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Question #331

Isn’t your faith in the baptistery rather than Jesus?

I never found any of your answers on your Q/A page that actually answered the question, just referred to another question or got so lengthy and so far away from what the question was that it made you think that you really don’t know the answer. It seems that your faith is in a baptistery and not in the Lord Jesus Christ. Legalism Kills and Jesus and Jesus alone saves.

The Answer:

This is a classic case of finding that which one wants to find even when that which he reads says the direct opposite of the conclusions reached. If there is anyone who has no answers it is this questioner. Notice that he only makes sweeping statements of his conclusions, presents no arguments, and identifies no particular answers. In addition, his comments reveal that he is a lazy student (?) of the Bible. He does not wish to have to go to more than one place on the website to read material that addresses his concerns; he wants Thy Word Is Truth to go to the trouble of producing the same information over and over again, taking time and space that could be used to address other issues and answer other questions. If he had taken the time to read and understand he would certainly know that our faith is not in the baptistery, but in the Lord who commanded baptism for the remission of sins in numerous passages that he blithely ignores. If there is anyone whose faith is misplaced, it is his. He has faith in his faith that he can be saved while ignoring the Lord’s commands. Why call Jesus Lord, Lord, and do not the things that he says? Luke 6:46-49. Who is a legalist? In scripture it was the one who rejected the word of Jesus and made his own laws. Who is doing that here? Is it not the one who rejects “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16) and writes his own law which declares “He that believeth and is not baptized shall be saved”? Does this sound a little (maybe even a whole lot) like the difference between Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 3:4 – “thou shalt surely die” and “Ye shall not surely die”? Another law of Jesus is “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48 KJV)

26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Act 28:26-27 KJV)

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God's Plan of Salvation

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

You must believe and have faith in God because "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called "Sinner's Prayer" that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the "Sinner's Prayer" to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus "Lord of your life." Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just "accept Jesus as your personal savior." We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God's grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God's grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)