thanks be to GOD!
Why be good, now that I am assured of going to heaven? Because God's law of
sowing and reaping still applies to you and me. You will reap what you sow.
You will reap more than you sow and you will reap later than you sow. If you
drink alcohol like a fish, you will reap a diseased liver. If you smoke like
a chimney everyday, you will reap lung cancer. If you rob, murder, and steal
you will reap a life in prison. You will reap what you sow. I guarantee it!
Now that you are saved, when you do good things you WILL be rewarded here on
earth and in Heaven. And when you do bad things you WILL lose rewards that
God had planned on giving you here on earth and in Heaven. But you will NEVER lose
your guarantee of going to heaven. That can never be lost for any reason!!
You have God's word that your salvation can never be lost for any reason.
You did not earn salvation and you do not work to keep salvation! Eternal
Life, salvation, being born again, becoming a child of God, was, is,
and always will be the GIFT OF GOD.
Remember: If your not saved forever... you are not saved!
Why is this true you might ask? Because if a person is not sure that they
are saved TODAY / RIGHT NOW it means that they are still trying to be the
savior! They can't be sure they are going to heaven because they don't know
what sin's they may commit next week, next month or next year. We who have
trusted in Jesus alone, can have comfort knowing that all our sins have been
paid in full on the Cross of Calvary (past, present, and future sins). Jesus
has already died for my sins so I don't need to pay for any sin I have or
will commit in the future because Jesus already paid the price in full with
His blood. So called Christians who say that you can lose your salvation
because of suicide or murder or falling away from the church don't have a
clue what the Bible says and clearly have not trusted Jesus ALONE!
Biblical Salvation is forsaking
any other means of salvation but Christ and casting ourselves fully upon Him
for eternal life.
The Gift of God, Eternal Life can never be lost once possessed for any
reason. John 6:39 " And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that
of all which He hath given Me I should LOSE NOTHING, but should raise it up
again at the last day." You have God's promise that once you put your trust
in Jesus you can never be lost for ANY reason whatsoever.
"For the gifts
and calling of God are
without repentance” Romans 11:29 Again, God is telling you that this Gift of
God that you have just received is without repentance. He can never take His
gift back for any reason, no matter how bad you get, or how bad your sins
are it is not possible. God would have to cease to exist for that to happen
because He cannot lie.
Thanks for visiting GetGodsGift.
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