Friday, February 9, 2018

What I Believe and Why I Believe It

All scripture references, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
I believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God! This is nothing more than every self proclaimed Bible believing Christian subscribes to whether Pentecostal or not. However I am a believer in the only name that can save which is Jesus Christ. The reason I believe in the name of the Lord Jesus to be the only name that can save me is because I read in the book of the Acts of the Apostles in Acts 4:12 where it plainly declares that there is no salvation in any other, "for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."  That having been said, I believe in water baptism in Jesus name. Mainly because the Bible says in Acts 2:38, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Although this does conflict somewhat with the Roman Catholic doctrine of baptism found in Matthew 28:19 which says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Matthew 28:19 does not conflict the doctrine of baptism in Jesus name according to Acts 2:38.

The reason is that in Matthew 28:19 no one was ever baptized. It is a command to the apostles to, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name..." When they went into the (then known) world they baptized in the only name that could and can save which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you been baptized in the only name that can save you? Some folks say that it really doesn't make any difference how you are baptized anyway. I beg to differ with them. Peter said in 1st Peter 3:21,  "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ..." Then does water save us, e.g., baptismal regeneration? No, not by a long shot. Baptism does save us though when we are able to, in good conscience to God, acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So if you do so acknowledge the Lord's resurrection but reject being baptized in Jesus name, the question I would ask is why? I wonder at judgment what question God would ask. There are many other things in the Bible which I believe. Some of those things are hard for me to explain.  Suffice it to say baptism in Jesus name is not one of them. If it's in the Bible I believe it. Do you?

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