Posted on 09/28/2006 10:06:43 AM PDT by cowboyfan88
The new covenant I am referring to is the convenant that was put in place upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The time in which John's baptism was in effect ended once the new covenant became effective.
***The new covenant I am referring to is the convenant that was put in place upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. ****
And you have completly missed the lesson that Christ gave to the rich young ruler.
1. He wanted to do something to EARN eternal life.
2. Christ said obey the law.
3. the man said he had. ( we know that is impossible).
4. Christ said sell all he had and follow HIM.
5. the rich man refused.
Lesson: Salvation is a free gift from God. It cannot be earned. This is why Christ told him to earn it he must do the IMPOSSIBLE.
Oh, but you don't believe that, do you.
Go ahead, run over to James.
See my reply to Bremenboy on this subject here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1710069/posts?page=4#4
I believe what the Word of God says, and that means all of it. I can't earn salvation, neither can anyone else. All I have to do is accept the free gift that God has offered, and accept it on His terms. How is that earning something?
**How is that earning something?**
Go read the story of the rich young ruler again then read Romans 4.
Salvation is not earned. It is freely given by Christ to those who obey Him (Hebrews 5:9).
Christ, as well as the apostles, also taught that repentance and baptism are necessary for salvation. I noticed you conveniently forgot those.
***Christ, as well as the apostles, also taught that repentance and baptism are necessary for salvation. I noticed you conveniently forgot those.***
Paul never mentioned them in the verses quoted, but then Paul was not sent to baptize but to preach the word.
So, according to your logic, since Paul did baptize some, he disobeyed his calling from God?
Are you saying that just because belief, repentance, confession, and baptism are not all presented together in each passage concerning salvation, then they are not all required? If so, then your problem is with God, and not me or anyone else.
***Are you saying that just because belief, repentance, confession, and baptism are not all presented together in each passage concerning salvation, then they are not all required? If so, then your problem is with God, and not me or anyone else.***
Did the ancients have to carry around a clipboard to check off each one to make sure one was not missed? Paul never mentioned the others to the Phillipian jailer. and he was very slack in keeping tabs of all he had baptized a Corinth.
Maybe he said this..1Cr 1:14 I thank God that I baptized (saved) none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
Thank you for being the first person I have seen to interpret this passage correctly.
I like this explanation by Billy Graham also.
http://www.bgea.org/MyAnswer_Article.asp?ArticleID=2424
There are theological disputes about just what this verse is talking about, but whatever else it may mean, it is also a pretty fair depiction of the acceptance of salvation. When you hear and understand His gracious voice and choose that yes you really do want Him there (thus opening the door), He rushes right on in and no created thing can kick Him back out. Asking is superfluous.
Ray Comfort also invites people to "Ask Jesus into their hearts."
Oh the humanity!
Jonathan Edwards "The Excellency of Christ".
snip
Say to all those who call you away, "Nay, but I will die here"; for nobody ever did perish trusting in Jesus. There has not been through all these centuries a single instance of a soul being cast away that came all guilty and hell-deserving, and took Christ to be its salvation. If you perish, you will then be the first that perished with his hand laid upon Christ. His love and power can never fail a sinner's confidence. Wherefore, may God the Holy Spirit lead you to resolve, "If I must die, I will die here." Listen to me, soul, whoever thou mayest be out of the crowd, man or women, whatever thy life may have been, even though it should have been that of a harlot or a thief, a drunkard or a profligate, if thou wilt now believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved; for, if not, then God himself will have missed his greatest design. What did he give Jesus for but to save sinners? What did he lay sin upon Jesus for, but that he might take it off the sinner, and let him go free, and be pardoned? If, then, Christ fails, God's grandest expedient has broken down. That method by which the Lord resolved to show what his almighty grace can do has proved to be a failure if a believing sinner is not saved. Dost thou think that such a thing can ever be? It is blasphemy to think that Jehovah can be defeated. He that believes in Christ shall be saved; nay, he is saved.
If thou art not saved believing in Christ, then Christ himself is dishonoured. Oh, let them once know, down in the dark abode of fallen spirits, that a man has trusted in Christ and yet has not been saved, I tell you that they will make such exultation over Christ as Philistia made over Samson when his eyes were put out. They would feel that they had defeated the Prince of Glory. They would trample on his blood, and ridicule his claim to be the Savour of men. If any soul can truly say hereafter, "I went to Christ, and he refused me," then Christ does not speak the truth when he says, "Him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." Then he has changed his nature, foregone his word, and foresworn himself. But that also can never be. herefore, dear heart, cling to Jesus, and say still, "If I die, I will die here."
Moreover, if thou canst perish trusting in Christ thou wilt discourage all the saints of God; for if Christ can break his promise to one, then why not to another? If one promise fails, why not all the promises? If the blood has lost its power, how can any of us ever hope to enter heaven? I say it will breed great discouragement in the hearts of all people if this be true; for what a wet blanket would e throne over all thy fellow-sinners! If they are coming to Christ, they will start back, and say, "What is the good of it? Here is one that came to Jesus, and he did not save him. He trusted in the precious blood, and yet his sin was laid to his charge." If one fails, why not the rest? I must give up preaching the gospel when once I hear of a man trusting Jesus and not being saved; for I should be afraid to speak with boldness, as I now do.
If one poor soul that puts his trust in Christ should be cast away it would spoil heaven itself. What security is there for glorified spirits that their splendours shall endure except the promise of a faithful, covenant-keeping God? If, then, looking down from their celestial seats, they behold the great Father breaking his promise, and the Son of God unable to save those for whom he died, then will they say, "We will lay our harps aside, and put our palms away, for we, too, after all, may perish." See, then, O man, heaven and earth, ay, God and his Christ, as to their credit and their glory, do stand and fall with the salvation of every believing sinner. If I were in your stead tonight, I think that I should bless God to have this matter put so plainly to me. I know that years ago, when I was under a sense of sin, if I had heard even such a poor sermon as this I should have jumped for joy at it, and would have ventured upon Christ at once. Come, poor soul; come at once. You have heard the gospel long enough; now obey it. You have heard about Christ long enough; now trust in him. You have been invited and entreated, and pleaded with; now yield to his grace. Yield to joy and peace by trusting in him who will give you both of these as soon as you have rested in him.
Look! sinner, look! A look out of thyself will save thee. Look away from all thy works, and prayers, and tears, and feelings, and church-goings, and chapel-goings, and sacraments, and ministers. Look alone to Jesus. Look at once to him who on the bloody tree made expiation, and who bids thee look, and thou shalt live.
God make this present hour to be the period of thy new birth. I pray it, and so do his people. The Lord hearken to our intercessions, for Christ's sake. Amen.
Taken From:
Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit
Vol. 31, No. 1826Charles Spurgeon
I had asked Jesus into my heart. I had prayed the prayer for him to forgive me and I believed Jesus died for my sins and I had believed that for forty years but that is not what saved me. When I believed that he died for all my sins on the cross and that when I had faith in what he did, he saved me. After you believe that, you receive the Holy Spirit and He has my whole body and soul, not just my heart.
We don't become a follower of Christ by saying the sinners prayer anymore than we become a Big Mac by saying "2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." The sinners prayer is a good "jumping off place" but it's not what makes us His. We must recognize that we are a sinner in need of a Savior. We must repent.
As for Ray, he has never taught this is all we have to do. Ironic notion since he regularly gets grief for his use of the Law.
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