All spiritual blessings are in our Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (Eph. 1: 3) NASB
This includes the blessing of redemption, the forgiveness of sin.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. (Eph. 1: 7) NASB
In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1: 14) NASB
By faith (Acts 8; 37, 38; 2: 41) we are baptized into Christ. (Rom. 6: 3; Gal. 3: 26, 27; 1 Cor. 12: 13)
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 him. (Acts 8: 36- 38) NASB
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Acts 2: 41) NASB
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? (Rom. 6: 3) NASB
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Gal. 3: 26, 27) NASB
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor. 12: 13) NASB
Therefore, we conclude that redemption, the forgiveness of sin, takes place when we are baptized into Christ. God bless.
Ephesians 2:5 - even when we were dead in trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Saved by grace through faith, NOT THROUGH WATER BAPTISM. Romans 3:24 - being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. NOT THROUGH WATER BAPTISM. Acts 26:18 - to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are
sanctified by faith in Me. NOT BY WATER BAPTISM.
We are saved by grace through faith, then AFTERWARDS WATER BAPTIZED. I see that you completely ignored post #24 in the "Born Again" thread. Go back and read it again. I explained to you that "baptized into Christ" in Galatians 3:27 does not mean water baptized into the body of Christ, just as "baptized into Moses" (1 Corinthians 10:2) does not mean that the Israelites were water baptized into the body of Moses either. As Greek scholar AT Robertson explains - Better, "were baptized unto Christ" in reference to Christ. Did put on Christ (Criston enedusasqe). First aorist middle indicative of enduw (-nw). As a badge or uniform of service like that of the soldier. This verb is common in the sense of putting on garments (literally and metaphorically as here). See further in Paul (Romans 13:14; Colossians 3:9; Ephesians 4:22-24; Ephesians 6:11; Ephesians 6:14). In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 Paul speaks of "putting on the breastplate of righteousness." He does not here mean that one enters into Christ and so is saved by means of baptism after the teaching of the mystery religions, but just the opposite. We are
justified by faith in Christ, not by circumcision or by baptism. But baptism was the public profession and pledge, the soldier's sacramentum, oath of fealty to Christ, taking one's stand with Christ, the
symbolic picture of the change wrought by faith already (Romans 6:4-6). A symbol is not the reality, but the picture of the reality, but you continue to confuse the picture with the reality. 1 Corinthians 12:13 refers to
Spirit baptism, not water baptism. By
one Spirit baptized
into one body. You and your church are completely obsessed with water baptism, just as certain Jews were obsessed with circumcision (Acts 15:1). You stubbornly refuse to trust exclusively in Christ for salvation so you turn to supplements.
Acts 8:36 - Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water.
What hinders me from being baptized?" 37 Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." (BELIEF CAME FIRST) And he answered and said, "
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Was Philip saved or still lost at this point? Read John 20:31 to find out - but these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing you may have life in His name. Believing BEFORE water baptism, you may have life in His name. Also read 1 John 5:13. *Now you must be willing to ACCEPT the truth and your salvation does depend on it.
So then, those who had received his word (saved through repentance/believing) were AFTERWARDS baptized (Acts 2:41). Compare with (Acts 10:43-47; 11:17,18). Acts 4:4 - However, many of those who heard the word
believed; and
the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Acts 5:14 - And
believers were increasingly
added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.
In regards to Romans 6:3-4, Greek scholar AT Robertson explains - Baptism is the
public proclamation of one's inward spiritual relation to Christ attained before the baptism. See on "Galatians 3:27" where it is like putting on an outward garment or uniform. Into his death (ei ton qanaton autou). So here "unto his death," "in relation to his death," which relation Paul proceeds to
explain by the symbolism of the ordinance. The
picture in baptism points two ways, backwards to Christ's death and burial and to our death to sin, forward to Christ's resurrection from the dead and to our new life pledged by the coming out of the watery grave to walk on the other side of the baptismal grave. There is the further
picture of our own resurrection from the grave.
It is a tragedy that Paul's majestic picture here has been so blurred by controversy that some refuse to see it. It should be said also that
a symbol is not the reality, but the picture of the reality.
As long as you continue to confuse the symbol with the reality, you will remain confused. You and the CoC incorrectly conclude that redemption, the forgiveness of sin takes place in the waters of baptism, yet redemption, the forgiveness of sin is signified, yet not procured in the waters of baptism. Redemption is through His blood (and not through plain ordinary H20) and the forgiveness of sin takes place when we BELIEVE before we are water baptized. Acts 10:43 - To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever
believes in Him will receive remission of sins. Acts 26:18 - to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified
by faith in Me. *It's time for you to open your eyes. Romans 3:24 - being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a
propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Therefore, the Biblical conclusion is that redemption, the forgiveness of sin takes place when we BELIEVE IN HIM before we are water baptized. Continue to seek for the truth and God bless. I will continue to pray for you.
