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I’m new at this posting stuff. I sure hope this doesn’t post twice, since it is kind of long.

Are you telling me that there was no covenant between Abraham and God?

The Bible definitely speaks of grace through faith. It never says faith only. You must also confess Christ. You must also repent of your sins. You stop there. Jesus, Peter and Paul do not.

Mark 16:16
“He who has BELIEVED AND IS BAPTISED shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned”. Um, THIS IS JESUS TALKING!!!

Rom 6:3-7
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also bein the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

1 Peter 3:20-22
20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

Acts 19:1-7
It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2 He said to them, " Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, " Into John's baptism." 4 Paul said, " John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7 There were in all about twelve men.

So they already believed and yet they still had to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

I don't claim to know all the reasons that God does what He does or why He chose to attach baptism to salvation every single time. I only know that He did.
Also, Jesus had the power to forgive sins: you and I do not. We are still commanded to be baptized for the remission of our sins.

Jesus said:

Matt 7:22-23
Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

Luke 6:46
Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say.

As to whether the people that were killed by soldiers before being baptized or whether the Aborigine who never heard the Gospel would spend eternity in hell, I don't know. I certainly hope not. That is up to God. We can only go by what He has told us in His word. Those scenarios apply neither to you, to me or to the overwhelming majority of people.

You appear to love the Lord. So do I. You are firm in your convictions. So am I. But I will try my best to obey Him in all things before I will ever dismiss the Word of God based on the extrabiblical reasoning of man. Whether you or I like it or not, the Bible says what it says. Scripture does not contradict scripture. As my friend Herb the hippy used to say: “Dig it or Don’t”.

There was a covenant between God and Abraham, in Genesis 15. God makes a promise to Abraham regarding the descedants Abraham was to produce from his own body. God tells Abraham to make a sacrifice, but Abraham does not set fire to the covenant. (Abraham is skeptical of the promise, but does what the Lord command). At sundown God visits Abraham and tell him his heirs will be in captivity for 400 years then he will bring them back ...the covenant was for the land that will belong to his descendants. To signify the covenant, God sets fire to the sacrifice himself(verse17).

That is not the same covenant that was made with Israel during their wanderings out of Egypt. The one made with Israel is generally called ..."the old covenant", Paul in Hebrews figuratively describes Christians as having not arrived at Mount Sinai(the old covenant of works and animal sacrifice for the COVERING of sin), but rather at arriving at Mount Zion(the new covenant of grace and Christ's sacrifice for the CLEANSING of sin).

I don't where you get the idea that I said baptism wasn't important. BELIEVE AND BE BAPTIZED INDEED!...The arguement put forth from Chewbacca was that some people neglect the beleif part and emphasize the ritual part. His question of whether or not Bork had "Asked Jesus into his heart" was an appropo one. I think such a one as Bork, deep thinking as he is would have approached the issue with quite seriousness; but you and I both know that many have been baptized but the truth of God has not penetrated their hearts where the real baptism of spirit and circumcision of heart must occur. You know this from the fruits their lives have been producing. That is what our discussion has been about...I thought?