Charles,
bmerr here. I'm not sure what the difference would be between being baptized "in the name of Jesus Christ", and being baptized "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost". It's the old, "six of one, half a dozen of the other".
To do something in Jesus' name is simply to do it by His authority. Jesus was given all authority by the Father, and He in turn gave authority to the apostles through the Holy Ghost. IMO, to do something by the authority of One is to do it by the authority of all Three. I've heard both phrases spoken when people were baptized. I'm not aware of anyone who insists on using only Jesus' name.
I guess that might turn out to be a non-issue. Cool.
As far as worshipping only with the church of Christ, that would be due to the numerous differences between the doctrine of Christ, and the doctrines of men. Since the subject of baptism is already in this post, I'll give a few examples of what I'm talking aobut.
The Bible gives the meaning and purpose of baptism (remission of sins, put on Christ, baptized into Christ, wash away sins, to be saved). These are the things taught by churches of Christ, as well.
On the other hand, Baptist churches, as you can likely affirm, teach that baptism is something done after one is saved, and that it has nothing to do with salvation, or the washing away of sins.
Both bodies cannot be teaching the truth, for both teach vastly different things. If one has been taught error, he cannot be made free, for only truth can make one free (John 8:32).
On top of that, there are many different doctrines taught among different denominations. Some sprinkle, some immerse, some pour. Some accept all three as valid, others only accept one. Even among Baptist groups one can find different doctrines.
So who's right? Does it matter what we believe? Is there only a small portion of the Bible we must believe to be saved, or must one believe all of it? One could reasonably conclude that all one must believe is that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised up again, since that is about the only thing that all "Christians" believe in common. It ought not be this way.
One must not agree with me, per say, but one must agree with the Bible.
I have no doubt about your belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. What I might question is how you accepted Him as Saviour. Was it in the way shown by Scripture? or was it according to man's teaching? I mean no insult or harm, these are questions everyone ought to ask themselves.
Were you baptized for the reasons the Bible commands it? or for reasons given by man?
Only you know the extent of the changes in your life. I'm sure they were for the better. Mine sure were. But one does not have to become a Christian to live a changed life. Many have religious motivation for "turning over a new leaf", many do not.
If I have seemed to "explain away" certain verses by seeing them in light of others, it was not my intention. I only intended to show that some interpretations may have been less than accurate, since they ran afoul of other very clear passages.
Let's keep working on this.
In Christ,
bmerr
bmerr here. I'm not sure what the difference would be between being baptized "in the name of Jesus Christ", and being baptized "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost". It's the old, "six of one, half a dozen of the other".
To do something in Jesus' name is simply to do it by His authority. Jesus was given all authority by the Father, and He in turn gave authority to the apostles through the Holy Ghost. IMO, to do something by the authority of One is to do it by the authority of all Three. I've heard both phrases spoken when people were baptized. I'm not aware of anyone who insists on using only Jesus' name.
I guess that might turn out to be a non-issue. Cool.
As far as worshipping only with the church of Christ, that would be due to the numerous differences between the doctrine of Christ, and the doctrines of men. Since the subject of baptism is already in this post, I'll give a few examples of what I'm talking aobut.
The Bible gives the meaning and purpose of baptism (remission of sins, put on Christ, baptized into Christ, wash away sins, to be saved). These are the things taught by churches of Christ, as well.
On the other hand, Baptist churches, as you can likely affirm, teach that baptism is something done after one is saved, and that it has nothing to do with salvation, or the washing away of sins.
Both bodies cannot be teaching the truth, for both teach vastly different things. If one has been taught error, he cannot be made free, for only truth can make one free (John 8:32).
On top of that, there are many different doctrines taught among different denominations. Some sprinkle, some immerse, some pour. Some accept all three as valid, others only accept one. Even among Baptist groups one can find different doctrines.
So who's right? Does it matter what we believe? Is there only a small portion of the Bible we must believe to be saved, or must one believe all of it? One could reasonably conclude that all one must believe is that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised up again, since that is about the only thing that all "Christians" believe in common. It ought not be this way.
One must not agree with me, per say, but one must agree with the Bible.
I have no doubt about your belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. What I might question is how you accepted Him as Saviour. Was it in the way shown by Scripture? or was it according to man's teaching? I mean no insult or harm, these are questions everyone ought to ask themselves.
Were you baptized for the reasons the Bible commands it? or for reasons given by man?
Only you know the extent of the changes in your life. I'm sure they were for the better. Mine sure were. But one does not have to become a Christian to live a changed life. Many have religious motivation for "turning over a new leaf", many do not.
If I have seemed to "explain away" certain verses by seeing them in light of others, it was not my intention. I only intended to show that some interpretations may have been less than accurate, since they ran afoul of other very clear passages.
Let's keep working on this.
In Christ,
bmerr