Originally posted by Brother Bob:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />
mman
Here is a verse so simple you have to have help to misunderstand it.
He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. {believeth come first, can't you see it.)
You need help to stretch all of the following Scriptures. I been around Baptist all my life and didn't know there were some who believed that salvation was in the creek water until I came on BB. Show me in the following Scriptures where it even mentions the water baptism. </font>[/QUOTE]Not one of your listed verses negates or in any way voids Mark 16:16. In fact, it they are all in complete harmony.
Water baptism is for the saved, not to save them. Holy Ghost baptism is to save them and keep them.
Acts, chapter 2
"21": And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts, chapter 2
"47": Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Kinda leaves you out of it don't you think?
If I were you, I would avoid Acts 2 if you believe that baptism is for the saved.
As for verse 21, is that the answer Peter gave them in Verse 38 when they asked what they need to do in verse 37?
Did Peter's answer contradict what he had said earlier? No!!!!! Therefore, calling on the name of the Lord must include repentance and baptism.
Want more proof? Let's go to Acts 22:16 - "Saul, Saul, why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord"
Here is the only example in scripture of anyone "calling on the name of the Lord". How did he do it? By being baptized, just like they did in Acts 2.
"In the name of" means by the authority of. In Matt 28:18, Jesus said all authority had been given to Him. He then tells his apostles to go teach and baptize. In that parallel account, Mark plainly states, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved"
Now for verse 47, yes, the Lord adds to the church. We don't join the church, we are not voted in, but the Lord adds us. In verse 41, we see that they were added at baptism.
Verse 38 plainly teaches that baptism is for the remission of sins.
This same Greek phrase is used in Matt 26:28 that says Jesus' blood was shed "for the remission of sins".
Now if you can understand the meaning of "for the remission of sins" in Matt 26:28, you can understand Acts 2:38.
How are these baptized believers refered to in Verse 44? As all who "believed".
Romans, chapter 10
"13": For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 22:16 is the only example we have of anyone calling on the name of the Lord and that was done in baptism.
Luke, chapter 7
"50": And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
Jesus had the power to forgive sins while he was on the earth. His new covenant went into effect after His death (Heb 9:16-17)
Luke, chapter 8
"12": Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Mark 16:16 - He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
Anyone who omits either of these will not be saved.
John 1:12 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right
to become children of God, (ESV)
Notice, he didn't say they were the children of God, but they could become a child of God.
Luke, chapter 18
"42": And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
This again was under the old law. The new law could not go into effect before His death (Heb 9:16-17)
John, chapter 10
"9": I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Yes, Jesus is the door. So, how do we get INTO Christ?
You can search your bible from cover to cover and you will only find that we get INTO Christ through baptism (Rom 6:3-4, Gal 3:27).
Ephesians, chapter 2
"8": For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Oh, one of my favorite verses. I'm so glad I don't or can't earn any part of my salvation. Praise God!!!!!
You may misunderstand my beliefs. I believe that we are saved by grace though faith. Salvation by faith. Nothing could be made more plain in the scriptures. I believe that with all my heart!!!!
When God said in Heb 11:30, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days".
Did this require any action? Did their acitons earn the walls falling down? Did you know that Jericho had been already given to them? (Joshua 6:2). They didn't earn it because God gave it to them, yet obedience was required. Do you really think they could have ignored God's instructions and still be listed here as having faith. Do you think we can we ignore God's instructions and still be said to have faith?
Here's how Paul put it in Gal 3:26-27, "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God,
through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
We are childern through faith because we have been baptized. It's really very simple.
1 Corinthians, chapter 3
"15": If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Read this chapter and understand it. Notice verse 9, "For we are God's fellow workers.
You are God's field, God's building.
So, they were workers and those who were receptive to the gospel were God's building and field.
I Cor 3:12-15 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
The people are the building. The work is adding people to the building. Paul is saying just because you work to convert someone and that person is lost, doesn't mean you will be lost, just because your work was lost.
1 Corinthians, chapter 15
"1": Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
"2": By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
It is obious from this passage that belief alone doesn't save, else it would be impossible to have "believed in vain".
He goes on to say that that gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
From II Thess 1:8 "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:" we see the importance of obeying the gospel.
How does one obey the death, burial, and resurrection? Paul tells us in Rom 6 that it is through baptism that we obey this. In verse 17 he says we obey a form of this. Of course we don't physically die and are buried and resurrected, so we obey a form of this in baptism. We die to sin and we are buried in the waters of baptism and raised to walk a new life. That is how we obey the gospel.
The one that puts the clincher is the following:
Ephesians, chapter 1
"13": In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also
after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
That is not quite the clincher you need. We have just seen how we obey the gospel. Acts 2:44 talks about all who believed and this in no way precluded baptism. You see, "all who believed" were those who had repented and were baptized.
Acts 16 is another wonderful example, "Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they
spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was
baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he
rejoiced along with his entire household
that he had believed in God. (30-34)
He was told to believe and at the end, he rejoiced having believed. What happened in the middle? They spoke the word of the Lord to him and he was baptized at once! It's no wonder he rejoiced having believed since he had just been baptized. He had obeyed the word of the Lord, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" - Mark 16:16
Again, there is not one verse that negates, voids, or contradicts Jesus commission in Mark 16:16. Why don't you believe that?
Now, was Jesus just kidding or wrong when he stated, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved"
