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There are
seven baptisms mentioned in the Bible, four being real
identifications with someone or something, and three being
rituals with a symbolic meaning.
The four real
baptisms are dry, indicating that no water is used. They
are:
1. Baptism
with Moses. The children of Israel were identified with
Moses and the cloud [a manifestation of the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ] as they passed through the Red Sea, 1
Corinthians 10:1-2, For I do not want you to be unaware,
brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all
passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the sea;
2. Baptism
with the Cross or Cup. The Lord Jesus Christ is identified
with the cross, Matthew 20:22, But Jesus answered,
"You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the
cup that I am about to drink?" They said to Him, "We are able."
[See baptism of Jesus Christ below.]
3. Baptism
of Fire. This is the baptism of judgment for those who do
not believe in the salvation work of Christ on the cross,
Luke 3:16, John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I
baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than
I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 2 Thessalonians
1:7-9, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from Heaven
with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution
to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the
Gospel of Our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the
glory of His power.
4. Baptism
of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit administers this
baptism or identification at the moment anyone believes in the
substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
The Holy Spirit enters the believer into union with Jesus Christ
and places the believer positionally at the right hand of God
the Father. This position is the basis of having a relationship
with God forever. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an
emotional experience; nor is it speaking in tongues. In
salvation, our volition is involved only in our decision to
accept Christ as Savior.
The three
ritual baptisms are those where water is used in a symbolic way
to teach a doctrinal lesson or principle. Identification,
however, is still the issue.
The immersion
and the water are real, but the symbolic meaning of the water
and what it represents varies depending on the doctrine being
taught. The three ritual baptisms are:
1. Baptism by
John the Baptist. The water in the Jordan River was symbolic, in
that it was a representation of the Kingdom of God about which
John preached. The people that came to John, as he stood in the
water, entered the water as unbelievers, unsaved and with no
hope. Being immersed in the water simply represented being
accepted into the Kingdom of God through salvation. John was
preaching repentance, which means the changing of one's mind
about Christ. Those baptized were being identified with God's
kingdom, and they were saying in effect, I have trusted in
Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. The water itself was
used merely as an illustration for those being newly identified
with the Kingdom of God. By using their free will to accept
Christ as personal Savior, they came out of the water as
believers in the salvation work of the cross, Matthew 3:6,
3:11, And they were being baptized [identified with
the kingdom of God through salvation] by him in the Jordan
River, as they confessed their sins. "As for me, I baptize you
with water for repentance [change of mind toward Christ],
but He [Jesus Christ] Who is coming after me is mightier
than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
2. Baptism
of Jesus. Again, water was used to illustrate a doctrine
that was to be learned. What made this baptism unique is that
Jesus Christ was not a sinner. Therefore, the water was symbolic
not of salvation and the kingdom of God, but rather of God the
Father's will. Jesus Christ identified Himself with the Father's
will by His execution of Phase One - going to the cross and
providing our so great salvation, Matthew 3:13-17,
Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan [coming] to
John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him,
saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to
me?" But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit [it] at
this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness." Then he permitted Him. After being baptized,
Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the
heavens were opened, and he [John the Baptist] saw the
Spirit of God descending as a dove [and] lighting on Him,
and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved
Son, in Whom I am well pleased."
Jesus' immersion into the water
symbolized Our Lord's obedience to the Father's plan for His
first advent, a plan that no one but the impeccable Lord Jesus
Christ could execute. No matter what certain religious sects
may teach, we as believers cannot 'follow the Lord in baptism'.
3. Baptism
of the Believer in the Church-age. As the writers of New
Testament Scripture were inspired, through the filling of the
Holy Spirit, to write down God's exact and direct will for
mankind [mystery doctrine of the Church-age], Bible doctrine was
also taught verbally all over the ancient world between 30 A.D.
and 96 A.D. The Bible at that time had not yet been completed,
so pastor-teachers taught from either the doctrines that they
had heard verbally, or from written doctrines they had received
in the form of a letter. These pastor-teachers found out that in
the art of teaching, one must communicate what one knows in a
manner understandable to those being taught. This method of
communication requires illustrations and examples.
Water was found to be a great
illustration in identifying and understanding a point of
doctrine. The Lord Jesus Christ understood this principle when
He spoke to His disciples, Matthew 28:18-19, And Jesus
came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given
to Me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing them [teaching believers by
illustration and identification] in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Lord
instructed His disciples to go out into the world and spread the
good news of salvation, and then teach the doctrines related to
salvation to these new believers by using water as an analogy or
illustration. This is shown in Acts 8:26-39,
But an
angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Get up and go south
to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a
desert [road].) So he got up and went; and there was an
Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the
Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had
come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting
in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the
Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." Philip ran
up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you
understand what you are reading?" And he said, "Well, how could
I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up
and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture that he was
reading was this: "He was led as a sheep to slaughter; and as a
lamb before its shearer is silent, so He does not open His
mouth. In humiliation, His judgment was taken away; who will
relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth."
The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please [tell me], of whom
does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?" Then
Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he
preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to
some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me
from being baptized?" And Philip said, "If you believe with all
your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God." And he ordered the chariot to
stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as
the eunuch, and he baptized
[taught by illustration and
identification] him [with the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ]. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit
of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw
him, but went on his way rejoicing.
Water baptism
was an illustration, a teaching aide, a picture of the real
baptism of the Holy Spirit, which had taken place at the precise
moment the Ethiopian eunuch believed in the substitutionary
salvation work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
It was
not, and is not, a requirement for salvation.
Water was used, prior to the canon of Scripture being complete,
to illustrate the doctrine of being identified with Jesus Christ
and His work on the cross.
The Ethiopian
eunuch being baptized was already a believer. He had already
accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, and he was already
saved. Philip was teaching a doctrinal principle to a believer,
not to an unbeliever.
An unbeliever
cannot understand spiritual things, 1 Corinthians 2:14,
But a natural man [unbeliever] does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him;
and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually
appraised.
When the
Ethiopian eunuch entered the water, Philip was teaching the fact
that he had been identified with Jesus Christ in His death and
that he was rejecting human good. Each and every sin of the
human race was judged on the cross. So, any and all human
effort and good works used by man in an attempt to achieve
salvation or spirituality is rejected by God.
There is only
one way into the kingdom of God, John 14:6, Jesus said
to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father but through Me."
No work or
effort on the part of mankind to achieve salvation has ever
been, or will ever be, part of the predesigned plan of God,
Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; not
as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
God can only
accept what is His, Matthew 22:21, Then He said to
them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and
to God the things that are God's."
God's perfect
righteousness can only accept what is perfect, and the best
works of mankind, no matter how perfect we may think they are,
are nothing but filthy rags in the sight of God, Isaiah 64:6,
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all
our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment
Part of
baptism, or identification with the work of Jesus Christ on the
cross, is that the believer has already been taught and
understands that any and all human good is rejected and dead,
not only as a way to salvation but also as a means of achieving
spirituality. This is also known as retroactive positional
truth, which is victory over human good or death to self.
As the
Ethiopian came up out of the water, he was baptized or
identified with the air, which represented the resurrection,
ascension and session of Jesus Christ as He is seated at the
right hand of God the Father. The Ethiopian was taught that the
baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation put him
positionally with the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of the
Father. This is known as current positional truth. Eph 2:6
From this
position, the believer realizes that security in his
relationship with the one and only true God will last forever,
John 10:28-29, "And I give eternal life to them, and
they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My
hand. My Father, Who has given [them] to Me, is greater than
all; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father's
hand."
Being
positionally with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Ethiopian eunuch
had the basis for being filled with the Holy Spirit and
subsequently producing Divine good from inside the predesigned
plan of God. Divine good is the fruit that is automatically
produced by the believer who is thinking Bible doctrine and
applying it to his life within God's predesigned plan.
The purpose
of water baptism was to teach by illustration the following
doctrines:
a. The
believer is identified with Jesus Christ in His death and
resurrection;
b. The believer has victory over, and
rejects, human good;
c. The believer is positionally
seated with Jesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father;
and
d. The believer must have a clear
understanding of how to produce Divine good from within the
predesigned plan of God.
Water baptism
was never intended to be a means of salvation. Salvation is by
faith alone in Christ alone, with nothing added to it. Nor was
water baptism intended to be a means of spirituality. It was
never anything more than a teaching aide - a way of illustrating
the doctrines related to being identified with the death and
resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ritual works
include water baptism, circumcision, or the observation of the
Eucharist as a condition for salvation!
Most common
in this category is baptismal regeneration or salvation through
faith plus water baptism.
a. When water baptism is added to faith as a
condition for salvation, there is no salvation because the
omnipotence of the Holy Spirit cannot and does not make water
baptism effective for salvation.
b. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in efficacious
grace makes faith in Jesus Christ and faith alone efficacious or
effective for salvation.
c. Paul made
it very clear in this verse that his ministry was not a ministry
of baptism. 1Co 1:17 for Christ did not send me to
baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech,
that the cross of Christ should not be made void.
A lot of clever
evangelists obscure the cross.
The issue of the
gospel is the cross of Christ, not sin, and not clever
psychological approaches.
The emphasis of the
gospel is not baptism and not sin, but it is Christ being judged
for our sins.
The issue in salvation
is "what think ye of Christ?"
NOT…
How many sins will you
give up?
What commitment will
you make?
How will you change
your life from now on?
The emphasis of the
gospel is "what do you think about Christ"?
Not what will you do
about your sins!
Those that
believe in baptismal regeneration as a requirement for salvation
often quote the following:
Acts 2:38
Peter said to them, " Repent, and each of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
First of all,
the command to repent (change your mind-
metanoeo
in Greek)
is not about sin, or water baptism, but repenting about Jesus
Christ, whom was crucified (Acts 2:36).
Second, water
baptism came following the decision to repent about the
Christ; it was a symbol of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that
takes place at the moment of faith in Christ.
The New
Testament was not written yet, they had no scripture about the
baptism of the Spirit, so water baptism was a RITUAL used to
teach the REALITY of the baptism of the Spirit.
Baptismal regeneration
is the teaching that man must be baptized in water to be
saved, and this is not true. (for example, was the thief on the
cross saved? YES. Was he water baptized? NO.)
And of course they
derive this sort of thing from not understanding:
(1) the isagogics, which is the
interpretation of the Bible within the framework of its
historical setting.
(2) the categorical communication of
doctrine, which fulfills the hermeneutical principle of
comparing scripture to scripture to determine the
classification of doctrine.
(3) the exegetical communication of
doctrine, which is the analysis of each verse in its
context to determine the exact meaning of that verse in its
relationship to the context as a whole, analyzing grammar,
syntax, and etymology in the original languages of Scripture.
(Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek)
Now, remember that
baptism is a work!
It is something that
man does!
d. All ritual
involves human motion, human volition in a meritorious sense.
So all ritual involves
works.
And water baptism is a
ritual in which someone is actually doing something.
But "doing" in a
ritual always depends upon “knowing”, and the secret of ritual
throughout the Old Testament was the fact that they "understood"
before they did.
So here we have a
ritual being added to the gospel as the means of
salvation!
And the word
repent in Acts 2:38 is used for a very simple reason,
these people were Jews, and these Jews have come from all over
all the world.
They have been the
recipients of the gospel under super natural conditions and they
are still holding back even though they are convicted, and so
they say.....what must we
do?
And Peter says….
Repent.
And if they change
their minds about Christ, then believing becomes automatic.
You cannot repent
without believing.
Sometimes the word
repent is used when Jews are involved and when the gentiles
are involved the word believe is used.
So in Acts 2:37, the
Jews ask a question, what shall we do?
In Acts 16:30, a
gentile says, what must I do to be saved?
And in each case an
answer is given, in Acts 2:38, Peter says repent,
in Acts 16:31, Paul
says believe.
Now what's the
difference?
There is no
difference!
They are both saying
exactly the same thing!
To the gentile,
believe is simpler
because they have no previous biblical information.
But the Jews would
“repent”, or “change their mind”, because they already had a
wrong belief about Jesus as the Christ.
Let’s take a
further look at Acts 2:38 in the Greek, which is the original
language God inspired the New Testament in.
This gives us the
secret or true meaning of this passage, and the true importance
of water baptism.
Acts 2:38 and
Peter said to them, repent, and let each of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for [or literally] because of
the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit
Repent -
aorist/active/imperative of metanoia.
The aorist tense
of the verb requires a one-time action, the decision to
repent.
The active voice
says the subject of the verb must perform the action of
repenting. It must come from their own free will. In this case
the subject is the Jews.
The imperative mood
of the verb says this is a command.
With these verbs we
also have what is known as person and number.
In the Greek, the idea
of person is exactly the same as in English, it expresses
the person or the persons in the sentence that the action of the
verb is directed towards.
For example, if I
said, “I will go with you to see them.”
“You” would be in the
second person, and "them" would be in the third person.
And the verb "to go"
would be in the first person, "I would go".
And the same is true
about the number in a verb, it is identical to the
English.
The number identifies
who the action of the verb is directed towards.
Singular means
that the subject of the verb is in the singular, such as “I”.
Plural means
that the subject of the verb is in the plural, such as “they”.
This is detailed, but
very necessary in understanding this passage!
Repent –
metanoia
The person is
second person, Peter is speaking to “you” when he says to
repent, to all the Jews listening to him. He is not speaking to
himself (I – first person) or about others (they – third
person).
And you have to have
all of these things about repent before you can
understand the next phrase.
And this will even
explain why the translators put a comma in your Bible after the
word repent.
So we have an
aorist/active/imperative, second person plural of metanoia.
And the plural means
all of them are involved and they can change their mind,..
metanoia.
Acts 2:38 and
Peter said to them, repent, and let each of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ "because of" the forgiveness of your
sins,
“Be baptized” is the
aorist/passive/imperative of baptizo.
The aorist tense
speaks of that one point in time when they receive baptism.
The passive voice
says they receive the action of the verb.
And the imperative
mood tells us that this is a command.
And this is a third
person verb, which is in the singular.
And it connotes water
baptism.
Now the key is what we
have in the original language;
Repent -
aorist/active/imperative, 2nd person plural.
Baptized -
aorist/passive/imperative, 3rd person singular.
This is known as a
syntactical break in the Greek, in which two verbs
are placed together but totally separated from each other.
After the first verb
is fulfilled, the second verb is required.
Now, in the Greek,
when you change the person and the number in the verb, you have
a syntactical break which means that the second verb is not a
requirement of the first.
So in this passage, we
have two important words to note:
Repent -
aorist/active/imperative, 2nd person plural of metanoia.
Baptized -
aorist/passive/imperative, 3rd person singular of baptizo.
There are some very
significant principles to note.
The third person is
in contrast to the second person and the plural is in contrast
to the singular.
You see, in the Greek
they have no system of punctuation such as we have
today.
And they had to do all
their punctuation in a way which is much more accurate than
ours.
They punctuated
syntactically!
So we have here the
word repent, then the word and, followed by the
word be baptized, plus a change in person from second
person to third person, and a change in number from plural to
singular, which is known in the Greek as a syntactical break.
A syntactical break
means that these two things are entirely separate and that one
follows the other but they do not go together.
Now, this may be
technical for some of you but it needs to be understood if you
desire to give an answer to those who are being misled when it
comes to the gospel.
So, we have a change
from the second person to the third person.... and a change from
the plural to the singular.
And we also have a
change from the active to the passive voice.
In fact the word
and, kai, indicates a break when certain
things are true.
Acts 2:38 and
Peter said to them, repent, and (kai) let each of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins,
A syntactical break is
one verb following another with the conjunction kai
in between.
But you have a change
in number, you have a change in person and you often have a
change in voice.
So once again, we
have a change in voice from active to passive.
We have a change in
person from second to third.
We have a change in
number from plural to singular.
So this is a
syntactical break, which means that the second verb in a
syntactical break is NOT a part of the requirement of the first
verb.
It is a command which
follows after the first is fulfilled.
It is not coterminous
with it! It does not happen at the same time!
Therefore, water
baptism is not a requirement for salvation,... though on the
surface you can see how someone could misunderstand this passage
in the English language.
In other words, you
cannot be baptized until after you have been saved.
Repent is the
salvation verb.
Baptize is the
ritual verb, which indicates that you have been saved and that
you now understand your salvation.
And before the Bible
was completed, when the baptism of the Spirit was totally
revealed in writing, water baptism meant that you understood
three things;
1. That you are
identified [baptism] with Christ in his death, therefore you
are dead to human good.
You no longer try to
perform human good to please God. Isa 64:6, Gal 2:16.
2. That you are
identified with Christ as He is seated at the right hand of
the Father.
You cannot lose your
salvation, you are in union with Him!
3. You understand that
you are now in a position to produce divine good.
And that's what water
baptism represented.
And so the best way to
translate Acts 2:38 would be, all of you repent
[2nd person plural] and [kai] then after
that let each one of you be baptized. [3rd person
singular].
Christian water
baptism is the ritual testimony of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit.
From the beginning of
the Church Age until the completion of the Bible, this baptism
was necessary to teach the principle of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit at salvation.
But once the canon of
scripture (the Bible) was completed this ritual was no longer
necessary, since the explanation for the baptism of the Spirit
is now in writing. 1Co 12:13.
Paul tells the
Corinthians he stopped using water baptism because it was a
means of dividing believers in 1Co 1:13-17.
So before Romans 6 and
1Co 12 were written to explain the baptism of the Spirit and
identification with Christ in his death and resurrection, water
baptism was used to represent what had happened at salvation to
those who did not yet have the completed canon.
Since we are in the
book of Acts, let's go forward to chapter 10, which dogmatically
refutes baptismal regeneration. (it proves we are not born again
by water baptism)
Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell
upon all those who were listening to the message. All the
circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because
the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles
also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and
exalting God. Then Peter answered, " Surely no one can refuse
the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy
Spirit just as we did, can he?" And he ordered them to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Notice, these new
believers had already received the Holy Spirit before water
baptism. They were already saved by faith in Christ.
Now of course there
are other passages, which these people who add to salvation and
insult the grace of God use.
For example, look at
Mark 16.
Mar 16:15 and
he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to
all creation
Mar 16:16 he
who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he
who has disbelieved shall be condemned
Please notice that it
doesn't say he that hasn’t been baptized will be condemned, just
he who hasn’t believed!
He that believes not
shall be condemned.
And so baptism is
omitted in vs. 16 because baptism is not a requirement for
salvation.
And there's another
principle concerning this passage.
If you have a good
Bible you will find that beginning with Mar 16:9 there is a
parenthesis which is actually closed in Mar 16:20 because all of
these verses are not even found in the original manuscripts of
scripture.
Mark 16 actually ends
at verse 8.
Codex aleph and Codex
b are the two most ancient and the most accurate of all
manuscripts and they end with verse 8.
And by the way, if you
look at Mark 16 verses 17 and 18 that's where they get the
handling of snakes and drinking poison.
However, this passage
is used by those who try to add water baptism to salvation.
And so
failure to distinguish between Spirit baptism and water baptism,
failure to understand such things as the syntactical
break....all of these things add up to apostasy.
You should never
let anyone deceive you by adding anything whatsoever to faith
alone in Christ for salvation.
The Church Age is
written about in the epistles (letters) of the New Testament,
where the mystery doctrine is revealed, mostly by the apostle
Paul. This mystery was not even known to the people in Jesus’
day.
The Church Age,
especially after the completion of the canon of scripture, had
different procedures from God. (1Co 13:10, Rom 16:25, Eph
3:3,4,9, 5:32)
And in these
letters to the Church Age believers, if water baptism were
required for salvation, the apostle Paul never would have said
what he did about the LACK of importance of it.
1 Cor 1:14-17
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus
and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my
name. 16 Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas;
beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not
be made void.
According to Paul
there is only one important baptism:
Eph 4:5
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
If there is only one
important baptism for the Church Age; which one do you want?
The baptism of water
or the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
The same apostle Peter
who spoke in Acts 2:38 tells us later in his Church Age letters…
This is a reference to
the baptism of the Spirit, not water baptism which would include
removal of dirt from the flesh.
The Spirit’s baptism
is the one baptism necessary for salvation, which occurs
immediately at the moment of faith in Christ.
Even Jesus Himself
after He rose from the grave told the apostles…
e. The thief
on the cross was never said to be baptized with water. He
simply believed in Him on the cross, and that faith alone saved
him, as Jesus said today he would be with Him in Paradise. (Luk
23:43)
f. Old
Testament saints were never baptized, but they were saved by
faith alone in the future coming of the Messiah, God in the
flesh. Gen 15:6
Abraham was saved by
faith, even though the Jews thought one had to be circumcised to
be saved.
Circumcision was a
sign of their belief, but it was not the means of salvation.
This is an
excellent Old Testament analogy to baptism, and how water
baptism was a symbol of the cleansing and salvation that takes
place at the moment of faith in Christ.
Titus 3:4-7
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for
mankind appeared,
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in
righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ
our Savior,
7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made
heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
g. We cannot
add anything to grace, otherwise grace is no longer grace. (Rom
11:6)
And only by faith can
we accept the grace gift of God, because faith is not a work.
(Eph 2:8-9)
Eph 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so
that no one may boast.
Rom 11:6
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of
works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.
h. Water
baptism was a good teaching tool in the early church, but it is
not necessary to be saved and go to heaven.
We must not add to the grace
gift of God received by simple trusting faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
John 3:16-18
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have
eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to
judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe
has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 5:24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and
believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come
into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
John 6:28-29
Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may
work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This
is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
Acts 16:31
They said, " Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
saved, you and your household." |
