Posted on 05/07/2020 10:16:07 AM PDT by Teleios Research
Don’t forget the part about repenting. You can believe Jesus is who He said He is in your head, but if you don’t feel genuine remorse for your sins, and ask for forgiveness, and accept Him as LORD of all, you’re just spinning your wheels.
James, 2:19 -— Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
But which baptism?
Act 19:2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
Act 19:3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied, “The baptism of John.”
I encourage all to read the rest.
I don’t want to argue, and I believe that baptism is an important act of obedience after a person receives Jesus as their Savior, but on the other hand, the thief on the cross was saved without being baptized in water.
What if, when, in Mark 16:16, Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”, Jesus meant washed clean by His blood, His sacrifice, instead of washed in water? Researching this, I came across an interesting site:
https://www.born-again-christian.info/blood.washed.htm.
Just a thought... :)
Believe
Repent
Confess
Baptism.
These 5 steps are fundamental commandments.
Also,
Hear the Word of God
Read the Word of God
Not forsake the assembly
Love God
Love neighbor
Open door when He knocks
Be holy
Submit to God
There's about 942 additional things I've counted that are REQUIRED and ESSENTIAL. Not one can be skipped, but it is not practical for this discussion. Please remember that every single one is essential for salvation. If you want to know the other 942 requirements, please send me a pm.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 10:32.
So, yes, it’s Scriptural.
Yes!
Lol.
The thief was saved under the Old Covenant. Like all the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews 11.
I’ve never understood why or how the thief always comes up in matters of baptism and salvation.
Is this a Baptist thing? It certainly shows a fundamental lack of basic Biblical knowledge.
Baptism is a burial and resurrection. Christ was not yet buried and raised. So how could that thief be baptized?
See... https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Romans%206%3A4
Thank you
Baptism...Proof and evidence that you have been saved. -- Past tense. "saved" has already occurred before Baptism
Baptism is essential unto salvation. -- Future tense. Indicating that you are not saved until after Baptism.
Which is it?
Incorrect. OT salvation required not only repentence and belief, but also sacrifice and keeping the Law.
That thief had done neither, nor had he the chance to do so.
The point is that baptism is necessary for New Testament Christians. The thief was obviously not that. To argue that since he was not baptized, no one needs to be baptized is a false theology.
He wasn’t baptized. Neither was he saved by repeating a “Believers Prayer”; or by making an “Altar Call”; nor did he accept the Lord into his heart or any number of other Baptist dogmas.
Have YOU been baptized? I’m sure you have been. It is a commandment after all.
Obviously? Hardly. Christ had been sacrificed, and was in the process of dying when He made His promise to the thief. The OT covenant was no more once the curtain had been split. Since it was mentioned that Christ died quickly, it is also assumed that the thief was still alive at that time. Since he died AFTER Christ did, he was most certainly covered by NT grace.
To argue that since he was not baptized, no one needs to be baptized is a false theology.
I would agree with this. However, I will also state that baptism is not necessary for salvation. It is an outward act to show others that you have been saved--the salvation coming PRIOR to the baptism. It is also quite important. We are instructed to repent and be baptized. That is the first, and most basic step, of showing the world you have been saved.
Obviously? Hardly. Christ had been sacrificed, and was in the process of dying when He made His promise to the thief. The OT covenant was no more once the curtain had been split. Since it was mentioned that Christ died quickly, it is also assumed that the thief was still alive at that time. Since he died AFTER Christ did, he was most certainly covered by NT grace.
You seem to forget that NOBODY was saved before the Cross or after the cross without the Resurrection. Not Moses and the prophets. Not the thief. Nor you and I - if Christ had not risen from the dead. The Old Testament did not end with the Curtain. It ended with the Stone being rolled away.
The thief was covered by NT grace in exactly the same way Moses and the prophets were. By being credited as righteousness. And that credit began when He came out from the grave.
1 Corinthians 1:11-17 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
So, does that mean the thief on the cross wasn’t saved, and Jesus wasn’t telling the truth, that he’d “be with Me in Paradise”?
Because the thief wasn’t baptized, and didn’t confess his sins, he just believed the words of Jesus.
The thief could not be baptized into Jesus’ death as Jesus was still alive. As God, Jesus can save anyone he chooses.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.