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The
Baptism of Our of Jesus
Christ: "Jesus said to John
the Baptist, when John hesitated to
baptize Him, "Suffer it to be
so now: for thus it becometh us to
fulfill all
righteousness." Matthew
3:15 The word translated
"fulfill" in the KJV means
to "accomplish, complete, or
execute." All of these terms
imply a work or task, which declares
'baptism to be a work of
righteousness'. Therefore, our
Savior called baptism a 'work of
righteousness - not salvation, or
any means to obtain salvation from
personal sin'.
Baptism
does not save: Salvation
is all accomplished by the unmerited
grace of God, that brings the sinner
to faith in Jesus Christ his sin bearer.
It is not baptism that becomes a
work of righteousness to save our
soul. "For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God:
"Not of works, lest any man
should boast". For we are
His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus "unto good works",
which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2:8-10.
Baptism
does not mean washing: Titus 3:5
explains, "Not by works of
righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved
us, by 'the washing of
regeneration', and renewing of the
Holy Ghost." Ephesians
5:25-27. more clearly explains what
'the washing of regeneration' actually
means: "Husbands, love
your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave Himself
for it; [Why?] "That He might
sanctify and cleanse it with 'the
washing of water by the word",
[Why?] That He might present it to
Himself a glorious church, not
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such
thing; but that it should be holy
and without blemish." [The
water of the Word is the entire
Gospel of Jesus Christ - it is not
baptism.]
Baptism
has no saving merit We
know and understand by reading the
scriptures that our Lord Jesus
Christ had no sin in His life. He
was the spotless lamb of God
that came to save sinners from
their sins. He accomplished these
tasks through His earthly ministry,
leading to His death on the cross,
where He atoned for the believer's
sins. He was literally dead and
buried in a tomb for three days, and
on the third day He was bodily
resurrected to newness of life, to
live forevermore. He later showed
himself alive to hundreds of people
before He ascended into Heaven to be
glorified of God the Father. Jesus
Christ now reigns as King of kings,
and Lord of lords in each believer's
heart to intercede on each
believer's behalf forevermore. The
Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ was
an act of obedience to demonstrate a
truth of the gospel, in preparation
for His earthly ministry. Christ's
baptism demonstrated His act of obedience
perfectly! Therefore, Christ's
baptism established an example for
every believer in Christ to follow.
Infant
baptism is not scriptural for three
reasons: (1) There is not one
infant anywhere in the Bible that is
baptized to set an example, reason
or standard for others to follow.
(2) No infants has any ability to
believe the gospel, or realize that
they are sinners in need of
salvation. (3.) No infants have made
a personal acceptance of Jesus
Christ, to be their sin bearer, for
payment of their sins. Therefore,
because none of these conditions can
be justified anywhere in the scared
text, they can not in any manner be
pleasing to God the Father, His Son
Jesus Christ, or the blessed Holy
Spirit. Infant baptism is a
foreign practice and invention of
men that circumvents the expressed
will of the Holy Trinity. Baptism
is always pictured in scripture were
persons who confess and believe in
Jesus Christ, obediently follow
their Lord in water baptism to demonstrate
their allegiance to Him. Infants do
not have this ability, nor desire in
their hearts. Infant baptism is a
useless act that only appeals to the
parents, not to God.
Water
baptism by emersion of the new
believer: There are many
examples given throughout the New
Testament of believers being baptized
immediately after their profession
of faith in Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Saviour. Many examples are
shown especially in the Book of the
Acts of the Apostles. Therefore, a
believer should be baptized soon
after trusting Jesus Christ as their
personal Lord and Saviour. Since it
is a picture of the salvation of the
believer, baptism should never
precede salvation.
Water
Baptism is an outward demonstration
of an inward transaction. The
inward transaction refers to
the believer's acceptance of Jesus
Christ as their personal Lord and
Saviour, which is their salvation. The
outward transaction is Baptism which
in reality pictures the Death,
Burial and Resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Scriptural baptism is emersion
in water of each new believer.
Baptism pictures the believer is
admitting his/her death to their old
nature, they are then buried in a
watery grave, and then raised
[resurrected] to a life with a new
nature, that the believer now
possess. It is following the example
of Jesus Christ, Who was baptized by
John the Baptist. It is a work of
righteousness. (Matthew 3:15).
Baptism
has absolutely no merit to obtain
salvation for an infant, child
or adult. Baptism is an act of obedience
of the believer, that demonstrates
to all others in the church that he
or she truly believe that their Lord
and Saviour has accomplished it all
in His death burial and resurrection.
This visible act of baptism is a
witness of a persons faith in Christ
and their desire to identify their
life in obedience to Him. Furthermore,
it is an act of testimony to others
of the reality of their personal
identification with Christ.
Baptism
should not give any person assurance
that all things are or will remain
well with their soul.
Christians must continue to be
obedient to their profession of
faith in Christ. If any person is
not willing to follow their Lord in
daily faith and obedience to their
Lord's commands, found only in the
scriptures, then their faith is
spurious and has no merit in the
eyes of God. We are not saying in
any manner that a believer will not
sin or must life a perfect life: for
their will be times and occasions
that sins will occur, but they must
be recognized, confessed and
repented of. But overall ever true
believer will preserver and strive
to live a life in biblical sanctification,
for only this is pleasing their Lord
and God.
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