Jesus Himself commanded baptism as an act of faith (Mk. 16:16) identifying one with the Triune God, (Mt. 28:19).
And Peter requires it as the first outward step of repentance and faith for the remission of sins and regeneration, (Acts 2:28) as the faith behind baptism appropriates this, for “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins,” (Acts 10:43) and thus some souls realized this before baptism, all of which you must reject in order to prevent indigestion.
And 1Pt. 3:21 still refers to it as a like figure of salvation, salvific as it requires and expresses faith, rather than depending on whether the one doing the baptizing intends to do what Rome does, of which no one may be sure, and its efficacy is not dependent on whether the person being saved personally has faith (though they must not set up an obstacle). Because if the faith required, Westminster Standards can state , sacraments are “effectual means of salvation.” See more: http://www.joelgarver.com/writ/sacr/exopere.htm
But such questions and more have already been addressed, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2811552/posts?page=2866#2866, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2891087/posts?page=965#965 and elsewhere, but as it is your modus operandi to blithely ignore such and asked the sames questions again, i need not waste more time responding and refuting the premise behind them .
But unlike me, you refuse to answer questions asked of you. Thus we would still like to know:
In contradiction of your previous statements, do you reject baptism of desire, and that one could be regenerated before they are baptized?
Do you believe the CCC is in error concerning this?
Do you hold Vatican 2 as binding, and that Protestants can be saved if they do not believe the pope to be the successor to Peter and Catholic apostolic succession? Explain.
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Then hit F5
i am a very simple man, when someone tells me they believe in sola scriptura and then denies baptismal regeneration, it gets my attention. when someone has my attention, i listen to what is said and then i ask for the evidence.
soooo......, when i hear someone say baptism is “symbolic”, i ask WHERE DOES THE BIBLE SAY THAT?
when i hear someone say baptism is a “first act of obedience”, i ask WHERE DOES THE BIBLE SAY THAT?
when i hear someone say baptism is an outward sign of something that has happenened already, i ask WHERE DOES THE BIBLE SAY THAT?
the answer to all three questions is NOWHERE.
my BIBLE says baptism IS FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS AND RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT. my Bible says baptism PUTS US INTO CHRIST. my BIBLE says BAPTISM NOW SAVES YOU.
now also being a simple man, when someone says Cornelius and his family was regenerated before being baptized in Acts 10, it gets my attention. DOES IT REALLY SAY THAT?
well, let’s see - v44 while Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
now, read that again carefully, it says the Holy Spirit fell on ALL WHO HEARD THE WORD. this means it fell on Cornelius, his family and the believers who accompanied Peter. these believers were regenerated already, since they are referred to as “brethern”. so we know the gift the Holy Spirit gave everyone could not have been regeneration. well, what was the gift? v46 tells us it was tongues, just as happened to the Apostles in Acts 2. NO WHERE IN ACTS 10 NOR 11 DOES IT SAY THESE GENTILES WERE REGENERATED OR HASD THEIR SINS FORGIVEN WITHOUT BAPTISM. do not forget, anyone reading Acts 10 would have already read Acts 2:38 and will read Acts 22:16, where the Holy Spirit thru Luke, makes it clear that baptism is for the remission of sins.
people can hold to their 16th century tradition of men all they like, but the Scriptures teach baptism is for the remission of sins, receiving the Holy Spirit and being placed into Christ.
and for those who claim Paul taught you are regenerated by faith alone, without baptism, i wish to point out what Ananias said to Paul himself in Acts 22:16 - AND NOW WHY DO YOU WAIT? RISE AND BE BAPTIZED, AND WASH AWAY YOUR SINS, CALLING ON HIS NAME.
Paul received baptism for the remission of his sins, Paul taught baptism for the remission of sins.
as for the baptism of desire, the Church teaches it and i accept it. if someone hears the Gospel and believes in Jesus Christ and ACCEPTS THEIR NEED TO BE BAPTIZED FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS and God calls them home before they are able to do so, we can believe they were saved. THIS IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN REJECTING BAPTISM FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS AND BELIEVING BAPTISM IS SOME USELESS SYMBOLIC CEREMONY.
as far as Protestants being saved, i answered that already. you may have missed it so i will repeat myself. if a Protestant holds the Catholic Faith, i believe salvation is possible. the Nicene Creed sums up the Catholic Faith and it in part says “we acknowledge ONE BAPTISM FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS” as far as i know, Lutherans and Anglicans accept the Nicene Creed.
but if someone truly is a child of God, a new creature in Christ, they will OBEY the Lord and not sin willfully.
Jesus commanded UNITY of His followers, Paul commanded UNITY and Christians to speak with ONE voice.
IT IS SINFUL TO SAY YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS AND REJECT HIS CHURCH. IT IS SINFUL TO ATTACK THE CHURCH AS TEACHING FALSE DOCTRINE AND LEADING MEN ASTRAY.
but, as i say, i am a very simple man.