BAPTISM

It seems that some of us do not appreciate, or at least, appreciate the understanding of the necessity of baptism in bringing us to repentance and forgiveness of ALL past sins up to the point of baptism, and ultimately, to Christ. It is the will of the Father that salvation is found in no other - 1Acts 4:12. No doubt, ignorance, arrogance, and plain old indolence, has a lot to answer for, and answer, it will! Either way, when we fail to meet the conditions of salvation, the very real and potential second state can be worse than the first. We need to be careful about that. So unless one is baptized according to how the New Testament teaches one to be baptized; his past sins up to the point of baptism will not be washed away (or forgiven) - 2Romans 3:25. That is one of the main reasons why baptism is so important. The other reason, and even more importantly, is that God has given the command to do this. When we refuse God, we commit more sin, and therefore, add additional sin to our account. That account needs to be drawn down. Only God's forgiveness can do that. Sin is just a vicious cycle of self-indulgence that needs to be broken. What we need to understand is that our life is not for nothing. Nor indeed is our existence by chance. God has given us an opportunity to have our trespass forgiven. Just remember this: It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement - 3Hebrews 9:27.

Furthermore, we have the New Testament to teach us how to perform the act of baptism, so we have no excuse. The one baptism that is mentioned in 4Ephesians 4:5, means, ONE baptism. There is only one baptism. That means we only have to do this once. There's only one way to perform the one baptism and the New Testament teaches that clearly. There's no need to be confused about how many baptisms there are. There are multiple false teachings about baptism, but none of them are what God said to do. There's certainly no such thing as baptism in the Spirit for example. That was exclusive to the first century church, when they had no written record to guide them, like what we have today, the Bible. In those days the Spirit of God inspired men to compile what we now have to our comfort. The written record! Now it's worth nothing, that we come in contact with the saving blood of Christ, that is, metaphorically, during the act of baptism. Water baptism is a symbolic act, yet essential, because God said to do it. In 5Hebrews 9:22, we read, that without shedding of blood there is no remission. In other words, no forgiveness of sin. So to understand this in the clearest context, we also need to understand, that when our Lord shed his blood on the cross at Golgotha (the place of the skull); he shed it "ONCE," for ALL - 61 Peter 3:18 cf. 7Romans 6:10 and 8Hebrews 10:12-18. He took upon himself the penalty of our sins. So in a similar way; we imitate dying with him, and like as Christ was raised up from the dead, even so we should walk in newness of life - 9Romans 6:3-4. One is now in Christ. What in Christ doesn't mean, is to be faithful to some spiritual or religious leader, let alone, to call any man father (in the spiritual sense) - 10Matthew 23:9. Ultimately, the symbolism that is acted out in water baptism has very real and eternal consequences.

More over, the act of baptism is an act of obedience. Samuel said it was better to obey God than to offer sacrifice - 111 Samuel 15:22. Mind you, it's not only baptism that we need to be concerned about; but also the church that we are baptized into. Many churches claim to be Christian, but the evidence suggests otherwise. The churches of Christ - 12Romans 16:16, is the only designation given to describe or name the church that the Lord adds those that should be saved to. There are no other fancy names given, such as, Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, and whatever the rest of the other 45,000 denominations that make-up the confusion of so-called Christianity, call themselves! The fact that the plural, churches, is used; warrants a simple explanation that is not only sober, but of sound concordance in light of the context of the doctrine of scripture. Verse 16 refers to the autonomous congregations or groups of Christians that come together to worship God in the local setting, and in the strict sense of autonomous! That means, self-governing, or accountable to God directly. All members have been baptized and added to the church (personally), by the Lord - 13Acts 2:47. Don't take my word for it. Read it for yourself. The autonomous groups and congregations referred to as "the churches" (plural), make-up the "church" as a whole (in the singular). The church of Christ.

That should tell us a good deal of what we need to know concerning the nature and composition of the church that the New Testament teaches. However, because of the amount of unauthorized and fake churches that garnish themselves with the cross of Christ, and in an unworthy manner, of course, this can be a spiritually deceitful experience for many people, that is (having to deal with the amount of doctrine that's at odds with the divine inspiration of the early church), and ultimately culminates in a deadly state of spiritual amorphousness. In other words, false teaching: The OBFUSCATION of the once delivered faith into something else. Another word for that is to render evil. The whole substitute church is a fake! It will surely deliver the soul to hell because it's based on the premise of a lie. Moreover, it's one of the main reasons the gospel is hid from those who continue to remain in that lost state; despite the full counsel of the revelaton of the New Testament set before the eyes of the world - 142 Corinthians 4:3. Man is without excuse according to - 15Romans 1:20. Mind you, the whole quagmire of mainstream religion has an uncanny semblance to the veil that is set before the Jews to this day - 162 Corinthians 3:14-16. I know it only too well, having been a member of the Pentecostal church for over five years. The result of which, is untethered religious zombiism, and the born-into religions, such as, Roman Catholicism and so on. There is only one church my friend, and it beggars belief beyond what is rational to think otherwise. Now it's worth noting, that it's not possible to become a Christian without baptism, that is, full submergence IN WATER baptism. This is indeed the baptism in question. The one that takes place at the beginning. When a man becomes a Christian. Take for example, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch of 17Acts 8:38. Mind you, it's after baptism has taken place, that the Lord adds the faithful to HIS church 18Acts 2:47. The faithful are those that hear and do what the Lord says to do - 19James 1:22. Now please notice "such as should be saved" in Acts 2:47. That means, those that have done what the Lord has said to do. It's called obedience. Obeying him, and not some ridiculous, obscure, and demented teaching, that has compassed about with the stealth of ignorance.

MIND THAT CHILD

Do NOT baptize a child because it is NOT authorized by the Lord to do such a thing! That said, the act of baptism is for those that have been taught and understand what they must do to be saved. Take a good look at the picture. You know what they say (the idiom): A picture paints a thousand words? No one is baptized in ignorance (such as a child), let alone, saved in ignorance. Baptism is either done right, or it's wrong. As for infant baptism, it's completely wrong. It's a doctrine that has it's origins in hell because all those who had a hand in perpetrating such a deceitful doctrine are there now. It couldn't be more obvious, that baptism, according to the book of Acts, has a highly esteemed role in the plan of salvation. The act itself was common knowledge in the day. So what happened? What we know for the most part, we learn from someone else. That is why God instructed 40 men over a period of 1500 years, to write the Bible. A written record for our learning. Not interpretation! If you have the Bible in your language; then you don't need to interpret it, you need to understand it - 0Proverbs 4:7, that is, unless the interpretation is corrupt. What's more, personal interpretation is forbidden - 02 Peter 1:20. In any case, God will not leave a man without. As for the Bible versions in the English language, is an absolute mental illness, no less, spiritual. We have the King James Bible, and that's all you need to get to heaven despite the noise of certain preachers.

Now those who are ready to be baptized have been taught the meaning of baptism, or at least should be, and why it is an essential part in the process of salvation. In fact, it's second to repentance. Baptism is a command, and not an option. The book of Acts is a good place to start learning about the first century church. I highly recommend using only the King James Bible, and for very good reason. What's more, by the very fact that baptism is for the remission of sins rules out infant baptism. Infants are also unlikely to be able to call on the name of the Lord whilst being baptized. Lord save me! That's what the scriptures say to do. Needless to say, the Roman Catholic church baptize infants knowing well that the scriptures teach no such thing. They call their form of baptism, "Christening." As far as the Bible is concerned, they can call it what they want; but it has nothing to do with salvation. The Catholic church claim that men inherit original sin, therefore, an infant must be baptized in order to become a member of their church. The Bible says WE commit sin, but we don't inherit it - read Ezekiel 18:20. Now what the Catholic church call baptism is more like a sprinkling or pouring rather than the full submergence we read of in the New Testament. The strange thing is that they continue to baptize infants despite not one example of it anywhere in the Bible. In fact, no child should be put through that sort of thing. It's paramount to child abuse! So DON'T baptize your child. Have at least a little respect for God, and what his word teaches if you claim to be a Christian. The image alone of infant baptism should serve as a warning to get thee, and thy child, out of that place.

Moreover, we read in 1 Corinthians 5:20, "...be ye reconciled with God." Reconcile means to restore. Take for example, a marriage that is broken. If the man and woman reconcile, the marriage can be restored. Children are innocent according Romans 9:11. A child is innocent until such time as he or she commits their first sin. That is when spiritual separation occurs, in other words, the relationship they had with God in their innocence, is severed. You cannot reconcile a relationship that did not exist prior to the reconciliation. So to reconcile, is to restore. It happens to all of us, for all have sinned according to Romans 3:23. The Bible teaches that man is born under the influence of sin; but not as a sinner - Romans 5:12. A baby is born innocent in the sight of God. It has commit no sin, nor indeed can commit sin, therefore, no need to be baptized for the remission of sins that do not exist. The parents may have sinned (including bringing a child into the world out of wedlock); but that has nothing to do with the child. Finally, the onus rests on each of us to first learn the reason for baptism; and why it is an integral part of God's plan to save man.

Proper Bible study helps us to gain what we need to understand. Without understanding, how can we learn anything - Acts 8:30-31? The act of baptism is the start of the process of salvation. It's what God said to do, and that's the only endorsement we need. After all, it's God who does the saving, not the church. If you want to learn more, or feel you are ready to commit to Christ, then get in touch. Baptism is free!