Why Should I Consider Baptism?

In the World War 1, a severely injured man who knew he had only a short while to live was lying in a trench and talking to his close friend.

“Listen, Dominic. You’ve lived a very bad life. Everywhere you are wanted by the police. but there are no convictions against me. My name is clear, so, take my wallet, take my papers, my identity, take my good name, my life, and quickly hand me your papers, that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death.”

That is a picture of the good news that God offers to each person. We can start again. That is what baptism indicates - we take on the identity of the Lord Jesus and he takes away our sin. The great difference is that this exchange is an honest offer.

Becoming a Christian involves entering into a two way contract or covenant with God, our creator. The covenant God makes with his people requires both parties full commitment.

“‘This is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.’” Jeremiah 31:33

What does it mean for us to be God’s people and what has God promised us, his people? A repeated comparison the Bible uses is to a great marriage, we are the Bride of Christ and baptism symbolises the marriage ceremony.

OUR ROLE

We must ‘repent’, that is ‘rethink the focus of our lives,’ and accept that we were created by God for his purposes. This is made clear by looking at some of the many Bible passages on baptism.

John’s Baptism

John the Baptist was a popular preacher who reminded his hearers that God sees people’s hearts and therefore all come under his judgment. He called on his hearers to repent which means turn back to God, beg for his forgiveness and determine to live in ways that will please him. This was similar teaching to that of the Old Testament prophets. John’s coming as a precursor to the coming of God’s Messiah was foretold by Isaiah 700 years earlier,

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way - ‘a voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” Isaiah 40:3 quoted in Mark 1:2-3

John recognised that people need to make a public stand to demonstrate the new path they are going to take in the future,

“And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the river Jordan.” Mark 1:4-5

Jesus himself was baptised by John, not because he had any sin to turn from, but to identify himself with all of us and to demonstrate that John’s message was indeed God’s message.

Jesus’ Baptism

When John was imprisoned by Herod Antipas, Jesus continued this same teaching ministry but he started in the north, in Galilee, and his message had an additional flavour. He began to teach them about the Kingdom of God and, by inference, that God’s King had arrived.

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. the time has come,’ he said, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.” Mark 1:14-15

Jesus’ disciples would then baptise those who responded to this teaching about repentance and who wanted to be admitted to the Kingdom of God.

Early Church Baptisms

After the extraordinary happenings at Pentecost, seven weeks after the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter stood up and addressed a massive crowd of people in Jerusalem. He reminded them about Jesus, his recent death and resurrection. God’s one and only Son, their Messiah, had been executed but his miracles, teaching, resurrection and the supernatural gifting of his disciples, (they could all explain the gospel in different languages), was evidence that Jesus was no ordinary man. His teaching reminded them of those of the Old Testament prophets and this resonated with people’s consciences, those God-given instincts we all have. Many people were ‘cut to the heart’. ‘What shall we do?’ they cried out. Peter replied,

“Repent and be baptised, 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.” Acts 2:38

The whole Bible emphasises that without genuine repentance, a turning back to allow the God who made us and who revealed himself in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Saviour, no-one can ever be acceptable to God. But why is baptism added as a condition for receiving the Holy Spirit? Without the Spirit of God in us there is no salvation. There has to be a public affirmation of our new allegiance. Just as marriage is a public event, so becoming Christian must be open and public.

Some years later Paul wrote to the churches and explained the necessity for an open acknowledgment of our allegiance to Christ.

“If you declare 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 you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10

Baptism is that initial public acknowledgment that Jesus Christ is now my Lord. The crowd who listened to Peter at that first Pentecostal sermon were repeatedly told that it was their response to Jesus Christ that determined whether they would be accepted by God or not.

“With many other words he (Peter) warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted the message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Acts 2:40-41

The phrase ‘added to their number is repeated throughout the book of Acts and it is clear that public baptism was considered to be the rite of admission to God’s church. Philip went to preach the gospel about Jesus in Samaria,

“But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised.” Acts 8:12

Later Philip explained ‘the good news about Jesus’ to an Ethiopian ruler who clearly had Jewish roots. He clearly understood and accepted the rule of Christ and said,

“Look here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptised?” Acts 8:36

Some early manuscripts include the following explanation,

“Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ The eunuch answered, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” Acts 8:37

When Peter went, rather hesitantly, to explain the gospel to the family and friends of Cornelius, a Gentile centurion in the Roman army he was astonished to see the Holy Spirit come upon Gentiles. Peter then said,

“‘Surely no-one can stand in the way of their being baptised with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.’ So he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ.” Acts 10:47

It would appear that this was a group turning to Christ. It is a shame that in the west the emphasis has moved to being solely individualistic. If the head of a household or group turn to Christ, it is reasonable that the whole group follows that lead.

Some years later Paul and Silas were preaching the good news in Philippi but they were beaten and imprisoned for doing this. However God intervened, an earthquake shook the foundations of the prison and the doors were flung open. To allow prisoners to escape was very serious and their jailer was about to kill himself thinking he had lost his charges. When Paul called out to say they were still present, the jailer asked,

“‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptised.” Acts 16:30-33

Clearly the apostles recognised that submission to baptism indicated that a person wanted to be saved, the jailer and his family agreeing to live under the authority of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Coming under Christ’s control is our side of the covenant or contract. God knows our hearts. In Shakespeare’s play, ‘Richard II’ Lord Bolingbrooke bowed before the king, but Shakespeare makes it clear, ‘But in his heart he was not really his servant’. The ritual of baptism without repentance is an empty charade. The rite of baptism saves nobody if our hearts are not given over to Christ.

Baptism is the equivalent of marriage. Indeed the relationship between God and his people is often compared to marriage, the church being the Bride of Christ. We are meant to live in a glorious, fulfilling, close relationship with our Lord and Saviour and an ideal Christian marriage is meant to illustrate this fact.

GOD’S ROLE

All people are, at heart, selfish sinful people. It is this that separates us from God. It was classically demonstrated by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when they chose to disobey God and instead of accepting what God determined was right and wrong, went their own way. They ate of the ‘tree of knowledge of good and evil.’ We have all followed in their footsteps. We have all put ourselves at the centre and rejected the rule of God - that amounts to spiritual treason, a most serious offence.

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2

“There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands; there is no-one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12

The good news is that although we are in a desperate state, God has acted to give us an answer. Throughout the world animal sacrifices have been offered to make peace with God. The word ‘sacrifice’ literally means ‘to make holy or sacred’. God introduced this to teach people that there is a solution to their rebellion against him. Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, ‘brought an offering - fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.’ When God instructed his people aboutsacrifices he made it clear that the life of a perfect animal had to be forfeited if atonement was to be given.

Clearly the death of an animal, however perfect the specimen, could not of itself atone for our sin - the word ‘atone’ means to make us at one with God Almighty.’

“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.” Leviticus 17:11

These animal sacrifices were symbolic and looked forward to the day when God would send his own Son to die and pay the price for our sin. This ‘once for all time’ sacrifice could only be made by God as there was no-one else capable of or good enough to take responsibility for sin. God’s sacrifice of himself for us is the pivot of history for all peoples. This is why sacrifices are no longer necessary as we now have the world-changing event to look back to. John the Baptist said of Jesus,

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

When God acted to free his people after 400 years captivity in Egypt, his people had to make a sacrifice of a lamb and put its blood on the doorposts of their home. When they did this the ‘angel of death’ would pass over their houses, but those homes without this remedy suffered the death of their firstborn sons. This is the origin of the Jewish ‘Passover’ celebration that Jesus said pointed to himself and to his coming death to bear the sins of his people.

Paul emphasised this in one of his letters,

“For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” 1 Corinthians 5:7

I Want To Stand Where You're Standing

There is, allegedly, a gravestone somewhere in America that has this inscription:

"I want to stand where you're standing"

 Beneath these words the story is told of a young man who was part of a firing squad assigned to kill someone found guilty of treason during the American Civil War. 

The young man loaded his gun and raised it to take aim, he closed one eye and focused the other on his target. His eye blinked in shock as it met the gaze of the guilty man tied to a post.  Immediately he lowered his rifle and walked over to his commanding officer and told him:

"I know this man, he has a wife and children. If I kill him I will be destroying, not only his life, but theirs too. I won't do it."

But the punishment for treason was death. The price had to be paid.

So the young man walked over to the traitor and uttered these fateful words:

"I want to stand where you're standing"

As a result the prisoner was released and the young man was put in his place. The guilty man got to return to his wife and children, the young man's life ended that day.

Whether this story is true or not it illustrates what it was that Jesus did at the cross. We are like the man with a host of rifles aimed at his chest. We are guilty of sinning against the God who made the universe. 

But, like the merciful soldier, God, in His grace, sent us His Son to say to us:

"I want to stand where you're standing"

 Jesus took us out of the firing line and put Himself in our place. As a result we get to stand where Jesus stands, in God's love and favour, not because of what we have done but because of what He has achieved through dying on the cross.1

Our salvation depends on the fact that God has acted by sending his one and only Son to die for us.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

This is the Christian ‘good news’ or ‘gospel’. It is the urgent message all need to respond to.

“We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BAPTISM

Baptism portrays both sides of this covenant but the emphasis of this Christian sacrament is on what God has done to save us. He washes away our sin and he gives us new life. Originally when a Roman soldier enlisted in the Roman army he made a sacred oath of allegiance, a sacramentum,’ to the Emperor but in this sacrament the Emperor also committed himself to care for the soldier. It was the church Father, Augustine of Hippo, who defined a Christian sacrament as an outward sign of an inward grace that Christ had instituted. When Jesus commissioned his apostles and through them, his church, he said,

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising 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.” Matthew 28:19-20

It is a disaster for people to be baptised who have no interest in obeying Christ. When we are baptised we take on the new family name, Christ’s name. Just as a new wife takes her husbands name, so we, as the bride of Christ, take on His name. When others see us they should see us as part of God’s family.

Baptism is an enactment of what Christ has done for us. He died and he rose again to give us eternal life. When we accept baptism , what we are essentially doing is accepting what he has done for us. He died to take our sin away, to wash us spiritually and he rose to give us new life. Baptism is essentially a sign that we accept who he is and the forgiveness he has won for us.

Promise to God

Clearly baptism is also an individual’s promise to God and therefore to God’s people.

The significance of baptism is far more than a good bath after a game of rugby, it signifies a spiritual washing. Peter saw a correlation between Noah and his family being saved ‘through water’ and baptism saying,

“ . . . this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God.” 1 Peter 3:21

The baptised person has pledged to live as God wants.

Washed by God

Saul, later to become the apostle Paul, met the Lord Jesus on his way to persecute Christians in Damascus, and soon afterwards a Jewish Christian called Ananias went to visit him. Ananias said to him,

“The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” Acts 22:14-16

Paul uses this picture when he contrasts the old sinful life led by many before they became followers of Christ and had their sins washed away.

“Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral not idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

This is a lovely picture of the radical transformation that occurs when we become followers of the Lord Jesus. Not only is the penalty for sin taken by Christ on his cross but he also gives us His Spirit to enable us to live a Godly life as his representative.

Involved with Christ

When I first witnessed a baptism, I mistakenly thought of it as just signifying the candidates desire to ‘die to the old life and to be raised to live a new life.’ It was all them and their decision. The Bible’s emphasis however is not primarily on me and my decision but on the Lord Jesus. It was he who died to pay for my sin and it was he who rose from the dead to show the world who he really was and so confirm that God had accepted his sacrifice. When I am baptised I am associating myself with Christ - with his death and his resurrection. As I go under the water I am associating myself with Christ’s death, I am accepting his death as a substitute for me. As I come up from the water I am thanking him for the eternal life he has won for me. It is true that as a result of my being in Christ I must die to self and must live for Christ but even that is only possible because the Lord through the gift of his Spirit enables this. It is because Christ rose from the dead that we know that we who belong to him will also rise after our own deaths to be with him.

Merielle was a patient of mine with advanced cancer. She committed her life to Christ in hospital but was then transferred to the local hospice for terminal care. She was holding firmly onto her Saviour even though she was becoming more tired. We looked at a great verse that reminds us that if we belong to Christ we need never fear God’s judgment..

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. Romans 8:1

To help her understand the significance of this verse, I wrote her name on a piece of paper and placed it inside the Bible,

“Let this Bible represent the Lord Jesus and this piece of paper represent you. Because you are now ‘in Christ’ when God looks at you he does not see your sins at all, he will see that you are in Christ and therefore see ‘his righteousness’. Furthermore Jesus is now in heaven and because you are in Christ you will go with him to be with him there.”

A new family

God has always intended that his people should come from all nationalities, sexes and social backgrounds. When we become Christians and are baptised into Christ we are given, as it were, a new spiritual passport. We become citizens of heaven, we join a new family. Our spiritual brothers and sisters come from all backgrounds. What a joy it is to travel round the world and to meet fellow believers and to instantly recognise that unity we have in Christ. We all have different roles in God’s body, the church. A few of us will be ‘stomachs’, people who digest God’s word and pass it on to nourish other parts of the body. Many more are active ‘hands’ who don’t stop helping others either practically, spiritually or financially. There are so many parts to God’s body and we all need each other. A Christian who does not get immersed in a church, a local body of people who love the Lord Jesus and are committed to live by His Word, will soon become picked off by Satan.

If you watch lions or hunting dogs looking for prey, they quietly approach animals that are weak and at the edge of the herd. Consequently we all need to watch out for the welfare of each other.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1 Peter 5:8-9

It is for this reason that it is a Christian’s responsibility to make meeting up with other local Christians a priority.

“And let us consider how we may spur on one another towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25

The day when Christ returns will be the day of salvation for those committed to him but a day of judgment for everybody else. This is why working together in the local church is vital, so that we don’t fall away and we prevent others from doing so.

Paul emphasises the unity that there is in the body of Christ whilst recognising the different roles we will all have,

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 And so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

A new commitment

Baptism is therefore a sacrament that is a formal association of a person with the God of the universe who died for him or her and rose to take him with him to heaven. Before we go to heaven we are called to die to self and live a new life as God’s ambassadors or representatives. There is no way that God’s people can continue to live the sort of lives they previously lived before Christ entered their lives. Paul wrote a beautiful passage that emphasises this radical change that occurs when we are in Christ. It is this involvement with Jesus Christ that guarantees that we are given eternal life. We will then also have a resurrection body.

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? 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.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin – 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:1-14

This passage describes so well what Christ has won for us and what out response must be. This is the meaning of baptism. It is a call to a radical new life. Jesus made this very clear,

“Then he called the crowd to to him along with his disciples and said, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Fathers glory with his holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38

Hopefully when we get married, we do not embark on marriage in a half-hearted way - that would be a recipe for disaster. The joy and peace comes from marriage when we are immersed in our partners concerns. We live for them. So it is when we are baptised or married to Christ. What a joy and privilege this salvation brings but what responsibilities come with this new status.

An enquirer who had been coming to our church for several months was asked whether he had accepted Christ and was willing to be baptised. He replied that he was only dipping his toe in the water! He was clearly not yet convinced about who Jesus is or his need for forgiveness. There is no place for toe-dipping on those two issues, Jesus is either God’s Messiah and our Saviour or he isn’t, either we are rebellious sinners against God or we aren’t.

BVP

1Told by Rico Tice and Barry Cooper in "The Real Jesus”, The Good Book Company booklet

Questions about Baptism

“I’m not good enough”

This is one of the most common objections. When we compare ourselves with others we can all too readily see the imperfections in our thinking and actions - others seem so much better than we are. Shouldn't I wait until I’ve changed a bit more before being baptised?

It is striking that in the New Testament people were baptised as soon as they recognised who Jesus was.

1. When people heard John the Baptist preach, many were convicted of their sin and the fact that God wanted to forgive them. They were immediately baptised to symbolise the washing away, the forgiveness, of their sins.

2. When Peter gave that first sermon at Pentecost many were ‘cut to the heart’ and asked what they should do. Peter’s reply was simple,

“Repent and be baptised, 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.” Acts 2:38

3. When Peter was told by God to go to the household of the Gentile Roman Centurion, Cornelius his listeners were convicted of their need for Jesus. Peter then said,

“‘Can anyone keep these people from being baptised with water? They have received the gift of the Holy Spirit just as we have.’ So he ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ.” Acts 10:47-48

There are many such examples in the Bible and there is no suggestion that these people were any different to us. They would certainly not be the finished article - the perfect Christian. Baptism is the initiation into the new life as one of God’s people.

Many people, when they first believe in who Jesus is, feel condemned by wide ranging faults in their characters and by things they have said and done. They feel defeated and unworthy. But that feeling should not exclude people from the benefits of being in Christ. Jesus did not come for polished religious types. When he called the cheating tax collector Levi (later called Matthew) to become one of his followers, Levi invited many of his friends to meet Jesus. The religious people objected that Jesus wanted to associate with non-pious types:

“When the Pharisees saw him eating with the ‘sinners’ and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ On hearing this Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Mark 2:16-17

Nothing could be clearer - God calls us when we are in a bad way and washes our sin away. A general feeling of inadequacy and hopelessness may help us recognise our need for Christ but it is not how God wants us to be. Such depression is a sign of Satan’s work, he wants to do anything to prevent us relying on Christ who longs to both forgive our past and start the work of changing us. It is important to contrast such general feelings of worthlessness with the work of the Holy Spirit who is always specific in pointing out particular aspects of out lives that he wants to change.

Ephesians 2

Before a person becomes a Christian he is indeed helpless - the Bible calls us spiritually dead. There is nothing we can do to help ourselves to become acceptable to God, we cannot lift ourselves up by pulling on some fictitious spiritual shoe-laces!

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live.” Ephesians 2:1

But then a miracle occurred,

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5

This is so important, all true Christians are saved when we put our trust in Christ, we are saved by turning to Christ, our trying to change the way we live has nothing to do with our salvation. It is God who has washed our sin away and who then gives us his Holy Spirit to enable us to live a new life.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6

Doesn’t this thrill you. We have been chosen by God and been given the privilege of becoming part of his family - and he has chosen us just as we are, ‘warts and all’. Our role is simply to accept who Jesus is, what he has done for us on that cross and then permit him to change us; this change is called ‘repentance’. Paul stresses this again as it is so important:

“For it is by grace (i.e. love you didn’t deserve) that you have been saved, through faith - and this is not yourselves, it is the gift of God - not of works, so no-one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

It is therefore wrong for someone to say they don’t feel worthy to be baptised - being forgiven depends on us accepting that we are unworthy and recognising the rule of Jesus Christ.

Romans 3

The first three chapters of the letter to the Romans stresses that those who think they are special and better than others have missed the point that all people are unworthy.

“There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12

When we become Christians, God sees in us the righteousness we have been given by Christ. our own righteousness can never be good enough for God. Our attempts to live by God’s rules or laws can never be enough for God.

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, . . . This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Romans 3:21-22

You can now see how wrong it is to reject the righteousness Jesus won for us on the basis that we are not yet good enough. Paul repeats this basic teaching,

“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 Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” Romans 3:22-25

If we have understood what God has done for us by sending his only Son to die, to take responsibility for our sin, then how can anyone refuse to accept what he has done and refuse to be washed of their sin? The question is not whether I am good enough but who is Jesus. How can anyone refuse the love and kindness of God? In another letter Paul again stresses this point.

“But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” Titus 3:4-6

To reject this love that Jesus Christ has poured out on us is certainly not wisdom - it is certainly not what God wants. The Holy Spirit, both in Scripture and through our God-given instincts, supports the call of God’s church, the bride of Christ, as the call goes out to all people,

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17

This is virtually the conclusion of the Bible. Baptism is the beginning, it is the acceptance of who Christ is and the fact that I can never match up to the ideal of God’s standards. Yet the good news, or gospel, is that God is willing to give us the water of life. This water both washes away our sins and sustains us by God’s Spirit for the new life he has planned for us in the future.

2. “I fear I won’t be able to keep it up”

This fear also betrays a lack of understanding of what God promises to do for us. It was he who chose to give us faith in his Son. God called us when we were dead and breathed spiritual life into us. Do you really think he would then leave us to sink on our own.

God has given his Holy Spirit to everyone who recognises their need for Jesus and wants him to both forgive them and change them. God does do this. Recently I was talking with a lovely godly Christian who said that she had had an illegitimate child before she became a Christian. Another friend was on drugs and another an alcoholic and another an addicted thief. When the Spirit of God entered their lives they began to change. Sometimes this change was painful and the temptations kept coming to return to the ‘easy, old way of life’, Satan’s way, but the Lord stayed by their side.

God has promised us,

“. . . but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24

Throughout the Bible, God repeats the following promise to those who trust in him. Moses spoke the following reassuring words to all God’s people as they were given the frightening task conquering the Promised Land,

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD you God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Later God reminded Joshua of this promise,

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

It was straight after this that the Chosen People went through the waters of the Jordan to begin the difficult task of living for God in the promised land. In the same way the waters of baptism represent the beginning of the Christian life but the Lord God has promised to be with us throughout our lives.

King David understood the greatness of God’s promise to him,

“Though my Father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” Psalm 27:10

This same confidence in the Lord is ours as Christians. Many of those who first read the book of Hebrews were facing all sorts of difficulties yet God said,

“‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5-6

If you have heard Jesus speak to you, respond knowing this promise the Lord Jesus made to us,

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28

In order to emphasise that God will work to keep living closely with God he repeats the promise,

“My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:29-30

What a wonderful reassurance this is for those of us who have recognised and welcomed the Saviour. When we turn to Christ we are given eternal life. That life is a gift, it is God who has chosen us and will then train us and empower us to be his people. Alleluia, what a message! Jesus said,

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24

We know that Satan does not want people to align themselves with the Lord Jesus but that is what he calls us all to do, to pass over through the waters of baptism into the Promised Land of God’s eternal presence. God has promised his Spirit to dwell in each of us to keep us living as He wants until he calls us to be with him in heaven.

3. “I was baptised as a baby”

This is a complicated issue. We have seen that baptism represents a two sided contract or covenant between god and his people. Is the rite valid if there is no faith in the family? Unfortunately in many churches babies are now baptised as a routine, irrespective of the faith of the family. The vows made by the parents and God-parents at the child’s baptism are significant.

When a baby or young child is baptised, the parents and Godparents make these promises that they believe in Jesus on behalf of the child. The baptism of a child is a public commitment to bring the child up to know and love and serve the Lord Jesus, and share in regular worship. Later, when older, the child may wish to say these promises for themselves at a service of Confirmation.

It is only a personal faith in the Lord Jesus that saves anybody. No-one receives the Holy Spirit without that faith. Just as circumcision was a sign of faith in the Old Testament and children were accepted and brought up in the Jewish faith so it seems right that children of believing Christian parents are admitted to and brought up in the faith. They can then be taught from the beginning that Jesus is their Saviour because he is God, they can be taught to say the Lord’s prayer and Psalm 23 without concerns about honesty.

However if that personal faith in the family is not there then that covenant is surely invalid. If such a person later in life comes to a personal faith in Jesus then it seems right that the covenant can be enacted with both sides of the contract valid. It will mean much to the person concerned and is a reminder that people are not saved by ritual but by faith in Jesus.

Such decisions need to be made carefully as the person getting baptised again as an adult is really saying that their upbringing was not really Christian, with possibly difficult ramifications.

Nobody is saved by the ritual of baptism itself but baptism is an important public sign of faith in the Lord Jesus.

4. “Does baptism make me a member of the local church?”

When a person recognises who Jesus is and enters into a covenant or contract with the Lord he or she is accepted into God’s catholic family. We are saved by grace alone. The word ‘catholic’ is derived from the Greek ‘katholikos’ and means ‘universal’. This therefore supersedes all denominations. However it is vital that a newly baptised person does become involved in a local church community to enable them to grow as Christians. According to the Bible, this church should be a group of people where the basis is the teaching of the Bible, the word of God, where they are longing to promote knowledge about the claims of Lord Jesus in their society and abroad and where they support each other to live for Christ.

When our students go off to university we encourage them to look for a church that clearly emphasises the teaching of the Bible but also where they are invited back for a meal! Practical caring for others welfare is a good sign that the Bible is being followed!

Individual churches will have specific doctrines and practices and clearly a new Christian must ensure that these are centred on Biblical teaching. The best way to ensure that a church is applying Biblical teaching to themselves is to see how they work together for Christ, is love and evangelistic purpose clearly seen there? The church members as well as the leaders must demonstrate the love of Christ.

Such a church will surely welcome new members and help them to become integrated into the life of the church. Some churches have minimal requirements to join, an applicant just completes a form and this gives voting rights. Others are much more stringent and insist on compliance in both doctrine and practice. The hope of the latter groups is to ensure purity within the local church by this means but unfortunately history shows that it seldom works. Many churches with strict membership rules are getting older and smaller. It is all too easy for a local church to keep to rigid doctrines but to lose the love of Christ and a passion that others may be saved. |It appears that these values are passed on much better by individual example than by written rules. Churches that hold to Scripture seem best protected.

5. “How much do my attempts to be righteous contribute to my salvation?

The beautiful teaching about how there Lord Jesus has come to make us, spiritually dead people, alive and right with God is being altered in some church circles. Baptism is less a sign about what Jesus has done and is becoming a sign of what we have to offer God. We will die to self and we will live a new life.

In such circles baptism emphasises that a person has passed the test of the church leaders as having an understanding of essential Christian doctrine and so is less a sign of God’s free grace to us. But in the Bible baptism is purely a sign of grace and a means of accepting this grace, it is not used as proof that a person has started to be changed.

Pelagius was a brilliant English preacher at the beginning of the 5th century. He was widely appreciated for his gifts and spent much time in Rome in exalted circles and was even friends with the Pope. He led a protest against nominal Christianity and the decline in Christian morality. Rome then fell to the Goths under the leadership of Alaric and Pelagius fled across the Mediterranean to Hippo, where Augustine was bishop. The differences in their doctrines soon became apparent. Pelagius believed that each person could become morally perfect. He said,

“God has commanded this and would God command the impossible?”

He rejected the idea that all people have an inherent sinful bias. He taught that babies were born innocent and that salvation depends on our becoming righteous in the way we live, righteousness largely depends on us. At first this was popular as a means of improving both the church and the world but it faced two major difficulties.

1. It opposed the teaching of the Bible that no-one is righteous (Romans 3:10), that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). It opposes the teaching of the Bible that we cannot contribute to our salvation - this is simply a gift of God.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

“But when the kindness and love of God appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” Titus 3:4-6

2. It places a crushing weight of responsibility on us all, which many cannot carry. We have to ensure our own personal perfection. This was the problem that the young monk, Martin Luther faced. He tried so hard to be holy but realised that he continually failed and he was full of guilt. It is also cruel to those with mental, physical, emotional or moral handicaps who feel excluded because of the impossible hurdles presented. If their defects and problems are the result of Adam’s sin, are these their fault?

Augustine recognised the problems. This teaching was too individualistic. The Bible teaches that in God’s eyes there are only two groups of people, those still in Adam and those belonging to Christ. Our destiny depends on the fate of our head. If we are still in Adam then we will share his fate, his guilt and his nature. However if we are in Christ we share his righteousness and a glorious future with him.

It is clear that a modern form of Pelagianism is still rife. After teaching at a midweek Christian Basics course in a local Roman Catholic church one of their leaders came up and said,

“We have to try very hard to be righteous and accepted by God.”

No, no, no! We have been given the status of righteousness simply because we have accepted who Jesus is and want him to be our Lord. After being made righteous he enables us, by the gift of his Spirit to life for him.

In the Old Testament God is described as wearing a breastplate of righteousness. It is part of the armour of his make-up. In the New Testament all Christians have been given this ‘breastplate of righteousness’. What wonderful news this is. The Apostle Paul recognised that this was the essence of the Christian message.

“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed - a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ Romans 1:17

However, just as in a good marriage, each partner will try to live in a way that pleases their spouse, so as a Christian we will want to live in a way that pleases and honours our Lord and Saviour. That is not always easy but again, as in a good marriage, it is eminently satisfying to live for the Lord who made us and our world and then came to save us.

BVP

Understanding Baptism

There is a long history behind the use of baptism as a symbol for starting a new life.

Old Testament Times - a baptism for outsiders

God chose the Jews to be his representatives to the world. Although the vast majority of Jews were born into Judaism, it was possible for a Gentile outsider to become one of God’s people. There was a system for such ‘proselytes’ to be inducted into Judaism and become fully fledged Jews. This induction required three separate steps, ‘Milah’, ‘Tebula’ and ‘Corbin’.

‘Milah’ or circumcision was the first step. It was not an easy step to take. It reminded them that they were sinful in their very nature. That’s why the foreskin was removed as sinners give birth to sinners, generation after generation. Adam had been separated from God because of sin and all his descendants have been tainted ever since. Circumcision reminded them that they were both sealed to be God’s people but also that they had a sinful nature from birth.

‘Tebula’ was baptism by immersion in water. In the Old Testament Noah was saved from God’s judgment when he built and entered the ark at God’s command. His world was then destroyed in the flood but Noah and his family started a new life. The children of Israel later escaped from captivity in Egypt by passing through the waters of the Red Sea and so began to live as free people. Forty years later they entered the Promised Land and had to pass through over the Jordan. This was the beginning of life in the promised land. There was therefore a great link between water, salvation and starting a new life in the Old Testament.

The English word ‘baptize’ comes from the Greek ‘baptizo’ which literally means to totally immerse or drown. It indicated a complete change of life - death to the old godless Gentile life and the start of a new life with a new family. It also signified forgiveness, the washing away of sin. Jeremiah was very clear that outward ceremonies of circumcision and baptism were not all that God wanted - he wanted people’s hearts.

“This is what the LORD says . . . ‘Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts’ . . . ‘wash the evil from your heart and be saved.’” Jeremiah 4:4 and 14

David wrote a remarkable Psalm after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his adultery with Bathsheba. It is a plea for forgiveness:

“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” Psalm 51:2, 5

‘Corbin’ is a Hebrew word for animal sacrifice. The blood of a sacrificed animal was sprinkled on the man to remind him that he still needed cleansing from his daily sin and that a life must be sacrificed to symbolise this.

So to join God’s people a person had to admit their sinful nature, make a new personal start by dying to the old life and being reborn as one of God’s people, and then recognise that they still needed a substitute, a sacrifice to pay for their sin. Although the initiator of the covenant was clearly God, it had to be sincerely accepted and acted on by the recipient.

There was no such thing as a a quiet slipping in through the back door!

John’s Baptism - a baptism for nominal believers

John the Baptist’s role was to prepare people for the coming of God’s Chosen King, Jesus. The title Messiah is a Hebrew word and means the same as the Greek word ‘Christ’. Both mean ‘anointed’ and are the title given to God’s Chosen King. John knows that the Christ will himself be holy and will demand righteousness from his people. So he preaches the need for people to be holy. His message was,

“Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.”

He was teaching that the coming of God’s chosen King was imminent so turn from your sin and prepare for him. His listeners were largely members of God’s chosen people, yet clearly this was for most an external religion without a personal commitment. They were nominal believers only, and therefore unsaved.

John required people to be baptised by immersion in the river Jordan. This was an important sign that a new beginning had been made. This would have been particularly humbling for them because, as Jews, they thought they were already members of the covenant community and accepted by God because they had been physically circumcised and the sacrifices were still being made on their behalf. John was emphasising that the outward signs of circumcision and the sacrifices must result in changed hearts as otherwise they were meaningless. Luke records the effect of this teaching on people’s understanding. It is significant that the religious thought they were good enough because of their outward religion.

“All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptised by John. But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptised by John.” Luke 7:29-30

The reason so many people flocked to hear John and respond to his message was that they recognised that though Jewish racially they were still disobedient and apostate to God and needed a spiritual rebirth. They needed to be washed of their sins. They would also need a sacrifice that would be permanently effective so that they could be brought into a permanent relationship with God. This is why these word’s of John the Baptist are so significant:

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

Jesus, God’s Son was entering the world to be that ultimate sacrifice. All the symbolic animal sacrifices that had been offered to God over the years were significant because they pointed to this one final sacrifice.

A Jewish proselyte at his baptism was saying,

‘I deserve to be separated from God because of my sin. I want to rise to a new life and join God’s people.’

At John’s baptism the Jew is saying,

‘I deserve to be separated from God because of my sin. I want to rise to a new life and be ready for the Messiah.’ Although the initiator of the covenant was clearly God, it had to be sincerely accepted and acted on by the recipient.

Jesus’ Baptism - a unique baptism

Why did Jesus get baptised? He lived a perfect life so he didn’t need to be forgiven any sin. John the Baptist was understandably reluctant to baptising Jesus, saying,

“I need to be baptised by you.” Matthew 3:13

Jesus made an interesting reply,

“It is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Matthew 3:15

What does this mean? How did Jesus fulfil the righteousness of God? He did this by dying on that cross. There he took our sin on himself so that we could be given his righteousness. So Jesus’ baptism indicates his future death as a substitute for each of us. Jesus is saying that Christian baptism symbolises his own death and resurrection.

Two verses in the gospels make it clear that Jesus regarded his baptism to represent his death and resurrection for people. Just before his final trip to Jerusalem to be killed he said,

“But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed.” Luke 12:50

Why did he not say ‘I have to be killed’ or ‘I have to be sacrificed.’

On another occasion Jesus said to James and John, who ambitiously wanted to sit on his left and right sides when he entered his kingdom:

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?” Mark 10:38

Again why didn’t he say, ‘or killed in the way I will be killed?’ Jesus was using picture language. He saw his death as baptism - analogous to being immersed under water.

Jesus wants us to see his death as an immersion. He wants us to see that his baptism is a picture of his death as a sacrifice, where our sin was paid for permanently, and a picture of his resurrection, to give us assurance and to remind us that a new power is available to us so that we can live as God wants.

So Jesus recognised that in submitting to baptism he is acknowledging that John the Baptist’s message is God’s message and he is associating himself with fallen humanity, but he is primarily saying that his baptism is a picture of his coming sacrifice for sin. He would be buried for us under the waves of divine judgment and rise to give us new life and power. His baptism was a one sided statement by God about the gospel.

Christian Baptism - a baptism for all

A Jewish proselyte was baptised to signify that he was a sinner, a rebel against God, who needed to start again as God’s person. Those who heard John the Baptist recognised that God required sincere repentance and demonstrated this by being baptised. Similarly those who become Christians are formally admitted into God’s kingdom using the same sign of baptism. They recognise who Christ is and what he has done for them on the cross and willingly submit to his rule and this is demonstrated in the act of baptism. Christians don’t need the animal sacrifice for ongoing sin as the proselyte did as Jesus has now made the one final sacrifice for us.

“. . . and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Have you wondered why the Bible talks so much about the ‘blood’ of Jesus instead of saying ‘his death’? People used to ask, ‘Have you been washed in the blood of Jesus?’ Surely it is for this symbolic reason. The blood of the sacrifices in Old Testament times was used to remind people that a substitute for sin was needed. Christ has now permanently provided that blood. It is his death that saves us.

So when a new Christian is baptised it is not primarily them saying ‘I’ve decided to live a new life, I’m turning my back on the old ways of living and I am rising out of the water, washed, to live a new life.’ No, that puts us in the centre. It is primarily saying, ‘The Lord Jesus came and died for me to pay for my sin, he rose again to give me new life and to give me a new power to live for him. I am associating myself with the Lord Jesus and it is his death and resurrection for me that I am enacting.’ This emphasis is important. It puts the focus back on Jesus and away from me. Paul emphasised this, it is his death and his resurrection we celebrate:

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We are therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the deadthrough the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:3-4

In baptism we are aligning ourselves with the Saviour of the world who died, or went through a baptism, for us. This is why it is wrong for someone committed to Christ to say, ‘I’m not ready for baptism.’ Baptism symbolises the beginning of life with Christ: our sin is washed away, eternal life is a gift to us simply because we have recognised who Jesus is and welcomed him as our Lord.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection he commanded his disciples and his subsequent church to continue his work.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Note how Jesus confirms who he is: he equates himself and the Holy Spirit with God the Father. God clearly sees that a public acknowledgment of him is an important part of becoming a member of God’s eternal kingdom.

We can see that baptism has always been associated with the washing away of our sin so that we can be acceptable to a Holy God. The need for forgiveness is fundamental.

Someone who is investigating the Christian gospel said,

“I admire much of what you Christians do in society but I am unhappy with your emphasis on sin. Why is this so central in what you teach?”

He was then asked if he had sinned,

‘Well, yes I have.”

“Then you. like the rest of us need to understand how you can be forgiven. Jesus and the whole Bible stress that sin is the greatest problem individuals have. Our sin separates us from God. The Christian message is essentially how we may find that forgiveness and, having been forgiven by God, how God then wants us to live as his people.”

Near the beginning of Luke’s record of the gospel, John the Baptist is introduced:

“He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Luke 3:3

At the end of his record Jesus says something very similar, with the addition that he starts with his own death and resurrection as this is the means by which people can be forgiven through becoming associated or having faith in him.

“Then he (Jesus) opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” Luke 24:45-48

It is therefore clear that the message of the Bible is consistent from beginning to end, with Jesus stressing that instead of animal sacrifices he had come to die as the final definitive sacrifice so that any-one might be saved. People of all nations must respond to him with genuine repentance if we are to be forgiven our sin and so be given eternal life.

Other religions

How different this is to the teaching of most other religions. These give rules or guidelines by which people should live with the hope that they will have kept them well enough to merit God’s blessing. The ancient Greek philosopher taught, ‘Character is destiny’ and it is still widely taught that what matters is how well we live.

You hear people say, ‘I am better than most’ and seem to think that this will satisfy God.

The Bible’s teaching is very different, it reminds us that we are all sinful in God’s eyes and therefore all spiritually dead. Without a Saviour we have no hope. To receive the forgiveness that God’s Saviour can give us requires repentance, which means a turning back to him, to Jesus Christ, as our Lord. Jesus himself was adamant,

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

The apostles were equally clear when they were arrested for healing a man in the name of Jesus. They were arraigned before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body that had had Jesus crucified a few weeks earlier, but there they had no hesitation in saying,

“Then know this, you and all the people of Israel: it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands healed. . . . Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:10-12

It is for these reasons that a public commitment to Christ is vital for our eternal salvation but this must reflect an inner belief. Paul wrote,

“If you declare 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 so are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and so are saved.” Romans 10:9-10

The gospel tells of a two sided covenant, initiated by God himself, which must be responded to by genuine faith, shown by our actions.

BVP

Aug 2017