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Inventing Mysteries for the Masses: The Currency of Salvation
Posted by Chris Johnson in Baptist Life, Bible & Theology, Church & Missions
The struggle for political supremacy among denominational groups near the beginning of the twenty first century has once again diminished the understanding of the biblical meaning of mustērion in much the same way as was accomplished around 400 AD.
Of the many occasions for mustērion in the New Testament scriptures, we find the context surrounding God’s use of this term as something that is clearly known. That is…when mustērion is used, the term itself reveals the knowledge of something in “times past” presented as a mystery,…. And because of the Holy Spirit’s giving of knowledge, this same mystery is understood in the present. “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit teaches all things, even the depths of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:5-16 “so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (6) Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; (7) but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; (8) the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; (9) but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” (10) For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. (11) For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, (13) which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. (14) But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. (15) But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. (16) For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Is there a doctrine of “means” revealed for grace in the Holy Scriptures? Actually, the Word of God on its own is the means; where preaching the good news into the entire world becomes the command for the follower of Christ. The “means of grace” a nice little phrase depicting an even shorter terminology known as “sacraments”, are cleverly articulated inventions that are conveniently nested over time for political gain. So as habit would have it….the term sacrament became for the unaware the newest Latin mark for the biblical term mustērion. Musterion though, by biblical definition is no longer a mystery at all, but actually a mystery revealed; declaring that obedience is better than sacrifice, because the eternal obedience has taken place in history. Yet the reenactment of Christ’s obedience through inventive (mysterious/sacramental) means finds strength and pleasure in the political alone; where the finished work of Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit soon become merely purveyors in man’s appeasement of self….And it certainly remains a popular attitude which is lived out in the twenty first century of religious thought and form, and is cancerous among all denominational structures.
This is certainly not a new concept. Men will always gravitate to the political and the desire to control the masses. The Jew was not immune for ethnic reasons, but neither is a man claiming a Baptist cultural heritage, because the flesh of man is rarely content with Christ alone….after all, “what would Jesus do” to sustain for us a more fleshly grace and the ultimate of neo-righteousness. ……especially if man can somehow devise how to control the masses for Him.
Romans 10:4-10 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (5) For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. (6) But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), (7) or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” (8) But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”–that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, (9) that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (10) for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Romans 6:10-11 “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (11) Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
It is good to know that Christ lives His life to God, not to man! And because of that,…there is no mystery to life in Christ Jesus!
The followers of Christ must be prepared to defend the gospel against the egregious error of all the neo-biblical movements like the Roman Catholic currency without creating a currency all their own. How do we remain faithful?
Here are a few questions for you?
What is most clearly invented error declared in the Roman Catholic economy?
Is there a currency used by the Baptist to maintain its economy?
How do you believe the Apostle Peter would respond to the Roman Catholic and Baptist view of the church?
Blessings,
Chris
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Chris,
I sense a need to be a bit tentative on what I am going to say here, as it has potential for being perceived as offensive to our Catholic friends. But, as I have studied Church History (admittedly, not nearly as much as I would like to one day), I have often asked how did the doctrinal innovations that came to be supported by the Roman hierarchy enter into Christian churches. So far, the thesis that makes the most sense to me is that, basically, the system of “dispensing grace” by means of the sacraments, as if it were a currency, or a substance that can be measured out, under the control of a special class of persons (clergy), helped to advance a primarily political agenda.
As I understand it, it is the authority of the Word of God, and the priesthood of the believer(s), and soul competence of each believer under the authority of the Word of God, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in communion with the Body of Christ at large, that helps to free us from the yoke of bondage imposed by others for political gain and manipulative control.
I suppose that, as Baptists, whenever we put our particular traditions in front of an open analysis of what the Word of God actually teaches, we are prone to fall into the same trap.
David,
I agree,
I have friends that continue to follow the Roman view and other friends that at one point in their life followed the Roman Catholic view of the church, but as seems to never fail… many of them simply began to read and study the Word of God and the Spirit of God granted them eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of Christ’s finished work. That is when they began to recognize the “proposed mysteries” of their former regime as no mystery at all. The former currency of the Roman view was quickly devalued as the truth became clear from the Word of God.
Studying the Word of God should not be an offense to the Roman Catholic….I would hope that those following the Papacy would want to know the truth and not be offended by actually digging in and knowing it.
Baptist’s have currency of their own when they intentionally skew the meaning of some commands. There are certainly some Baptist’s that hold the act of Baptism up as a currency for “rights and privileges” in the church to the extent not much different than a Roman Catholic might view the act. While most Baptist’s would not agree that Baptism saves….some will use the act as a bartering (or battering) stick.
So yes,…there is plenty of currency in the market today.
Blessings,
Chris
Their is a big fracas now between Wade Burleson and Les Puryear, both of whom signed the Memphis Declaration best I remember; fracas over SEBTS President Danny Akin and Storehouse Tithing and BFM 2000.
Seems like to me that is where the “economy” of the SBC now most resembles the Catholic hierarchy.
Your words here sound good, but as long as you hold allegiance to Inerrancy as implemented in the political struggle of the Conservative Resurgence; I don’t see much of a valid testimony when it comes to church structure and working together.
The Texas Regulars, Karl Rove, James Dobson are part of the Brand Name of the Southern Baptist Convention.
High Talk about Salvation is impotent as long as you cannot acknowledge that elephant in your Southern Baptist Room.
Stephen,
Send me how much money you gave to your Church last year. I’ll keep it confidential. No one will ever know, because I wont let anyone see the email.
wink wink
David
Stephen,
You could have some traction with this claim that “allegiance to inerrancy” is being used as a currency. It seems to be a currency on both sides of the room though, where both parties have used it to determine their runnin buddies.
Are you saying that James Dobson is using a certain type of currency as a means to salvation? Karl Rove?
Your argument that these men have impact on Salvation is a bit different than the sacramental approach used by the Roman Catholics to seize an audience from week to week. We have crossed this bridge before,…but would you also say that the effort to invent an office for women as overseers in the church is a currency used by some denominations as well? It does seem to be a popular move in many denominations today, yet it never was present in the writings of the prophets or Apostles.
Blessings,
Chris
Chris: I don’t think the link below is so outside an academic understanding of Jesus that it would be a threat to preacher boys salvation, nor their efficacy in the pulpit.
I do think the architects of the conservative resurgence in whose economy you traffic would find a way to expel such teaching represented in the article below, expel them from seminary posts.
So there is something disingenuous it seems to me in your concern for Catholic Salvation economy.
I am convinced Neville Callam of the BWA, Crawford Toy, Herbert Gezork, Martin King, Reinhold Niebuhr, the Episcopalian female preacher Fleming Rutledge, Catholic novelist Flannery OConnor, and El Salvador’s Archbishop Oscar Romero on the great gettin up morning will be acknowledged by Jesus and His FAther as much closer to gettin the point on Salvation and other insights of the Incarnation and the Parables than the likes of Al Mohler, James Dobson, Paige Patterson, the Caner Brothers, Ronnie Floyd and Adrian Rogers and the folks who underwrite them in the Cooperative Program; though I acknowledge a multitude of them have a more consistent witness with the gifts given them than yours truly.
Like John the Baptist, I am not the Light but bearing alittle witness of it to you.
For more on witness, the Priest and the anchorite, see page 157 of Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing.
What that means for salvation, explore the thoughts of the blogger on Suttree as a Barefoot Jesus. That’s what’s got me thinking in the last few years.
I hope you know Flannery O’Connor’s Baptism story.
You count now, she says, and I do too.
That’s my salvation economy.
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=8164
Well, this post got me thinking and then when Stephen commented it got me thinking some more. It seems that your phrase, ‘because the flesh of man is rarely content with Christ alone’ is all too true. We each one of us are reading even this short post through the lens of our own brokenness. When I first read your use of the word ‘economy’ I saw through my own lens of house church. How the early church traded in the Lordship of Christ for the earthly model of civil government exemplified by the Roman Empire. When the Empire died the Church replaced it with a hierarchy of the same model and ended in the same corruption. Of course, this could not undo the work of God among His people. As has already been attested there are many Roman Catholics who will stand very near the throne in the end because they were very near to Christ on earth in spite of- not because of- their misunderstanding of the Church.
The same will be seen with us Baptists. Even though we mistake our government registered, tax sheltered, hierarchical structured, organizations for Church yet will His grace cover even us. But that does not let us off of trying to overcome and do better. Can we let loose of our cultural biases and man-made paradigms to see the Church that Scripture describes? When will we begin to judge the health of our churches by how well we perform the ‘one-anothers’ of the New Testament instead of by the numbers of people or the size of our buildings? Will we ever in our lifetime recover the meaning of the word ‘pastor’ so that we think of servant instead of CEO? As far as the Bible itself will we utilize it to get to know Jesus or continue to craft out of it a rule-book for living and judging others by?
These are the questions that came to my mind- because of my own lens of experience- and these I hope that the Holy Spirit will lead us to sort out sooner than later!
Oh, and Stephen, Your lens of brokenness and hurt I understand and sympathize with. I hear you that we as an organization have sinned by beating sheep instead of caring for them. I know of no one who would argue with you on this. But you need to forgive and let this CR thing go. Not because you are wrong but because it colors every comment you make and that tells me more about you than you want me to know. There are those who have sinned and they belong to Jesus and He Himself will cover their sin and bring them into righteousness. Let Paige, and Paul, and Richard, and everyone of them go. It is hurting your own soul to carry them any longer.
Brother Strider,
Great advice for our brother Stephen.
Because as you have stated well, our lens truly will reveal to us if our hearts are for Christ alone or continuously blaming others for the blight of the church as we see it.
Thank God that He continues to build his church without the need for currency. All that has been done for the church is bound up in Christ and we are only able to obey and live in His economy by way of the Holy Spirit. His church will never fail, because it is not based upon heirachical metholodology. It is based upon the Spirit making the dead alive and setting them free to follow Him.
Salvation is not implemented through water baptism….that would make baptism a currency (as it has in the RC World). Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2) which is void of any human currency. Therefore we have nothing to boast about nor any good deeds that bring eternal life.
Blessings,
Chris
Chris,
The most clearly invented error declared in the Roman Catholic economy is that they have crafted an evolving set of ceremonies that have multiple stages to make “dead faith” appear alive. It is a Disney World of “works salvation” that are just as imaginary. The Imagineer is the Pope and everything centers around, and upon, him. It is not just one thing, it is the false image produced by the whole concept of the Catholic religion and doctrines.
The currency Baptist use is similar. We have the truth and implement it through fleshy means in many or most cases. We are not sensitive to the Holy Spirit because He might turn us into Pentecostal’s or Assembly of God’s. We consider “grace” as a greeting or we simply define it as “unmerited favor” and keep walking. You know, the Super Bowl can be described with two words, too, “competitive entertainment”, or, a “Hurricane” can be describe with, “destructive weather” but I don’t see anyone just say it and walk away when they are present and active. We also know about faith but all of our church business is simply performed like a business. We are not led by the still waters of “rest”. We simply analyze everything with the “favored” few and the poor who are rich in faith that sit on our pews have no voice. We would do better if we began to allow the poor to have the best seats in the house and ask, no, tell our wealthy to take the lower seats for a while. It is all about faith in God and we have accepted a counterfeit currency in our first step of the Christian life in our churches. We are producing wood, hay and stubble and thinking we are producing diamonds, jewels and pearls with our works. It is all about design, lifestyle and success that keeps us thinking we are preparing our King to accept His kingdom when we should be sitting in the ash heap reciting Job 38 thru 41.
Peter would have responded with a warm welcome before the cross, and after, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and matured, so, he would have declared nothing less than war with every one of them. Peter was bolder than he ever thought he would have been in Spiritual warfare after he settled his future with God.
Another good and encouraging post.
Peter actually did respond via his two epistles in which he wrote “Baptism now saves you.” (1 Peter 3:12). He also said, immediately following Pentecost, that people should “repent and be baptized so that your sins may be forgiven.” (Acts 2:38).
In other words baptism is a physical act in which God does something spiritual to us. That is the very definition of “sacrament.” So I’m not sure Peter would be as angry as Bruce suggests.
Patrick,
Lets explore your proposition and claim a bit further…..
Peter begins his epistle very clearly as he instructs the Saints throughout the churches….
1 Peter 1:20-23 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (21) who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (22) Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, (23) for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
And further corroborates that these Saints, as living stones, are being built up for a holy priesthood….meaning all the individuals offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.
1 Peter 2:4-5 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, (5) you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
This puts your proposition into its proper light. Peter was giving these Saints a familiar assurance…one they had learned from the reading of Noah, through the prophets of old, being brought safely through water….water signifying the death for all others….yet God saved Noah and his family previously and brought them through the water…. In full context Peter says….
1 Peter 3:18-22 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; (19) in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, (20) who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. (21) Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (22) who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
In other words, it is the finished work of Christ,…his resurrection that has brought us to God. Peter clearer does not use it (baptism) as some currency that seals the deal,….Christ alone is the currency, the worth of our salvation (salvation is in Him alone)… rather he rightly points to the command of all believers to be baptized…. “an appeal to God for a good conscience”.
Peter echoes this same consistent teaching (as you pointed us to) recorded by Luke …..
Act 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Believers actually do repent and obey in the act of baptism. ….as Peter had given us in his first letter to the churches….”an appeal to God for a good conscience”. Obedience is not the same as depending upon the “currency of baptism” to actually save (that would be to reverse the order given by Peter and all the other Apostles…Obeying Christ’s command to be baptized is an appeal to God, identifying with the risen Christ and recognizing the indwelling promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 15).
Blessings,
Chris
Bruce,
I think you are right…. that many times Baptist’s try and create a new currency to lure the masses and ultimately squeeze out the work the Holy Spirit in the lives of the congregation…by giving them to-do lists or adventurous getaways…sometimes now disguised as mission trips..
We would all do well to return to Christ though, understand His finished work, and know that he ever intercedes for us before the Father. Confessing our sins to one another….Then we might begin to return to worship in spirit and in truth…without the need for additional currency.
Blessings,
Chris
Patrick W.
I didn’t mean to come across with a picture of Peter declaring a literal type of war. Certainly, we must possess a righteous anger and know how to administer it. I think we can be righteously angry and respond many different ways to obtain the kingdom results. Jesus had the capacity to discern and respond appropriately. In Jesus was the Divine anger that is found in Psalm 7:11 “God [is] a just judge, And God is angry [with the wicked] every day.” I see all of the various ways He acted and responded to us through that anger, too. He loved us with many other Divine characteristics to accomplish His Divine purpose. In a way, Peter did declare war on the people of his day. I hope that better defines my approach.
Thanks for reminding me to present my thoughts more clearly.
Chris, it sounds like we more or less agree. You say
“Believers actually do repent and obey in the act of baptism.”
So those who do not both a) repent and b) submit to baptism are not really believers. This is just another way of saying that baptism is necessary for salvation. Am I misunderstanding you?
Peter portrays baptism as an action that brings a result. If this makes it a “currency,” then it is much more so for Baptists than for Catholics. Rome accepts all baptisms, Catholic or not, as long as they are done with water and include the trinitarian formula. Few SBC congregations are as free to let others mint “their” currency.
Patrick,
I am very confident that we are actually not in agreement…. if you say that baptism (it being the object) actually saves. Actually Peter does not portray “an action” on part of an individual as providing salvation at all….In fact he teaches against such heresy, as he clearly states in his greeting to the saints in both of his letters… 1 Peter 1:1-2, 2 Peter 1:1-3. The Apostle was very clear that the only “object” of salvation is Christ alone…. as he says “through the resurrection of Jesus. Salvation then is always by grace through faith. (Ephesians)
This actually no different than that of the Levitical Priests under the Mosaic covenant. Their salvation was not in the “object” (the blood of goats and bulls), but was always in the blood of the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, Jesus Christ. Yet, they were held accountable to carry out the Law regardless. In much the same way, we as believers in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation are commanded to be baptized. The baptism in and of itself has no power whatsoever. If we believe that the act or the water is our object, then that type of faith is dead faith, and is actually no faith at all….because its object is “acting on something made with hands”, not faith in the blood of Christ (our eternal sacrifice), without which there is no remission of sin.
Now as Christ immerses (baptizes) us into Himself,..that does bring a result, which is life as we, like Noah, are then seen as passing through the water that brings death. That is the point of Peters teaching in the scripture that you site.
You do bring up an important point about baptism that some, very few, Baptist’s do err….which is not accepting a baptism of one that has repented and confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior. The bible is clear, that when we confess Christ as Lord we are to be baptized, not for salvation, but in obedience to Christ’s command. If a Baptist church will not accept a baptism done in that way, then they are in error as well.
The Roman Catholic belief as I understand it though, actually places trust in the object of water and confers to, in most cases, the infant for admission into the church and their indelible quest for righteousness. That is not a biblical doctrine….it is a doctrine born much later in the history of religion, and invents a new religious ceremony for the benefit of political gain, leading opposition against the church.
Blessings,
Chris
The best SBC Currency–Avoid Church tradition as found in RCC, devoid of biblical example, and avoid charismatic teachings that have no basis in scripture and depends on communal experience.
The Old Baptist Motiff–Command and Example in Scripture. When it comes to church structure and practice, find Christ’s or Apostles’ instruction and then find the example in Acts as a lasting action.
BTW, when did Flannery O’Connor become a great example of Christian piety? Just a GA Baptist view of a GA RCC…
Adieu
Chris, you make good points. I think the essential issue here is whether God can/does work through the material world to accomplish important things. He obviously does.
Suppose, for instance, I am critically injured in an accident. I am taken to the hospital where a physician performs surgery on me. I am thus saved from an otherwise certain death. Was I saved by God or the doctor? The answer is both. The Lord gave the doc his skills and put him in the right place at the right time. The doc chose to operate on me rather than play golf that day.
Of course, the Lord could have simply intervened in nature and directly healed me. He has that power and uses it sometimes – but more often he prefers to work through his other creations, like doctors.
So, saying that “baptism saves souls” is no more inaccurate than saying “doctors save lives.” In neither case are we saying that God is not responsible or giving credit to someone who doesn’t deserve it. It is simply an acknowledgment of the order that God created for us.
Someone who claims to believe the Gospel and have repented, but who willingly refuses baptism, is denying this order and is not really a believer.
Patrick,
This is excellent dialogue my friend and really goes to the finer points of doctrine that actually is addressed by the Apostles.
Let me try and illustrate as I address a few of the things that you put forward by way of the accident and the doctor….because there is no doubt that God uses all means to bring about his purposes (Romans 8). And… we must realize that being “saved from wrath” is not something within our power, or any other human action, only the action of the sinless incarnate Christ…. As well, it is important to make the distinction of being “saved from wrath” which is not anything like a “doctor (born in and committing sin) saving us from death. So, yes God may use a doctor here on earth to save our flesh from death. But God does something quite distinctive from that type of thing.
Roman 5:8-11 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (11) And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
So then,…God’s reconciliation which He designed and purposed in His Son Jesus Christ is our only justification by His Blood. So, scripture is clear that the “work” of salvation is all of God and is not dependent or related to our work on earth. If it were, it would somehow depend on us,…and would not be the same as what God has revealed in His scriptures concerning His Son.
This is an interesting statement,…and is a statement used by some Baptist’s along the way as well. But, as I have described above, …if we depend on something made with hands of flesh, then we miss what God has actually and effectually done in His Son…which we do accept by faith, …which is the faith once for all delivered to the Saints. So then, as the Apostles would say,…it is by grace through faith (a specific kind of faith) that we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and then in obedience to the revealed Word of God and the command of Christ, we are baptized, to identify with the testimony of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
This was clearly seen with those believers and disciples in Ephesus at Acts 19….
Act 19:1-5 It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. (2) He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” (3) And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” (4) Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” (5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
It is clear that these believers knew and trusted the message of Jesus Christ, accepted the faith that was delivered to the Saints, …in fact, they thought the baptism they had with John was the way….. But the Holy Spirit was instructing these disciples to identify with Him (being sent after Christ’s ascension) and confess the same faith as those in the church at Ephesus. So as they understood the difference between John’s baptism and the command of Christ to be baptized …. They obeyed. Their obedience brings glory to God, not to themselves. Their baptism reflected an understanding that the Holy Spirit had come (new covenant) to empower the church as she was in mission in the world. The baptism was not some additional means of grace bringing justification (Christ had already accomplished that). It was obedience to what they understood by way of the Holy Spirit and the teaching of the Apostles as they were sharing the gospel in and around Ephesus.
O that we would be like that today!
I do agree that believers will not ultimately deny baptism,…but we must understand,…as seen in Acts,…that some, justified by Christ and saved from the wrath of God, need continued discipleship leading them to the joy and significance of obeying Christ in baptism. This does not mean that they are without justification (righteous standing before God)….but it does mean that they need to continue to obey and be baptized as Christ commands for all his adopted children, so that they recognize the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church.
Here are the only hands (God’s) that effect justification….
Colossians 2:8-14 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (9) For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, (10) and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; (11) and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; (12) having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, (14) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Blessings,
Chris
Patrick,
I missed putting your quote in at this point… it makes more sense with your quote….
……………..
This is an interesting statement,
“Someone who claims to believe the Gospel and have repented, but who willingly refuses baptism, is denying this order and is not really a believer.”
…and is a statement used by some Baptist’s along the way as well. But, as I have described above, …if we depend on something made with hands of flesh, then we miss what God has actually and effectually done in His Son…which we do accept by faith, …which is the faith once for all delivered to the Saints. So then, as the Apostles would say,…it is by grace through faith (a specific kind of faith) that we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and then in obedience to the revealed Word of God and the command of Christ, we are baptized, to identify with the testimony of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Blessings,
Chris