Fran: Let me ask if you believe that Jesus said, "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved?" (Mark 16: 16) I do believe that statement. If you don't believe He said that or if you believe He has told you something contrary, I can understand where you are coming from. If not, the question for all of us is, "How can we call Him, Lord, Lord and not obey?" IMO, obedience from a heart that loves the Lord, is the test or proof of our faith. I don't condemn you or anyone, that is not my job; IMO the work of a follower of Christ is to share the good news. Today is the day of salvation.
IMO, the Father, the Son and the Spirit have one name, YHWH.
Repentance in the name of Christ and baptism in the name of Christ for the forgiveness of sin, began to be preached in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost after the resurrection. The thief was dead and with the Lord at that time, I believe. While Jesus was on the earth He had the authority to forgive sin.
Yes, I do like Acts; I believe that the Lord laid down the model of salvation for all men unto the end. The promise is to all that God shall call to Himself. The order of events is for all.
The point I was trying to make in quoting those Scriptures, and apparently failed, is that obedience to the truth and obeying the gospel, are part of God's plan of salvation by grace through faith. While faith is our introduction to the grace of God, it is not the end-all; hope and love now abide with faith, love being the greatest; the Lord has revealed that faith without love is meaningless (1 Cor. 13: 2) and that our faith is completed by the obedience of faith (James 2: 20-24) not by works of the law nor by works of righteousness.
God bless.
IMO, the Father, the Son and the Spirit have one name, YHWH.
Repentance in the name of Christ and baptism in the name of Christ for the forgiveness of sin, began to be preached in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost after the resurrection. The thief was dead and with the Lord at that time, I believe. While Jesus was on the earth He had the authority to forgive sin.
Yes, I do like Acts; I believe that the Lord laid down the model of salvation for all men unto the end. The promise is to all that God shall call to Himself. The order of events is for all.
The point I was trying to make in quoting those Scriptures, and apparently failed, is that obedience to the truth and obeying the gospel, are part of God's plan of salvation by grace through faith. While faith is our introduction to the grace of God, it is not the end-all; hope and love now abide with faith, love being the greatest; the Lord has revealed that faith without love is meaningless (1 Cor. 13: 2) and that our faith is completed by the obedience of faith (James 2: 20-24) not by works of the law nor by works of righteousness.
God bless.
Yes. I believe everything Jesus said. Even that He said to be baptized. It is GOOD and necessary to be baptized at some point in our Christian walk. The earlier, the better. Catholics baptize at the infant stage because they deem it so important, as do all Chrisitans.
The problem for me is this: You clearly stated that if I'm not baptized I am not righteous and thus, possibley not even in a saved state.
One must not ADD ANYTHING to the salvific work of Jesus. If I add anything to it, it means it wasn't enough.
All I must do to be saved is to BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF THE LORD and all who do will be saved. Acts 2:21 Acts 4:12
John 3:16 states that WHOEVE BELIEVES will be saved. NOT whoever believes and is baptized.
Baptism is added only this time. You cannot take ONE verse, or even 2 or 3, and make a doctrine out of them. The verses MUST BE in compliance the entirety of the New Testament. It must agree with everything else.
I too agree with James 2:20-26
I agree with works.
I agree that we must bear good fruit.
But I do not agree that ANY work saves us, ONLY JESUS saves us - with NOTHING added.
My problem with purgatory is tied to this. If it's true that it exists, it means that the sacrifice of Jesus was not sufficient.
If I have to be baptized to be saved, it measn that the sacrifice of Jesus was not sufficient.
BTW, I had asked you the difference in the baptism of Mathew 28:19 in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
and the one in Acts 2:38 in the name of Jesus only.
Mathew is referring to form, or a formula. To be baptized in the name of...
Acts is referring to a method. Being baptized was understood then to remove sin, as John's baptism, but now it became Jesus' baptism.
As became understood, as we read Paul's letters, only belief in Jesus is necessary for salvation.
We must also follow Jesus' command to be bapized, but it is to receive power, not to be saved.
Acts 1:8
Fran