So they assure them that they are now eternally secure in Christ. But if so, the next question is, “Why do you delay?” Be baptized as a public confession that you have trusted in Christ as your Savior and Lord! This one is far more august than the others, since it cannot be defiled by later sins” (Oration on the Holy Lights 39:17 [A.D. 381]). The difference between mental assent and genuine faith is the difference between saying that you believe a plane will fly and actually getting on the plane. It tells the Lord that you love Him and are willing to obey Him. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus said (John 14:23), “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” If you love Christ because He has saved your soul, then you will want to let everyone know it. NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials “Without baptism, salvation is attainable by none” (ibid., 12). Note that it is impossible to obey the Great Commission and neglect baptism. In the very next chapter, he says (Acts 3:19), “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away,” but he does not mention baptism at all. I’ve gone through all of these references to show that there was a clear pattern on the part of those who responded to the preaching of the gospel in the Book of Acts, namely belief followed by baptism. “But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God.” The word “believe” in that verse is … “We have, indeed, a second [baptismal] font which is one with the former [water baptism]: namely, that of blood, of which the Lord says: ‘I am to be baptized with a baptism’ [Luke 12:50], when he had already been baptized. If so, one of the first signs of it should be baptism. In fact, water baptism first appears in the so-called “Old Testament” Scriptures. Should baptism by immersion be a requirement for church membership? If baptism is necessary for salvation, then why did Paul exclude it? Note Acts 2:38, the conclusion of Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Some Protestants like to use 1 Corinthians 1:17 to claim that this teaching contradicts the Bible. . The most important question from today’s message is, “Have you truly repented of your sins and trusted in Christ alone to save you from God’s judgment?” If not, why not? Many people are adamant that a person should not have to do anything to be saved (see article on Faith Only). Modern-day religion seems to go to great lengths to say … If you have trusted in Jesus, you can ask your parents and your pastor about baptism. Q. Baptism is an important step of obedience that every Christian should take. Baptism can be a powerful witness of the saving power of Jesus Christ. Baptism is important! I also have an article on the web site, “Baptism: Some Common Questions Answered.” I have many other sermons that touch on the subject of baptism, especially from the Book of Acts. Let’s begin just before the Book of Acts with the Great Commission, which Jesus gave just before His ascension. “As many as are persuaded and believe that what we [Christians] teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly . But if you get baptized, you’re marked for death! But because my normal method is to work through books of the Bible verse by verse, I have not preached any messages dealing exclusively with baptism, except for the one mentioned. Being fully human, His death could atone for human sins. Only the living faith which works upon the heart and influences the desires and the affections can be the faith of God’s elect.”. The Church must never neglect the duty to proclaim the Gospel, and … For thus the [prophet] has sworn to us: ‘Amen, I say to you, unless you are born again with living water, into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’” (Homilies11:26 [A.D. 217]). These professing Christians may have “invited Jesus into their hearts” or gone forward in response to an evangelistic appeal. In … The Gospels record the fact that even Jesus was baptized when He … Important as baptism is, many people are confused about it. However, the baptism of the Spirit is necessary for salvation and that has nothing whatever to do with water and it is not something we do for ourselves, it is God's gift to us at the moment we are born again. Her faith in Christ led her to make the difficult decision to obey Christ rather than to live in sin. For he that said, ‘If anyone is not reborn of water and the Spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5], made an exception for them in that other statement in which he says no less generally, ‘Whoever confesses me before men, I too will confess him before my Father, who is in heaven’ [Matt. Now I want to tie all of this together and draw some principles in outline form to show why baptism matters: In baptism, a person confesses his or her faith in Christ. Baptism seems to have been one of the first evidences of faith in Christ. But the text says that those in the jailer’s household heard Paul speak the word of the Lord (which implies that they were old enough to understand it), and that not only the jailer, but also his whole household, believed the gospel. They think that being baptized insures that the child will go to heaven. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely. 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