Baptism and Salvation

Transcript

GRM 1215
02/03/2019
Baptism and Salvation
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

I mentioned earlier today when we were studying the Great Commission, particularly focusing on the baptism aspect of the Great Commission, and noted that the command of the Great Commission is to make disciples, and we see how that is carried out through the book of Acts. When you make disciples, then three things are connected to that. We noted three participial phrases; “go,” and sometimes I think we misunderstand the Great Commission because we focus attention on the “go” as though that’s the point he’s making, and it’s really not, it’s a participle. I realize a participle has certain constructs, it picks up some of the weight of the imperative, but basically there’s one imperative, one command; “make disciples.” And we noted, perhaps, “having gone,” the impossible[RG1] translation because it is a participle, and we know that the point is wherever God sends you, wherever He places you, what we as His followers are about is making Him known. We noted, there might be a job transfer, and maybe He sends you to the hospital with a physical problem, and maybe He burdens you to go to another part of the country or another part of the world to share the gospel, specifically. The point is, we belong to Him. We are His children, we are His servants, slaves, we represent Him wherever we are. We are lights to those who are in the darkness. Then connected to that are two present participles, those who believe in Christ and must become disciples, are to be baptized. So be baptizing them and teaching them, and you teach them all that Christ has commanded. So there is to be a thoroughness in our teaching.

We focused on baptism, the connection of baptism to our faith, and noted the order of the material is important. Works, baptism, faith. If we don’t get those in the proper order, we will be in trouble. We are saved by faith in Christ alone, it is faith. By faith alone in Christ alone, and all of it’s by grace alone. So that’s true. Some people take works, their good works, whatever, and say that’s also necessary to be saved. They put baptism there and then some even add to that more; communion, and what they call sacraments, and so on, as all necessary in order to be saved. The problem is, there is a place for at least some of these things. Some of them are made up by men, but like baptism, good works, they are results of being saved, not part of the cause of our salvation, if I can word it that way. We all know the cause, obviously, is God working in a heart. Our response is faith in Christ, which involves a recognition of our lost condition, a turning from our sin and placing our faith in Christ. Now if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things pass away; new things come. So that’s a result of being born again.

Now also as a result of placing your faith in Christ, as we talked about in our earlier study, is being baptized. Because of that there’s a close connection made often in Scripture, but some people misunderstand and confuse these things, so we want to look at some of those passages. Before we do, why don’t I take you to Romans 3. This is a foundational section, and we don’t want to put Scripture against Scripture, but we want to have a basis in Scripture so that we look at Scripture consistently. In Paul’s day, particularly with the Jews, some of the Jews wanted to say yes, I’ll believe in Jesus as the Messiah, but that’s not enough. You must also be circumcised and keep the Law. That’s what Paul writes on in the letter to the Galatians and says that’s not the gospel I preached. It’s not connected at all to the gospel I preached. We have to be careful, just because people talk about placing faith in Christ doesn’t mean they’re talking about saving faith based on the grace of God. These are who we call Judaizers who added circumcision and keeping the Law as necessary along with faith in Christ. Paul says they’re on their way to hell, that they’re anathema. So we don’t want to get confused just because people talk about having faith in Christ. That’s true, also with anything else added.

As Paul addresses these kind of issues in Romans 3, with the first three chapters he’s spent a bulk of the time demonstrating that we’re all sinners. People like to see themselves as righteous and good people, so they don’t want to see themselves in need of salvation. But Paul established clearly all the Jews, all the Gentiles, are in the same situation. Down in chapter 3 verses 19 and 20, “We know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and the world may become accountable to God.” And what the Law has said. So because the Jews thought they were exceptions—the Gentiles are defiled, they need cleansing from God, we Jews don’t need it, we’re Jews. So he quoted from the Old Testament, beginning in verse 10, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands.” Well, if these words mean anything, if there’s none righteous, that would include every Jew as well as every Gentile. “There is none who seeks for God…There is none who does good,” and so on. So he’s demonstrated from the Law that the Jews are just as lost as the Gentiles. He focused on the Gentiles in chapter 1, and the Jews in chapter 2, and now we come to chapter 3 where he pulls it all together. Verse 4, he says, “Let God be found true, though every man is a liar,” so God has the final say. What He says about us is true. Now I need to bring how I see myself in line with how God says He sees me. Otherwise, I say I’m telling the truth and God is lying. That can’t be. Verse 20 says, “By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” All the Law could do was make you aware of your sin; it couldn’t save you because you couldn’t keep it if you wanted to, and no one ever did. Christ lived a perfect life, but no Jews ever lived that kind of life.

So, you come down to the end of chapter 3, verse 27. “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” How do we come to be righteous before a holy and righteous God? By our works? Well, that’s what he has demonstrated cannot happen. So, we need the righteousness of God as verse 21 has talked about. “The righteousness of God has been manifested.” How do we get that righteousness? By faith. So, verse 28, “For we maintain that a man is justified, declared righteous, by faith apart from works of the Law.” So it’s by faith, not by works, and he’s talking about the Mosaic Law when he says the Law, but if you couldn’t become righteous by keeping the Mosaic Law, how else, what other works could you do? God gave the Mosaic Law, but doing the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law couldn’t make you righteous. For man to create another list of laws and regulations and commands and say now we’ll add this into the mix, you just can’t be saved by your works. It’s justification, being declared righteous, by faith. “Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also.” So now we’re going to deal with Jews and Gentiles alike. That’s what he did in the first 3 chapters to show both the Gentiles are lost and the Jews are lost. “Since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.” Now that’s a crucial statement. You want to understand it. Verse 30 says, since indeed God…is one. That first statement and the last part of the statement there. We’re in a sentence, but the first lines of verse 30. Since indeed God, and then the end of that, is one. That’s the foundational statement in Judaism, that God is one. There is one God, eternally existent, three Persons, but the focus is that there’s only one God. So if you are going to be justified, declared righteous, whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile, there will be only one way for that to happen. Now the Jews can’t be justified by keeping the Mosaic Law. This is their problem. Some of the Jews said, well, you have to believe in Christ, but you also have to keep the Law. That makes no sense because the Jews could never be saved by keeping the Law. Now you’re going to tell the Gentiles they have to keep the Law that couldn’t save Jews. So how are the Gentiles going to be saved and the Jews be saved? Well, there’s only one God. So there’s only going to be one way of salvation for both Jew and Gentile, and that has not changed. The Jews were never saved by keeping the Mosaic Law. How sad it is today that people go to church and think they’re going to be saved by trying to keep the Ten Commandments, just a basic summary of the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law. God has made clear the Jews could never be saved by keeping the Law, and the Law wasn’t given to provide a way of salvation for them. It was given to reveal their sin and impress upon them the need of salvation that could not come from their works, but it could only be credited to them by God.

What he’s going to do when you come to chapter 4 is draw an example from the Old Testament. If there’s only one God, there is only one way of salvation. If we can find out how the one God saved one person, credited them as righteousness, credited His righteousness to their account, we’ll know how God will save every other person, whether Jew or Gentile. So what he does in chapter 4, he uses Abraham as the example because he is the prominent figure in Judaism, and the Jews were the ones who thought they were special, that they were saved by being Jews and doing their best to keep the Law. Verse 1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?” Paul is a Jew, he wrote as a Jew. The Jews were agreed the Gentiles were dirty and defiled. We talked about that. That’s why the Jews didn’t go and eat in the homes of Gentiles, because they didn’t follow Mosaic Laws, so the whole house is defiled, the food is defiled, they’re defiled. The only way they could get clean in the Jews’ sight was converting to Judaism and adopting the requirements of the Mosaic Law, but that was not able to save Jews, and it was not able to save Gentiles. Let’s look at Abraham. ”For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” Remember up in chapter 3, verse 27, “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, by a law of faith.” Verse 26, a demonstration of God’s righteousness, “the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” What is developing is there’s only one God, and He saves people by faith in the provision He makes and the promise He gives. That’s how you get God’s righteousness credited to your account. Let’s look at Abraham; was he an exception? If you can be saved by what you do, you have something to boast about. I’m a good person. I’m more religious and more diligent in trying to please God than most other people. I had a dear neighbor, an elderly lady, many years ago, she got up every morning, early in the morning, and went to church. She was a better person than many people. She was more concerned to, quote, “please God” by being as religious as she could. Even concerned for her family that they would be accepted by God, so she could act as their representative by going to church and doing all of this stuff. But, if that was true, she could boast. You could say, you are a better person than most people I know. You are good-er than most people I know.

The problem is, in the eyes of God, none is good. So, let’s look at Abraham. If he was justified by works, verse 2, he could boast. So that’s how Abraham got righteous, by his good works? No, “what does the Scripture say?” Verse 3, and you’re back to Genesis 15:6 where it is said of Abraham, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” You’re aware we just have the noun and the verb, faith and believed. You could translate it, Abraham placed his faith in God. He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Up in verse 26 of chapter 3, that “God would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” But Abraham didn’t know about Jesus, chapter 15 of Genesis doesn’t say anything about Jesus. But, God spoke and gave a promise to Abraham, and Abraham believed God and the promise He made. What was he saved by? Faith in God and the promises of God, that’s how salvation occurs. Now our faith is, particularly since the coming of Christ, focused more clearly on the finished work of the Son of God, but it’s still faith in God and what He has provided, what He has promised. So God can be just, righteous, and still declare hell-deserving sinners righteous because they’re credited. How can He do that? Because He provided One to pay the penalty for our sin so that when you place your faith in Christ, God can declare you righteous, forgiven, and cleansed. Why? Because the penalty for your sin is death. Christ died, you’ve trusted in Him, and what I promised to do I do for you through His work, so you’re cleansed. Now we apply My righteousness to your account. That’s what he’s doing. Abraham believed God, it was credited to him as righteousness.

“Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Now note, your faith has to be placed in the proper place, in the proper Person. It is believing in Him who justifies the ungodly. It’s not enough to believe in a religious system. It’s not enough to believe in your baptism, your communion, your whatever. It’s faith in the God who justifies the ungodly, it believes in Him who justifies. His faith is credited as righteousness, and this is belabored. I’ve been through it with you. Beginning in chapter 3, verse 21, Paul begins to develop and emphasize how righteousness can be credited to unrighteous people without God sacrificing His own righteous character. That word faith or believe, the verb form of faith, is mentioned repeatedly down from verse 21 all the way down through verse 2 of chapter 5. Some of you have them marked in your Bible because we’ve gone through, and we won’t take the time to do it again, but if you haven’t, go through. Mark every time faith or believe is mentioned in this section. That’s the focal emphasis.

So how does circumcision fit into this in the Old Testament where God said that they were to be circumcised? The sign of the Abrahamic Covenant was given to Israel, circumcision. What does it say? Well, you have to get the order correct. Remember, circumcision was required for Jews, but not to get the righteousness of God. Look at verse 10, “How then was it credited?” When was Abraham credited with God’s righteousness? We said that was in Genesis 15:6. Was he circumcised or uncircumcised at that time? Well, any Jew would know. Abraham believed in chapter 15, and he was circumcised in chapter 17. Now wait a minute, God credited him as righteous in chapter 15. Years later, he got circumcised. Did God make a mistake? How can he credit Abraham as righteous if he’s not going to be circumcised for years? If circumcision is necessary to be credited with God’s righteousness, “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised.” All the circumcision did was confirm what Abraham had believed. He was a man of faith, and now he received a sign.

It indicated that, but that was a result later, and that’s the argument down through here, so the detail of the argument. Verse 23, this whole account was not written, and this statement in Genesis 15:6 was not just written as a historical fact. It was written, and it’s quoted again in verse 22 of chapter 4, and he says, “Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” In other words, He had provided righteousness that could be credited to our account. “Therefore,” chapter 5, “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.” We’ve entered into this salvation, the salvation which is fully by grace, not by works. Now, we’ve labored through all of this because the argument extensively developed is not just to make a historical point. Paul says this is pertinent to understanding how salvation is credited to a people, Jew or Gentile alike. For the Jews to say circumcision is necessary for salvation is, in affect, to say there are two Gods. One who saved Abraham by faith, credited him as righteous by faith in Genesis 15, then years later, a god who required circumcision to become righteous, and every Jew would know that. We say, well, that’s clear.

We’re talking about baptism, but the point is what? When was Abraham baptized? Right, he wasn’t. How can you say baptism is necessary for salvation? There’s only one God. At the end of chapter 3, “Since indeed God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith, is one.” There’s only one way of salvation for both Jew and Gentile, it is by faith in God and His provision. For Abraham, that’s recorded in chapter 15. You don’t add circumcision to that because now you’ve added something that’s not there. There’s a place for circumcision for the Jews, but it wasn’t to bring about salvation, it was a testimony. For Abraham, it happened as an adult, and then later they would circumcize the babies at eight days according to the Law, and what did that demonstrate? The parents believed the promises of God. That was part of being a member of that physical nation, but in no case from its beginning with Abraham was it necessary for salvation. We belabor this point because anything anyone adds as necessary for salvation, I bring them back. I’ve been here with people, from pastors from other denominations, like the Church of Christ, a Christian church that wanted to say baptism was necessary. I said, I have a problem with that. That doesn’t mean now we’re going to go look at some of the verses, but I know for sure that the righteousness of God can only be credited to me by faith, because that’s the way God did it for Abraham. I believe there is only one true and living God. So as chapter 3 verse 30 says, “the God, who will justify,” that word means to declare righteous, just, righteous, “the circumcised,” the Jews, “by faith and the uncircumcised,” the Gentiles, “through faith, is one.” One way of salvation because there’s one God. That’s been true through all history. There’s never been any other way of salvation but by faith in the revelation God gives of Himself. You believe Him. If you believe He’s God, you believe what He says. So you believe His word, you believe His promise.

Alright, with that as a background, let’s look at a few passages, going back to the book of Acts. I’ve just made a list of some of the passages that sometimes are taken to mean this, and in standing alone, you might get confused. Come to Mark 16, and we’re not going to get into the discussion of the longer and shorter ending of Mark. There is some discussion over whether there’s a shorter ending of Mark, and you’ll have it indicated in your Bible, with verse 9. Some of the earlier manuscripts stop with verse 8 of Mark 16. Some of the later manuscripts include verse 9 and following, so that’s called the longer ending of Mark. For right now, it’s not an issue. We’ll take what is here in Mark 16:16, we have here, if you accept this as part of Mark, the Great Commission as recorded by Mark, verse 15, “And He said to them,” Christ speaking to His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” What is stated here is consistent with other biblical records, as we’ve observed. “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved,” that’s a strange translation, who has not believed, just negative on belief, “shall be condemned.” And it’s true, it says he who has believed and been baptized. There’s no doubt the New Testament, as we’ve looked in the Book of Acts, closely associates baptism with salvation. Just as Jesus did during His earthly life and called people to become His followers and believe in Him, He didn’t sugarcoat it. You’re expected to step forward, be identified with Me. If you’re not, do you truly believe in Me? That’s true down to today. God doesn’t call people to salvation who are ashamed of Him, who are embarrassed to be identified with Him. We sometimes swing the other way and act like, well, go off in a corner by yourself, place your faith in Christ, and keep it secret. Are we really talking about biblical salvation? And again, it doesn’t have to be saved in a public meeting. My mother’s testimony was she was saved placing her faith in Christ, being born again, became a Christian, sitting at the kitchen table reading her Bible, with nobody else there. Some people had directed her towards Scripture, but this isn’t just—you don’t have to tell anybody. God doesn’t say this is now between you and Me. She’s telling the family! Not only the immediate family, but her sisters and brothers and her mother. That’s God’s intention. So, baptism is a way, as we talked this morning, it puts you out in the public. Even if your baptism took place in a more quiet location, you have now taken the stamp of belonging to Christ. I was baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I am a believer in Jesus Christ, a follower of His.

You will note, “He who has believed and has been baptized,” even if it was a later addition, you see something of what the issue is here. He who has not believed shall be condemned, but those who have really believed will be baptized. I mean, you can’t get away from that in the Great Commission. Make disciples, and they are to be baptized and taught. That’s a follow-through there, I think.

Come over to the Gospel of John, chapter 3, we’ll pick this out. Sometimes people who see water think baptism, and that’s true of the Gospel of John. This is Nicodemus coming to Christ. Nicodemus is impressed by Christ, and he’s impressed that He’s come from God as a teacher, but there’s something more. It’s not enough to see Christ as a good teacher, a good man, or anything like that. God is with you, that’s how you do these miracles. Maybe it was with other great prophets. “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” Nicodemus is a leading Jewish teacher. He knew about the kingdom, and the Messiah would establish the kingdom, but said that unless you’re born again, you’ll never be part of the kingdom that has been promised by the prophets. “Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born again?’” Verse 5, ”Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’” Now some people say, well, that would seem to indicate Nicodemus had to be baptized, born of water and the Spirit, or you can’t be part of the kingdom. Which meant salvation, because the Jews knew only those who belonged to God would be going into the kingdom; they believed there would be a sifting judgement. That’s why John the Baptist called the Jews to repent, because the Messiah is coming, I’m here to prepare the way and He’ll exercise a distinguishing judgement of fire if you’re not ready, so you have to repent so you can be cleansed from your sin and receive the Spirit, be baptized with the Spirit and you go into the kingdom. Jesus rebukes Nicodemus, you ought to understand this. Nicodemus couldn’t understand Christian baptism. Baptism wasn’t a way of salvation, John the Baptist realized that, and what did he tell the Jews and the Jewish leaders that were coming out to the wilderness and wanted to be baptized with his baptism? It wasn’t an evangelism program in that sense; baptism wasn’t to save them. Good, you want to be baptized, but that won’t save you from your sins. He says, you brood of vipers, what are you doing here? Recognize there was no repentance there, they just got caught up in a popular movement. We’re well aware of that, it goes on all the time down to our day. You brood of poisonous snakes, you need to repent. I’m here in humility, acknowledging your guilt and sin, otherwise I’m not baptizing you, that kind of thing.

So what is the water? For a Jew, we have to go back to the Old Testament. What did it mean? It meant when the Messiah came, He would provide cleansing. Come back to Isaiah 44, we have to go to two passages. Isaiah chapter 44, look at the context. As the chapter opens up, “Now listen, O Jacob, My servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.” Remember Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, so it’s used here in a parallel line. “Listen, O Jacob, My servant; Israel, whom I have chosen.” So it’s addressed to the nation. This is the Lord who formed you, formed you from the womb. “This is the Lord who made you, formed you from the womb, who will help you. Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.” Now look, “I will pour out water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground.” Now look at the last two lines, “I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants.” The picture here of that desert region and pouring out water on you for your refreshing, streams on the dry ground. It’s a picture of their spiritual condition now being refreshed. “I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants.” So that water and the refreshing of the Spirit and the life it would bring, Nicodemus should have understood what it was, the water of the Spirit. Isaiah, I’m going to pour out water on that dry ground of Israel, and it will be the Spirit that brings life to them. What’s your problem, Nicodemus?

Come over to Ezekiel 36. Here we reiterated that Jeremiah talks about in chapter 31, the New Covenant, because there’s the same content. Verse 22 of Ezekiel 36, “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, ”It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” and so on. Verse 24, “I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.” That water in Israel, remember there was the laver in the Old Testament tabernacle temple system where they washed for cleansing, picturing the washing from defilement. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.” You see, that water is a picture of the spiritual cleansing. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. The picture, we still talk about. You know when Pilate, who wasn’t a Jew, what did he do when he was going to condemn Christ? He used what we use as an analogy, he washed his hands of the whole matter. He asked for water and he washed his hands. I don’t want any part of this, my hands are clean, I wasn’t involved. Same with pictures used. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.” It wasn’t that physical water could cleanse them, but it pictures the cleansing. He interprets it here, I’ll cleanse you from your filthiness. That had to have been an internal cleansing. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit with you.” Verse 27, “I will put My Spirit within you.”

So that’s the promise that would come with the coming of the Messiah. So Nicodemus, what do you mean you don’t understand being born again? You should know the prophets, you’re a teacher in Israel. What have you been teaching? People need a new heart and a new spirit. Your inner man has to be made new. As it’s developed more fully by Paul in his epistles, what? You’re a new man. What does he say in Corinthians? If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. God makes us new within. Baptism can’t do that, circumcision couldn’t do that. That’s why the Old Testament prophets said the Jews, you need circumcised hearts. Physical circumcision can’t do it. Water baptism can’t do it, but water baptism could picture it. The cleansing with water and the cleansing in Israel could picture it. So, when Jesus talks about you must be born again with water and the Spirit, if you go back to John, you can come over to John 7:38. Later Jesus is speaking and He says, “He who believes in Me,” note there what the issue is, believe in Him. “As the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” What do you mean? Obviously it’s a picture, an analogy, and He interprets it. “But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Now we have a fuller understanding of this, but the water pictures the Spirit, so I’d take that, translate it in John, be born of the water, even the Spirit. Water being the picture. When the Spirit comes, He cleanses you within from your defilement, just like Isaiah talked about. He gives you a new heart, a new spirit, talking about your inner being. We talked in a previous Q&A about the difference between soul and spirit—but you talk about the soul, the heart, the spirit, that inner person. The cleansing starts within, and when you’re made new within, your outside begins to manifest you are a new person. The old things are gone, the new things have come. Just because water’s mentioned there doesn’t mean we’re talking about baptism.

Over in Acts 2:38, some of these verses we went into, we won’t go now. When we get to the connection of baptism and faith, and repentance and baptism, it’s the same thing. It is the faith, the repentance, they’re all part of that package. Repentance just emphasizes what happens. There’s a change made in the inner person, in our heart, in our mind, our spirit. We see ourselves as God sees us. I accept that His evaluation is true. I am a sinner, hell-deserving, so I repent. My mind is changed and with that will come a change of life. I place my faith in Christ, my faith has been in myself, my works, my church, my baptism, whatever. So, in these passages, you’re in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And then verse 41, “So then, those who had received his word were baptized.” I take it the salvation occurred when they believed the word that was taught them, but that doesn’t mean baptism then is optional. If you’re not willing to be identified with Him, if you’re still ashamed to be identified with Him, and we’ve often talked about it—one of those beautiful characteristics of a new believer is something of that boldness, that openness. It makes their testimony so impactful, and God’s calling us to that. These Jews, well, I want to believe in Him, I want to repent, but I don’t want to be baptized. But why? Well, that will put me out there. My Jewish family will be done with me, my Jewish employer will no longer employ me, I will be an outcast. This is my life! This is my social environment. I’m dependent on this; I’ve spent my life building, like Paul. What happened? He goes from being the one who was the rising star in Judaism to being someone the Jews wanted to kill. Well, I should have toned it down, should have been more…not an option. If you’re ashamed of Me, I will be ashamed of you, Jesus says, when we come to the judgement.

You know, salvation takes place in the heart, but it’s not kept there. We do it a service in applying it. Well, as long as you’ve placed your faith in Jesus, you’re okay. You’re not okay! Saving faith manifests itself, it changes a life on the inside. Now, I’m not saying everybody has to become a flaming evangelist, but baptism is required. Not to be saved, but as an evidence of your salvation. You could be baptized and never truly believed. We saw that in Acts 8. So that happens. Not everybody who says I’ve trusted Christ, now I want to be baptized is truly saved. Only God knows the heart. When a person says I’ve placed my faith in Christ, I believe what He has said is true. I am a sinner without hope apart from what Christ has done for me, and I am placing my faith the best I can in Him alone; he has to declare that faith publicly. How do you know it’s true? I don’t. I don’t know after six months. I have people who have been in this church for years who have come, and after years of being here and being what I thought was used of the Lord, just denied the faith and walked away. As far as I know, to this day there’s never been a change in their thinking. I don’t know, but God knows the heart. I’m not called, as we talked about this morning, to decide that. I am called to, if you’ve believed the gospel, you recognize your sin and guilt, I offer to pray with someone. That’s why I stopped. I told them, you can repeat after me. Lord, I am a guilty sinner, justly condemned before You. I deserve to go to hell, but that’s all I can do. Did they just get caught up in the emotion of the moment, by the power of my personality, I can’t read their mind[RG2]. I can’t discern their heart, but I know what the Bible says.

So the connection of baptism with these words of salvation, repent and be baptized, it’s calling the public, just like Jesus did. Don’t become My follower if you haven’t counted the cost. Now, you’re not saved by doing something. When you say you are going to be a follower of Jesus Christ, you are going to become His slave. You understand you will no longer be your own. Your very body now belongs to Him, your heart belongs to Him, your mind belongs to Him. Now, you are expected to live for Him, not in your own power, but now in the power that His grace provides and the indwelling Spirit that we have as His children today.

I see these passages, rather than me walking you through each of those, to connect baptism with salvation, of course. Same thing Jesus said, count the cost. Don’t come rushing here to say you’re going to commit yourself and be My follower just because there’s a lot of excitement going on with My ministry. There are always crowds to follow, but many of them went back, as we mentioned, the soils. There’s seed that falls on shallow ground, and it springs up, and those people seem like they’re on fire from day one. But time reveals whether they’ve truly been transformed. That’s why troubles and trials are good for us. There must be divisions among you, Paul told the Corinthians, so that those who pass the test, who are approved, become more evident. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various kinds of trials, James says, because that reveals your faith, that refines your faith. It strengthens your faith.

So those passages that seem to connect it. That’s why I usually say well, let’s go back to what the Bible says is necessary for salvation. It’s a passage from another church of different beliefs, Baptists, and we just spent several of our meetings together and what we did was we’re going to not believe this until we resolve what Romans 3 and 4 say is necessary for salvation. How can you be here telling me baptism is necessary, you’re telling me there’s more than one God. Abraham never got baptized! You show me where Abraham even got baptized later. He certainly didn’t get baptized when he believed. You have added something the word of God does not. Now we understand we still have to deal with those passages. Of course, repent and be baptized. It’s the same way Jesus called people to Himself, but He says what? Count the cost, and if you’re ashamed of Me…I’m not calling on you here to hide; I’m calling you here to be identified. So we’re not ashamed. We’re not ashamed that people say bad things about us, ruin our reputation, as long as we’re being consistent in our faithfulness to Him.

Alright, I’ll open it up if you have some questions. It doesn’t just have to be on this, but if you have something on this subject particularly, let’s give a chance for that since it’s probably the freshest thing on your mind. I don’t have all the answers, but if you have something you’d like addressed…Most of us probably were baptized before we were saved, if you were religious at all. I was baptized, as I mentioned earlier today, at a Methodist church. My parents were as lost as could be. My dad had pins from going to a Presbyterian church, and I’m not attacking all Presbyterians, but in the church he went to, he didn’t have a clue about what it meant to be saved. His parents never darkened the door of a church, but they thought it would be good for their little boy to go to church, so he got a pin for perfect attendance. It got him credit for something, but it wouldn’t get him to heaven. It took later faith in Christ to do that.

Question: Gil, what about somebody who goes to one of those churches that believes in baptism regeneration and they are convinced that they are saved? Are they?

Answer: Only God knows. There was a pastor in town years ago, in the early years of my ministry, and he was pastoring a church in town. The doctrinal statement of that denomination and that church is that baptism is necessary for salvation. It is the same down to today. When I met with him, and we did on various occasions, he would say that Gil, I don’t really believe baptism’s necessary for salvation. But, I know something of his ministry down even to today. I’m troubled. I’m not sure he was clear, but it’s hard to tell. You know, the closer people are to the truth, they claim, well, I don’t believe that. What are you doing there? Why would you be part of a church that denies the gospel you can’t claim to believe? So, I can’t ultimately make a decision; only God knows the heart. But, like I shared with that pastor, it’s something troubling. Why would you pastor in a denomination that’s teaching a false gospel? Do you stand up on Sunday and tell the people the doctrines of our church and our statement of faith and our denomination are condemned under the Galatian heresy? Something’s wrong. I’ve had that with Roman Catholics. We’ve had Roman Catholics who’ve attended. I can think of a few particularly, and they’d come here for services, but they’d continue with the Roman Catholic church. I’d find those people, over time, ended up back in the Roman Catholic church. There was a man who was a leader in evangelicalism for years, he was saved out of Roman Catholicism, he was leading an evangelical organization, but one day he just submitted his resignation. He said, I’m going back to Catholicism. I think that’s where real salvation is. I just have to assume he was never saved. It’s troubling how much an unbeliever can know and spit back, if I could say it that way. Only God knows the heart, so I leave it there, but I do express my concern. So if they’re going to that kind of church, I would have to say, Christ calls us out to be identified with Him and the truth. You remain immersed. Paul couldn’t remain. We might say, well, remain in Judaism and be a testimony there. That’s not God’s plan. You come out from the false, so I have serious questions, but ultimately, God will judge the heart. I want to be careful, but soon…God hasn’t called me, but then we’ve got people, and I don’t think they were really sincere. I don’t think they really believed, I don’t think they really repented, I don’t think they…But where they remain in a false system, at least I would have to express my doubts and concern.

In the early years, I had more contacts. I guess you get cut off over time. I used to attend in my early years here, a meeting of pastors and I was the only Bible-believing one in the group. I don’t say that against them because they acknowledged it. They said, Gil, we like having you come because you’re different from the rest of us. You bring an added dimension. But, after going to that meeting for some time, every time I turned it around to a discussion about the gospel. Finally I just shared, men, this is going nowhere. I’m not really part of what you believe, and you are unwilling to take seriously what Scripture says, so I think we part ways. I say it often, I shared in some graduate work I did at a seminary that claimed to be evangelical and does to today. I just told them, I can’t stay here. I might turn out where you are, and I can’t do that. So I think that you take a stand. You know, I’m a follower of Jesus Christ. I believe the truth of His word, and these foundational matters of the gospel are not up for consideration.

Question: In Acts 2:38, would you comment on the preposition “for” in for the forgiveness of sins, baptizing each one of you for the forgiveness of sins. I think that’s where a lot of the confusion happens.

Answer: Yeah, you can get into debate on the prepositions that are used, and there are a number of prepositions that are used in connection with faith in Christ, so I don’t think it will be resolved on that. I forget which one, gar, ace[RG3], for, or into. Like our prepositions, they have a range of meanings, so I don’t think that would change it. If the preposition here limits it, because it says each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, I don’t think it resolves it, from my study of the prepositions used here. I think what he is doing to the Jews is driving home what is required here. You say you’re going to believe in Christ and become a follower of his, step forward. Billy Graham used to say in his meetings, we call you to come forward because Christ called people publicly, and there was an element of truth in that, whether you believe in public invitations. I think baptism is that, but I don’t think it would be resolved here. So you’re baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you’ll receive the gift of the Spirit. That, if it was all we had, you could say well, maybe baptism’s necessary, but it’s repent and each of you be baptized, because the New Testament doesn’t disassociate them. Anyone unwilling to be baptized is not accepted as a true believer. Not because baptism was necessary for salvation, but because you were unwilling to be identified with Christ, and I think that’s where partly, maybe we have a soft Christianity today. As long as you say you’ve placed your faith in Christ, that’s good enough. There’s an element of truth, but it’s not the whole story. It’s like the battle we had in Lordship years ago. It’s not gone, but it’s not to the front like it was. You can believe in Christ, and as long as you’ve done that, you can live an ungodly life. Because, they said living a godly life doesn’t save you. That’s true, but the Bible does say, by this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Your life manifests it. So, I think that’s the connection here. Repentance is really what saves you, but genuine repentance will move you to do what you would not do otherwise, and that is step forward. As Jesus put it, pick up your cross and follow me. Everybody knew what that meant. I’m willing to accept You as Messiah and believe in You as Messiah. You talk about picking up a cross, I don’t think so. That’s why He said count the cost. So I think that’s the connection. I don’t think the prepositions will resolve it. I don’t think any Greek grammar, anybody resolves it on that basis, because there is a variation when you talk about believing in Christ. Sometimes it’s one preposition, sometimes it’s another, so they’re used interchangeably. You can believe into Christ, or you can believe for salvation, so I don’t know if that helps. I don’t think the prepositions resolve it. It’s the repentance that’s required. That’s why I say you can’t get away from the close connection that is made in the Book of Acts.

It is made, I think, in the Great Commission. “Make disciples” is teaching people the truth of Christ, and option now? That’s why you tell people you don’t have to come to Indian Hills to be saved, but you have to get into a Bible-believing church if you are saved. If you come to Indian Hills, you hear about salvation. Somebody I lead to Christ is now saying I have to attend Indian Hills; you have to get where the Bible’s taught. You can’t go back to Roman Catholicism. That was the disaster of Billy Graham who came to send you back to the church you came from. You can’t go back to where you were, you can’t go back to what you were. So, sometimes we err on one side trying to correct the error of the other side. We want to have clarity, but you can’t go back to Roman Catholicism if you’re truly been saved. You can’t go back to your liberal Protestant church if you’re saved. Could you go to the church I mentioned this morning that said, we do not—part of the statement they want you to understand, their basic beliefs, and it’s signed by the pastor—we don’t believe Jesus is the only way? Are there any true believers in that church? I have to say no. People always ask me, do you think some Roman Catholics are saved? I say, you’re saved by believing the gospel. I guess there could be a person who is saved, but you know, Paul, did he believe any Judaizers were truly saved? Not according to the Book of Galatians. If you believe what the Judaizers believe, you’re anathema, cursed to hell. Don’t connect that to my gospel, it’s not connected in any way. Well, I’m there but I don’t believe what they believe. Something’s wrong here. What are you doing involved with people who believe what you don’t believe? Who oppose the truth of what you believe? Somebody’s attending Plymouth Congregational Church, which is the doctrinal statement I referred to, signed by Jim Peck, we don’t believe Jesus is the only way. What would the true believer be doing there? I don’t even know why they call themselves Christians or have the name of Christ there. As I mentioned this morning, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me,” but we don’t believe that. But we’re Christians, just drop the name Christ. They’re religious people. Call your church the church of religious ones. Christ ones, I think, the muddiness. And we as Indian Hills can feel the pressure, because if we’re too strong, well, we offend too many people. Well, you couldn’t be a follower of Christ and not be an offensive person. We don’t have to offend people by our bad personalities, but we cannot not offend people by trying to be soft with the truth, and I think that’s what baptism does. It keeps bringing you out. I think, perhaps, that we fail in not making that clear. I was a little disturbed when I looked at the notes from when I last preached on the necessity of being baptized. Well, maybe I failed to make clear what I ought to make clear. Do I tell a person, oh, great, you prayed with me, you say you trusted Christ, we’ll make arrangements to have you baptized, we’ll look for you Sunday. I don’t know if I’m ready for that. What do you mean you aren’t ready? Maybe you weren’t ready to trust Christ. We’ve created this middle ground that I don’t think is found in Scripture, and I have to be willing to look at myself and see where did I get this idea? We don’t baptize them until we’re sure, until it’s clear. Well, that’s not what they did in the Book of Acts. The Philippian jailer had no background, as far as we know. They said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. He believed with his household, and here we go to the water, because that was necessary for his salvation? No, because it was necessary for him to be publicly identified as one who had believed in his heart. We’re going to sweep up, we’ve done that as a church. Some people who got caught up in the days when Indian Hills was the place to be were just people here because it was the place to be. I’m not saying that’s everybody who’s moved on, but there were people like that. That’s going to happen. Alright, we can pursue this next week. We’ll take more time for questions next week if you have them, and I’ll look at some things that might help clarify, and I’ll look a little bit more at the prepositions that are used with baptism, and some other examples.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for this day. Thank you for the privilege of grappling with Scripture together. Lord, we want to be people who are serious about Your word, who apply ourselves with diligence to the study of Your word, who sort through these issues, Lord, who examine our convictions and our beliefs carefully, in light of the word. Lord, we do want to challenge one another as we consider these things, that we’d consider carefully, are we being consistent? Are we being true to the word? It’s easy to see the shortcomings or the failures of others. Lord, we want to hold ourselves under the spotlight of Your word, both individually and as a church. We pray even our times together as we study the word, and then if we have time to interact, we’ll stimulate our thinking, drive us back to the Scriptures, and we’d examine it again and again and again. So we refine our thinking, as we make adjustments, constantly desirous of bringing ourselves into greater conformity to Your truth, to the control of Your Spirit. Bless the week before us, wherever You put us, may we be there as lights reflecting the glory of the Savior that we serve. In Christ’s name, amen.
[RG1]Not sure if I got this right. 00:57
[RG2]Not exactly sure if I got this correct. 46:08
[RG3]My phonetics. Not sure on actual spelling. 55:57