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God's Sword of Truth - The Word
Water Baptism
IS WATER BAPTISM NECESSARY FOR SALVATION?People, listen up! You DO NOT need the works of the ritual of being baptized in any system of religion or to obtain salvation in Christ. Many churches (Baptists, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, etc.) teach that in order for a person to be saved he/she must be baptized in water (as well as having believing faith in Christ) or they are not saved. There is no physical water dunking, sprinkling, or immersion in water needed in order to be saved, as none of these types of baptism have significant saving merits. The Word tells us to ".....Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved...." - Acts 16:31. Let's read it again - "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Now, nowhere does it tell us to 'believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and get ourselves baptized in order to be saved.'Right? Only Christ can save us through His blood which cleanses us from all our sin - 1 John 1:7 - "...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Pay attention Baptists - you lose! Your works are dead! Also, you Catholics - you believe in the baptism of regeneration, as so stated in your universal Catechism of 1993 and also printed in the Vatican II (1962-65) Council of Trent papers, stating that baptism is necessary for salvation. More lies! You all believe the lies of Satan!
SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH!
Please allow me to emphasize something very important right here. Notone religion of man fully understands the true meaning of 'Grace'. Read the following scriptures carefully - Romans 11:6 - "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. (Eph. 2:5) Do you understand this scripture? Do you fully understand the meaning of 'salvation by grace through faith'? It means - you do nothing for it - works are not involved, conditions are not involved - it is a gift of the Lord, and it is FREE! FREE! FREE! And, all one has to do is: believe it, accept it, hold fast to it and live your life every day by His Holy Word, placing it in your heart. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." - Ephes. 2:8,9. What did this scripture say? It says 'through faith' we are saved, not of ourselves (by works) - it is a gift of God. Amen! Baptism is a physical act not able to save us, but believing in our Saviour Jesus Christ through faith is a spiritual act through which we are saved by grace. God's grace is every so simple, yet made so difficult by many. It is the riches of what we have earned at Christ's expense on the cross. Now you know that we can't even do one extra thing to earn what we have received....and we surely don't deserve what we have received, we are all more deserving of hell. But because of the Lord's plan, plus nothing else, we are saved by His grace. In man's religions you can earn salvation by what you have done....and they talk a big talk and call themselves 'Christian'. Don't believe their lies, they are of the devil in every manner of speaking. The concept of Grace is what makes Christianity so different from man's religions of the world. There are those who are in bondage to sin and the demons of this world, but in the midst of that, God can save you. Accept the free gift of God, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." - John 5:24. And nothing else need be added!
Let's continue on. When the multitudes were following Jesus - "Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." - John 6:28,29. Oh, how everyone loves to think they can work the works of God. But what did Jesus say? "Believe on him whom he hath sent." Simple, isn't it! Just believe on Jesus Christ, nothing else. Here's a question for you - can you recall anywhere in the Bible where Jesus, while on this earth, baptized anyone? I don't think so. In fact, never! Jesus never baptized anyone with water during His time on this earth. Now, wouldn't you think that if water baptism was necessary for salvation, Jesus certainly would have been baptizing all the thousands of people that He preached to and came in contact with during His ministry. But Jesus did tell us "....Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." - John 6:35
THERE IS SPIRITUAL WATER BAPTISM
Now, there is spiritual water baptism as we are told in scripture. It is spiritual in nature as is the living water that Jesus spoke of to the woman at the well - John 4:10 says: - "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.". Are you saved by grace? If so, you cannot work for it, earn it or pay for it - it's FREE! It is a gift of the Lord to all who believe. At the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus Christ (the Water of Life) said: "...If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) - John 7:37-39. At the very moment of our salvation, the Holy Spirit is given to ALL who believe on Him. And if you belong to Him you must have the Holy Spirit, for He tells us - "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." - John 1:12,13. Read Romans 6:1-8, and 1 Cor. 12:13 says: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. One body meaning the 'body of Christ, the believers who are the church'. This is not water baptism, but spiritual baptism. Have you received Christ by faith? Only you can answer that question.
WATER BAPTISM
Think of it this way, was the repentant thief on the cross, next to Christ, baptized? No! He was in heaven with Christ that very day - it is written in scripture - "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." - Luke 23:43. We can never be justified before God except through saving faith in Jesus. "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them." - Gal. 3:11,12. The Catholic Church states that the thief on the cross had conditional baptism of desire, so then if he had it, we must all have it. Therefore, that would mean that it would be obtained by the same witchcraft that the Catholic Church uses and all would be saved. Nonsense! Lies! And more lies! Performing a ritual such as water baptism will never save anyone - for no one can be justified before God except through saving faith in Jesus Christ. Water baptism does not save you, it has absolutely nothing to do with your salvation and places no one into the body of Christ. In John 3:16-18, Jesus told Nicodemus - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Water baptism is not necessary for salvation, because it is a "work", and our salvation is not of "works" - Paul tells us in Titus 3:5-7: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Water baptism is an act of the flesh "body" - and again Paul tells us that "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:" - Romans 3:20 and water baptism is a deed performed in churches of man (many still under the law) and cannot save you in any way, shape or form. Many churches add conditions, such as water baptism, besides faith in order to be saved. Read the Word and it will tell you that many unbelievers were told exactly what they had to do in order to be saved: What did Christ tell Nicodemus in John 3:16-18 - "....that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." What did Paul tell the Jews in Acts 13:39 - "And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Also read what Paul told the Philippian keeper of the prison in Acts 16:30,31 - "...believe on the Lord Jesus Christ".
We are saved by Grace alone, no works or acts to perform. Believe in Jesus and live Him everyday, always - Period!
All scripture based on the King James Authorized Version or 1611 Bible, New Testament only, otherwise known as THE WORD. All Old Testament scriptural references used in this article is Jewish History, not canonical, and is used as additional references.
