A Faith that Obeys Podcast

View Details

Editor’s Note: This is the fifth lesson from our eleven part video series called, “A Faith that Obeys.” You can find the original video and transcript HERE. We are dropping this lesson into our regular podcast feed so that the information can reach a wider audience. In this lesson, we will review the the next two steps in the Biblical Plan of Salvation which are, Repentance and Confession of Christ.

Hearing and Accepting Come FirstWhen someone hears the word and accepts it, they have taken the first two steps in the Biblical Plan of Salvation. God, at this point, gives them something they previously did not have. They now have the right or the power to become a child of God. Hearing and accepting the message are great first steps and it’s clear from the scriptures we are placed into a different spiritual classification than we were in before we accepted the message. It indicates a soft heart, a willing heart, a heart that we still must have… but the commands, as required by God, are not yet completed with just these two steps.

In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.

Doing the Will of GodDid you notice something? Jesus just said the same thing we have been saying. It is not enough of call him Lord, or to simply believe in Him. There is something else we must obey. What is it? Doing the will of God! This is our goal, to do the will of the Father. This is a call to action. Based on what we have seen so far, have you noticed anything in the passages we’ve examined which we could do or act upon? You know, actions we could take which might be considered, “doing the will of the Father?” We already know the first two actions, hear the word and accept the word. These are both things God tell’s us to do. But there was something else in those passages which we may have missed. Remember, we are looking for Biblical commands or religious events which happen in a believer’s life and we are carefully trying to determine if those events are in any way connected with the forgiveness of sins. When we find one, we want to see if the forgiveness of sins or the idea of being saved happens before this event or after this event.

Let’s look at those two previous passages again. Here’s the passage which told us about hearing the word.

James 1:21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do you see it? It’s right at the beginning. There is something in addition to hearing and accepting the word which precedes salvation. It’s something we must DO. Yep, getting rid of all moral filth from our lives. In religious terms, this is called repentance. The word repent means to change one’s mind or purpose. It means to stop doing wrong things and start doing right things. It’s like a U-turn. You were going one direction… now you’re going a new direction.

Repentance Always Comes Before ConversionNow, this is critical. Notice that repentance also comes before salvation! Repentance, as it relates to the issue of the “Born Again” experience or the forgiveness of sins, never occurs anywhere in the Bible after someone is saved. While it is true that people will still sin after they are saved and they will continue in repentance, this is vastly different from the need to repent, or “get rid of all moral filth,” before they are saved.

But, let’s carefully check this out. Biblically speaking, is repentance from sin really necessary to be saved? After all, this is an act which is squarely on our shoulders. This is a specific action we take. Some people might even suggest that this a kind of works salvation since it is something we do. Once again let’s turn to the scriptures to find out.

Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Well, this is pretty clear! Does repentance come before sins are wiped out or after? Before. Is repentance a suggestion? No. Is it optional? No. Is it a command we can obey? Sure!

Let’s mark the third step on our illustration, “Repentance” and let’s move that line of salvation up the stairs just a little bit because it is obvious, repentance precedes the forgiveness of sins and that is consistent throughout all of scripture.

But Repentance Alone is Not EnoughLet me interject a quick personal note here. Over the years, I’ve had many religious friends who believe that accepting Christ is all one needs to do in order to be saved. When I show them this very clear, very obvious command and requirement in the plan of salvation and that it precedes the forgiveness of sins, they easily agree because it is so obvious, but suddenly realize there are no longer just two steps, as they previously believed. Things start to get a little uncomfortable. It’s just too hard argue with this. This passage is easy to understand. We must repent before sins are forgiven. If you are feeling defensive, take a breath, pray. God is showing you something really awesome and I have a feeling, He would not be doing this if he has not seen something in your heart which is ready to hear it.

Finally, I want to show you something interesting. There was a really small but important word used in both of these two passages. It is the word “and.”

Look how it is used in James 1:21 and Acts 3:19. It locks together two clauses. This is referred to by linguists as a “coordinating conjunction.” This conjunction means that we can’t get to the solution if we don’t do both of the things the scripture is telling us to do! We can’t pick and choose! You will be amazed how significant this little conjunction will become in our future studies. Where the Bible connects two things together in the plan of salvation, we must leave them connected. The Bible can’t be altered!

Confession of Jesus as LordNow, let’s talk about the fourth step. We have already seen this one too. Do you know what it was? Let’s look at the other one of our earlier passages again.

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

I’ll bet you just noticed the word “and,” didn’t you? This was the passage where we connected belief with salvation. But notice, confessing Jesus as Lord is just as important too! And take a look, it also precedes salvation.

So, let’s add “Confession” to our illustration as the fourth step. And let’s move that line which indicates the forgiveness of sins upward as well. Now the Biblical plan of salvation looks like this. Hear, Accept, Repent, and Confess. Very simple, very clear, very Biblical. If we do not obey these four commands, we have not obeyed the Gospel and sins have not yet been forgiven, regardless of what we may have felt or experienced. We do not rely on our emotions as our confirmation of truth, we rely only on the scriptures.

It’s Not a BuffetAt this point, we have four very clear steps which occur in the Biblical plan of salvation. But I’m an American! I have choices. I have rights! What if I decided to pick and choose which ones I wanted to do? Do you think God would accept that? What if the only thing I wanted to do was repent… you know… get my life cleaned up? Would that be enough? Can I repent of my sins but reject the Gospel or refuse to confess Jesus as Lord and still be saved? Of course not. It’s obvious that all of the things we have looked at so far are part of a Biblical plan of salvation. They all come before the forgiveness of sins. We must obey all four, not just the ones we favor or like. This is where dangerous traditions take a powerful, and sometimes aggressive stand. When the defenses go up, the arguments start. We hear things like: “But this is how my church does it.” or “This is what the Pope says.” or “This is how we have always done it!” Don’t walk on that road. Turn away from traditions, turn into the Bible.

Let’s move on. I want to introduce the fifth step in the Biblical Plan of Salvation but before I do that, we need to talk about another amazing and wonderful benefit of becoming a Christian. Do your remember when we discussed the grammar of the Plan of Salvation? We talked about the first two blessings bestowed on every true Christian… our sins are forgiven by God and we are guaranteed that we will go to Heaven when we die.

Don’t Forget the Holy SpiritWell, there is a third blessing and some of you may have noticed that it was missing. A person who follows the Biblical Plan of Salvation also receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is not the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit discussed in the Bible, this is the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit who comes into you and lives with you as a counselor, comforter, friend and security guard. Look at this passage.

Acts 5:32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

This is a promise to every single Christian. But, let’s be clear, God only gives His Holy Spirit to people who obey him. It’s a one time event. The Holy Spirit does not come and go. He moves in for good when we obey the Gospel. We will be talking a lot more about this subject in a future lesson but for now, notice that the Holy Spirit is given after obedience, not before! Quite interesting! And, I’ll bet you already guessed, this is our fifth step!

Let’s label our fifth step obedience.

Next, I want to show you something really important. Remember when I said that Satan hijacks the plan of salvation right before repentance? In the next lesson, I want you to see how he does it and help you understand how easy it is to fall victim to his scheme. After that, armed with this knowledge, we will then talk about this last step in the Biblical Plan of Salvation… obedience.

Enjoy!

Dana Haynes

Listen to the Podcast Now

View Details

Editor's Note: This is the fourth lesson from our eleven part video series called, "A Faith that Obeys." You can find the original video and transcript HERE. We are dropping this lesson into our regular podcast feed so that the information can reach a wider audience. In this lesson, we will review the the first two steps in the Biblical Plan of Salvation which are, Hearing the Message of the Gospel and Accepting the Message of the Gospel.

The Entire World Hears the Gospel

In this world of ours today the scriptures span the globe. There are very few places left, if any, where the name of Jesus has not been proclaimed. Millions of people have put their faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. At some point in the past, you perhaps made a personal commitment to Jesus because of something you either read or heard. Somebody, sometime, somehow told you about Jesus

The story about Jesus, his death and resurrection is called the Gospel. And hearing the Gospel message is the first step everyone takes in the Biblical plan of salvation. I am unaware of any Christian group which does not recognize that there is a process one goes through on the way to salvation. Sometimes we illustrate this process using clever metaphors. These wonderful illustrations are designed to help us understand the plan of salvation clearly. One popular metaphor is called "The Romans Road."

You may have heard of it. Using the book of Romans, in the Bible, we can trace out a pathway which leads to salvation. The metaphor we will use to illustrate the Biblical Plan of Salvation, is not a pathway but a staircase, as I mentioned in the last lesson. Just as there are steps we travel on the Roman Road, there are several steps on our staircase which every person takes on their journey to salvation, or the forgiveness of sins. Here's the illustration of our metaphor.

The First Two Steps - Hearing and Accepting the Gospel

We have already identified the first step, so let's label this first step, "Hearing the Message." Every person in the history of the world, who has ever come to know Jesus, has taken this first step. This should be pretty obvious! If you consider yourself a Christian, that means you heard the Gospel, you made a conscious decision to respond positively. Perhaps you were in a church, listening to the radio, watching the TV or a friend brought the message to you. You decided to make Jesus, Lord of your life. You may remember that day clearly. You made a decision. You accepted the message; you didn't reject the message. And guess what, that would be the second step in the Biblical plan of salvation.

Let's label the second step, "Accepting the Message." Again, this is pretty obvious. For someone to be saved, they must accept the Gospel message. Rejecting it would get them nowhere!

Be Super Careful. Never Confuse Repentance with Salvation

For many people, it is at this point, as they surrender their will to Jesus and make Him Lord of their lives, that they might feel an inexpressible joy and relief as they understand they have crossed over from a dark life of sin and have been born again into the wonderful light of salvation. They are comforted by the fact that they will never walk alone again, they will have their Lord and Savior walking with them. The point in time when this occurs is what we previously called a "salvation experience."

The goal of this series, "A Faith that Obeys," is to identify the exact point in time when this "Salvation Experience" occurs. Most people who call themselves Evangelical Christians can point back to a specific point in time... in the past... when a "salvation experience" happened for them. This is the moment in time which they would point back to and say, "That's when and where I became a Christian." or "That's the point in time I was Born Again."

The Stumbling Block of the Sinner's Prayer

Many churches use a well know method, which was developed in the late 1800's,

View Details

Part 2

In our last podcast we looked at that intense passage of scripture in 1 John Chapter 2 where John challenges us to obey the commandments of Christ and lets us know, in no uncertain terms, that obedience is not optional. Listen to this passage again…

1 John 2:3-6We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

What Commands Does Jesus Want Us to Obey?

Just think about that one statement, “God’s love is truly made complete in him.” We need to step back and understand, it is possible for God’s love to “not be made complete” in a person! In our last episode, we learned; John’s conditional statement explains that we do not know Christ unless we are walking in obedience to his commands. But, which commands? We asked, “What commands do I need to obey?” That question launched us into a deep survey of “The Great Commission.”

After that very thorough review, we concluded that if we are not actively involved in obeying the four crisp commands of Christ found in The Great Commission, then we fall short in our obedience. Employing this criteria is a pretty solid, albeit deeply convicting strategy for evaluating our position before God. We are forced by the tenets of The Great Commission to ask ourselves, “Am I going? In other words, "Am I evangelistic?” Am I making disciples? Am I baptizing them? Am I teaching them to make disciples and obey everything Jesus has just taught in The Great Commission and elsewhere? Do you realize; The Great Commission is the only pattern we see for converting souls in the New Testament?

Examining Ourselves

The Great Commissions is the only instruction specifically given by Jesus himself as his unambiguous mission for his followers after his departure. How can we claim to know Him if we are not walking in obedience to these very simple commands? This really puts our walk with God under a microscope, doesn’t it? It’s quite a challenge. Now some folks might object to this exercise of “self evaluation” as unnecessary, legalistic, demotivating, discouraging, perhaps even dangerous. But the Bible corrects that notion and indeed challenges us to dial up our introspection; our self-examination.

2 Corinthians 13:5Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test?

This kind of heart searching and probing might possibly reveal that we are not as secure in our relationship with God as we think. And you know what? That conclusion is not a bad thing! Yeah, it rattles our assurance of salvation; but that’s OK. Listen. If we come to the conclusion that we “fail the test,” and are willing to be honest with ourselves, it just means we are still in the process of conversion. God still has us in his plan.

Are we trusting Him?

Why in the world would we ever think Jesus is going to let us go just because we learned new truth and are convicted that we don’t measure up to the new Biblical standard? Don’t you think that maybe…. just maybe… God is trying to help us get to the place He needs us to be?

God Does Not Give Up on People

I don’t think God gives up on people if they continue pursuing Him with a humble open heart. Only our pride and arrogance keep us from growing to the next level as we point to our spiritual resume and claim, “But I made a commitment to Christ years ago! Look at all I have done for Him!” That may be true and maybe… just maybe, God sees your heart and that’s exactly why He is nudging you higher!

If I “fail the test” as Paul says, Shouldn’t I have an attitude of great humility and gratitude because I realize, I am not saved? And if I come to the conclusion that I am not saved...

View Details

After nearly 70 podcasts here at A Faith that Obeys, there is one aspect of our topic we have never really studied deeply. We've skirted around the issue, we've included the notion in a number of our discussions but we have never tackled this topic head-on and let the chips fall where they may.

The issue? The fact that scripture teaches us that; love for Christ is directly linked to obedience to Christ.

Study out the word "Obedience"

This showed up on my radar last week when I was creating a list of scriptures that specifically mention obedience. That study is an entire study in and of itself and I would highly encourage you to do a search for the word obey in all its various forms, using your Bible Software or online at BibleGateway.com or BibleStudyTools.com and discover the amazing things revealed by that search. You will be both delighted and challenged.

In my study, I wanted to find scriptures that spoke specifically about obedience being necessary for salvation. In the process, I was struck when I saw how many times obedience is directly connected or associated with love for God and Christ. As I read these passages I was amazed with how dogmatic they are. There is no gray area. We either love God and Jesus through our obedience or we do not.

What we are about to look at we have seen before but never in such a challenging way… never so directly.

A Quick Prayer for a Soft Heart

Lets begin with a prayer because I think we’re gonna need it!

God and Father, please be with us as we look at these challenging scriptures. Help our hearts be soft and receptive to the facts we are about to see. Help us be willing to change anything we need to change in our lives in order to follow you more closely. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

In this podcast, let’s begin by talking about obedience in general and then talk about how it relates to the love of Christ. Here’s probably the most challenging scripture. It is found in 1 John.

1 John 2:3-6We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, Gods love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

This is a scripture about salvation.

Knowing Christ Does Not Mean Christ Knows Me!

When John speaks about coming to know him, he is talking about a person’s relationship with Jesus. Implied in his assertion is the fact that not only have we come to know Jesus, but Jesus knows us, too. I point this out because I am recalling those folks back in Matthew 7 who knew Jesus super intimately and were doing amazing things for him but Jesus never knew them. There are two parts to the equation, right?

In this 1 John passage, it is clear that we are talking to real disciples of Jesus. John is talking to Christians. We also know this because he is comparing the “we” of the first sentence with “the man” of the second sentence; who is clearly lost. Here it is again for reference.

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him.”

Without Obedience, We Do Not Know Christ

Now notice something critical. This first sentence is conditional. It contains an if/then statement.

We know that we have come to know him… IF we obey his commands.

That’s a pretty clear delineation isn't it? We have assurance of a relationship with Christ IF we obey his commands. People who do not obey his commands, do not know him.

Verse 4 is wildly intense! “The man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

I am not sure I know of any places in the Bible that are more direct an (dare I say) more harsh.

Being called a liar, by anyone is a terrible thing.

View Details

This is the third lesson from our eleven part video series called, "A Faith that Obeys." You can find the original video and transcript HERE. We are dropping this lesson into our regular podcast feed so that the information can reach a wider audience. In this lesson, we will review the Modern Plan of Salvation which includes practices like "The Sinner's Prayer" and "Accepting Christ for Salvation."

Learning about Jesus

Rethink this very tempting and easy Plan of Salvation!

The Roman's Road

The Steps to Salvation

Accepting the Message

Let's label the second step, "Accepting the Message." Again, this is pretty obvious. For someone to be saved, they must accept the Gospel message. Rejecting it would get them nowhere!

The Sinner's Prayer

Many churches use a well know method, which was developed in the late 1800's, to help folks respond to the Gospel message.

View Details

Have you ever considered our tagline here at A Faith that Obeys? It reads, “Rethinking the Traditional Plan of Salvation.” Now, I must admit, this does sound a bit presumptuous doesn’t it? Hopefully the tagline provides a crisp clarity to the issue we are debating and anyone piqued enough to investigate this apparent arrogance, discovers a warm and welcoming place to explore the age old debate regarding water baptism.

Now, you know me. I gotta pick apart a term! After all, we need to agree on what a word means. Let’s begin with, “Rethinking.” Why are we “rethinking" anything? Well, because we think we might have gotten something wrong or we need to review our understanding of a thing; in this case, The Traditional Plan of Salvation.

Defining Our Terms

A “plan" is an ordered succession of smaller events leading to a specific goal and our plan leads to salvation.

“Salvation” means, a person receives the forgiveness of sins, from God; is moved from a lost state to a saved state and will enjoy the benefits of the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven.

“Traditional” means; the plan is something which has been used and reused for a very long time and is assumed to be correct.

Our process of rethinking, leads us to probe, poke holes in and otherwise scrutinize the assertions made by the traditional plan. At A Faith that Obeys, we’ve discovered the primary and most glaring difference between the Traditional Plan and the Biblical Plan is this small, seemingly insignificant fact. Listen carefully. The only difference between the two plans is that the declaration of salvation is made at different points along the same common path. Let me explain because this issue can be a little hard to see.

The Roadmap to Salvation

The plan of salvation is like a map. When we look at the map carefully, we spot two different exit ramps. Both are clearly labeled, “This way to the Pearly Gates.” To arrive at our destination, we must use the correct exit ramp. But, right there on the map are two different exit ramps going off in different directions.

The traditional plan asserts a person is saved when they first believe and trust in Christ. This happens at some point before water baptism. That’s ramp one. The Biblical Plan demonstrates that a person is not saved until they obey the Gospel, which includes water baptism. That’s ramp two. Intellectual belief and acceptance of the Gospel message and obedience to that message, are two separate things and happen at different times along the same spiritual highway to heaven. The crazy thing is that if we are not paying attention, the routes look identical!

When deeply committed Christian believers, who have not yet obeyed the “Biblical Plan of Salvation,” hear about it, become convinced of its truth and want to obey, the question inevitably comes up, "Do I need to be baptized again?" They are questioning this because, sometime in the past, they experienced a full immersion baptism, and now think they may need to be baptized again, the right way. They made a sincere commitment to Christ and believed they had been saved but, that happened well before their water baptism.

Our goal should always be to humbly obey the Gospel to the best of our ability, right? Everyone who truly loves Jesus wants to please him. If we were baptized at some point in the past with a full immersion baptism, we should ask ourselves a couple of questions; “What teaching were we following?" And, “Why did we get baptized?” Let’s jump in the Wayback Machine and review our thinking. How did our original introduction to Christ play out?

Why did you get baptized, way back when?

At some point in the past, we heard the Gospel message. We learned about Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. This is, of course, is where and when everyone’s journey started. We recognized our sinfulness and our need for a savior. We were ready for a change. We repented of our sins.

View Details

How would you like to take your prayer life and Bible Study to a higher level than you have ever experienced before? How would you like to feel like your time with God was deeper, more intimate, more vibrant, and authentic? That would be awesome, right?

Photo by Michael Krahn on Unsplash

In this lesson, you are going to learn two blow-away secrets that will absolutely change the way you pray and the results you experience! Let’s go!

All good relationships are based on two things; time together and communication. Our relationship with God is no exception. If we want a rich, real relationship with God, then, we spend quality time with Him by reading His Word and Praying. These two specific activities can be a pretty good barometer of how well we are doing spiritually. When someone is not spending time with God in Prayer and Bible Study, they are neglecting the most important relationship a human being can have. To have a great relationship with God, we need to have great QuietTimes!

What is a QuietTime?

As always, let’s begin by defining our terms. What is a QuietTime?

As the name suggests, it is a time which is quiet. There are no noises to distract us, there are no electronic devices incessantly beeping, there are no other people around and the environment is somewhat protected from interruption. It is a time we spend alone, communicating with God in prayer and allowing Him to communicate with us through his word and through the thoughts and ideas which stir our hearts and our imaginations during these times.

Communication flows in two directions; to God and from God. Our communication to God is done through our prayers. We tell Him what is on our heart. We share our hopes, our dreams and our hardships with Him. We let Him know what is going on with us and we offer up adoration, gratitude and requests for ourselves and for others. Basically, we lay our hearts bare before the Creator of the Universe in the hope He will hear us and respond favorably. And, God does respond.

God’s Communication to Us

God communicates to us in a variety of ways. During our time alone with him, He communicates with us through His word and those random thoughts which come to mind… that quiet still voice we all have in our head and heart. At other times, God may use another person to tell us something we need to hear.. Perhaps He may provide an experience, dramatic or mundane, which makes us pause and reflect. So, God uses four channels of communication as He is working with us: The Word, A person, An experience and that little voice in our head and heart. Which one would you place at the top of the list as the most trusted and reliable? Obviously, The Word!

We don’t completely ignore advice we receive from another person, an experience or our inner voice. We take all of these into account; carefully weighting everything in the light of Scripture. Everything must be filtered through that lens. We must never depend solely on our little inner voice! And an experience is not reliable because your interpretation of the experience is just as good as mine. The two interpretations can differ wildly. People’s advice, opinions and teachings are just that…. their opinion and their teaching, not necessarily what God desires. You must make the final evaluation and your conclusions must be in harmony with the scriptures.

So, having a quality time with God is based, primarily on that special alone time where we meet with God in His Word and in prayer; time together and communication.

What is Prayer?

So, what is prayer? What are we doing when we pray? Let’s turn to some scriptures to help us define this term.

Exodus 19:17“Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.”

Back in the day, the people “met” with God. He appeared to them in a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of smoke by day. This is probably where the term “Holy smokes” originated!

View Details

Editor's Note: This is the audio from the second lesson about The Biblical Plan of Salvation . You may view the entire video series by starting HERE.

Ben White via UnSplash.com

Thanks so much for taking the next step. You obviously have a desire to learn more about this important topic. As we begin, I wanted to say that the things we will look at are really challenging. I know because I have felt some pretty strong feelings as I learned the things you're about to learn. Please understand that I am submitting these ideas to you with the utmost love and respect. I hope you will feel like that comes through as I make my case.

In the last video, we talked about a Biblical Plan of Salvation. I said that this plan was hidden in the Bible, and in plain sight. I said, even the most learned scholars miss it and, even explained why they miss it... they do not have the heart of a child.

I'm about to show you that Biblical plan of salvation, but before we begin, let's lock down some of the basic Bible grammar used to define the plan. You probably know most of this but let's take a minute to lock it down carefully. This way, there will be no confusion or disagreement about terms and definitions.

Bible Names for Bible Things

Let's take a look at this phrase, "God's Plan of Salvation."

First, let's be clear. This is God's plan, not man's plan. Man did not create the plan and man can not change the plan. The plan was clearly established in the Bible 2000 years ago and is the same today as it was in the first century. What is a plan? Well, Webster's dictionary defines the word "Plan," as a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something. So our plan will contain some sort of ordered actions aimed at achieving the goal, which God has laid before us, salvation. The Biblical plan of salvation may be depicted like a series of stair steps.

Now, I need to stop right here and make sure we understand something important. These steps I am describing are not actions we take in order to be saved but they are observable, verifiable things that happen with us as we move through the plan. We are not talking about some kind of "works salvation" here. You'll understand this clearly as we move forward. Ok, this brings us to our next term... salvation.

What is "Salvation?"

Salvation is a good religious word.

What is salvation? Turning to Mr. Webster once again, we see that salvation means, deliverance from sin and its consequences.

There is another phrase, common in the religious world, called "Born Again." This phrase is another way to say saved or sins have been forgiven.

So, born again, equals saved. There is no difference between these two phrases.

Here's another important point about salvation... there is no gray area. Someone is either lost or saved. We are either in the light or in the darkness. We are never kinda saved or a little saved or sort of born again.

Here is something which is a little humorous. Have you ever heard of someone referring to themselves as a "Born Again Christian?" Did you know there is no such thing as a "Born Again Christian?" Those are redundant terms! That would be like saying, I am a white Caucasian! What other kind of Caucasian is there? Any one who is "Born Again" is a Christian.

What is a "Christian?"

Here's the next term: Christian. A Christian is someone who is in a saved state. And the Bible teaches only Christians are saved. People who are not saved are not yet Christians but they are certainly eligible to become Christians.

This is an incredibly important definition to understand. The meaning of this word, Christian, has become a extremely blurred in our religious and non-religious worlds. Many people refer to themselves as Christian even though they have never had a "Salvation Experience." People who simply believe in Jesus often call themselves Christian. Since they are not Buddhist or Muslim or Jewish, they are Christian, at least,

View Details

When someone first hears about The Biblical Plan of Salvation they often express shock because they never knew there was anything different from what they had been taught and they think all of Christendom teaches the same thing. I tell them, “Yes. People really need to study the Bible in order to become a Christian!”

Photo by Ben White via Unsplash

And when they hear this, it is not uncommon for them to go back to their denominational pastor and ask, “Do I really need to study the Bible to be saved?”

“No, of course not.” Comes the reply. “That’s ridiculous. Look no further than the 3000 who were baptized on the day of Pentecost. Do you think they studied the Bible? No, there was no time. They simply heard Peter’s sermon and accepted Christ!” Now, this reasoning sounds good but let’s think it through.

You Might Not Need to Study the Bible if...

If you have never heard of Jesus, it is true; the simple Gospel message can be accepted and obeyed.But given our current religious climate it would be highly unlikely. Let me explain.

Three thousand people did indeed become Christians on the day of Pentecost and it is unlikely that any of them opened a scroll to study it. Even the Apostle Paul, by the time Romans was written could say, “Faith comes from hearing the word…” Romans 10:17. So what’s changed? Why would studying the Bible to become a Christian be so important today?

A Lot Has Changed in 2000 Years!

Unlike the day of Pentecost, Christianity has been here for 2000 years and has had ample time to become incredibly perverted. Grab a phone book… if you can still find one… and look up “Churches” in the Yellow Pages. Under that category, you will find a huge number of different sub-headings for all the various denominations and within those denominational divisions a plethora of divided churches. They all teach slightly, and sometimes vastly, different things. That’s why they became divided. The goal and purpose of solid Bible study is to address and correct the denominational aberrations and bias which have been introduced over the last two millennia and bring spiritual thinking and reasoning back under the authority of scripture; since it is the source of our faith. It is, after all, our founder’s book.

This may sound really strange but based on my experience, the first battle I face teaching my religious friends, will be their acceptance of the authority of scripture. One would think this situation would be reversed. A religious person should, by nature, accept the authority of scripture and a person without any formal religion would be less ready to accept scriptural authority. But this is not the case.

The Problem with Traditions

Religious folks often carry decades of denominational teaching and traditions which must be carefully and gently addressed. This is done by exposing current beliefs to the light of scripture and carefully reasoning out incongruences. Even this process can be difficult because of our natural inclination to reject new ideas. We can sure get stuck in our ways, can’t we? Couple this attitude with a general apathy toward “matters spiritual” and we create a real dilemma. So, from the outset, we must establish that the Bible is the authority and we must listen to and obey it’s teachings above anything we have previously learned.

Most believers typically depend on their pastor or priest to tell them what the Bible says. A church service is the extent of their spiritual diet for the week. They rarely check things out for themselves. Most people naturally distrust anyone claiming to offer the word of God who is outside their current circle of religious experience; even if that person is asking them to read the same Bible they claim to follow. New ideas are treated with suspicion. Now, healthy suspicion can be a good thing, but we should never be completely closed to learning new truth when it comes directly and clearly from the scriptures, right?

View Details

Important Note: Don't miss the first two articles leading up to this one for a much deeper study. Read the first one HERE and read the second one HERE.

The Apostle Paul - El Greco

In our last two podcasts, we dove into the possibility that the Apostle Paul is the Rich Young Ruler. In this podcast, I want to take what we have discovered so far and apply some analysis and logic.

If you are like me, for some reason we have a little blind spot regarding the Apostle Paul. I have always seen Paul’s life as sorta-kinda beginning at the stoning of Stephen. I have never really spent much time considering the glaring fact of his existence prior to his dramatic appearance at Stephen’s death. When we play the timeline of Paul’s life backward, we begin to see his place in a historical context of that day. He did not just poof into existence at the martyrdom of Stephen. He had a life before that time and I think, during that time, we call him The Rich Young Ruler. Let’s review the astonishing similarities which lead us to that conclusion.

Incredible Similarities

Both Paul and The Rich Young Ruler are men. Both were young at the time we first meet them. Both are Jewish. Both are rulers. Both knew the commandments. Both kept all the commandments from birth. Both claim a faultless and blameless life. Both were zealous for the law. Both were wealthy. Both struggled with covetousness. Both were loved by Christ. Both were told to “come follow me.” It took a direct intervention by God to make it all happen, just as Jesus said it would regarding the Rich Young Ruler, and we see that miraculous event happen to Saul on the road to Damascus. We also have the statement by Jesus that the Rich Young Ruler would be in a position of “last” compared to the Apostles and Paul is the last Apostle appointed by Christ.

Saul has a life history. We miss that.

Through Paul’s own testimony, we know that he was raised in Jerusalem and studied under Gamaliel. His studies led him to his commission as a Pharisee. He was a star pupil! He advanced quicker and better than young men of his own age. He was a super achiever. We know he was in Jerusalem growing up, and we know he was in Jerusalem at the time of Stephen’s death. Where would he have been between those times? The same place! He would have been completing his studies and fulfilling his new duties as a Pharisee!

This means, Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, was most certainly aware of the ministry of Christ. He had to be! There is no reason to think that he was somehow sequestered in a back room of the temple writing a blog, or separated from the Jerusalem leadership in a foreign nation—completely unaware of what was happening back in Jerusalem. He was there!

Saul was there!

Regarding the activities and thinking of the Sadducees and Pharisees about Jesus, we have quite a bit of information. We know Caiaphas, Ananias, Nicodemus, Gamaliel and all the Sanhedrin kept a close watch on Christ’s activities. As a Pharisee, Saul was part of the in crowd. Yet, we never hear Saul mentioned in the Gospels… but then again, we never see Gamaliel mentioned in the Gospels either; and he was a man of great influence during the days of Jesus ministry and into the church era. So Gamaliel was there too. After all, he could not have taught Saul if he was not in Jerusalem in the years prior to Acts 7 where we first meet Saul!

What's a "ruler?"

We noted that Luke is the only writer who identifies the rich man as a “ruler.” What kind of ruler would this be? Given all the other facts of the case, we know this had to be a Jewish ruler. It would not have been a gentile ruler. Remember, the Rich Young Man had known from birth and kept all of the commandments. Gentiles don’t do that.

Being a ruler means you rule over something. What would RYR rule over? He ruled over Jewish people. Perhaps the young man was a synagogue leader or a junior scribe of some sort. Regardless,

View Details

Paul with Agrippa - Vasily Surikov - Circa 1875

In our last Podcast, we talked about the secrets in a resume. Because the Bible contains so much information about certain people, it is pretty easy to metaphorically build a resume for a Biblical character. This exercise can reveal things we may have never really considered. Let’s look at the Apostle Paul. There is a lot written about him personally.

Paul is Amazing

The Apostle Paul is probably the most amazing disciple in the entire New Testament. Not only does he go from being the number one persecutor of the church to the number one promoter of the church, he goes on to pen three quarters of the the New Testament scripture. He is the author of no less than 13 letters to various people and churches.

Paul was pretty prolific! So too were others who accompanied him such John Mark; who goes on to write the Gospel of Mark, and Luke, a physician. Luke is the writer of both the Book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke. Both these men were close associates of Paul and accompanied him on many of his missionary journeys. Beginning with Luke’s writings, let’s gather information about Paul’s life with which we can build a handsome and respectable resume for Paul.

First Contact

The first time we ever meet Paul is at the end of Acts 7. It’a not a great first meeting. It occurs during the stoning of Stephen where Paul was still known as the Pharisee, Saul. We join the assault just after the crowd has been whipped into a frenzy by the preaching of Stephen.

Acts 7:57 - 8:1“At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.”

A Young Man

In terms of church history, theologians tell us the stoning of Stephen happened about 35 AD. This would put it roughly three years after the birth of the church. This passage tells us, Saul was still a young man. He has some type of authority because he is “giving approval” to the stoning of Stephen and the murderers are laying their clothes at the feet of this “young man” as he stands back giving approval.

Saul is obviously filled with a deep hatred and bitter contempt for this new religion. It’s difficult to imagine a hatred so intense and so evil that it compels someone to actually participate in an organized effort to kill, murder and destroy a people who’s entire motivation is love. Have you ever wondered what drove Saul to this breaking point? Why was he compelled to do such a thing?

The Good News is, the next time we meet Saul, he has a little “come to Jesus” moment! On a dusty Damascus road, Jesus appears to him in brilliant light and knocks some sense into him. In fact, Jesus knocks the Saul out of him so far, he changes his name to Paul… and the rest is history!

Paul's Conversion Three Times

Luke tells the story of Saul’s conversion in the book of Acts, three times. Let’s glean some details about Paul’s life from each of these then move on to discovering some other nuggets about Paul from the epistles. Our first conversion story is told in Acts 9.

Acts 9:1-2Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Saul, apparently has so much clout with the leaders back in Jerusalem, he could ask for, and receive, certain letters of passage. We assume these letters provided the necessary authority; empowering Saul to enter Damascus and collect...

View Details

If you were asked to boil down the Gospel message into just one word, what would that word be? Most people would probably say, “The heart of the Gospel is love!”

In fact, the word love and its derivatives is one of the most used words in the entire Bible. And, there is no greater persons in whom we see love demonstrated than Jesus Christ and God the Father. Jesus laid down his life for us well before we ever knew him, and “God is love,” according to the apostle John. Having someone to love and being loved are two of mankind’s greatest needs and God graciously provides His love for us on us in a variety of ways. And of course, love is a two way street.

Loving Christ

If you are a disciple of Christ, you have returned the love God gives by obeying his commands and dedicating your life to the cause of Christ. Christians love Christ! When we look through the Gospels we find many other people who loved Jesus too. Mary and Martha come to mind; Mary Magdalene for sure. When we look for the people Jesus loved, we might recall the intensely emotional event at Lazarus’ tomb. Everyone saw his love for Lazarus because, “Jesus wept.” The Bible says, “Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus.” We also have the humorous veiled references John makes about himself in his Gospel as “the one whom Jesus loved.” We also have abundant societal references to Christ’s love. “Jesus loves the little children,” as the song goes. And of course let’s not forget, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” Without question, Jesus has a heart of love.

But, did you know there is only one specific individual in the entire Bible where it explicitly says, “Jesus loved him?” Who’s that and how would you like to be that guy? Only one individual… in all of scripture… is singled out as being the specific object of Christ’s love! Do you know who that was? It’s not Lazarus!

Introducing the Rich Young Ruler

This is one of my favorite characters in all the Bible - The Rich Young Ruler. So, why does the Bible say in Mark 10:21, “Jesus looked at him and loved him?” The answer is found in this young man’s resume. You know, there’s a lot of information in a resume. So, let’s do a little review of this fellows’.

We meet this guy in no less than three Gospels and as it turns out, there are a ton of interesting facts established which eventually point to a stunning revelation. By the end of this podcast, I think you will agree, this is a most impressive resume indeed.

The story of The Rich Young Ruler appears in Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18. God evidently wants us to notice this guy. Let’s read about him from the Mark 10 account.

Mark 10:17-23As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

A Tragic Beginning?

What a seemingly sad story; a man runs up to Jesus and falls on his knees. His heart is obviously burning with a question. It’s the same question you and I should probably ask if we could meet with Jesus for just one minute. “Lord, will I get to go to Heaven?” Truth be told, there is absolutely no other question which is more important to every human heart. Everyone, from the depths of their soul, wants to know if they will be “OK” when everything is over and the final curtain falls.

View Details

Now, let’s look at… possibly… the most neglected statement of The Great Commission. After Jesus issues his four crisp commands, comes the magnificent and stunning conclusion.

Let’s read the entirety of The Great Commission again… it’s been a while since we’ve heard it.

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The Greatest Promise Ever Made

Jesus concludes his commission with an amazing and wonderful promise… “And surely I am with you always until the very end of the age.”

There are no words to adequately describe the implications and impact of these final words. Jesus’ promise permeates through the rest of the New Testament. For the last two millennia, The Promise has changed millions of hearts and lives and will continue to do so until the very end of time. Majestic and marvelous, The Promise secures a Christian’s future in the eternal Kingdom of God. It is a promise of comfort and a bond of sonship. It is intimate and loving. It is truly beyond earthly comprehension. Jesus promises to be with us always, until the very end of the age.

The Promise was Predicted

And, by the way, this is exactly what he said he would do, way back in John 14. This came at the time of The Last Supper, as he shares his heart with the apostles he loves. Let’s listen in….

John 14:15-31 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”

Wow! What an awesome and wonderful position we are in. The God of the Universe, the Lord of Lords, King of King’s, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, The Alpha and Omega, the Light and the Life of Men, the Word Incarnate, that Carpenter of Galilee will voluntarily come to me and live in me for the purposes of his will. That’s wild! It’s blow away!

The Promise has a Predication

Now notice, in both John 14 and The Great Commission,

View Details

The fourth command of The Great Commission is, in its complete sentence form, “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” In my mind, this is the most amazing part of the Great Commission. It is absolutely brilliant.

In adding this fourth command to the other three commands of The Great Commission, Jesus has just insured that the Biblical Plan of Salvation will continue on throughout all generations. Let’s break it down and see what else we can discover.

Discovery

The first word is, “teach.” This means sending information, passing knowledge, communicating enlightenment. It’s a drawing toward knowledge and wisdom.

Now, carefully notice. The apostles were not told to “teach the people everything.” They were told, “Teach them to ‘obey’ everything.” This is interesting. Jesus introduces obedience. Obedience is a response and it is always intrinsically linked to a command. Without a command, there is nothing to obey. This is why we say, “The Great Commission must be obeyed.” There are a series of commands contained in it. As a result, obedience becomes a critical part of the salvation experience because, the scriptures elsewhere teach us that we can not have a relationship with God, if we are unwilling to obey him. More about that in a moment.

Now, obviously… the things Jesus is commanding us to obey extend way beyond the first three commands of The Great Commission. He said, “Teach them to obey everything, I have commanded you.”

Obey Everything?

That’s a mighty tall order, wouldn’t you say. What was he talking about? “Love your enemies?” “Love your neighbor as yourself?” “Seek first the Kingdom?” “Give?” Yes, yes, yes and yes. But, in the context of The Great Commission, we must ask, “What has he just taught the apostles to obey?” Well… the first three commands! Go, make and baptize!

When Jesus says, “Teach them to obey everything,” that by definition, includes everything he has just finished saying. And, they should teach it exactly the same way he taught them. No one has ever been given a license or the authority to change anything in the Biblical Plan of Salvation.

Have you ever played the game “Telephone?” It’s a fun game, even for adults. The game is played by getting 15 or 20 other people together. The leader whispers a fairly complex sentence into the first person’s ear. The first person then whispers it into the second person’s ear and the message gets passed on from mouth to ear for twenty generations. It can be quite hilarious when we hear the final presentation of the original sentence. Things can really change and get messed up! When a message gets passed down from generation to generation people have a tendency to change things. But this process can’t happen with The Great Commission because we have the instructions… the original message… clearly presented in the New Testament.

Ongoing... without alteration

The apostles would have taught their followers everything, exactly as Jesus taught them. They taught their students the four crisp commands to Go, Make Disciples, Baptize them and Teach them to obey everything. Nothing changed. Now, think about the second generation of made disciples. What would they teach the third generation?

The third generation is taught to Go, Make, Baptize and Teach. There is absolutely no change. The commands are exactly the same. So, what would the third generation teach to the fourth generation? Exactly the same things… without alteration!

This process is handed down from generation to generation and, if we are in a church which practices the Biblical Plan of Salvation, this is exactly what we would be doing today.

If a disciple is taught, and called to obey, all four commands of The Great Commission, they would be making other disciples, exactly the same way. A disciple makes disciples. I’ve said it before, there is no other kind of disciple. There is no such thing as a disciple who does not make disciples.

View Details

As we continue our mini-series about The Great Commission, we now examine the third command, Baptize. So, just how do we cover this topic after coming off of a forty lesson, in-depth series, about water baptism? Can there possibly be anything new to discuss regarding this topic? I think so. And I think you’re going to be surprised when you see this one! Let me explain.

A Quick Review

We have already established, baptism as the third command of The Great Commission and at the risk of belaboring the point, I will once again, for the benefit of newcomers, remind us; since it is a command, it is not optional on our part. It must be obeyed by both the baptizer and the one being baptized. In other words, as a person who makes disciples, I have no choice in the matter. I must baptize my student. That is cast in stone and I do not have the right, ability, or authority to change it. That’s what Jesus told us to do. Likewise, the student has no choice in the matter, if they want to be a disciple of this particular Master, Jesus. I’m sorry but it’s just not optional. As we have stated many times, baptism can not be a work of human effort because it is a command of Christ.

Just like the first two commands of The Great Commission, this third command, the command to baptize, can be expressed as a complete sentence. The sentence contains a subject, the plural form of that “implied you,” meaning “you all” specifically “you apostles.” The verb is “baptize.” The direct object of the sentence, “them,” is the “who” to baptize. So, the complete sentence would be, “You baptize them.” If you are from the south, that would be, “Y’all baptize ‘em.”

The Narrow Road

Now, here is where things get interesting. I’m gonna bet this is probably something you have never heard before. We understand who was to do the baptizing. It was initially done by the Apostles who taught others to do it and so on. We understand what baptism is, an immersion in water. But, when Jesus adds that little direct object, “them,” something with significant ramifications occurs. Let’s walk through this carefully.

“Them,” refers to the disciples the apostles were making. Remember? The process the apostles were told to follow was, “Go, make disciples.” So, before Jesus issues the command to baptize “them,” he has already defined the class of people “them” refers to. The apostles were told to baptize the disciples they make.

Think about what this means! Jesus extremely narrows the field of candidates who are eligible for baptism. This is stunning. The only person who is a candidate for water baptism is a person who is becoming a disciple. Jesus is very specific about this “who!” “Baptize them,” refers only to the disciples the apostles are making! This becomes extremely exclusive and defines the guardrails of the narrow road.

Maybe we need to go back and think a bit deeper about the definition of a disciple from our last podcast.

What is a disciple?

A disciple is a student or a learner. They are someone who allows themselves to be trained by a discipler. They are becoming like Christ. A disciple is someone who has begun sincerely seeking God, someone who is devoted to reading their bible and praying. These are some of the characteristics we would expect to see in a person who is committed to Christ. A disciple is not someone who simply believes in Jesus and is making no effort to pursue a relationship with him.

In today’s churches, anyone can be baptized, even an infant who has no knowledge of God. The qualification for adult baptism in most churches is simply belief in Christ, no serious commitment required. After all, we wouldn’t want to scare you away by making you think you were committing life-long, effort filled obligation to the goals and operations of our church. Most churches try to keep the entrance requirements pretty low. This is vastly different from first century Christianity.

Dangerous Decisions

In the first century,

View Details

Make Disciples is the second command.

The second command of The Great Commission is to “Make Disciples.” It should probably go without saying that this seemingly small command is absolutely loaded with potential! Let’s get started.

Here is the complete command in context.

“Make disciples of all nations.” Short sentence, right?

English 101

The verb is “make.” The direct object… or what to make… is “disciples.” Make disciples. But we’re missing a subject. A complete sentence must have a noun which makes up the subject of the sentence. And believe it or not, “Make disciples,” is technically a complete sentence. So, where’s the noun? What is the subject of the sentence? Think back to 7th grade English. Remember, this was a fun one. The subject is the implied, “You.” If we were going to say the complete and full sentence it would be, “You make disciples.” The purpose of the sentence is an imperative. It is a command.

The plural “you,” Jesus is referring to, are the remaining eleven disciples… the apostles. It is to them exclusively he is saying, “You make.” We have no indication there is anyone else present. The commands are given to a very select group of men; the men he has been training for the last three years. The men who have walked closely with him daily. So, “You make,” would be the command in its simplest form. Let’s talk about this part of the full sentence before we get to the “what…” of the sentence.

The definition of "make"

Jesus command is directed to the apostles and he tells them to “make” something. Making something implies effort, it requires an activity. Noah Webster, in his 1828 dictionary, offers over 60 definitions for the word, “make.” Here are just a few.

To compel; to constrain. To create; to cause to exist; to form from nothing. To bring into any state or condition; to constitute.

The word “make” means the act of creating something new which did not previously exist. It also implies a deliberate effort is activated toward that goal. In order for this to happen, the person performing the effort must have a goal in mind and we should understand they have some sort of motivation to achieve the goal for which they are producing the effort. There is some driving force behind their desire to be productive.

This little word, “make.” It is packed full of activity. When we couple it with the first command, from our last podcast, to “go,” it becomes even more active. Remember, we are still talking about evangelism. A disciple is a “maker,” just as God is a maker. A disciple of Jesus does not sit in a lofty cathedral or busy themselves with mundane activities of the church. A disciple of Jesus is laser focused on a process of production. It’s the number one priority of their day. And exactly what does the disciple of Jesus produce?

A Disciple Makes Disciples

A disciple of Jesus produces other disciples of Jesus. Our sentence is, “You, make disciples.” “Disciples,” is the direct object… the “what” of the making. This speaks to the end result of the process, right? It clarifies and gives purpose to the rest of the things we already know. The Apostles were told to, “Go.” They were told to “make.” And the things they are told to make are, other disciples. There is nothing confusing here. The is nothing ambiguous. Jesus commands are clear and straight forward. The final part of the “make” command comes in the form of a little prepositional phrase which tells us where to go and make. We go to “all nations.”

This defines the target audience of our efforts. We are to make disciples of all nations! In essence, there is no limit to the process. Even as new nations are formed, those need to hear the Gospel message as well. And by the way, if we are to go to all nations, that kind of destroys the idea of racism and prejudice in the church, doesn’t it ?

The point of this lesson is to tightly focus on this word “make,” the second command of The Great Commission.

View Details

Welcome to A Faith that Obeys where we are rethinking the traditional plan of salvation. This traditional plan, which is also called the Modern Plan, is a fairly new invention and has tragically replaced the Biblical Plan of Salvation. When we study the Bible and see how people were “Born Again” in the first century, then compare that to how people become Christians today, there are some stark differences. Things have changed. Our goal is to identify the Biblical "steps to salvation” and support you in your efforts to learn what God desires in order to correctly follow them so you may have full assurance that you are walking on the correct path in your relationship with God.

Our series about biblical obedience in water baptism is now complete but obedience does not begin or end with that event. There are other things to consider. As we begin this next phase of our studies, I suspect you are about to hear something you have never heard before and it may be a little shocking. Let’s dive in!

The Four Crisp Commands of The Great Commission

There are four crisp commands contained in The Great Commission. They provide the final marching orders for the eleven apostles given by Jesus at the time of his ascension into heaven, over 2000 years ago. These commands are clear, unambiguous, simple, yet potent. They embody the culmination of Jesus’ entire earthly ministry. They are designed to launch and propel a movement destined to last for generations to come. Let’s read this amazing mandate.

It’s found in…

Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

For many Christians, this is a familiar passage of scripture. It is held in high regard and often enthusiastically preached from the pulpit. But, are we really following the commands? Are we really obeying everything Jesus asked us to do? Let’s look carefully at each of these directives. The first command is to “Go.”

The First Command - Go!

When we consider this first command, it is direct and straight forward. The disciples were to get out of Jerusalem, to proactively move into the rest of the world. “Go,” means, “Don’t stay here!” It is the beginning of the mission, the beginning of the church era, the beginning of a movement still active today. But, why should they go? Just the simple act of leaving Jerusalem would be worthless without the next command; the impetus for the going. The next command is, “Make Disciples.”

When the disciples got up and went, they took the message about the Kingdom of God to the entire world. This is the reason they should “go.”

The reason for the going

The purpose of The Great Commission was to insure the Gospel would advance after Jesus earthly ministry was complete. The cool part of The Great Commission is Jesus’ fourth command. He told the disciples to teach everyone they meet, “everything” he taught them; which includes all the commands of The Great Commission! Very clever!

Jesus’ plan is for one man to teach another man everything, just as he taught his disciples. Every disciple of Christ treasures and holds, as paramount, these same four basic commands. Disciples are prepared to pass them on to people they meet and teach. Now, there are a few issues raised by the Great Commission which I think are worthy of discussion.

First, are these actually four commands? Why not call them suggestions? Should we really take Jesus final words with such terminal seriousness that they should be called commands? What happens if I refuse to obey those commands? Is it serious?

Second, there is a promise at the end of The Great Commission. Jesus promises to “be with me always, until the very end of the age.

View Details

The Cherry on Top!

Wow! It’s hard to believe but we are finally finished with our long series on baptism. I wanted to take some time to reflect and review what we have learned and speak a little bit about the series in general.

If you recall, we began this extremely detailed series of lessons about Christian water baptism, way back in “Podcast 012 - The Proponents.” In that podcast we identified two groups involved in the argument about whether or not water baptism is a necessary part of the conversion process. This is a really old and sometimes contentious debate. My goal was to approach this topic from a different perspective offering a paradigm shift which, I think, is long overdue.

A Paradigm Shift on the Baptism Argument

My argument is pretty simple. Baptism is a command of God and we must obey God’s commands… if we want to be his child. Isn’t that what “Jesus is Lord,” means? If we will not have a Lord, can we have a savior?. We must obey what Jesus has asked us to do in The Great Commission. And, water baptism is part of the Great Commission.

Christ’s commission presents the only marching orders left by the master for furthering the Gospel. There is no other plan. If we refuse to obey the commands of that plan then we cannot be a part of the plan. Jesus gave these instructions at the time of his ascension, and over the course of two millennia, these commands have not changed. They were eventually passed down to you and me. The disciples were told, one person should teach another person this exact plan and no one, no church, no council, no prophet and no apostle has ever been authorized to change it. If you will not allow the person teaching you the plan, to baptize you; you prevent them from performing their assigned responsibilities and thus reject this Biblical Plan of Salvation.

Replacing the Biblical Plan

In my experience, most people who are introduced to Jesus for the very first time, reject the simple and clearly stated commands of the Great Commission, not because they have a willfully stubborn heart, but because they have only been taught an alternative plan. I call this the “Modern Plan of Salvation” or the “Traditional Plan of Salvation.” This modern plan promotes unscriptural methods of conversion, like “The Sinner’s Prayer,” which tells people, they may be saved without obeying the Great Commission. Baptism is a part of the “Modern Plan,” but it is tacked on as a post conversion act of obedience. It’s completely out of order. This is not the Biblical Plan and is wholly ineffective for conversion.

For centuries, this debate has sadly raged around the issue of baptism itself instead of what baptism is, the only appropriate and prescribed response to the instructions of the master. Much of this debate has been influenced by the erroneous conclusions drawn from the teachings of Martin Luther. Out of his reformation came that famous phrase, “Sola Fide,” which means “Faith Alone.”

Luther Misunderstood

Adherents to Luther’s teachings claim that we are saved by “faith alone” and any human actions associated with the goal of salvation should be rejected. By and large, their claim is true. However, they label Jesus’ command of baptism as one of those works of human effort and as such, deny its role in conversion. How can water baptism be a command of God and a human work at the same time? That makes no sense.

Luther valued obedience to the Gospel highly. He even references his own obedience in baptism in some of his writings. Soon, we will review his writings to better understand his position. Luther desperately tried to separate himself from the “works/merit system” of the Catholic Church, but did not include water baptism in the category of those types of works. When we pull all of this together, we discover there are three legs on the stool of salvation, grace, faith and obedience.

Anabaptists and Catholics Agreed

Another important aspect of this old debate is rev...

View Details

Welcome to A Faith that Obeys Podcast. This is the last scripture in our lengthy series about baptism and, it is quite a scripture. This story is found in the Old Testament, so you might wonder how an Old Testament scripture could be related to a New Testament baptism. Surprisingly, this scripture is very popular for the pro-baptism proponent and is used to prove that water baptism is connected to the washing away of sin. Let’s read it and see what we can discover.

2 Kings 5:1-14 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

A Foreshadow of Baptism

Well, I don’t really suppose there is much to discuss here. It is pretty obvious that Naaman washes himself and the leprosy goes away. This appears to be a foreshadowing of what will happen in baptism and it seems, on the surface, like a pretty good scripture to use in support of the claim that baptism washes away sin. I can certainly understand the “foreshadowing” nature of the claim but, I also see some problems.

First, Naaman was not baptized in the common sense. He has nobody helping into and out of the water. He was told to do this to himself. He is not immersed just once, he is immersed seven times! That’s inconsistent with the New Testament pattern. Yet we are left with the fact that Naaman is cleansed of his leprosy when he is washed.

So, is this scripture a good scripture us use in order to demonstrate that New Testament baptism washes away sin? Maybe, but not for the commonly used reasons. When I hear someone using this scripture as a pro-baptism scripture while pointing to the water and how it washed away Naaman’s “sin.” I get a little uneasy. When I hear this line of thinking it reminds me of the problem inherent in this entire de...

View Details

In our last Podcast, we met Apollos, an amazing preacher of Christ who had not quite obeyed the Gospel until Priscilla and Aquila were able to identify a doctrinal error which they heard when Apollos preached in the Synagogue at Ephesus. Paul was not with Priscilla and Aquila when this happened. But eventually, he arrives back at Ephesus and apparently, soon after his arrival, we are graced with another fascinating conversion story. It’s in Acts 19.

Acts 19:1-7 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.

Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

So, Paul meets some “disciples.” At first, we might assume these are disciples of Christ but as we read further, we come to understand that, like Apollos, these are actually disciples of John the Baptist, who knew only the baptism of John. They state that explicitly.

What Baptism Did You Receive?

Now, this whole event begs the question, “Why does Paul make this radical jump in the discussion from “What Spirit did you receive?” to, “Then what baptism did you receive?” And, why did he ask this initial question to begin with; it feels a little out of the blue! Let’s think this through. How can we reconcile these two questions? What in the world was Paul thinking?

First, it would be super weird if Paul met these men and just blurts out, “Did you hear about the Holy Spirit?” There obviously had to have been some other conversations; you know, things like “Hello, how are you?” “Have you heard about Jesus?” “Oh, you’re disciples. How’s the church at Ephesus doing, I am on my way there now?” “What, you don’t know about the church?” …things like that.

Naturally, as Paul got to know these disciples, he concludes he is not speaking to people who know the completed doctrines of Christ. Something is missing which is what eventually provokes him to ask the first question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” He is not asking this question for no good reason. And what is the good reason? Paul is trying to determine if these people are true Christians.

What is the point?

At this point in our story, Paul connects the reception of the Holy Spirit with belief. He does not ask them if they received the Holy Spirit when they were baptized. Many anti-baptism proponents consider this a very important issue. They point to Paul’s question as proof that receiving the Holy Spirit is only associated with belief, not baptism. Unfortunately, they stop reading right there. Paul has a follow-up question which is inextricably linked to the first.

When Paul hears their initial response, “We don’t know about a Holy Spirit,” a flag goes up! If they do not know there is a Holy Spirit, then they can’t possibly have the Holy Spirit. This means they are not saved and their sins have never been forgiven by God. But Paul does not immediately act on this hunch. He needs more concrete evidence. Beginning with the word “then,” he connects his second question to the first, thus connecting baptism with receiving the Holy Spirit.

“Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism.” They replied.

The Full Gospel Includes Water Baptism

Now, Paul understands clearly, “These are disciples of John who have never heard the full Gospel,” and he goes on to complete it for them. He presents the rest of the story and they respond appropriately by being baptized.

...

View Details

The next conversions in the book of Acts are the conversions of Cornelius, Lydia and the Philippian Jailer. All three of these were discussed in previous podcasts. Let’s quickly mention them and then move on to the next full blown narrative which deserves full discussion, the conversion of Apollos.

A Quick Review

As a reminder, we are in the middle of the last section of our study about baptism and unlike the anti-baptism arguments which rarely use scriptures that mention baptism, we are focused almost solely on scriptures which use that word. It is difficult to craft a good argument if we avoid the very scriptures which mention the word we are trying to explain.

Our first quick review is the conversion of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion. We studied this conversion story, in great detail, back in Podcast 031 - Pagans with Spirit. Please go back to that podcast or blog post where the issue of baptism is dealt with thoroughly.

The next conversion in the book of Acts is the conversion of Lydia in Acts 16. There is not much to say about this conversion other than to note that baptism is involved but infants are not. After this, in the same chapter, we read about the conversion of the Philippian Jailer. This is another major conversion story and we dealt with this in Podcast 017 - Anti Baptism Scriptures Part 3. Please review the details of that conversion in that blog post or podcast.

The Conversion of Apollos

Now, we come to the conversion of Apollos. There are two very distinct and separate parts to this story. Let’s dive in.

Acts 18:24-28 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Analysis of the story.

This is quite a story. Apollos is probably a Grecian Jew; the name gives that away. He was very intelligent and had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. These of course, would have been the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament. At some point in time, Apollos learned about Jesus. He had been given enough information about Christ to come to a belief that Jesus was indeed the Christ. Apparently, this fired him up enough to begin speaking to people about his discovery. But how do you think that happened? What might have happened to bring Apollos to a point where he became a preacher of Christ?

I suspect the case of Apollos is not an unusual case. John the Baptist preached for quite a while in Judea and the surrounding area. We know he had a pretty good following. All of the people who followed John believed the Christ was eminent and were baptized by John in preparation for that event. Many of these folks would have been around when John declared Jesus as the Christ, “the one who’s sandals he was not worthy to untie.” Some of those same people left John and began following Jesus.

But, not everyone who was a part of John’s ministry was able to stick around and see the complete fulfillment as Christ suffered, died and was resurrected. Apollos may have been one of these transients who did not know the rest of the story. In essence, these people got all fired up and went off half cocked! John proclaimed the Messiah had arrived and that is exactly what they continued doing after they left Judea but before the conclusion of Jesus ministry..

Eventually they would learn the rest of the story.

View Details

The Conversion of Saul - Aelbert Cuyp - Cicra 1646

As we move forward in the Book of Acts, the next conversion we encounter is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. For a time, Saul was the number one persecutor of the church; then God has a little impromptu meeting with him on a dusty Damascus road. As a result, Saul becomes the number one supporter of the church and goes on to write three quarters of the New Testament as the Apostle Paul! If there is any conversion crafted to convince us that even the worst of sinners can repent and become a follower of Jesus, the conversion of Saul should stand as a colossal encouragement. It is possible for anyone to become a Christian.

Saul's Conversion Cubed

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus, from a Biblical perspective, is unique, in that we hear the story of his conversion presented three times. This is helpful when we knit all three of these stories together in order to get a complete composite of the entire event. We can’t read all three rehearsals, that would take too long. Acts 9 is the most complete presentation of the three so we will focus on that, then add anything missing using the other two accounts.

For reference, let me show you where all three of these stories are located in the Bible.

The first time we learn of Saul’s conversion is in Acts Chapter 9, Verses 1-23. In this narrative, Luke, the writer of Acts, tells the story from a third person perspective. He reports things which happened to Paul. Luke spent years with Paul on the various missionary journeys so undoubtedly, he would have been very well acquainted with Paul’s story.

Next, in the book of Acts again, Luke retells the story but this time, it is from Paul’s perspective. Paul is telling the story to other people. This happens in Acts 22 after an aggressive mob is stirred to action in Jerusalem. Paul is arrested but permitted to address the crowd. In this Acts 22 version of the story, Paul recounts almost the entire event of his conversion again but, with some critical variations.

Saul’s third and final conversion story is reported in Acts 26:12-23. During this presentation of his conversion, Paul is, once again, under arrest and is being extradited, eventually to Rome, but has a brief audience with a curious king named, Agrippa. Paul is given complete freedom to speak whatever he wants to Agrippa so he uses his conversion story as a springboard for presenting the Gospel. This version also includes some minor additions to the story which we will review as well.

This is a fun lesson which I use often to help people see the Biblical Plan of Salvation. So, not only are we studying this out together, I wanted to show you how to lead this lesson in the hope you might use it and find it effective. I always begin by saying, “Let’s play a little game!”

Let's Start a Quest

We are on a quest. Our goal is to discover the exact instant Saul’s sins are forgiven by God. That particular point in time marks the exact moment a person is Born Again, right? Remember, one can not be a Christian unless they have received the forgiveness of sins — so using this event, the forgiveness of sins, we can determine conclusively when and where conversion happens.

Let’s keep our eyes open for that event as we begin.

Acts 9:1-22 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

View Details

Baptism of the Eunuch - Rembrandt - Circa 1626

Simon the Sorcerer stands as a classic example of a person who fails to truly convert because of the unrepentant pride and arrogance in his heart. Immediately after we witness the washout of Simon, we discover the determination of the Ethiopian Eunuch. God serves up a picture perfect example of how a humble, hungry heart accepts the word of God and obeys it. These two conversion stories stand in immediate succession and in stark contrast. Here’s what happened.

After Philip the Deacon finishes his work in Samaria he is called by an Angel of the Lord and told to head south and find a road which winds through the desert connecting Jerusalem to Gaza. This was a pretty good distance from where he had been working but off he goes in obedience to the angel’s command.

Acts 8:26-31 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road–the desert road–that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Why Such Great Detail about One Man?

Why do we have so much detail about who this man was, where he was from and what he was doing? For some reason, God thought it important to make sure these tidbits of information made it into the Bible.

Sometimes, I think we read a passage of Scripture, like this one, and skim over it far too quickly. When we don’t spend some time contemplating the details, the story becomes fixed or wooden. Ask some questions and the scripture comes alive!

Did you notice that the man was not going to Jerusalem, he was leaving? He had been to Jerusalem to worship. Does this mean he is a Jew? Not necessarily! Why did he go? Was it a Passover or some other special feast? Is he alone? Would that be safe? Philip is invited to sit with him. Did you know a chariot had seats? I didn’t. What was the day like? Was it hot? Was it cold? What is the attitude of this man? He is quite powerful. Why would he have a complete stranger join him in his chariot? He must have been impressed with Philip’s knowledge of word of God. He seems to be pretty humble.

The point of all this is to say, there is so much more to a story than what we read in our Zondervan. These are real people with real lives which extend quite a distance in both directions: both before and after we glimpse one shining moment God chose for us to see. Let’s use our imaginations and a little logic as we process all of this. There are riches to be found when we dig the mines of scripture.

The South Jerusalem Truck Stop

Apparently, almost before he even arrives at the desert road (probably just south of Jerusalem) Philip meets this eunuch from Ethiopia. As it turns out, this man is an important official in the Ethiopian government. He is the treasurer to the Queen and is now on his way home from worshiping in Jerusalem. He is in a chariot. It seems likely to me that he was not alone. He was probably part of a larger entourage. Just think about it. It would be unlikely for such and important official to make a long journey alone. This type of journey was a serious undertaking. Considering the individual, this trip was probably well financed. He would have been well supplied both going to Jerusalem and returning home. What about the security of this man. He travelled a long distance with valuable goods. A chariot alone could not hold all the supplies for a trip of this nature. So,

View Details

Peter's Conflict with Simon MagusAvanzino Nucci 1620

In our last seven lessons, we studied a variety of scriptures speaking specifically about baptism; scriptures which present an accurate doctrinal picture of the purpose, practice and execution of this Biblical command. These scriptures are rich in information and fairly direct in their presentation and claims. Now, let’s begin looking at a number of scriptures which again, directly mention and use the word baptism, but this time, our revelations unfold in narratives. These are Biblical stories where baptisms occur. We begin with the baptism of Simon the Sorcerer.

Acts 8:9-25 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.”

This is quite a story! When we first meet Simon, he is in Samaria and in business for himself… literally. He is an arrogant, blustering carnival barker, charlatan; amazing people with what many people suspect was sleight of hand magic and grand illusions. Simon is the David Copperfield of his time… albeit sans the Copperfield class! Some people speculate that since Simon was doing such great and amazing things, he may have had some kind of demonic power. All this is to say… “Simon ain’t a great guy.” At the top of his sin list are greed and self promotion.

One day, Philip, one of the first church deacons, shows up in Samaria and preaches the good news about Jesus. How do we know this is Philip the Deacon and not Philip the Apostle and why is that even important?

We know this is Philip the Deacon because of what we learn in Acts 8:1-5. A great persecution had broken out against the church after the stoning of Stephen. It was a tumultuous time and caused the church to scatter far and wide.

Acts 8:1-5 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed ...

View Details

Jesus and Nicodemus by Crijn Hendricksz, Circa 1640

The Pro-Baptism proponents often point to a conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus as one of their favorite proof texts supporting the belief that baptism is necessary for salvation. I have to admit, I have not been completely comfortable with this conclusion, but I couldn’t tell you exactly why until now. After carefully researching this issue for this podcast, I am now confident this passage is not about baptism. By the end of this podcast, I suspect even the most ardent supporter of this view will change their mind too. Here are a couple of thoughts, just to whet your appetite.

First of all, the conversation happens long before Christian baptism ever exists and second, Jesus’ commands are directed specifically to Nicodemus. Let’s see if we can dissect the details and uncover the truth.

Nicodemus Meets Jesus

John 3:1-12 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is Born Again.’”

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be Born Again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony I have spoken to you about earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

Who is Nicodemus?

Nicodemus is a Pharisee. He is a religious leader for the Jewish people. We are first introduced to him here, in John 3. Later we meet him again in John 7, where he defends Jesus before some furious Pharisees. Next, we meet him again when he and Joseph of Arimathaea recover the body of Jesus from the cross and bury him in Joseph’s tomb. It is probably safe to say; most people believe Nicodemus is a pretty decent guy. He always seems to be trying to do the right thing.

In John 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at “night.” There is a lot of discussion about why Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness. Was this a top secret mission? Was Nicodemus uncomfortable? Did he want to avoid detection and do, whatever he was trying to do, without anyone seeing him? No one knows for sure but if we drop all the cloak and dagger, we might get another perspective, more consistent with his character. The Bible says it was night. This means it was the end of the day. Nicodemus probably just got off work! He doesn't come to Jesus in any official capacity. He’s not hiding from his co-workers down at the temple and he’s not on some secret mission. He’s just a curious man with a passion for truth! Work is finished, he’s on his way home, he just drops in… no big deal. There is no indication of him watching over his shoulder, no hushed tones… in fact, he begins his visit with a sort of comfortable and kind recognition of Jesus’ ministry.

“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Those are friendly, kind words! Those are not the words of a cranky, critical, Pharisee! The Pharisees were, after all,

View Details

Mark 16 links salvation to baptism.

I love the Gospel of Mark. It is penned by John Mark who was the cousin of Barnabas and a sometimes traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. Historians speculate that John Mark was probably more associated with Peter than Paul and as a young man, would have been very close to him back in Jerusalem. For this reason, most of the information in the Gospel of Mark is probably gleaned from the stories Peter told.

Three Important Claims

As Mark’s Gospel closes out in chapter 16, there are some statements made which two different religious movements claim as important proof texts for their doctrines. The Charismatic Movement points to the disciples being told they will be able to do miracles and the pro-baptism groups point to Jesus comments about baptism.

Both groups bump into a road block when they turn to these scriptures because scholars do not believe this portion of Mark was ever in the original texts. They believe it was added later. Using this claim, their detractors dismiss any doctrinal conclusions which may spring from this neighborhood by diminishing the validity of this section of scripture. Take a look at your Bible and notice that Mark 16:9-20 has a seemingly ominous warning… “The two most reliable early manuscripts do not contain Mark 16:9-20.”

If we are having a discussion about the miraculous gifts of the Spirit or water baptism and someone wants question the authenticity of this passage of scripture, there is really no point in using it in the debate. In fact, it is probably better to just drop it and move on. So, that’s what we are going to do here at A Faith that Obeys. Let’s not add this particular scripture to our growing collection of scriptures which demonstrate the Biblical requirement of baptism for the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gift of e ternal life.

We will not use it!

But, you really should at least be familiar with the arguments… so let’s dive in.

Mark 16:14-20"Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."

Getting the Context

As always, let’s make sure we are getting things in proper context. Who is Jesus talking to? The eleven disciples, exclusively. He is not talking to you and me at this point in time. He is speaking only to the Apostles. What is he doing? This seems familiar! He is presenting The Great Commission!

This passage of scripture is a retelling of Jesus' final commands to the Apostles which would place this event just 10 days before Peter’s Pentecost sermon. It is super important to understand exactly what this event is, namely, a parallel presentation of The Great Commission. If we have any questions about it in Mark, we may get a more complete picture from the same account in Matthew, right?

In verse 15, Jesus tells the Apostles, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Yep! This is very familiar. Let’s compare it to the same passage in Matthew.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

View Details

Acts 2 holds one of the clearest and most detailed explanations of water baptism in the New Testament. It’s the first time in history we see Christian baptism occur. As we know from our previous podcasts, theologians go to great lengths to explain why this passage of scripture is not about water baptism by parsing prepositions and verifying verbs. But, I think the passage is pretty easy to understand and completely uncomplicated. There is no need to dive into Greek linguistics and confusing explanations. Just read the passage with the heart of a child and it will all make sense.

So, what’s the context of our Acts passage? Peter is preaching the very first Gospel message. He is filled with the Holy Spirit and is quite bold! His audience is thousands of Jewish pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, which is just 50 days after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Peter presents a great deal of information about Jesus and explains all about the Messiah by offering proofs from the Old Testament scriptures. At the end of his sermon, in verse 36 he places the guilt and the blame of killing the promised Messiah, squarely on the shoulders of the onlookers. Let’s tune in and listen as he concludes his sermon.

The First Baptisms Ever

Acts 2:36-41 Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."

Peter tells these people, “You killed the Christ!” Now, let’s stop right here. Isn’t that a little presumptuous of Peter? After all, many of these folks were not even in Jerusalem 50 days earlier and even if they were, probably none of them had anything to do with the execution of Jesus. In fact, the argument could be made that it was the Romans who actually killed the Christ. What’s going on here?

Some clues are found in what happens next.

Universal Guilt

Acts 2:37 “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

They don’t argue with Peter! They don’t say, “No way dude, we weren’t even here on that day. Instead, they accept the charge and are even cut to the heart. They are broken about their sin. They feel guilt and shame.

What Peter did, demonstrates that, the death of Jesus is the responsibility of everyone. How can that be? Remember, Jesus died for the sins of all mankind. This is why Peter can make the claim that these Jews are just as guilty of the blood of Christ as the Romans. The truth is, we are all just as guilty as they are.

When we understand it is our sin which put Jesus on the cross… that we are guilty of killing the Messiah, our attitude should be the same… we should be cut to the heart. We should feel guilt and shame for our sin, but also hope and joy for the forgiveness and grace God offers.

Peter preaches and some of the people respond positively. Let’s read that again….

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

How to be saved.

The people seek justification, “What shall we do?” I think they were terrified the answer would be, “There is nothing you can do! But instead, Peter tells them something wildly surprising. He opens the vast gateway of grace.

In response to their desperate question, he says,

View Details

Noah's Ark (1846), Edward Hicks.

Here is our next scripture which speaks specifically about baptism using that word and even references water as integral in the process. It’s 1 Peter 3:18 and following.

1 Peter 3:18-22 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also–not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand–with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Let's start with the Gospel Message!

When Peter begins teaching us about water baptism, he begins in a really great place. He begins by reminding us about the Gospel. Christ died for sins, once for all, the righteous or the unrighteous to bring us to God. That’s awesome. He leaves no doubt in our minds regarding Jesus sacrifice for us and he does it in a succinct and thorough manner. He’s almost poetic and lyrical in his presentation of the Gospel!

Next, he says something curious. He tells us Christ was made alive by the Spirit and it is through this Spirit he goes and preaches to “the spirits in prison.” Which spirits are those? They are the spirits “who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.”

Wow, that would have been a very long time ago! We don’t know exactly who these spirits were and there is tons of speculation we might offer but when we think of the who, what, when, where, how and why, we have most of it locked down. We just don’t know specifically why Jesus went and preached. Now, regarding these spirits there is one thing we know for sure… we do know they had been disobedient! Also, with certainty, we know their time in history. They were from a time during the construction of Noah’s Ark.

Then suddenly, Noah’s Ark becomes the central figure in Peter’s lesson. He goes on to explain… “In it, only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.”

In it… what? Well, the Ark. That’s what “in it” refers to. Peter reminds us that only a few people were saved. He even tells us specifically how many. Only eight people were saved. Who were these people?

Genesis 7:13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.

The Ark Plus Water Equals Salvation

So, just Noah’s family. Only eight people out of all the people in the entire world were saved? How were they saved? Peter says, “through water!”

This little statement opens a floodgate of discussion. How were these people saved “through water?” It was because of the water, the Ark floated. When the people got into the Ark, their salvation was assured. All those who did not get “into” the Ark were destroyed. Where have we heard this type of language before? How about Galatians 3 where we are taught that we get “into Christ” during our baptism? We get “into” Christ, who saves us, just like Noah and his family got into the Ark which saved them.

The Ark floated on the water and the people were saved. They were saved by the Ark but they were also saved because of the water. Had God destroyed the world of that day with fire, the Ark would have been of absolutely no value. But, since this is a flood, The Ark and the water worked together to secure the salvation of Noah’s family. Without the water… no salvation.

The Flood is a Symbol of Baptism

Next, Peter makes an amazing statement, he says, “and this water symbolizes baptism.” Now, we gotta stop right here. We need to ask an important question.

View Details

Galatians 3 offers a very short, very to-the-point, two verse lesson on baptism; in which nearly every word is absolutely packed with germane information. Let’s read it.

Galatians 3:26-27 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.

Paul, in this letter to the Galatians, is writing once again about an event which happened in the past. He is reminding them about something… and what is that something? It is the Galatians’ baptisms. Let’s get some context.

The Judaizers

The Galatian church had been infiltrated by dangerous teachers and Paul is over-the-top ticked about it. No other letter in the New Testament demonstrates the Apostle’s wrath better than Galatians. These false brothers had persuaded some in the church to fall back into Old Testament rituals which depended on “works of the flesh,” namely, circumcision. These “Judaizers,” as they were called, taught people they must be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses in order to become Christians. Paul, in furious manner, declares, trying to obey the Old Testament Law for salvation, was of absolutely no value. In fact, he tells them, if you give into this teaching, your relationship with Christ is worthless.

Galatians 5:2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

Back in Galatians 3, Paul spends a good amount of time explaining the Galatians must have faith in Christ, not circumcision. And, it is in this context, he makes his statement about baptism.

He tells them, “You are all sons of God…” This means they are saved. Their sins were already forgiven. They could not be “sons” if they had not been adopted into the family. He next explains exactly how that happened. “Through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Steps of Faith

The only way people become “sons of God” is through this thing Paul calls “faith.” But what kind of faith is this? Is this simple, intellectual belief or assent? Does the kind of faith Paul is talking about stop at mental cognition and agreement with the message of the Gospel? No. Faith is never faith until there is some kind of commitment or action which backs it up. Even the best Evangelical agrees with that statement. Let me show you.

In the Evangelical world, preachers present some kind of "final step of faith," necessary to become a “son of God.” Some churches teach that we simply and quietly need to accept Christ into our heart. Some churches use “The Sinner’s Prayer” as the final step of faith. Some ask people to raise their hand in the service or come forward during an alter call. Once the person completes the action, this “step of faith,” they are considered saved. They would never be considered saved prior to this step of faith. So, even in the denominational world, where human works are decried as invalid, we see that some step of faith is required before salvation. And it's weird because one claims these are rituals or works of man. We are told they are acts of faith or steps of faith yet these same folks claim baptism is a work.

Paul points the Galatians back to a different step of faith than the Evangelical world uses. He says…

“for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

There is something kind of cool hidden in this statement. Think about this phrase for a second. The statement “all of you who were baptized,” implies; there is also an unbaptized group of people, doesn’t it? Certainly there were people visiting the Galatian church who had not yet been baptized. All of the ones who were baptized are “in Christ.” All of those who had not been baptized were not in Christ. How does Paul tell us these people got “into” Christ? They were baptized into Christ.

Baptized into Christ

But then, he takes it even further…

“…all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

View Details

Baptism: The circumcision done by Christ.

During our last podcast about Romans 6, we saw that baptism is a participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the final step of faith a person takes who is ready to completely surrender their life to the Lordship of Jesus. To be sure… baptism is an act of faith, it is not a human work.

In this podcast, let’s take a look at Colossians 2:11-13. Here, we will see the forgiveness of sins referred to as a “circumcision.” This scripture, probably more than any other, leads people to the erroneous conclude baptism is “like” circumcision or there is some kind of metaphorical link between baptism and circumcision. We’ll talk about that shortly. Now, let’s listen to…

Colossians 2:11-13 “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…”

Clear and Simple

Honestly, this scripture is pretty straight forward. First of all, it is about baptism (among other things) and it specifically uses that word. Notice, Paul is talking to people who have previously experienced everything he is about to review. It has already happened to them. This entire passage is written in the past tense. So, what happened?

First, in Christ, they were circumcised. Ok, so… What, when, where, why and how? What did this circumcision do? What was the effect? Paul said it, “put off the sinful nature”… it cast off their sins. Was this a physical circumcision? No. It is a spiritual circumcision. Who does the circumcision? It is “done by Christ” not by human hands. This is how we know it can not be a physical circumcision because Jesus was not physically there. Is this a symbolic circumcision? No. It is something Christ really does to the obedient believer. It is the exact moment sins are forgiven.

When and where did this circumcision happen for the Colossians? Was it when they said “The Sinners Prayer?” Was it when they “accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior?” Was it when they were confirmed by a priest?” Was it when their parents baptized them as an infant? No. It happened when they were “buried with him in baptism and raised with him through their faith in the power of God.”

Paul points to the Colossians’ baptism as the time and place where this spiritual circumcision occurred. Notice that when the person is raised, they are raised through “their faith in the power of God,” not in the power of baptism, not in the power of their good deeds or works, not in the power of a parent’s faith… they are raised through “their” faith in the power of God. Notice too, baptism and circumcision are in no way compared with each other. There is no symbolism, no metaphors, no similes. Baptism is simply the point in time when the circumcision by Christ occurred.

Verse 13“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…”

Once again, Paul uses the past tense. He points the Colossians, and himself, back to a time before they were circumcised by Christ. At that time, before the circumcision, they were "dead in their sins.” They were destined for destruction. They were not on the road to eternal life. Then the circumcision happened. The result of this circumcision was that they were “made alive with Christ.” God forgave them all of their sins; not some of their sins… all of their sins.

The Three Amazing Spiritual Gifts

At A Faith that Obeys, we propose that baptism is connected to three amazing spiritual gifts and we use scriptures which specifically mention them. They are,

View Details

Here is the first scripture we use to argue that water baptism is necessary for salvation. It’s Romans 6:1-11. This is a long passage holding wonderful treasures, the first of which harkens back to our lesson about the correct method of baptism. Let’s listen to it.

Romans 6:1-11 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 6 - Verse by Verse

Wow. What a rich passage of scripture. Let’s dissect this verse by verse.

Verse 1-2 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

The first part of this verse addresses a misunderstanding in the early church where some people thought that if they sinned more, God’s grace was revealed even more. Paul says, in effect, “That dog don’t hunt so stop thinking that way.”

But notice something. Paul is addressing people who are already saved. How do we know this? Because all of it is in the past tense. He identifies them as people who have (past tense) “died to sin.” If someone has “died to sin” that means that their sins have been forgiven and they are no longer living a life of sin. These are people who have died and been raised again to their new life in Christ. They have been Born Again. Let’s dig a little deeper and ask the critical questions: “When did this happen and where did it happen.” Paul answers these questions in verse three.

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

Baptized into His Death

In this sentence, Paul tells us this “death to sin” occurred when these people were baptized into Christ. He tells us they were “baptized into his death.” Ah… two critical truths! First, we get “into” Christ through something called “baptism." Second, we learn this “baptism” places us “into Christ’s death.” These are important truths to understand.

There is no other way, in all of scripture to get “into” Christ or “into his death.” And to be clear… these are not symbolic things. These are, what I like to call, “reality things;” things which are really happening. At the time of baptism, we are put into Christ and into his death by the Holy Spirit. But the process does not stop there. We are not left dead and buried, just as Christ was not left dead and buried.

Verse 4

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Buried with Him

There is a lot here! This verse begins with the word, “therefore.” In my early years as a disciple, I was taught that whenever you see the word “therefore” in a scripture, you should always back up a few verses and find out what it is there for! If we do that, we must read verse four in light of verses 1-3.

These people had died with Christ in baptism, been baptized into his death and baptized into...

View Details

Hello and welcome to A Faith that Obeys Podcast. If you are just joining us here, let me bring you up to speed on where we are in our lengthy series about water baptism which we started back in Podcast 012 - The Proponents.

We began by reviewing a good number of objections to baptism as a part of the salvation experience, then we looked at infant baptism and original sin, followed by the methods of baptism in our last podcast. Today, we enter the home stretch of our series as we begin to discuss the purpose of water baptism as revealed in the New Testament.

In our last Podcast, we learned the correct method of baptism is by complete immersion in water. A person submits themselves to this activity after they experience the four other steps in the Biblical Plan of Salvation. In this plan, we see that someone who wants to become a disciple of Jesus must hear the Gospel, accept the Gospel, repent of their sin, confess with their mouth (and with their repentant lifestyle) “Jesus is Lord,” and then make the decision to take the final step of obedience to Christ’s command and be baptized.

Before we begin our study about the pro-proponents side of the argument, I want to do a little reset and take a 30,000 foot review of our debate topic and then move into the scriptures which teach us about the nature and purpose of water baptism.

As we have seen in our study about the debate of whether water baptism is necessary for salvation, we find two clearly defined responses to that question. “Yes it is.” And. “no it is not.”

A Quick Review

In the first part of this series, we took a long, careful, honest and thoughtful look at the reasons our first group of proponents say “No, water baptism is not necessary.” We used a really good article from GotQuestions.Org as our framework. I think the author did an admirable job of presenting the classic argument and used a good number of scriptures to support his view. Even before I discovered his article, I was very familiar with each of the claims and very familiar with the approach. The information was nothing new or surprising. He used the same common answers and common scriptures evangelicals usually employ for this debate but I think it was organized very well.

Three Problematic Tactics

In this debate, Evangelicals use three tactics to form their conclusions. The first tactic is they label baptism a “work of man” and dismiss it as a requirement based on that claim. As we have seen, it is impossible for baptism to be a command of Christ and a work of man at the same time. The two are mutually exclusive. If we start our reasoning with that false premise, “baptism is a work,” the conclusion is false as well.

The second tactic involves the scriptures they choose to explain why baptism is not necessary. These scriptures, by-and-large, are not about baptism at all. In fact, in all but one of the scriptures our author used in his presentation, the word baptism was never even mentioned. Anti-baptism proponents tend to avoid the multitude of scriptures which speak directly and specifically about baptism. How can we possibly build a credible case while avoiding the very scriptures which speak clearly on that topic, using that word?

Avoiding scriptures which speak specifically about baptism, they choose scriptures which speak about belief and faith; which are vital to the salvation process, but claim these are the only two things that God requires. We have come to know this as the “All/Only” argument. Evangelicals tend to avoid other scriptures which teach us that repentance, confessing Jesus as Lord and obedience are equally important for salvation. Just because one scripture says, “Believe and be saved,” does not mean this is all that the Lord requires from His followers. Anti-baptism proponents fail to see a composite picture which reveals the full Biblical Plan of Salvation and instead focus on basically one element of God’s plan, faith.

For me,

View Details

Well, welcome to this very short podcast about the methods or modes of baptism. When we survey the methods of baptism used in the Christian world we count three. Some churches symbolically sprinkle water on the head as a form of baptism, some pour the water and others baptize by fully immersing a person in water. As you can imagine, this is another one of those areas of debate which has raged for centuries. Is there a right way to baptize and a wrong way? Does it even matter?

Let’s dive into it.

Definitions

In this podcast we’ll quickly review definitions used in the baptism debate and then we will peruse the details about baptisms in the next few podcasts as we close out our lengthly series on baptism.

The Bible, specifically, the New Testament uses the word baptize in its various forms over 60 times. Every time it is used in connection with conversion, it is derived from the Greek word “bapto” which means to dip, dye, plunge, overwhelm, cover completely, submerge, etc. The Greek word “Bapto." does not mean sprinkle or pour. This Greek word bapto is not native to the Bible there is nothing spiritual about it at all. It was a common word used in ancient Greece and we have a very similar word in today’s Greek. Dozens of authors from Biblical time periods including Polybius, Plutarch, Galba and others used it outside of the Bible and it always meant to submerge.

If you want to dunk yourself in the definition of the word bapto, there is a deep, rich study of this topic at BibleHub.com and here is the link to the article. https://biblehub.com/greek/907.htm

The bottom line… if you want to baptize, you must fully immerse your subject in water. There is no other understanding of this word and the Bible never uses any word except “bapto,” and it’s derivatives, to describe how we should respond to the Great Commission. You must be immersed.

Now, let’s dive into the details.

Because the Christian world uses three methods they call baptism, let’s look at the other two.

Baptism by Sprinkling

Sprinkling is probably the most common as most babies are sprinkled with water during a baptism service when the priest or minister wets his hand with the water, from a small bowl and lays it on the infants head. The Greek word for sprinkle is “rahntizó” which is further derived from rhainó, the Greek word for sprinkle. This too is a very common word in the Greek language. There is nothing biblically special about it, it’s just a regular word everyone used. But, this word is never used to describe Christian baptism in the New Testament.

Baptism by Pouring

So how about “pouring?” Hollywood has done a pretty good job of showing us baptisms in all of the various and glorious retellings of biblical stories. In these films, it is common to see Jesus or some other person walking down into a stream and John the Baptist scooping up a bit of water and gently pouring it over someone’s head. Is this baptism? No, this is “pouring.” The Greek word for “pour” is epicheo which is derived from “cheo” which means to pour. Once again, this word is never used in the Bible, as it relates to a person obeying the Gospel message. The proper response is always “bato.”

But come on now… does it really matter one whit how I am baptized? Is it really all that important? Doesn’t God see my heart and know my real intention? Do I really need to be immersed in water to be properly baptized? Why does it even matter?

Well, just think about it. What are we doing when we are baptized? We are responding to a command of Christ given in the Great Commission where a very specific word was used, “bapto.” This is how we obey the Gospel. If Jesus said, “Have water poured on your head.” Would you do that? Sure you would. If Jesus said, “Have some water sprinkled on you.” Would you be willing to do that? Sure, no problem. If Jesus said, “Click your heals together three times.” Would you do that? Of course you would… IF… you have a heart willing t...

View Details

Photo by Colin Maynard on Unsplash

In our last Podcast 035, we discussed in detail the doctrine of “Original Sin.” If you have not listened to that podcast yet, I want to encourage you to go back and listen to it before we finish up with the topic of Infant Baptism in this podcast.

Millions of people believe they were baptized as an infant and this poses a particularly thorny problem.

Infant Baptism becomes one of the strongest objections to obeying the Gospel as an adult. The argument is pretty simple, it goes like this. “I don’t think I need to be baptized as an adult because I was baptized as a baby.”

This issue becomes a huge stumbling block for people who are discovering the Biblical Plan of Salvation for the first time because they have gone to church all their life and lived pretty righteous and decent lives. They believe their sins were washed away when they were baptized as an infant. They point back to their infant baptism, recognizing they have lived this life of respect for God and this becomes the proof it their faith.

Now that we understand there is no such thing as Original Sin and therefore no need for infant baptism, the way is clear and paved for the individual to obey the Gospel as an adult.

Let me restate something from our last lesson. Please listen carefully! The doctrine of "Original Sin" is not found in the Bible. Therefore, the entire doctrine of Infant Baptism crumbles under that weight. Infant baptism is just something men made up because they had to have a response to the perceived problem of Original Sin. Without the problem, there is no response required.

Let’s Make a New Tradition!

Infant baptism is a massive tradition, practiced for over a thousand years. In our modern era the doctrine has radically morphed into something new and even further outside the Biblical realm. Check this out. What I am about to tell you will graphically depict just how easily people buy into completely unscriptural teachings.

The doctrine of Original Sin is fading in our modern church era, and churches do not believe babies need to be baptized… but, they just can’t stop doing it cold turkey. So, in order to appease their congregations, they don’t explain the doctrinal error and turn away from it as an un-biblical practice, they just rename it. Let’s call it a “Baby Dedication.”

This charming event is where the parents baptize an infant, not for the remission of Original Sin but to dedicate the infant, and themselves, to bringing up the child in the training and admonition of the Lord. How can anyone complain about that?

Now I’ll grant that it is painfully difficult to get rid of such a heart-warming, Hallmark moment which brings the whole family together! It’s so adorable. But what are we thinking? Nowhere in all of scripture do we see a parent sprinkling water on an infant’s head as a dedication to the Lord!

Why are we doing this? How easily people accept religious practices without even considering their Biblical validity. This one is particularly interesting to me because it is such a new practice and it’s easy to see how we got here.

Additional Problems with Infant Baptism

Now, there are some other problems with infant baptism outside of the fact that there is no such thing as Original Sin which I suppose we should mention, just to be thorough.

First, if you think you were baptized as an infant, how do you know? Who told you that? The truth is, no one knows for sure if they really were baptized as a baby. Sure, they may have a certificate, some photos and a cute little baptismal gown preserved in mothballs but they still have no recollection of the event themselves! Do you want to base your eternal security on something that you have no personal awareness of? Do you want to base your eternal security on something that was done to you long before you were able to desire it, understand it, believe it and accept it? I don’t!

Second,

View Details

Masaccio - Banishment

Well hello there. If you are just joining us to learn about the topic of Original Sin, please note that we are in the middle of a discussion on Infant Baptism. The doctrine of Original Sin plays a crucial role as the impetus behind Infant Baptism so the two are inextricably linked. Since this is a pretty big topic, I decided to break out this part of the study as a separate podcast so it might be easier to find in searches when future folks just want to learn about the topic of Original Sin. So, when you hear me reference Infant Baptism in this Podcast, that would be the reason why. The next podcast, 036, will conclude our discussion regarding Infant Baptism. If you’re listening to the podcasts sequentially, we have not strayed from the topic at hand, you are still right on track.

The Doctrine of Original Sin

The doctrine of Original Sin basically states that man inherits the sin and guilt of Adam and Eve and because of that “Original Sin,” all men are condemned to destruction unless something happens to save them. This doctrine teaches; the sin of Adam and Eve has been passed down from generation to generation and there is no escaping its damning power. Everyone who has ever been born has “Original Sin” because Adam and Eve are the parents of us all.

So, the real question we must pursue, “Is there really such a thing as ‘Original Sin?’”

Defining our Terms

Let’s look at some popular scriptures used to support the doctrine of Original Sin. We’ll work through them and ask some questions as we always do. I think we are going to find they are not very convincing.

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…”

Well, as good rhetoricians, let’s make sure we define our terms. What is sin? Sin is a departure from the divine laws placed on man by God. The result of sin is separation from God for all eternity.

How did sin enter the world? Through one man, the very first man who departed from God’s commands. Who was that man? Adam. What was the result of that sin? Separation from God and death. Before Adam sinned, was there death in the world? No. Death was a consequence of Adam’s sin. Was death the “punishment” for Adam’s sin. No. Banishment from the Garden was the punishment and that punishment was directed specifically at Adam and Eve. After banishment, the Garden was sealed preventing future generations from enjoying it. Was this a “punishment” for future generations? No. It was a consequence just like death was a consequence. For a complete understanding of this, please go back and read the account of the fall of man in Genesis and especially note Genesis 3:14 and 3:17. There, you will find that God cursed the serpent and the ground, not Adam, Eve and their offspring. Romans 5:12 concludes with the fact that all men sin.

Death: The New World Order

Death became a part of the “new world order” for mankind, not a punishment for Adam’s sin. Children are born into this new order as a result of the fall. We are unable to change the fact that all people die. We are unable to change the fact that all people are tempted to sin. But these are “new” sins, not inherited sins. Since sin separates man from God, all men are separated from God by their own sin. More on this shortly.

Perhaps an illustration in order. It’s a cold winter day and the falling snow has now reached just over 15 inches; a perfect day for some snow bound adventures for the kids. Little Adam, playing out doors in the wet snow, makes a hard snow-ball and fires it and poor little Eve. She ducks, just in the nick of time; the missile misses but dramatically crashes through the living room window shattering it to bits! Guess who’s gonna get punished? Yep, Adam. Guess who’s going to suffer the consequences of Adam’s gaff? The entire family, everyone who lives in that house! Do you get it?

View Details

Photo by Colin Maynard on Unsplash

The Anabaptist arguments of the 1500s pitted a deeply entrenched religious system which taught babies should be baptized, against the Anabaptist belief that only adults could make that decision for themselves.

Three Reasons for the Anabaptist's View

Now, there are a three important facets of the reasoning behind the thinking of the Anabaptists and it seems like we never hear anything about these reasons; we just hear the summation, “babies don’t have faith.”

So, why did the Anabaptist's considered only adults as valid candidates for baptism? Well, it was because of the additional qualifications. The adult had to hear the Gospel, believe it, accept, confess Jesus as Lord, repent of their sins and decide to be baptized; all of which infants can not do. Just being an adult did not make you a candidate, you had to be an obedient believer in Christ. Their baptisms became known as a “Believer’s Baptism.” This term is still used today in churches which have their roots in the Anabaptist movement, even though the meaning has changed significantly. This one is important so let me explain.

In the 1500s, these Anabaptist believers understood the requirements regarding obedience to the Gospel, which included baptism and only a person who accepted the Gospel was a candidate for baptism. Thus, baptism was done… only to a believer. They did not think they were already saved by their profession of faith; they knew they had to obey. Now, some my argue with this assertion so I will give you proof, shortly.

Believer's Baptism

Today, the term “believer’s baptism” has shifted in meaning. It reflects the the Modern Plan of Salvation’s view that all believers are saved. Today, we are taught that anyone who makes a sincere profession of faith in Christ, is a Christian. By definition, the word “Christian” means sins have been forgiven. When a baptism occurs under the Modern Plan of Salvation, believers are being baptized in obedience to Christ but this baptism is just a ceremony. The evangelical world has even coined a phase to describe this doctrine: “Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace.”

So, while the term “believer’s baptism” is still used today, the meaning of the word “believer” has taken on a meaning which was not part of the 1500’s understanding. Today, we are taught that all believers are saved and salvation precedes obedience to Christ.

Anabaptist Means "Re-Baptizer"

The second facet of the Anabaptist reasoning relates to the term, “Anabaptist.” This term means “re-baptizer.” The Catholics insisted; if you were baptized under the Anabaptist plan, you were just being “re-baptized.” In those days, pretty much everyone belonged to the Catholic Church and had been baptized as an infant. The Anabaptists claimed their’s was the only true baptism. Infant baptism did not count. Therefore, the Anabaptists insisted; their baptism was the first and only baptism necessary for a person who had come to faith in Christ. There were not two baptisms, only one; the one an adult obeyed. Therefore, Anabaptists did not consider themselves as “re-baptizers.”

The "Why" of Baptism

The final facet in reasoning was the “why” of baptism. Just think this through. Infant mortality rates of those days was extremely high. Many babies died soon after birth due to common diseases which, today, we have pretty much conquered, such as smallpox or tuberculosis.

This was part of the reason people were baptizing their babies but this does not make sense unless you understand the force behind the reason.

Original Sin

The Catholic church has a doctrine called “original sin.” This doctrine teaches that everyone who has ever been born, inherits the guilt of Adam and Eve. This doctrine says; we are born into sin and we can not escape it. They teach, in accordance with the Nicene Creed, baptism washes away “original sin.”

In order to make sure their babies were spiritually safe,

View Details

Photo by Colin Maynard on Unsplash

Way back in Podcast 12 we began our series of reviewing the subject of baptism. At that time, I said, “First, we'll discuss the common objections to water baptism as part of the salvation experience. Next, we'll look at infant baptism and then, the method of baptism as outlined in the scriptures. Finally, we’ll thoroughly cover what actually happens in water baptism.”

Well, I think we are done reviewing the common objections to water baptism, now let’s begin tackling infant baptism.

Another contentious debate!

Wow! The issue of Infant Baptism has nearly as much contention and division regarding its practices as our main issue, whether baptism is necessary for salvation. For a solid impartial review of the issue, I would point you to the Wikipedia article on the subject. There is a link in this blog post so please visit the website and click on it there.

Here’s that link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_baptism.

Thousands of babies are baptized annually. The Catholic and Lutheran churches both baptize infants as do a number of other denominations. Sometimes these baptisms are called “Christenings.” While the practice of infant baptism is not new, the debate about infant baptism really gained traction in the 1500s; just about the time of the reformation.

The Anabaptists

You may have heard the term “Anabaptist.” This term labeled an emerging group of European Christians, who believed and taught: infant baptism was invalid. They said. “Only adults, who could make a conscious decision for themselves, were candidates for baptism.”

The Catholics vehemently argued, “No. We want our babies baptized, and our own original baptism as a baby is good enough.”

The dissenters were labeled “heretics” and given the name, “Anabaptist,” which means, “Re-Baptizer.” I guess this kind of gives you an idea of who won the arguments of that day.

The debates over this one issue were serious and sometimes extremely violent. Catholics understandably became super angry because the Anabaptists, to begin with, were stepping on the toes of the church. To further the sting, their claim that infant baptism was invalid, implied millions of catholics were going to Hell because they had not been baptized as an adult. Things could get pretty inflammatory. In my view, neither side offered much Christian charity or grace but because of the magnitude and public nature of the arguments, we have pretty good historical records about those times. We clearly know what the issues were.

Well, flash forward five hundred years and where are we today? Pretty much in the same place! Tons of folks believe babies should be baptized and tons of folks believe only adults can make that decision. When we take a close and humble look at the arguments of both sides and a good look at some of the historical perspective, we are going to discover some incredibly valuable information regarding our main argument, “Is baptism necessary for salvation?” I find this revelation super intriguing.

Pro Infant Baptism

Let’s look at the pro-infant baptism side first and then, in our next lesson, we will examine the opposite side, the arguments against infant baptism.

Proponents who claim infant baptism is valid, will point to a number scriptures to solidify their position. The first one might be the conversion of the Philippian Jailer. The story of his conversion crescendos in...

The Philippian Jailer

Acts 16:33-34“At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God–he and his whole family.”

The claim here is that since the jailer and his “whole family” were baptized, this “family” must have included children and infants. That is certainly possible, but I am personally not confident drawing that conclus...

View Details

Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

In the age old argument of whether baptism is necessary for salvation, our next objection is the “Hail Mary” of all objections. It is often employed as the last desperate effort of an anti-baptism proponent to reason out that baptism is absolutely not necessary for salvation. It comes at a pretty high cost when we think everything through logically. So, what is this final desperate objection?

“What about someone on their death bed?” This is an argument based on timing. This is an argument which appeals to emotion. Here’s what it says.

“It is inconceivable that a person on their death bed who makes a sincere commitment to Jesus, that Jesus would not recognize their inability to participate in water baptism and Jesus should therefore save them.” In other words, if someone is unable to be baptized, God should see their heart and make an exception. He should let them into heaven because they are dying and can’t be baptized. If we remove the timing aspect, we get down to the core of the argument… “God knows my heart and he knows I am a good person.”

It can get emotional!

This becomes a really emotional argument because we all know many deeply devout loved ones who were religious believers and have died but they were never baptized in any way shape or form. If we claim water baptism in necessary for salvation, it would leave these dearly departed in an unsaved state. We look a their pious life and reason out a way of salvation regardless of their ability to obey the Gospel. We know that our dear ol’ Aunt Katie was a true Christian because she never missed a church service.

This frames the first problem with this position. Without realizing it, we just made dear old Aunt Katie’s salvation based on her good deeds and works in her time here on earth. We don’t want to do that, especially when we so ardently proclaim that we are not saved by our good works. It does not matter how awesome Aunt Katie was or how she served the poor and ministered through her church to the orphans in Zimbabwe. We are not saved by works.

Think this through carefully.

Since this can be such an emotionally charged debate, we need to think about it carefully. In this argument we are saying that because someone could not do something before a particular point time, they would be lost. When we wrap it up in a death bed scenario, it gets really dramatic. But, at the core, this argument says that if a person can’t physically “do” something,,, in this case, they can’t get baptized… they will not be saved. Time is up and the possibility of a strenuous activity like baptism is out of the question for the individual on their death bed.

Here’s the second problem with this argument. It’s a pretty huge one. We say, “This is not fair. It’s not their fault they got sick. It sounds really black and white… even a little harsh! Is God that picky and hard line?” At this point in the game, we begin using our standards of judgement instead of the Bible’s standard. Without realizing it, we are actually attacking God! We reject God’s plan of salvation and substitute either our own ideas of how things should work or embrace the popular traditional plan which tells people; all they need to do is invite Jesus into their heart and you will be good to go.

But what if...

Let’s try something.

Let's move the timeline back just a little bit and place this person, who is now healthy, in a wonderful church service, listening to a great biblical message. She decides to respond to the preaching in order to accept Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. She stands up in response to the preacher’s call… begins to approach the alter and suddenly chokes on a mint and dies right there in service! What a mess! This wonderful old lady dies right before she has actually accepted Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. Is she going to be lost just because he was unable to “do” something?

In this scenario,

View Details

Thanks for joining me again. We are just finishing up our discussion about the various ways the Holy Spirit works or manifests Himself. We use a variety of terms to describe these events. Sometimes we say this is the various workings of the Holy Spirit, the different manifestations of the Holy Spirit, the different modes or the different measures of the Holy Spirit. There is only one Holy Spirit but He works or manifests Himself in a variety of ways. So far, we have seen that He indwells people at the time of their conversion and we also see, in times past, He performed miraculous signs on people who were already saved. This was done in order to confirm the message being preached.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Now, let’s look at this third mode or measure some people call, “Baptism of or with the Holy Spirit.” This is not to be confused with “Spiritual Baptism,” as when we are “baptized by one Spirit into one body.” Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs, before conversion and like its counterpart, is associated with miraculous events. There is only one Holy Spirit operating or manifesting Himself three different ways, indwelling, post conversion and pre-conversion. Let’s look at this final pre-conversion experience. Since this happens to people who are not yet saved, we might call these people, pagans with spirit. Let’s see….

Turning to the scriptures, let me provide the historical context. We are at the home of Cornelius, an Italian Centurion. This man was a Gentile, not a Jew, but he and his family are devout and God-fearing. In a vision, he was told, ”Send for Simon Peter from Joppa.”

Cornelius does this and sends for Peter, who has also received similar visionary instructions regarding Cornelius. Peter goes to the home of Cornelius and preaches the Gospel. Everyone listens carefully to everything Peter has to say. We join the rest of the story in…

Acts 10:44-48 “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.”

“Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.’ So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.”

In this account, the Holy Spirit “comes on” believers well in advance of their water baptism. This is different from the Spirit “coming in,” isn’t it? It’s a completely different mode of operation.

“Baptism of the Holy Spirit” appears to happen only twice in the scriptures. The first time is on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit causes the 120 to speak in tongues, giving them the ability to preach the Gospel to people from every nation. The second time is here at the house of Cornelius. The Spirit causes Gentiles to speak in tongues.

Peter's Experience

Let’s dissect this whole affair in detail.

Peter is at the house of Cornelius.

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.”

So, while Peter is speaking to these God fearing Gentiles, something crazy happens! A bunch of unsaved Gentile pagans suddenly speak in tongues, praising God. How did Peter and company know something happened?

Acts 10:45-46 “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.”

The sudden and dramatic behavior of speaking in tongues is the dead giveaway to Peter and his partners. God was giving them a wake-up call!

Did you notice another new term used in describing these events? It says the “Spirit was poured out” on the Gentiles. This is not an inpouring. Remember,

View Details

I hope we have aptly answered all of the objections to water baptism so far. We have just learned that Ephesians 4:4 is true. There is only one baptism and that one baptism is in water by the Spirit. It’s one baptism with two things happening at the same time, just like Jesus told Nicodemus. One event, two components. It all happens at the same time. Now just when we think we are getting all of this nailed down, we bump into a conversion like this one.

The Fly in the Ointment

Acts 19:1-7 “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.

Well, this is a huge fly in the ointment of our “One Baptism, Two Components happening at the same time” thingy, isn’t it? And just as I thought we were well on our way to agreement. In this event, the Holy Spirit is clearly received after their physical baptism. What’s up with that?

And how about this one…

Acts 8:12-17 “But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”

Ouch, this is really putting a dent in our theory! In this story, people are baptized but once again, they “receive” the Holy Spirit some time later! How can this be?

… As Ricky used to say, “Lucy… you got some ‘splaine to do!”

An Amazing Explanation Using Lemonade

OK, if you have never heard this before, get ready for some major light bulbs to come on! I will never forget the first time I heard this. This explanation is a result the kind of logical, reasonable Bible study I love hearing and sharing. This is the sort of thing that really fires me up to dig into the scriptures. I hope it inspires you too. Let’s begin with a little illustration. Let me take you back to your childhood.

Think back to those wonderful days of summer when you and all your friends played so hard in that sweltering July heat. You could really work up a thirst. Mom might make up a huge pitcher of ice cold lemonade; which you and your friends gulped down eagerly, quenching your parched throats. It was particularly appreciated after a long bike ride! Remember? Or even better, lemonade by the pool. Nothing was quite as refreshing as splashing and playing in the chilly water of the swimming pool on a hot summer day.

Water played a big role in the life of an out of school, fun in the summer kid, didn’t it? It was awesome! Just thinking about it puts a smile on our face!

Sometimes the water went into us, sometimes it was on us. Both were refreshing but they were different modes of use.

It’s the same with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t operate in just one way. He “comes into” folks, and He can also “come upon” people!

In and On... Two Different Prepositions

In the accounts we just reviewed, did you notice that phrase “came on,

View Details

As I present the Biblical Plan of Salvation to my Evangelical friends, one of the common protests they raise is the issue of “multiple baptisms” appearing in the scriptures. I might reference Acts 2:38 in order to explain what happens in water baptism and my evangelical friend quickly responds with something like this…

“Well, water baptism might not be what Peter is talking about there in Acts. You know, there are several types of baptisms mentioned in the scriptures. This is probably a spiritual baptism, not water baptism.”

To add to the confusion, there is another problem affecting this debate. By the time Paul got around to writing Ephesians 4:4, he tells us “there is only one baptism.” So, is Acts 2:38 spiritual baptism or is it water baptism?

A Multitude of Baptisms

As we begin, let’s talk about these “multitude of baptisms” we see in the scriptures; then, let’s see if we can’t narrow all of this down to the one baptism Paul talks about in Ephesians. I have been told there are as many as 11 different types of baptisms mentioned in the Bible. More commonly, I hear from 7 or 9. Here’s my list. I’m up to ten.

1 - Baptism of or with Fire (These would be trials or even death.) 2 - New Testament Water Baptism 3 - Baptism for Jewish Conversion (This is called a Mikvah.) 4 - John’s Baptism 5 - Jesus or His Disciples Baptizing People 6 - Holy Spirit Baptism into Christ 7 - Baptism of the Holy Spirit (This is different from number 6.) 8 - Baptism into Moses 9 - Ceremonial washings of the Old Testament 10 - Baptism for the Dead (That’s an interesting topic!)

There may be more. If you can think of any, please let me know.

Well, we are probably only concerned with a couple of these. We are only looking for baptisms which apply to the New Testament era and they must be associated with the conversion experience Jesus calls, “Born Again,” in John.

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

This seems to narrow it down to either a spiritual baptism or water baptism.

We know that water baptism was commanded by Jesus in The Great Commission. That happens in…

Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”

We know this Matthew 28 passage is about water baptism because the disciples are told it is something they were to perform on people who had decided to respond to the Gospel message. They were to baptize new disciples.

We are also familiar with spiritual baptism. Look at:

1 Corinthians 12:13 “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” We can not get into the body of Christ unless the Spirit baptizes us into the one body!

So, there appear to be two different baptisms we acknowledge when we have this debate. One is a physical baptism and one is a spiritual baptism. This seems to me to be the two competing understandings of what Pauls’s one baptism might be. Water or Spirit. The other baptisms we see throughout the Bible don’t seem to have anything to do with connecting us to Christ or adding us to the church.

Which baptism do you believe in?

So, the question is, when we see baptism mentioned in the book of Acts forward, and we see it linked to the forgiveness of sins, being added to the church, or being placed “into Christ;” our question is, “Is this a water baptism or a spiritual baptism?”

I think it is… both! This is the only way to harmonize everything. Listen. We can’t say on one hand there are two different baptisms for conversion and then say there is only one baptism. In my mind, there is one baptism but two things are happening. Let me explain this and I’ll bet you might agree.

When we submit ourselves to water baptism,

View Details

Well hello there. If you are just joining us, we are in the middle of a special series addressing the myriad of objections to water baptism. We began by way back in Podcast 012, “The Proponents,” where we discussed a bird’s eye view of the main issues. Next, we spent several Podcasts discussing nine scriptures commonly presented as proof texts by the anti-baptism side. Currently, we are going through the other common objections offered as arguments to prove baptism is not necessary for salvation. In this installment, we address that familiar phrase from the evangelical world,"Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace."

Baptism is an Outward Sign of and Inward Grace.

They explain it like this: “Baptism is done to a believer to demonstrate that God has already performed His saving grace in the believer’s life. In baptism, the believer is merely responding to that grace which has already saved them.”

Since these believers think they are already saved, water baptism becomes a symbol, or a ritual to confirm publicly what has already transpired, the forgiveness of sin. Remember, the evangelical world teaches, baptism has nothing to do with salvation.

Since baptism is just an outward sign of an inward grace, it’s not critical and there is no urgency. Accordingly, it’s common for congregations to schedule special baptism services a couple of times a year, at which time, new converts are given the opportunity to obey this Biblical command. I think urgency is important and I’ll tell you why in a moment. In the meantime, let’s test the claim that baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace.

There is a choice.

If I choose not to be baptized, then there is no “outward sign of this inward grace.” If there is no outward sign of an inward grace, how can I claim there has been any inward grace? I can't! There is no proof. I am incomplete.

While this phrase sounds really good, it's not scriptural. Baptism is never referred to as a sign or a symbol of anything in the New Testament. It is never performed as a ritual. Now, some of you may reference 1 Peter 3:21 where Peter said: “…and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also…” The water that symbolizes baptism is the water of Noah’s flood. The Flood was a foreshadowing of something to come, namely baptism. Baptism is not the symbol; the Flood is the symbol.

Since baptism is the point in time where we are Born Again, it certainly contains some very strong symbolism in that we actually see a death, burial and resurrection but this, the act of baptism, is not a symbolic event, it is a reality event. It is where we die, we are buried and we are resurrected to our new life in Christ. Read Romans 6:1-14.

Baptism is always an urgent issue!

Now, regarding urgency: look at the conversions in the Bible. In every conversion in the book of Acts where baptism is mentioned, each person was baptized immediately upon their decision to follow Christ. There was an urgency, they did not put it off. Why? Because baptism is integral to conversion and salvation. No one in the Bible ever waited for a bi-annual baptism service. In fact, we never see a baptism service occurring in the New Testament. Since we are still in our sins prior to baptism, it is absolutely urgent that we deal with that situation. Sin is like cancer, we get rid of it as quickly as possible.

While baptism is not a sign, it is a public declaration of our faith in Christ. In the churches I am familiar with which hold to the Biblical Plan of Salvation, people are baptized when they are ready to make this public declaration. They understand they are still in their sins until they die with Christ in baptism and are raised by Christ into their new life. Baptisms happen at all hours of the day and night and frequently, not even in the church building. Baptism is when and where we are Born Again by the power of God. While there is certainly a lot of symbolism in baptism,

View Details

Christ and the Good Thief - Titan - Circa 1566

What about the thief on the cross? Doesn't the Thief on the Cross demonstrate that baptism is not necessary for salvation? After all, Jesus told him he would be with him in heaven that very day! This is probably my favorite of all objections. Let’s take a look at this fellow.

Luke 23:40-43 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’”

Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

In this objection to water baptism for the remission of sins, people point to the Thief on the Cross and claim, “The thief on the cross was not baptized and he went to Heaven!

A Quick Side Study

When you see the answer to this objection, you will probably say, “Oh, yeah… I forgot about that.” There is a fairly obvious problem with this claim. But, before we get there, let’s have a little fun and get our minds whirling just a little bit. Then I will tell you why using The Thief on the Cross is not a good example for rejecting baptism as integral to the salvation process.

Let’s take Jesus at his word, after all, Jesus always tells the truth. He told Thief on the Cross that whatever was going to happen, it would happen that very day. It would not happen sometime later. Jesus told the penitent criminal, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” How do we conclude from Jesus own testimony as to when this would occur? That very day. Do we believe Jesus? Of course.

Where did He tell the thief he would meet him? “Paradise.” Did Jesus say he would meet him in Heaven? No. He said He would meet him in “Paradise.” Well isn’t Paradise and Heaven the same place?

Listen to this, then you decide. Something interesting happens three days later after Jesus resurrection when Mary, filled with joy, goes to embrace him.

John 20:17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’

Who is the “Father?” God! Where is God? In Heaven. It’s been three days, has Jesus been there yet? No. So neither was the thief!

This is an entirely different and really fun study. I offer it up just to whet your appetite for deeper, richer bible study… but it is clear, Jesus did not tell the Thief on the Cross he would meet Him in Heaven. Heaven and Paradise were two different places in the Old Testament economy. Does Paradise still exit? Has it been closed? I don’t know. Maybe you can study that one out and let us all know.

The Real Reason

Ok, that’s interesting and certainly worthy of a lot more study, but what is the real reason the Thief on the Cross serves as a bad argument against water baptism?

Water baptism was first commanded by Jesus when He issued The Great Commission. It is not initiated until the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Water baptism is a New Covenant command. The Thief on the Cross died under the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is not open for business for another 50 days. So water baptism, introduced by Peter, was not yet in force. The Thief on the Cross could not be baptized because there was no such thing as New Testament baptism!

In Romans, we learn that baptism is a participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The thief could not do this because Christ had not yet died, been buried and resurrected.

Two Protests

Now you may ask, “But, doesn’t Jesus have the power to forgive the sins of anyone he chooses and save them?” Yes. And we see many instances of Him doing just that in the Gospels. This authority was available to Him when he walked on the earth. But, He also told us how the forgiveness of sins would happen,

View Details

The scales of faith.

There are two sides in the argument as to whether baptism is necessary for salvation. One side claims it is necessary, the other side claims it is not. The latter points to a passage in 1 Corinthians as a proof text for their position. They say, “Baptism can’t be important because Paul minimizes it”

Here’s their proof text.

1 Corinthians 1:13-17 “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel–not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

The argument here is, “Paul minimizes baptism.” He says, “He was not sent to baptize,” so it must not be all that important.

Finally, here’s a scripture which actually mentions water baptism, but, this scripture is still not about baptism. Let’s go back and put this into context. What is this scripture about?

Getting the Context

When we are studying out a topic, it is vital to make sure we have the right context. This typically means we need to go back just a little further in the text to see what might have been happening right before the writer makes a claim. Listen carefully to the actual context of Paul’s statements and the content of his heart. He is talking about a serious problem in the Corinthian church. People were beginning to follow a leader such as Apollos or Paul. If you had been baptized by one of these famous figures, that somehow made you more spiritual or special than if you had been baptized by a friend or neighbor.

This is the context:

1 Corinthians 1:10-13 “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas’”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

“Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.”

When we put this into context, it’s easy to see the real issue Paul addresses when he makes his comments about baptism. Paul’s concern is for the divisions this arrogant practice was causing. He states he is happy he personally did not baptize anyone else since it would give them a reason to be boastful or proud! He is not minimizing the importance of baptism. He is scolding the Corinthian church.

But wait... there's more!

Now… there is an extremely interesting and and very powerful message about baptism in this passage, if we will just think it through.

In truth, this entire issue is actually a backhanded reference to the importance of baptism. Think about it. What was happening? The people were pointing back to their own personal baptism and claiming that because they were baptized by a more influential leader, this somehow meant their baptism was more significant.

In reality, by their own claim, these people are attaching real importance to baptism. If baptism was not important, why would it matter who baptized you? Baptism was a person’s connection to a “more important” baptizer and pointing back to your own baptism being done by a more influential person somehow made you greater. Paul challenges that arrogant notion, not the issue of baptism itself. The Corinthian’s, by their misbehavior, are actually demonstrating their belief that baptism is important!

Paul closes his comments by refocusing the church on the...

View Details

Baptism is NOT like circumcision!

Another common claim the evangelical community makes in rejecting the requirement of obedience for salvation is the assertion that baptism is like circumcision, it is a work of human effort.

Three Passages to Evaluate

Let’s carefully examine three passages of scripture commonly used to demonstrate that circumcision and baptism are related and both are works. The general argument may be summed up like this: “Old Testament circumcision is a foreshadowing of New Testament baptism. It is a symbol of one’s obedience to God’s commands but it is only a symbol. Abraham was declared righteous before he was circumcised and so are we the instant we put our faith in Christ. Baptism, like circumcision is simply a sign and symbol of our salvation.”

Here’s the first support passage. It is in Galatians. In it, we learn that circumcision has no value for the Christian because it is a work and that faith is the only thing which is important.

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Let’s put everything in context. In Galatians, we are talking about physical circumcisions as practiced under the Old Covenant. Jews were required to obey that command and it was performed on infant males the eighth day after birth. When we erroneously compare baptism to circumcision, we get a glimpse of how the church might have begun the practice of infant baptism. When one equates Old Testament requirements with New Testament requirements some strange things can happen.

Paul tells us circumcision is of no value, it is worthless. There is only thing which is important: “faith expressing itself through love.”

Making Connections

While Paul compares circumcision to this new way of faith and love, there is no reason to conclude that he is connecting the two things or linking them in any fashion. One is Old Testament and one is New Testament. Obviously, this scripture is not about baptism at all but it may be helpful to reason out how evangelicals make the connection to baptism when they use this scripture as a proof text.

The impetus comes at the end of the passage: “The only thing that matters is faith…” We have seen this before. This is the “faith alone” argument. This scripture says the only thing that matters is faith, so we assume everything else is worthless… which includes baptism. I suppose this scripture is a pretty good proof text to use if you are convinced that salvation is by faith alone and obedience to Christ’s commands is worthless.

Unintended Consequences

Using this scripture introduces a problem for an evangelical. It indicates that faith actually contains some kind of action… “faith expresses itself.” How does faith “expresses itself?” In love. How does action relate to love? Remember from John 14:15-17 and 2 John 6, we do not love Christ if we do not obey his commands. Obedience is an action.

Let me remind you what those scriptures say;

John 14:15-17 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth.” And then…

2 John 6 “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.”

Submitting to Christ's command to be baptized is one way we express our faith in love. True faith always contains action. True faith is always obedient.

Circumcision of the Heart

Here’s the second proof text used to argue that baptism is like circumcision. In this passage, some think Paul actually equates circumcision with baptism.

Colossians 2:11-14 “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

View Details

Acts 2:36-41 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The Complete Plan of Salvation

When we survey this scripture, we see the complete plan of salvation played out in glorious detail. It’s all here! These people hear the word, they accept it, they are cut to the heart and decide to change or repent, they make Jesus Lord by obeying the message and are baptized for the forgiveness of their sins and then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Why doesn’t the modern evangelical world just preach the plan of salvation like Peter preached it? When someone comes to the point in their lives where they realize their need for the savior and they humbly ask us, “What must I do?” Why don’t we tell them, “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?” Instead, we ask them to say a prayer, invite Jesus into their heart or accept Christ as their personal savior. What’s wrong with using Peter’s prescription? It’s baffling that such a Biblically sound and simple instruction is rarely mentioned in churches today. This salvation instruction, uttered by Peter two thousand years ago, has never changed. It is a promise for all generations and it is so clear, a child can understand it. It would take a Greek scholar to get things confused. And here is exactly what a greek scholar will tell you. They say; and I’m loosely quoting here…

The Greek Scholar

“When Peter uses the word “for” as in “for the forgiveness of your sins,” that word is the Greek word ‘ies.' This Greek word, ‘eis’ may also be translated ‘because of’, or ‘since.’ Therefore Acts 2:38 could read, ‘Repent and be baptized everyone of you since your sins have been forgiven or because your sins have been forgiven.’” End quote.

They conclude: baptism is not necessary for salvation since sins are already forgiven. Our featured article at GotQuestions.Org discusses this issue in detail.

The evangelical world’s position historically argues the Greek word “eis” means “since” or “because.” They even use a common illustration to help us understand this word use. They say, “If I told you to ‘take an aspirin for your headache,’ everyone understands you are taking an aspirin because you have a headache. You are not taking the aspirin to receive or get a headache’ That’s how the word ‘eis’ is used. It means, ‘be baptized because you already have the forgiveness of your sins. It does not mean be baptized to get the forgiveness of your sins.’”

Take an Aspirin for your Headache!

This sounds like a pretty good illustration until we begin to ask some questions about the analogy.

What does the aspirin do? Hopefully, it relieves my headache. So, everyone understands the purpose of taking the aspirin? We take an aspirin "so that" our headache will go away not for the benefit of the headache itself. When an evangelical uses this aspirin illustration to explain the use of the word ‘for,’ they neglect to frame out the entire illustration. I don’t take an aspirin for my headache, I take and aspirin for the relief of my headache. And, I am baptized for the relief of my sins. The use of the word “for” speaks to the purpose of taking the aspirin, not the desire to get a headache!

View Details

Is baptism like circumcision?

Galatians 2:16 is the last scripture presented at the end of the article from GotQuestions.Org and contains the fifth and final error in reasoning the Anti-Baptism position makes. This error comes when we try to create an association between the Old Testament Law and Baptism, or between circumcision and baptism.

Here is the main scripture used to present this case.

Galatians 2:16 “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

When an anti-baptism proponent uses this passage, they point out, It is by faith in Jesus Christ we are justified. We are not justified by the law. Baptism is a work or a ritual just like the law.”

Two Different Covenants

This passage is discussing justification under two completely different dispensations, The Old Testament and The New Testament. Commands of the Old Covenant are not longer in effect. They were nailed to the cross. The New Covenant has a different way of doing things and let’s not pretend there are no commands in the New Testament. There are numerous commands established by Jesus and the Apostles.

In the evangelical argument, their claim presupposes that baptism is a work or a ritual someone performs in order to please God, just like the rituals of the Old Testament Law. Since the law could not justify anyone because it was a salvation by works system, baptism can’t justify anyone either.

Obviously, this scripture has nothing to do with baptism. This scripture is about the Law of Moses and faith in Christ. It makes no connections between the commands or rituals of the Old Testament and commands of the New Testament.

This error to equate baptism with Old Testament rituals really tripped me up as a young disciple. Galatians 2:16 was used to attack a works salvation mentality but so was another scripture… Colossians 2:11-12. I’m surprised the author did not use that scripture too because it is so similar and actually mentions baptism. Let me read it.

Baptism is a ritual... like circumcision.

Colossians 2:11-12 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

I was told, as a young believer, “Do you see this? Baptism is like circumcision. It is a ritual. You are raised through your faith in the power of God, not your faith in the power of baptism.”

When Colossians 2:11 and Galatians 2:16 were presented together, it was pretty confusing for me. I think this was when I first began to really study all of this out for myself.

Colossians 2:11 does not say baptism is like circumcision. It compares baptism to circumcision metaphorically. Let me show you.

Colossians 2:11 is about a form of New Testament circumcision. Who performs this circumcision? It tells us that Christ performs this circumcision. What does this circumcision do? It puts off the sinful nature… it removes your sin. Where does this circumcision happen? In baptism! If I do not undergo this circumcision by Christ, will my sins be removed? No. When does it happen? When I am baptized. If there is any connections made in this scripture, it is between putting off the sinful nature and baptism. This would be consistent with all the other passages which mention baptism specifically. So this passage is not about the Old Testament at all. It is only about an amazing event which happens to a believer under the New Covenant.

We had to obey the law too.

The Old Testament Law was not worthless. It leads us to Christ.

View Details

Righteousness is by faith.

Well, we are on our eighth podcast and it will be a very short one, examining the scriptures presented in that article at GotQuestions.org. it’s Philippians 3:9, let’s read it.

Philippians 3:9 …not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

The evangelical argument presents this scripture and says, “See, righteousness is achieved through faith, not baptism.”

No argument here. Righteousness is achieved through faith in Christ. That’s what this scripture says. Don’t add baptism on to it. Don’t build the straw man beat him up. Don’t say this scripture is about baptism.

While this scripture has nothing to do with baptism, it does talk about the old Jewish Law. Using this particular passage as an argument against baptism, we must employ the fifth and rarely used error of comparing baptism to circumcision or to the law. We must claim that baptism is some sort of ritual or sacrament when the New Testament is devoid of all such rituals and brings an end to all ceremonies. The New Testament is about relationship.

The evangelical argument tries to link baptism to Old Testament works in order to countermand the requirement of obedience. The Bible makes no comparisons between baptism and circumcision or baptism and the law. But there is a reason why this common mistake is made. The mistake of comparing baptism to the law is also often made by Evangelicals as they use the next scripture, Galatians 2:16.

Let’s look at that next.

Enjoy!

Dana Haynes

Join the discussion here. Listen Now - Podcast 021 - Anti-Baptism Scriputres - Part 7

View Details

We are saved by grace through faith when we obey.

Ephesians 2:8-10For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This passage teaches us quite a bit about the salvation experience. It teaches us that salvation is by grace. Nobody deserves to be saved. It teaches us that salvation is through faith. It teaches us that salvation is not from ourselves which would be super boastful! It teaches us that God made us and He made us with a purpose; to do good works, which we surmise should happen after we are saved. And finally, it inspires us with the fact that God is intimately connected to us because He has actually prepared things for us to do!

Once again, a scripture which has nothing to do with baptism is introduced to convince us that since baptism is not mentioned, it must not be important. To make this scripture work as an anti-baptism proof text, we must employ the “all/only” error and buy into the notion that baptism is a work.

Special Use Case

But this scripture also holds a special purpose in evangelicalism. It is the well-spring of three extremely popular phrases created to reinforce their position of “faith alone.”

The first popular phrase is, "We are saved by faith alone.” We have all heard this. The second phrase is, “We are saved by grace through faith plus nothing.” And, the third phrase is similar, “We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.”

I have heard some of the greatest Bible expositors and preachers in our modern era confidently make these claims. They are frequently brought to bear when the topic of baptism is being discussed. All of these statements sound really good.

What I am about to say might surprise you... but just consider carefully what you hear. If I am wrong, please show me where I am wrong.

When we hear someone say, "We are saved by faith alone," we really should think about this because... they are actually misquoting scripture.

The Bible explicitly says we are not justified by faith alone in James 2:24. Let’s listen to it.

James 2:24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

When someone says we are saved by faith alone, we know they are misquoting scripture because this passage in James is the only place in the entire Bible where the phrase "faith alone" is used. The Bible can not contradict itself so... it will not say in one place, as it does here in James, we are not justified by faith alone and then somewhere else say we are justified by faith alone. Justification is salvation. They mean the same thing.

Keep it Simple

Ephesians 2:8 teaches that we are saved by grace, through faith. That is an accurate and honest presentation of the scripture. When we add the word "alone" to Ephesians 2:8 in order to gain a foot-hold for some other issue, we are being disingenuous with the scripture. It puts us in a position of misquoting the Bible.

Nowhere does the Bible explicitly say, "We are saved by faith alone." And it can not say it implicitly because that results in a scriptural contradiction Folks, if you’ll permit me to mix my metaphors, this is not rocket surgery? We must not say we are justified by faith alone when the Bible never uses that phrase but does say we are not justified by faith alone.

And by the way, faith is never alone. Even in our Ephesians scripture, it is accompanied by grace! At A Faith that Obeys, we argue that true saving faith is always accompanied by grace and obedience.

The Three Legged Stool

The illustration we have made is that of a three legged stool. The modern evangelical world embraces the first two legs, grace and faith but has all but forgotten the third leg, obedience.

I was stunned when it finally dawned on me this phrase "we are sav...

View Details

Why is confession not a human work?

Romans 10:9-10That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Wow! There is quite a bit in this amazing scripture but baptism is not here.

This scripture identifies two of the five steps in the Biblical Plan of Salvation, confession and belief. Confession happens with the mouth and belief occurs in the heart.

The thing we must believe is that Jesus rose from the dead. No-one would do this if they did not believe in Jesus and they would not believe in Jesus if they had not been told about him by an evangelistic disciple. This means that everyone who makes the confession, "Jesus is Lord," has heard the message and accepted the message which are the first two steps in the Biblical Plan of Salvation. But there is more...

There is a process.

When we accept the message, it means we are agreeing with what someone has taught us about Jesus… specifically that he died for our sins and was risen by God to life again. We are taught that if we want to be free from our sins and enjoy eternity in heaven, we should put our faith and trust in the work Jesus did, on our behalf, at the Cross. We are taught that he paid the price for our sin and there is nothing we can do to earn or merit the free gift of eternal life. This is the Gospel.

Since we have a humble, open heart and want to follow Christ, we ask… like so many before us, “What must I do to be saved?”

Romans 10:9 tells us we must confess with our mouth, “Jesus is Lord.”

We can’t argue with this. It’s very simple. This is the next step in the Biblical Plan of Salvation. A serious problem occurs when me make an error in logic and claim this is ALL we need to do.

All you need to do...

Now remember, this scripture has been offered by the anti-baptism proponents as a proof text, proving that baptism is not necessary for salvation. So is confession the only thing I need to do or is it all I need to do? Of course not. I have already stated that we must believe and accept. Also, repentance is not mentioned in this scripture. Shall I ignore the biblical of repentance before salvation just because it is not mentioned in Romans 10? Of course not! When we are studying out this important subject we must see the entire composite, not just a fragment taken out of context of the whole.

Confession is a work?

Confession is something I must do. It is an action I take. It is an act I perform. According to this scripture, after I do this action I “will be” saved. Did you notice the future tense of the verb? The scripture does not say, “I have been saved.” The correct chain of events puts salvation after confession. The second part of the scripture plainly states that we are saved with our mouth. Something happens with our mouth. What? Our confession that Jesus is Lord. Our mouth or our confession saves us. So, here's the question. Because confession is something I must "do" to be saved, doesn't that make it work of man or a work of merit? No. Why? Because it is a command of God, just like Baptism and a command of God can not, by definition, be a work of man when I obey it.

It's confusing because it's out of context.

This is baffling to me. Why would an anti-baptism proponent choose this scripture to prove their point when it says nothing about baptism yet holds up an action which might just as easily be called a work of man. Confession isn’t any more a work of man than baptism or repentance. I am told to confess. I am told to repent. I am told to be baptized. All of these things precede the forgiveness of sins scripturally. All of these things are commands I can not break. Why is baptism singled out as an ineffective work of merit but belief, accepting the message, repentance and confession are not?

View Details

Trusting God brings a credit of righteousness.

Well, welcome. If you are just joining us, let me explain where we are in our quest. We are in the middle of responding to the arguments made in an article from gotquestions.org titled, “Does Acts 2:38 Teach that Baptism is Necessary for salvation?” At the end of that article, the author offers nine scriptures as proof texts for his conclusion that baptism is not necessary. These scriptures are commonly used in this argument and we have been reviewing each one. Romans 4:5 is the fifth scripture in this list. Here it is.

Trusting Christ for Salvation

Romans 4:5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

My Evangelical friends explain this scripture as follows: “It is the man who trusts God who is made righteous, not the man who works. Do you see that? Works are of no value. The thing that saves you is trusting God.”

There are a couple of problems here. The Evangelical claims, we can not be saved by works and baptism is a work. No argument on the first part of that statement. We can not be saved by works. This is what this scripture is explaining to the Romans. But, this scripture does not call baptism a work. This scripture does not mention baptism. This scripture is not even remotely about baptism. In order to use this scripture as an anti-baptism scripture, I must buy in to the error that baptism is a work. We have covered this issue elsewhere but in my desire to keep each of these lessons modular and self contained let me review the error and then point you to the original lessons which deal in depth with the issue.

Baptism is not a work. Baptism is a command of God. Why does any church baptize a new believer in water? Because it is a command of Christ. We conclude this from the Great Commission. Baptism can not be a command of Christ and a work of human merit at the same time. So, the first issue, “baptism is a work,” is not valid. Baptism is a command. I have no choice but to obey it. For a complete review of that topic please read or listen to my Podcast titled, “Who told you baptism is a work?”

The Challenge of Obedience

Obedience to the Gospel must never be categorized as a work. And obedience to the Gospel is clearly necessary for salvation. Just listen to these challenging scriptures.

2 Thessalonians 1:8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

James 2:22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

Hebrews 5:9…once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

1 John 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Romans 1:5Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

Give me a little credit!

There is a second problem in using Romans 4:5 as an anti-baptism scripture. Let’s read it again so it is fresh in our mind.

Romans 4:5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

What is the focus of this sentence? The man who does not work but trusts God. What is he compared to? The man who works. Does the man who works receive the same thing as the man who trusts God? No. There is a difference between these two people. That’s the point of the scripture. One type of person receives a blessing the other type of person does not receive the blessing. What is the blessing? We might think it is “justification of the wicked,” but not so fast. That is just a description of our majestic and mysterious God. “God, who justifies the wicked,” is a descriptive phrase. What does this “God who justifies the wicked” do for t...

View Details

Romans 3:21 - Baptism is like the Law!

The Law brings us to Christ!

Here's our next anti-baptism proof text.

Romans 3:21-30But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

This is Paul explaining why the Old Testament Law is no longer effective or necessary. It’s a long passage, so hang in there.

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

There are two basic assertions made in this scripture. This scripture tells us that salvation under the New Covenant is through faith and belief in Jesus and how we can not be saved by following the Old Testament Law.

A Radical New Teaching!

For the Jews of the Roman World, this would have been a radical new concept! Paul is telling them, the Law can't save you, only this new thing… a faith in Christ can save you.

These are the only conclusions we should draw form this scripture. This is its purpose, to introduce Jews to God’s new of entering a relationship with Him. We must have faith in Jesus Christ.

Like the other scriptures we have looked at, this scripture has nothing to do with baptism. The evangelical argument is once again designed to corral this scripture and make me believe it is about baptism. And, once again, I have to also believe that “all” that is required for my response to the Gospel is faith and belief.

Rituals of the New Testament

Now, it gets a bit more interesting. The use of this passage as an anti-baptism proof text, introduces a new error in reasoning which goes a little bit further than labeling baptism as a human work or asking me to buy into the “all/only” error.

This argument also asks us to agree that baptism is a ritual. To arrive at that conclusion, we must equate baptism with the Law Why is this significant? Because the Law was ceremonial. It had no power to save. It was full of rules and regulations, ordinances and rituals. Evangelicals believe Baptism, is nothing more than a ceremonial event and has nothing to do with the conversion process.

This line of thinking is responsible for the creation of another popular saying designed to deny the scriptural purpose of baptism. You have probably heard it. Evangelicals claim, "Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace." Neither this statement nor this concept is not found in the New Testament.

Baptism is not a ritual, it is not a sign, it is not a ceremony. But this scripture, and some others, are often used to equate baptism with the Law. There is no connection. But, let’s dig into their reasoning a bit.

The reasoning goes like this:

Baptism is a ritual like the Old Testament rituals. The rituals of the Law could not save you. Therefore baptism can not save you.

The first premise is not true. Baptism is not a ritual.

The second premise is true. The law does not save people, it leads them to Christ, who can save them. Because our initial premise is wrong, we arrive at a wrong conclusion. This reasoning attempts to associate baptism with the Law but the N...

View Details

What Must I Do to Be Saved?

Acts 16:31 Clarified

Acts 16:31 is another common scripture used to support the idea that water baptism is not part of the conversion experience. Let me read it… we will back up just a little bit and begin in verse 15b so you have the context. The Philippian Jailer has just asked an important question…

Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”

This is Paul's response to the Philippian Jailer and it comes after that very specific, very direct question. “What must I do to be saved?”

The evangelical’s argument goes like this. "If the Bible ever had a chance, once and for all, to tell us baptism was a part of the salvation experience, this would have been the opportunity. But Paul says, 'believe and you will be saved.' This passage says nothing about baptism." I wholeheartedly agree. This passage says nothing about baptism. So why are we using it as an anti-baptism scripture if it's not about baptism?

Shouldn’t we also note the absence of obedience, repentance, confession and accepting the message? Shall I conclude that, by their absence, they are not a part of the Biblical Plan of Salvation and by extension, the jailer's belief? Paul does not spell out every single detail involved in belief. But… there are some very curious things which happen in the rest of the story we ought not ignore.

After Paul makes his proclamation, both the jailer and his household were immediately baptized in response to Paul's message. Why would they be baptized if baptism was not included in the instructions Paul gave them?

Evangelicals make an important and critical claim. Listen to this claim carefully. They say, “If baptism is a part of the Gospel, Paul would have included it when he preached the Gospel.” They point out the fact that Paul sums up the Gospel in several places in the New Testament and water baptism is never a part of those summaries. Once again, I completely agree. It is not a part of those summations.

However, there is a problem with this reasoning. Once again, please listen carefully because this issue will come up again and again.

Baptism is Part of the Gospel?

When I hear an anti-baptism proponent claim that I believe water baptism is “part of the Gospel,” my opponent just created what is known as a “Straw Man” fallacy. A Straw Man Fallacy is created when someone makes a claim which exaggerates or changes an opponents position. Once this false claim is established they then proceed to knock down the “Straw Man” by pointing out the fact that it’s wrong.

Let’s review their argument again. Their claim, which is true, is that in each account where the Gospel is summarized in the Bible, baptism is never mentioned in those summaries. Because it is not mentioned in those summaries, it must not be a part of the Gospel. Therefore, it is not a part of the conversion process.

The argument sounds really good but… nobody said water baptism is part of the Gospel. It’s simply the appropriate scriptural response to the Gospel.

The Gospel is about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and that man can be freed from his sins when he “obeys” the Gospel. So, again, water baptism is not part of the Gospel message. It is a response to the Gospel message. You mis-state my argument if you say, it is part of the Gospel. I do not say that. That’s the Straw Man.

The jailer and his family had a reasonable, appropriate and scriptural response to Paul's preaching. Baptism was not some sort of human work or ritual they dreamed up right there on the spot. Paul told them about it. They did not pull it out of thin air. There is no negotiation. There is no questioning. There was no confusion… it was done right then and right there.

What's the Hurry?

Now, this should raise another question. Why would Paul insist that they be baptized… even at such an early hour of the morning?

View Details

John 3:16

John 3:16 is the next popular scripture used as a proof text against baptism as part of God’s plan of salvation.

Let’s read it:

John 3:16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This, of course, is probably the most famous passage in the entire Bible. We see it frequently being used as the way to escape final judgement and be saved.

Not About Baptism

The obvious problem in using this scripture for our argument is that this text has nothing to do with baptism. This passage is commonly used as an anti-baptism scripture because it indicates one of the vital things necessary for eternal life, "belief in Christ.” And then employs the “all/only” assumption, so we are forced into a wrong conclusion.

To make this passage work, we must conclude, “belief” is all that is required. This passage does not teach that “all” we need to do is believe or the only thing necessary for salvation is belief. It says, belief is essential. That’s it. Nothing more. We dare not go beyond that conclusion based on just this passage.

We already know that true biblical belief or a complete faith includes obedience to Christ's commands. True Biblical belief is so much more the intellectual assent or agreement.

The Bible often just presents the whole process as "belief," and just assumes we know that complete Biblical belief includes all five of the scriptural steps we find in the Biblical Plan of Salvation. Just because the Bible does not list all five steps every time it talks about salvation, does not mean that any one step is less important. Our job is to discover the composite God has created which is quiet often summed up as “belief.”

If you watched my video series, may remember this example… If I told you I brushed my teeth, you automatically understand I used a toothbrush, a bit of toothpaste and some water. I did not need to tell you everything that was involved in brushing my teeth. Many steps were summed up in one phrase, just as the Bible often sums up the complete plan of salvation as, “belief.”

Acts of Obedience

We know that repentance, confession, and baptism are acts of obedience we fulfill on the way to salvation. Please study this out and tell me if I am wrong. The forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit indwelling a believer never precede any of these religious events according to the scriptures. This is how we know they are all part of the plan. When we scour the scriptures, looking for the point in time when God gives us eternal life, the forgiveness of sins or His Holy Spirit, we never see these things happen before all five Biblical events occur in the believer’s life.

Just because a particular religious activity is not included in this one passage, does not mean it is any less valid or necessary.

Now if you want to argue whether obedience to Christ is necessary for salvation, maybe we should just fix John 3:16. It would sure be helpful if we could change it… just a little bit. See if you think this would be OK:

John 3:16 - The Wrong WayFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him, without obeying his commands, shall not perish but have eternal life.

That doesn't work does it? Yet, in using this scripture as a proof text against water baptism, that is pretty much what we are saying!

Biblical belief always includes humble obedience to the things Jesus has asked us to do.

God did not spell out every detail of the plan of salvation in John 3:16 nor did he need to. There is not just one thing we must do in response to his calling, grace and mercy. Salvation is a free gift but we must receive it in an appropriate and scriptural manner.

Consider this... Jesus spent quite a bit of time in John chapter 14 and 15 connecting three things: love for Christ, obedience to Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit. Remember,

View Details

John 1:12

What does John 1:12 really say?

Now, let’s turn our examination to the scriptures offered by the anti-baptism proponents. In this podcast, we will begin discussing the assertions of the article from GotQuestions.Org titled “Does Acts 2:38 Teach Baptism for the Remission of Sins?”

That article presents the main arguments of the anti-baptism side very well. The article concludes with a list of nine scriptures commonly used to support the view that water baptism is NOT necessary for salvation. As we shine a critical light on each of these scriptures and their associated conclusions, we will discover five basic errors.

The first common error occurs in interpretation. We’ll see a misapplication or misunderstanding regarding the scripture.

The second error unfolds when we apply, what I call the “all / only” assumption. I explain this shortly.

The third error is that the scripture chosen as the proof text, has nothing to do with baptism.

The fourth error is the now familiar mistake of deeming baptism as a work of human effort.

The fifth and infrequently used error occurs when we equate baptism with Old Testament Laws and rituals such as circumcision or sacrifices.

Here are the proof texts used to claim that baptism is not necessary for salvation. I’ll read them in case you are taking notes:

John 1:12, John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Romans 3:21-30, Romans 4:5, Romans 10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 3:9, and Galatians 2:16

Now remember, a specific question has been asked, “Is water baptism necessary for salvation?” So, these scriptures are offered as the best responses to argue the anti-baptism point of view.

Let’s begin with John 1:12 This is a famous passage about receiving Christ. It reads like this…

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…"

We make three errors when we use this scripture as our proof text.

First, this scripture has nothing to do with baptism.

In order to make you believe that it IS about baptism, I must employ the second error. I must claim that receiving Christ is all that is necessary or the only thing that is required for salvation. This is the “all / only” argument.

To make this argument work, I must convince you that; even though this scripture does not mention baptism it really is about baptism. Since it mentions salvation but not baptism, I ask you to conclude that baptism must not be necessary. After all, if it was important it should be mentioned in this particular scripture! This is a fallacy called “circular reasoning.”

Obviously, the word “all” does not appear in this passage and there is no compelling evidence to conclude receiving Christ is the only thing involved in God’s plan of salvation. Let’s avoid crafting our conclusions based on things which are not in a particular scripture. This scripture does not say belief is all we need.

So, the “all / only” error is the second problem using this scripture as a proof text against baptism for the remission of sin.

There is one final problem. This one is pretty major and it has to do with misinterpreting the scripture. In fact, this misinterpretation has become so entrenched in modern evangelicalism, they’ve created a clever, easy to remember, metaphorical math formula to illustrate it. It’s so popular, I’ve even seen it on T-Shirts! It reads…

Believe + Receive = Become.

Some of the greatest preachers in the world have used this clever formula to promote the notion that all a person needs to do is receive Christ for salvation. So, what’s the problem with interpretation here?

The formula is wrong!

It's easy to spot the error. Let's look at this scripture again.

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…

The subject noun of this passage is “He,” referring to God. The verb in this scripture is "gave." He gave.

View Details

An Erroneous Claim

The evangelical world claims, "Salvation is by Faith Alone." This statement is oft’ times invoked when arguing that baptism is not necessary for salvation. As this anti-baptism position has grown and flourished in modern evangelicalism, it developed its own unique language and phraseology. Grammar, in any discussion is important. But there is an amazing aspect to language and grammar you may not be aware of.

The Power of Language

A common language is the glue which holds like-minded believers together. A common language has amazing power! Think about the Biblical examples of the Tower of Babel and the Day of Pentecost; language played a stunningly powerful role in uniting people.

In the evangelical world’s vernacular, three common phrases come to mind which are frequently used to articulate and argue the position that water baptism has nothing to do with the salvation experience, meaning the remission of sin. The first phrase is, "We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone." A second phrase is similar... just a shortened version of the previous phrase... "We are saved by faith alone.” In our last podcast, I mentioned the third phrase, “We are saved by grace, through faith, plus nothing.”

That's Not in the Bible

These three statements sound really good and they do present a clear picture of the faith alone, anti-baptism position but, the plain fact of the matter is; none of these statements appear in the Bible. Since the anti-baptism argument rests so firmly on "faith alone," we might expect to find that expression all over the Bible. But, the only time the phrase is ever used, it is used to tell us we are NOT saved by faith alone. Here it is…

James 2:24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

This passage from James is the only time the Bible ever uses the phrase, "Faith Alone.” Stop and think about this. When someone claims that we are saved by “faith alone” do you realize they are actually misquoting James 2:24. They have to be misquoting this passage of scripture since this is the only place in the Bible that phrase ever appears. The phrase “Faith Alone” was popularized my Martin Luther but even Luther did not use it in the way modern evangelicals do. We’ll dive into that subject in a future podcast.

Isn't it amazing that a scripture can be so misused and it's misuse be so widely accepted? Understanding the power of a common grammar may be important to understanding how this erroneous position might survive decade after decade and become so accepted. If Evangelicals want to more correctly interpret the scripture instead of misquoting James, they should say, "We are saved by faith." Adding the word "alone" to the statement invalidates it by placing it in opposition to what James said. It forces the Bible to contradict itself. James did not make a mistake when he boldly wrote, "We are NOT justified by faith alone."

In addition to the commonly used grammar, there are also common scriptures chosen as proof texts and a common line of reasoning in their explanations.

A Really Good Argument

I've done a little research on the internet, using these common phrases to find information explaining that baptism is NOT necessary for salvation. I stumbled upon a really good article at GotQuestions.org. The author does an excellent job of articulating their argument. I was not surprised to discover that he uses the exact same scriptures, grammar and reasoning my evangelical friends use.

In the GotQuestions article, the author is answering a question about Acts 2:38. This is when Peter concludes the first gospel sermon and tells people to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. This scripture is probably the main go-to scripture the pro-baptism group uses to present their case, so the question this author addresses is well known. “Does Acts 2:38 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation?”

View Details

As you know, there are two proponents in the argument about whether baptism is necessary for salvation. One camp argues that baptism is necessary for salvation and the other camp argues that it is not. Both camps have well thought out reasons for their positions. In my view, the most common objection to water baptism for the remission of sin seems to be the belief that baptism is a work of man... in other words... it is a human work and as such, can have nothing to do with salvation. This is a widely held belief in the evangelical world, so when the debate comes up... it is primarily to this objection the argument turns as a defense... baptism is a work.

Easy to Spot

You can spot this defensive position referenced when you hear a preacher use the familiar phrase, "We are saved by grace through faith plus nothing.” This, and other similar phrases, are commonly called upon when arguing against baptism for the remission of sin… this is what the, “plus nothing” phrase is referencing. The “nothing” they are referring to is typically baptism.

This "Faith Alone" group has a strong opposition to anything which seems like a work and they feel like water baptism fits into that category because baptism is an act a person performs. Now, in responding to these assertions, I want to quickly review the things we discussed in our last podcast.

Commands Can't Be Works

Remember, we agreed, water baptism is a command of God and we concluded that baptism can not be both a work of man and a command of God at the same time. The two concepts are mutually exclusive. Commands are something we must obey, we have no choice in the matter. So, baptism is something we obey in response to a command. It is something we submit to and... in reality; it's not really something we do. It's something which is done "to" us, it's not something we do to ourselves or by ourselves. We must humbly accept the experience and allow ourselves to be baptized.

We learn that baptism is a command in the Great Commission. Because the Great Commission tells us to baptize a disciple, we must conclude that baptism is a requirement for all disciples. Jesus told us to "Go make disciples and to baptize them."

Now, if I am making disciples of Jesus, I have no choice but to baptize someone who wants to be a disciple of Christ.

Now, listen carefully.

If the person I am teaching will not allow me to complete the commands Jesus gave me, they are rejecting Jesus’ plan for their life. Remember, Jesus also said, "Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you." They must obey what Jesus has commanded me to teach them, including all he just finished saying in The Great Commission!

When we are disobedient to the command to be baptized, we are disobedient to Jesus. This is a serious issue. Disobedience to Christ surely has some impact on our relationship with Christ. I’ve said it before… “If we won't have a Lord, we can't have a savior.”

The idea that "baptism is a work" is the foundation stone on which the entire Evangelical argument is built. So, let's discuss how people often come to the conclusion that baptism is a work of man.

In our podcast, “009 - Who Told You That?” We spoke a little bit about this issue but let’s review.

Who Taught You That?

When someone tells me that baptism is a work, I've gotta ask them, "Who taught you that? Who taught you that water baptism is a work?"

I can ask this question and, be pretty confident they might remember a specific person who told them that baptism is a human work. Let me explain why.

I've studied the Bible with dozens of people including church leaders and elders who, when we arrive at the baptism issue in our discussions, they balk. They see clearly... from the scriptures... baptism universally precedes the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. They see baptism is a command... and sins are wiped away when a person obeys the Gospel by being baptized. However...

View Details

Photo by Peter Dargatzl on Pixabay

The issue of whether baptism is necessary for salvation is really not about baptism at all. The issue we are dealing with is whether or not a person is willing to obey the Gospel, which just happens to included baptism. Let’s talk, for a few minutes, about this age old argument and see if we might be able to make a little progress.

In order to define and understand the arguments, it may help to know a little bit about the proponents.

Two Groups

The first group are those who believe that water baptism is not necessary for salvation. They say baptism has absolutely no connection to the remission of sin.

This would be the position of most of the evangelical world today. Their position states that when someone makes a heartfelt and sincere commitment to Jesus Christ, sins are forgiven and we are saved. This salvation experience happens at some point in time before water baptism. Many of these same people are baptized later... but not for the forgiveness of sins.

In the other camp, are those people who believe that baptism IS necessary for salvation and it has an incontrovertible connection to the forgiveness of sins. They teach that someone who is not baptized is not saved. They believe that baptism is the exact point in time salvation occurs.

Many would further clarify a subtle nuance... water baptism does not save you but you are saved by God at the time of your baptism.

Since this is a doctrinal position held by people from a variety of religious groups, it becomes a little difficult to give this group a label. They are sometimes referred to as Anabaptists but even that term would not be completely accurate.

Nothing New

It may surprise you to know that the Catholic and Lutheran churches both hold that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. This is heard in the creeds they recite every Sunday morning. Those creeds are based on a version of the Nicene Creed which was adopted in 381 AD. That creed explicitly states,

"We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins."

The problem with baptism in these churches relates to the issue of infant baptism and the method of baptism. We will be studying those issues in future podcasts.

So, our main issue always comes down to one question. "Do I need to be baptized to be saved?" I think this is a great question because it so aptly captures the nexus of the argument and its gotta have a yes or no answer.

Now, this debate is nothing new. It has probably been an around for nearly 2000 years… if you consider that the Nicene creed we just discussed was modified in 381 AD to include the phrase about baptism for the remission of sin! While this debate is probably really old, it's gained a lot of attention in modern Christianity for a variety of reasons.

Let's Solve an Argument!

But you know what? I think we might just be able to solve this entire debate in about 60 seconds!

If we do, this entire series will become academic and educational. If we don't, these lessons may serve to convince you otherwise. Let's shine a fresh new light on the subject and use a little logic. Start your timer and consider this.

Fact: The Evangelical world doesn't reject water baptism as a command of Christ. They just believe a person's sins are forgiven at some point in time before water baptism. Many churches tell new believers that they should be baptized soon since it is a command of Christ.

Like me, you're probably unaware of any church that claims baptism is NOT a command.

On this point, both proponents agree. Baptism is a command of Christ. Are you with me so far?

So! If baptism is a command of Christ, can I be saved if refuse to obey Him?

You see, if I am unwilling to obey His commands, He is not my Lord. If I don't have Him as Lord, I can't have him as savior. I am living an un-surrendered life regardless of any sincere, heartfelt professions of faith I may have made in the past.

Well,

View Details

This "Executive Summary" is a quick, concentrate overview of the argument presented at "A Faith that Obeys." It is designed for the person on-the-go who wants to learn but is limited on time. It's a great introduction!

View Details

The Anointing of Jesus

Jesus made only a few prophesies about future events. He made even fewer prophesies about people. On one occasion, Jesus made a curious prophesy about the woman who anointed him with expensive perfume during a dinner party.

Lukes Account

Luke 7:36-50Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisees house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is that she is a sinner."

Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."

"Tell me, teacher, he said."

"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

"You have judged correctly, Jesus said."

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Matthew's account of this event adds the following information:

Matt 26:13 - "Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

Did History Repeat?

Now, the narrative of this event differs slightly in each Gospel. In Matthew, Mark and John, this touching event occurs with certainty, in the last week of Jesus' life and focuses mainly on the disciple's reactions regarding the behavior of the woman. In Luke, the focus is on the host of the banquet, Simon the Pharisee, and the event seems to occur much earlier in Jesus' ministry; leading many people to believe that an anointing like this happened to Jesus at least twice.

Did this dramatic action happen to Jesus more than once? I don't think so.

If Jesus' prophesy about this woman is to be accurate, then this must be the same singular event, mentioned in all four Gospels... in other words, "wherever the Gospel is preached."

I think Luke's account is simply out of order, and for a fascinating reason which we will discuss later.

Here are the references to this momentous event. You can find this story in: Matthew 26:6, Mark 14:1, Luke 7:36 and John 12:1.

A Woman with Secrets

With Luke as our narrator, this is how the story opens. We meet a woman with some secrets! The first secret... she is probably a prostitute!

This woman appears to be quite bold. Perhaps her boldness comes not just from her love for Jesus but from her illicit experiences. We know from the story, "she had lived a sinful life in that town." She is apparently known by everyone at the party.

Simon the Pharisee is disgusted by her presence and her outpouring of affection. She invades the dinner party... his dinner party. She lets down her hair; something a woman simply ought not do except for her husband, and begins to minister to the Lord in dramatic fashion,

View Details

Baptism is an act of faith.

I can’t tell you how many times I have presented the Biblical Plan of Salvation to a friend or family member who, even though the take the time to patiently listen to me and even study the plan out… they reject it because they believe baptism is a work.”

The argument always comes down to those four words, and those four words constitute the firm foundation on which the entire argument rests!

“Baptism is a work.”

But guess what, there is a huge flaw in the reasoning. Let’s work through this together using logic and the scriptures.

Building Our Case

For the sake of our argument, let’s agree; baptism IS a work. This is our position. From this position we naturally and logically conclude, since baptism is a work, it cannot be necessary for salvation.

Sooner or later, someone will step forward to challenge our position. We need to mount a defense How should we begin?

We really should be appealing to the scriptures first and foremost. After all, without solid scriptural support, we will fail to make a cogent case, a case our critics will respect. Using the scriptures as our main source of authority, we can establish our position clearly and powerfully, from the Bible.

So, the one rule we have, as we build our argument; it must be the scriptures speaking, not man. Our proof must be clear, concise and convincing… from the scriptures.

This should be a piece of cake. Armed with powerful Bible software, bursting with a multitude of digital translations, we begin our search.

Our goal? Find out where, in the scripture we learn, “Baptism is a work.”

We type that phrase on the keyboard, carefully placing quotes around the entire phrase so we may be as specific as we can be. We hit enter.

Nothing.

We retype the search, this time without the quotes. We hit enter.

Nothing.

We broaden the search by simply typing in the words “Baptism” and “Works” separated by an ampersand, which tells the software to find just these two words… not necessarily in that order but together in the same passage. We hit enter.

Nothing.

We search for Baptism & Work… without the “s.”

Nothing.

This is puzzling.

Undaunted, we turn to Google! Again, with quotes we search for the phrase “Scriptures that teach baptism is a work.”

Eureka! Tons of stuff!

Nothing relative… Just a bunch of people arguing their positions.

At this point, we have nothing scripturally supporting our side of the argument. We’re getting a little nervous!

And yet… we know… beyond a shadow of a doubt, baptism is a work! In fact, this is something we have known from the very early days, when we first believed in Christ and made our decision to follow Jesus. Remember?

Our First Doctrinal Crisis

As a brand new Christian, we eagerly read our Bible. We came across passages like Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16, which appeared to be advocating baptism for the forgiveness of sins. It was our first real doctrinal question. We thought, “Does this mean what I think it means? Is baptism in water necessary for the forgiveness of sins?”

In those days, we didn’t know enough about the Bible or how to find things, so when an issue came up that was concerning or if we had a doctrinal question, the easiest thing to do was to ask our Pastor.

“Pastor, I’m looking at these scriptures and they appear to say that baptism is connected to the forgiveness of sins. Look here at 1 Peter 3:21, Peter says, ‘it saves you.’ Am I understanding this correctly?”

“That’s a good question. Many people misunderstand these passages.” Came the wise reply. “Man cannot be saved by the deeds he performs. Baptism is a work. It’s something we do.. Let me show you a couple of passages and you tell me what you think.”

He opens his bible to Ephesians 2:8-9 and you read it there for yourself. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works,

View Details

Abram Father of the Faithful

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

A curious phrase, appears ten times in the Bible, nine of which concern Abram. We discover it first in Genesis. It’s a small, subtle, one line blessing for the man of faith, which will go on to rock the centuries of the religious world! Genesis 15:6: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

This important statement identifies a core ingredient of all religious faith, “belief.”

We look to Abram as our spiritual model, progenitor of the tithe, father to three world religions and a friend of the Almighty.

Armed with Abram’s “belief,” we climb mountains. The goal? A righteousness like that of the Patriarch!

We admire Abram’s faith as we surmise, Abram believed God and received righteousness. It is for this type of faith, we all strive!

As always, at A Faith that Obeys, we are compelled to define our terms before we begin our journey of discovery, striving for deeper understanding on that smooth, winding, country road of life and doctrine.

Buckle up. We’re gonna go for a little ride!

Righteous Defined

With Abram by our side, let’s jump onto the scriptural byway to righteousness! What is “righteousness?”

Let’s first make a quick stop at a fascinating old diner, the 1828 edition of Noah Webster’s Dictionary.

If you are ever hungry for a rich, meaty definition along the way, a stop here offers delicious rewards. Unlike our modern dictionaries, you will not find quick, nutritiously empty, bite-sized morsels here. Get ready for a warm hardy sit-down meal. Here’s what Webster said about righteousness.

“Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law. righteousness as used in Scripture and theology, in which it is chiefly used, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law. It includes all we call justice, honesty and virtue, with holy affections; in short, it is true religion.”

Wow, let’s get some desert. What was that other fancy word he used? “Rectitude?” What’s that?

Webster says, “rectitude of mind is the disposition to act in conformity to any known standard of right, truth or justice.”

So, righteousness is something deep within a person… a sort of character quality of the soul. It is not something which a person can grasp on their own, we know that. It must be bestowed by God. It is that special divine spark within, which causes a person to conform with, “any known standard of right, truth or justice.”

True Religion

Because of man’s fallen nature, the prowess to avoid the misdeeds of the flesh is not something which comes by way of earth. All men are separated from God by sin and no man can attain righteousness on his own merits. But when God gives it, the man is completely and utterly changed… for eternity!

In the New Testament, God provides a way for the sinner to attain righteousness; it happens through the sacrifice of his son. All of our sin is placed on Christ and we are declared righteous by God.

Now, this righteousness, found in the New Testament, is not something we will receive some day, No! The Bible, in speaking about the affect of Christ’s blood, shed on the cross, speaks about complete forgiveness of sins, no condemnation for the believer, thorough stain removal, a death to our old life and a new birth into sinless righteousness with a seat… right now… in Heaven… with Christ.

New Testament righteousness is a declaration prepared before the beginning of the world and it is given freely to those who are willing to follow Christ by lovingly obeying his commands. If we do this, we are in full possession of this righteousness and no one can ever take it away from us.

A Credit of Righteousness

Back on the road, let’s return to Genesis. In this famous, incredible historical event, God bestows upon Abram a credit of righteousness.

View Details

That's a Funny Sounding Word

Nailing down a definition - Dana Haynes

Works, that's a funny sounding word when you just say it out loud.

Works!

This little word can have a variety of meanings.

A computer "works," meaning it operates.

A municipality has public "works," the infrastructure, built to support the smooth operation of a community.

A person "works," meaning they put forth labor to produce something.

A religious person might perform good "works" or good "deeds," meaning they are performing a religious activity or action for the purpose of pleasing God.

The Go-To Word!

When we have that debate about God's requirement that a person must be baptized to be saved, it is often to this word, "works," the argument turns. The anti-baptists say, "Man cannot be saved by works."

I can't argue with that statement.

They are correct because the Bible teaches, "Man cannot be saved by works."

Surprisingly, both the anti-baptism folks and the folks who believe that baptism is indeed necessary for salvation agree on this point. We cannot be saved by works... so, what's the problem?

The problem is we have not defined the meaning of the word, "works."

What is a "work?"

Well, it depends on the "word use." You know how the word is being used. This depends heavily on the context of where and how the word is being used.

If we are using the word "work" to refer to a "good deed" someone does in order to gain favor with God, that's a different "word use" than if we say, "We are working FOR God" as God commands us to do.

Is Prayer a Work?

For example, when Jesus says, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." We don't consider his instructions to mean we are to perform some kind of good deeds kind of work. We see his instructions and we are obligated to obey, to the best of our ability. In this case we might say to a friend, "I have really been working in prayer for you."Here's another example. When Jesus gave us the Lord's Supper and said. "Do this in remembrance of me." This is a religious activity we do it because we eagerly want to do what he has asked us to do. We do it because we love him. Activity is another word for work though it carries a more gentle meaning.

Prayer or the Lord's Supper are religious activities Christians, all over the world, perform on a regular basis; yet no Christian would consider these things to be "works." They understand them simply as requests... or commands... Christ has laid before us and, as a good Christian, we are willing to humbly comply.

But something funny happens when it comes to the command to be baptized! Suddenly, the "word use" changes. We redefine baptism as a work, then conclude, "One does not need to be baptized because it is a work and we are not saved by works."

To understand this a little better, let's look at what the Bible actually says about salvation by works. Let's see how the Bible defines "works" and see if baptism fits into that category.

The Romans Road

When the debate begins, the discussion about "works" often begins in Romans, so let's start there.

Romans 4:1-6What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast aboutbut not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

Then, a little bit later in Romans, Paul continues this thought:

Romans 4:13-16It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspringnot only to those who are of the law b...

View Details

A Most Misused Scripture

John 1:12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 1:12 - Dana Haynes

This passage of scripture is used by the evangelical church to demonstrate that a person becomes a Christian when they accept Christ for the first time. A popular metaphorical formula was developed, probably in the 60’s to help people remember this plan of salvation. It reads like this: “Believe + Receive = Become.” In other words, if you believe in Christ and you receive Christ, you become a Christian. The problem is, this formula is wrong.

Grammar 101 - Verbs

Read the passage again. The verb in the last phrase is not “become,” it is “gave.” When we believe and receive, God gives us something. He gives us the “right” to become. We don’t “become” anything upon our decision to receive the message with an open heart. While it may be true that God gives us a new gift, the "right to become his child," this is not yet salvation!

The problem with this form of teaching lies in the conclusion it offers. The conclusion the Evangelical world presents is that a person is saved when they receive Christ. This is wrong; dangerously wrong.

The Wrong Path

When a person is taught that they become a Christian when they first believe and receive, they are set on a false path to Heaven. Just think about it. If I follow this unbiblical practice and believe I am saved at the time of my acceptance there is no point in a variety of other commands Jesus gave his disciples. If we examine those commands, we discover that they always precede the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is never bestowed on a believer before they obey Christ's commands. Because I believe I am already a Christian before obedience, what is the point of confession, repentance and baptism? Those commands always precede the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, when we look at them in the Bible.

Following this incomplete pattern does not lead to salvation. Yet this pattern is presented, practiced and promoted, with vigor, by most Evangelicals today. It bears a striking resemblance to a pattern Jesus identified in his own ministry. Take a look.Matthew 7:21-23Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Jesus is addressing a problem regarding a particular group of people’s understanding of the conversion process. Who are these people? the Bible tells us. First, they call Jesus Lord, no less than four times. They are sincere. They are doing really wonderful things in the name of Jesus. They are driving out demons, they are preaching in his name, they are performing no small amount of miracles; Jesus says they performed "many miracles." We have no reason to believe that these things were not really happening and Jesus does not deny their actions either. On the contrary, these things must have taken place because they serve as the basis of the illustration on which Jesus defines the problem.

These people were extremely dedicated to Jesus in the way they understood the Gospel. These people possessed a sacrificial heart; willing to serve Jesus. These people put their faith into action, they did what they believed was true, good and right. They knew Jesus intimately. They probably even loved Jesus; why else would they take on such active ministry efforts.

Jesus tells us not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven and he uses this very sincere, very busy, very dedicated group of believers as the bad example! By today’s standards,

View Details

Editor's Note: This is the audio from the first lesson about The Biblical Plan of Salvation . You may view the entire video series starting HERE.

Rhodi Lopez via UnSplash.com

You know, many people believe the United States is still a Christian nation.

But, I'll bet you didn't know Christianity is a dead religion! Yes. You heard that correctly. Christianity is a dead religion. And believe it or not, that's a good thing! Now, that statement might surprise you. But, what if I told you that in three minutes from now, you will not only agree with that statement but you may actually be excited about what this could mean for your own personal walk with God?

Intrigued? Lets go!

Origins of the Bible

As you might know, the original Bible texts were written in Hebrew and Greek.

In the fourth century, a fellow named Jerome, translated the Bible into the Latin language. The Latin translation of the Bible is called the Vulgate.

Latin, in Jerome's time, was the common language of the Roman Empire. Latin is such a precise language that it's still valuable today. The medical community, the legal system and many other disciplines use Latin words and phrases.

It's even on our money "e pluribus unum," which means, out of many we are one. Even though Latin is such a powerful useful language, every scholar will confidently tell you "Latin is a dead language!"

Obviously, this does not mean Latin is no longer used. It means, the language stopped growing nearly two thousand years ago. People stopped speaking it. Today, no one speaks Latin as their native language. All the words, the phrases, the idioms, figures of speech... it all got locked down. Nothing new was created.

As a result, the latin language became sort of an ancient linguistic boundary stone which can't be moved. Words and phrases that existed back then, mean exactly the same thing today and they will mean exactly the same thing a thousand years for now. The grammar of Latin is so well established that there is no confusion as to meanings or definitions.

So, Latin is a dead language and that's a good thing because... when your doctor uses a Latin phrase as he communicates with your pharmacist, the meaning is clear and you are safe!

Hopefully you see where I'm going with this.

Dead Things Don't Move!

The same principal is true regarding the Christian religion! When God gave us the Bible, He locked it down! The teachings, practices and doctrines of the Christian religion were clearly established and they will never change. Just as Latin is a dead language, Christianity is a dead religion. It is locked down!

Now notice, I did not say, Christianity is dead. No way! Christianity is alive and well and thriving in many places. But unlike Latin, which hasn't changed, modern Christianity has been the victim of massive and destructive changes in its teachings, doctrines and practices.

The Bible teaches us that Satan counterfeits Christianity. Over the years, he has been tragically effective.

Think about this. There are thousands and thousands of churches in the United States. There are hundreds of denominations, claiming to follow the Bible, but they all teach different things! How can this be? If Christian doctrines, practices and teachings were locked down 2000 years ago how would something change? Well, careless people changed it!

Denominations: Not in the Bible!

One group of Christians wanted to do something one way, another group wanted to do things another way and over time, factions developed. In essence, these probably well meaning folks ignored the "locked down" teachings which the Apostles established, and made changes to religious practices for a variety of reasons. Take a look at this scripture from First Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 1:10 - I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly un...

View Details

A Listening Ear - Dana Haynes

Today’s lesson is something which has been on my heart for years. I have shared the Biblical Plan of Salvation with many religious leaders, pastors and elders over the years. They are pretty quick to reject it. The one common factor in each case was their lack of willingness to listen to me… to hear me out.

Several years ago, I was amazed when I discovered that the Bible actually talks about this condition quite a bit so I thought I might share that lesson with you today.

Have you ever considered the critical emphasis, the Bible places on our ability or our willingness to “listen?”

From the opening accounts of Genesis where Adam and Eve listened to… but chose not to obey God’s commands, to the very end of the ages where the angel of Revelation tells us, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches;” there is an extraordinary and unmistakeable emphasis placed on our need to constantly listen for God’s direction and commands.

Regarding God’s directions, sometimes the message comes from the most unexpected place. This is why we must always be on our toes… carefully listening. Once, God’s direction came from from a burning bush. Once it came by way of a gentle whisper. Once, it happened all over Pharaoh in the form ten plagues. Godly advice even came from Jethro, Moses father-in-law, who was a pagan priest of Median, not a Jew.

Sometimes Godly direction or prompting comes through that patient small voice of a neighbor, close relative or even a child. God’s message might come to us in a variety of ways but the only reliable verification of what we hear are the scriptures themselves. Not every prompting which seems to come from God is from God. And, we must always carefully test the message.

The only way we can ever be sure is by carefully evaluating what we hear by exposing it to the light of scripture. While God providing direction might come from a variety of sources… God’s commands… which must be obeyed… will ONLY come from the Bible.

We must carefully listen for both God’s direction and commands. Let me present a few passages of scripture and consider just how critical listening is, EVEN for salvation.In Luke 8:18, Jesus concludes a short parable with a very curious command. It is a very short phrase which most people misunderstand or gloss over. Here it is.

“Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”

Did you hear that? Jesus just told us to listen carefully, right? Nope. That’s not what he said. Check this out. Jesus is not telling the people to listen carefully to what they hear. Did you notice that? Listen to that opening statement again. Jesus said, “Therefore consider carefully HOW you listen.”

The verb is not “listen,” the verb is “consider.” Considering something is vastly different from listening to something! And what does he want us to consider? HOW we listen.

In effect, Jesus is telling the people: “Stop. Don’t just think about what is being said, think about how you are processing it. Think about wether or not you are giving careful attention and a fair audience to the message which is being presented. Don’t just dismiss things too quickly because you don’t understand it or have been taught another way. Think carefully about 'HOW' you are listening."

Listening is the starting point for everything he was teaching. And, it is the mark of a good student to be able to entertain, evaluate and even argue an idea without actually adopting it. Stop being so defensive! Listening to a proposal does not mean you’re getting married to it!

Also notice, this statement was a command. It is not a suggestion. We must consider carefully how we are listening! After Jesus makes this stunning statement, he provides a chilling consequence… or blessing… depending on the outcome of us doing the very thing he just commanded.

View Details

A Serious Thing

The garden where we have our chats.

Everyone agrees; it is a serious thing to misquote scripture. Jer 14:14 and Deu 18:20 tells us about that! However, scripture is often misused and misquoted. There are a handful of favorites. How about, “Money is the root of all evil?” That’s a misquote. The Bible actually says, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Money itself is not the problem, the problem is greed. (1 Timothy 6:10)

Misusing or misquoting the Bible is commonplace. It can be excused when coming from an atheist and frankly, an atheist using the bible as his source of authority when arguing about a religious matters ought to be excused. Misquoting the bible can be understood when when it comes from a believer who is not really familiar with the scriptures. But misquoting the bible should never be tolerated when it comes from some of our greatest and most trusted biblical scholars!

A Stunning Revelation

Recently, in the course of my regular, daily Bible study, I was absolutely stunned when I realized how pervasive, entrenched and completely accepted one particular misquote has become. Entire denominations have been built around this misquote. Yet, when I stopped to really think about it, I was left flabbergasted. How could a biblical error so obvious be so missed and even accepted by some of our best biblical scholars?Let me give you a bit of perspective and let’s see if you are not as shocked as I was when this dawned on me. When a scripture is misquoted, by definition this means the misquote is not from God. It is a twisting of the truth. We should never tolerate or accept that, right? This particular misquote leads people astray. This misquote is vigorously protected and defended, sometimes with great emotion. It is wildly popular. It is used in nearly every church. It has stood the test of time. It has been lauded and embraced by some of the greatest bible teachers and preachers in history. Many prominent scholars claim it as an infallible doctrine of holy writ… but, they are wrong. Do I have your attention?

Think about this carefully… really think about it. Do you realize, every time we say, “We are saved by faith alone,” we are actually misquoting the Bible? Specifically, we are misquoting James 2:24 where it reads, “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” We know we are misquoting this particular passage because this is the only time in the entire bible where the phrase, “faith alone” is used.

A Huge Misquote

Every time we claim that the bible says, “We are saved by faith alone,” that statement is coming from a super strong, well established, deeply entrenched position of absolute ignorance.

I am using the word “ignorance” in the purest form, not to be antagonistic; we are blissfuly ignoring something which is so obvious. Please don’t believe me! Do a careful search of your Bible for the phrase, “Saved by faith alone.” It’s not there. In fact, I was equally stunned when I discovered the phrase, “saved by faith” is not even in the Bible!

For 500 years, since the reformation, we have fought for this cherished misquote with Quixote like passion and valor but in reality, we have been fighting for something that isn’t even in the Bible!

Do you realize, even the concept of salvation by faith alone is not in the bible. The bible does say that we are “justified” by faith… but that justification by faith is still never alone. In an effort to solidify the misquoted concept, another popular phrase has been developed. It says, “We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.” This popular phrase is helpful in supporting the error but does not stand up to reason. Just use some logic. How can these things be alone if there are three of them? Wouldn’t it be more honest, true and biblically sound if we just said, “We are saved by grace, through faith, in Christ?” Now we are not twisting the scriptures.

View Details

Let's start an argument!

Pillow Fight by Allen Taylor on Unsplash

I am not suggesting the kind of heart ripping, character trashing, irrational, sort of emotional argument like cranky lover's have. Let's start an argument like Plato, Socrates, Aristotle or Jesus might have had. Let's start one of those amazing arguments which ultimately leads us both down a path toward deeper, richer discoveries of truth, beauty and wisdom… a grand argument of enlightenment!

Remember how Jesus did it? An issue was raised and all he needed to do was ask one question to get the rolling ball halted in its tracks.

“But what about you… who do YOU say I am?”

“Whose inscription is on this coin?”

“Tell me, John’s baptism… was it from God or from men?”

A Cleverly Crafted Question

Wow! A good presupposition can sure crumble under the scrutiny of a clever question! In fact, really good arguments may be more about crafting the question than presenting your position! A carefully crafted, sharpened to a fine point question… at just the right time… makes us think… makes us reconsider… and if we’re humble enough, makes us surrender our weaker positions.

Let's have the kind of argument which so strongly embraces our shared quest of drawing closer to our mysterious and majestic God, that it forms a bond between us… so strong; nothing will ever tear us apart! Let's forge such an indomitable relationship that the rusty ol’ gates of that ancient abyss will rattle with fear!

Stay Unified

Godly unity builds a firm foundation. From this foundation we will launch massive rockets powerful enough to carry us to the very edge of Heaven itself; this is a foundation which is firm enough to fortify and protect our little slice of that awesome abode right here on Earth.

Let's have an argument which never gives in to the sinful, seductiveness of pride. Pride lives down in that abyss and employs a demon named “Defensiveness.” His approach comes with a smoldering smell of sulfur. He knocks on your door like an unwelcome visitor. Don’t open it! Defensiveness in it’s unbridled form is a beast of an emotion because he defends only the self!

When you feel his claws scraping the back of your ears or your neck, flee! Flee quickly! Defensiveness of the self is the first sign of pride rearing it's head, leering with Gollum-like eyes into your soul. Once he slithers in, he snags your lips and you utter his first ghastly word of protestation… that little word, “But…”

Beware. His standard is his emotions and his love of self. In ancient times, Defensiveness stood in the waters of baptism and cried out in a loud voice, “Emotion is Lord!” And to that lord he still bows, constantly, craftily protecting your pride!

Defensiveness can be tamed! There is a secret move you can use to escape his grasp and bring him under Godly control. The trick? Be open. The wicked form of Defensiveness can not live in the light! Light makes him wither and morph! He hates humility. Report his presence. Alert your partners. He is trying to gain a foothold in their hearts as well! Above all, always remember, you personally have nothing to defend.

Your mission is exploration and discovery, not attack and defense. The ground we want to gain and the attack we want to press, is toward greater understanding and wisdom. Sometimes a better victory is found in a very unexpected place.

The Best Victories

Greater victory is often gained when I willingly surrender my most cherished stronghold to your gentle, logical, reasonable presentation of truth. It comes when you win my heart because of your patience… maybe even more than your postulation. With this kind of victory comes new insight into scripture and a retirement of old positions. This victory reveals a new understanding of a truth to which I was previously blind. It comes because you courted me, you didn’t brute-force your way into gaining my agreement.

View Details

“A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.”

With this statement, Frank Herbert launches his fantastic, now quintessential epic science fiction series, “Dune.”

For me, no other tale paints such an on-target caricature of modern society, with all of it’s delicate and intricate interplays between, religion, politics, economics and the sinful heart of mankind. Herbert’s universe is boiling over with intrigue, plans within plans, amazing beauty, wild imagination, heroes and villains… lot’s of villains… lords, leviathans, and love.

But, at the heart of it all… at its core… lies humanity’s ultimate contest; the battle with a fallen human nature, scraping and cunning to get all it can get and all for itself. Even the noblest of heroes in Herbert’s story, are not immune to the affects of this corruption.

As I write this, I am not unaware that I live in a world similar, in many ways, to the Dune universe. We all share the impact of that ultimate human tragedy; man’s inhumanity to man, the result of our sin stricken hearts.

“A Faith that Obeys” steps into this fray with a tiny hope that together, we might bring some logic, reason, understanding and wisdom to a world missing the greatest gift ever given it, The Plan… a detailed map out of the mess. We have held The Plan in our hands for nearly 2000 years but sadly, it is ignored, twisted, misconstrued and flouted as a path to self serving riches.

Never has such gross negligence been laid upon the back of such a priceless yet humble gift.

Beginnings are a very delicate time. They lay the foundation for all which will come after. They build upon cherished history and the wisdom of those giants who have come before us. My prayer is that for all I am about to do… all I am about to undertake, the foundation I build will be strong enough to endure, supple enough to permit remodeling and beautiful enough to attract a wonderful person like you to join us in these lively discussions.

Together, we will bend space and time. We will build bridges and repair ancient foundations. We will agree. We will disagree. We will find truth. We will humbly challenge error… including our own!

In our quest to discover and celebrate The Plan, let’s agree to be unified that Jesus is the Christ, The Messiah and our diligent seeking will always be done in such a way as to honor Him and respect one another.

Shall we begin?

Dana Haynes

Join the discussion here.

Listen Now - Podcast 001 - Delicate Beginnings

A Faith that Obeys Podcast: Recent Episodes

Dana Haynes