A Testimony requested by another member

Dear Christian friend, Dr Bob. This is per your request to post on my personal belief on this particular Forum --- Baptist Theology & Bible Study.

I am always happy to give my testimony of my salvation into the Body of Christ, and my joining a church of my choice, the Baptist church. I may not be able to hold this to two paragraphs as you request, for paragraphs too long dissuade reading, and absorbing. There will be something else included. It is for some who hold that the “great commission” is the way of salvation today, but then deny the whole of this commission, yet when in fact they believe every word, including Mark 16:15-16. To me this is confusion. But all Baptist’s are not confused.

I walked the isle at age nine, because I knew if I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart I would be saved. When I believed this in my heart, I knew if I dropped dead at that moment, I wouldn’t go to hell. I was saved at that young age as I was “scared that I would go to hell”. Don’t hear much of that in our sermons today. Why, the people just won’t accept it, is the answer that I hear. The truth is I came to Jesus for the gift He offered, out of pure fear because I didn’t want to die forever. Our Love does not come first. It never does. We love Him because He first loved us. I got to know Him because of what I at that age of what little I could read, and the Preacher said the same thing. So I walked that isle to tell the preacher I was saved, and all those there, and not that I wanted Him or the Baptist church to save me. I said I come to Jesus. This was between Jesus Christ, and me, for He was the only one that could keep me out of hell and damnation that is forever.

So trembling and so happy, I marched down the isle to the surprise of my family and friends, and the Preacher. I didn’t ask them if it was OK, because this was my decision. So in reality, I was actually saved sometime before the first day of the week, and before my public confession, which came on that Sunday in Dallas, Texas in the year 1938, before my birth date in the month of May.

As to my belief of baptism of which you seem to be concerned, and why you think I am of some cult. I’ll answer your misunderstanding on the General Baptist Discussion Forum for this is the place of your insinuation of cultism of some others in the Body of Christ[/I]. Now as to my baptism into the Baptist church, which is not into His Body. At that young age I had not been taught by the Preacher, or Sunday school teachers, that baptism was necessary for salvation, and I never taught that as a teacher. What little I could read, and what I was taught, was I could join a church after I was saved. And this was what I did.

The Preacher asked if confession had been made for all my sins. I said yes. Then he asked me if I wanted to be baptized into the Baptist church now that I had been saved. I jumped at the chance. Why did I do this? Was it because this Baptist church was the only church that would get me to heaven? Was it to be closer to God, or to show that I now believed that Jesus Christ had saved me? I had just showed this small world (the 100 or so believers there at the time), I was now saved. I needed nothing else, and they didn’t need any more proof, that I was now identified with Jesus Christ.

So why then was I baptized, and why did the Preacher baptize me? He and those there that day had seen I had now been identified with Jesus Christ. So by this identification, this Baptist church could allow me to be baptized into their church. The question then is why this particular church? I wanted to go because that is where my Dad, Mom, Brothers, and Sister went to church. I wanted now, that I didn’t have to be forced to go to church when they did, to join the church where they went, to be with them. I wanted to associate with them, as well as the others in that particular church.

This is the way this “cultist” in your mind gained entrance into this earthly denomination of man. I am still in the Baptist loop, moving by letter a couple of times, because of relocating. My great granddad was a Methodist Minister. I would have joined that church, I am sure had my Mother and Dad remained so. They were saved when they were Methodist, but came to believe as some other saved people, the Baptist religion, and they decided to change to the Baptist church. Had I decided to join the Methodist church at that time, they would have understood, but would have wondered at my young age, why I would not wish to worship with them, so we could all be together.

I hope this will suffice, answering your concern. I am a Baptist. so I thought I would be welcome on this board. I see many other Baptist here that have a mind of their own also, and not one of us believe everything exactly as the other.

Here is the inclusion of the falling away of so many Baptists today. Please keep in mind I hold to it being possible to fall away, but not out of salvation. I hope you will see here something has changed for many Baptists away from what Baptist of the past believed, and some still do. Very many today say we are identified with Christ when we are baptized. This belief is the same as the Catholic church, the church of Christ, and others teaching the “great commission” of we must be baptized to be saved for this is the only way we can identify with Him. I refuse this understanding of water baptism. I was identified with Christ upon believing, was circumcised, and baptized without hands, knowing every sin now, back there, and in front is forgiven. The Holy Spirit seals us until that day as Jesus Christ holds us for we are now this minute in Him, our New bodies to join Him when we are caught up to Him. We have already been born again in Spirit, and Soul. We are just awaiting our New born bodies. Christian faith, ituttut Galatians 1:11-12.

(posting rules include the directive to not use personal names of other members in headings of threads.)

[ March 25, 2005, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: dianetavegia ]