Thanks Jason, those topics have been covered 9 or 10 pages back.
Sorry. I believe you are still ignoring the points I made. Can you have the Spirit and not be saved? Were they saved before they received the Command to be baptized? Do you know that there are sins that lead unto death and sins that do not lead unto death? (
1 John 5:16-18).
In other words, we do not enter the body of Christ or enter the Kingdom of God at baptism. We enter the kingdom of God by being born again. For we are born of the Spirit by the washing of the regeneration of the Holy Spirit (
Titus 3:5). We are born of water by the washing of the Word (i.e. the Written Word of God) (
Ephesians 5:25,
26). For faith comes by hearing the Word of God (
Romans 10:17); And we know this process of being born again is a belief on Jesus Christ.
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (
John 1:12-13).
For there are no saved believers that are outside the body of Christ. For Christ is the head of the body. No one is saved if they are not born again and or if they have not become a true son of God (spiritually by the power of God). For becoming a son of God means that you are a part of the body.
For Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire (
Matthew 3:11).
And water baptism was merely the outward showing of that. For Jesus baptizing a person by the Spirit and fire is where a person is given a new heart and a new spirit (i.e. to be born again and to be a new creature in Christ) (cf.
Ezekiel 36:26,
27).
Just as circumcision was an outward showing that you had been circumcised in your heart in the Old Testament by God (i.e. to be born again). For there were inward Jews and outward Jews. The inward Jews were people like the disciples. The outward Jews were the Pharisees.
I mean...
Have you ever reached a point where you felt helpless and trapped?
Have you ever just asked God to let Him help you because you felt powerless?
Have you ever just said
"Lord, I can't do this" ?
Have you ever said:
"I need your help, this is beyond me"?
Have you ever said:
"I surrender my all to you Lord"?
Have you ever said anything like this?
For the Lord wants us to rely on Him for our everything. For if we can help God to save ourselves, then we can pat ourselves on the back and we could eventually start to feel that we would not need anything from God. For if we trusted in our own efforts and works and not in God working thru us, then what would be the purpose of prayer? Could you not do it all yourself and then just imagine God was helping you? What about praying to the Lord and seeking His will? What about surrendering your ALL to Him? For if we truly saved ourselves in any way, then we would be our own self made man or savior who would truly end up in saving ourselves instead of God. We would be our own co-saviors with Christ. For if we shared in the glory of God saving us, then God (Jesus) does not get all of the glory. For Jesus said there is NONE good but God. This means that God is doing the good within you.
In fact, the belief that you have to help God in saving yourself sort of reminds me of what Jesus said to the Laodicean church.
Revelation 3:17
"Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:"
For when you believe you can help God to save yourself, it will eventually lead to a point where you will not need God at all because you are working so much of your own human effort to have the assurance of eternal life. God will eventually just take second place in your salvation because you are working so hard to save yourself. When in reality, the salvation and redemption has already been accomplished by Jesus Christ. For anyone can have the assurance of salvation any time they want thru repentance and or trusting in Him as their Savior.
For when you trust in a self directed works based salvation, you are trusting in the good in what you do (When you still fall from time to time). For if you break one Law, you are guilty of breaking them all. Only Jesus perfectly kept the Law and can be your sinless substitute.
Now, does that mean you can live a life without holiness and or fruitful works? No, of course not. For a true faith will eventually produce good works or fruit. This is because a person who is truly born of God will abide with the Lord and let Him do the good work within them. For Jesus (not ourselves) is the author and finisher of our faith.