17 11. What Man Must Do to Become Such As Should Be Saved (Pt 3)
11. What Man Must Do to Become Such As Should Be Saved (Pt 3)
What Man Must Do to Become Such As Should Be Saved
INTRODUCTION
We come to the study of baptism, the third lesson on what man must do to become "such as should be saved." We have learned that a man must believe that Christ is the Son of God and repent of his sins before he can be considered "such as should be saved." The question before us now is: Can a man be considered "such as should be saved" if he refuses to be baptized? The question of this lesson is not whether God gives remission of sins before baptism, in the act of baptism, or after baptism. The question before us today is: Does our Lord consider one who knows what Christ says about baptism and refuses to be baptized ’’such as should be saved? ” TO WHOM IS THE PROMISE OF KNOWLEDGE?
Those who”hunger and thirst after righteousness. ” "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6.) Are you hungering for the truth on this subject?
Those who desire to know the will of God. "If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself."
(John 7:17.) Let us be sure that we want his will on this question.
Those who love the truth. "And with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish: because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a He: that all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11.) It is dangerous to study any subject with prejudice in our hearts. Let us see to it that we are honest, that we are sincere, that we hunger only for the pure word of God on all subjects.
Those who are willing to submit to God. Whether baptism is essential or nonessential to the salvation of my soul is not a matter of preference. God wrote his will several thousand years before I was born, and it matters not what our preferences in such matters may be, God has fixed it, and it will so remain till the judgment. The heavens and earth will pass away, but God’s word will stand unchanged, and these very words we must face in the judgment. (John 12:48.) How foolish for any man to be prejudiced and try to force himself to believe that the Bible teaches a thing it does not! If we permit ourselves to be satisfied with the wrong way here, we will be undeceived in the judgment, to our everlasting shame and contempt.
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT BAPTISM
John the Baptist "came into all the region round about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins." (Luke 3:3.)
"The Pharisees and the lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God, being not baptized of him [John]." (Luke 7:30.) Our Lord himself walked more than sixty miles from Nazareth of Galilee to where John was baptizing to be baptized, not because he had any sins to be remitted, but "to fulfill all righteousness." (See Matthew 3:13-17.)
Baptism now is a command of our Lord and is backed with all the authority God has in heaven and on earth, and it is administered in the great name of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. (See Matthew 28:16-20.) The words of our Lord in the great commission are: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Mark 16:15-16.) When Saul of Tarsus asked our Lord what he must do, he was told to go into the city and there it would be told him what he must do. (See Acts 9:6.) He went into Damascus. Ananias was sent to him by the Lord, and he was told to "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name." (Acts 22:16.) When the people asked what to do on the day of Pentecost, Peter answered them: "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38.)
Salvation is declared to beinChrist. (See Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:13-14; Colossians 2:10; l John 5:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17.) The blessed dead are those who die in the Lord. (See Revelation 14:13.) Those who go to sleep in Jesus have the promise of being brought with Jesus when he comes again. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.) The Bible declares that we go into Jesus by being baptized into him. (See Romans 6:1-5; Galatians 3:26-27.) When the Samaritans believed what Philip preached, they were baptized. (Acts 8:6; Acts 8:12; read also Acts 8:26-39.) Preaching Jesus led people to want to be baptized without delay. (See also Acts 16:16-34.) Such preaching does the same today. THE LESSON SUMMARY Whom did the Lord add on Pentecost? The answer is: "Such as should be saved." (See Acts 2:47.)
But, again, who were added "unto them" on Pentecost? The answer is: Those who gladly received the words of Peter and were baptized. (See Acts 2:41.) Whom does Christ say shall be saved? "He that believeth and is baptized." (Mark 16:15-16.)
It is not difficult to see that the "such as should be saved" were those who gladly received the word and were baptized. So we must conclude, therefore, that the command of baptism, with faith and repentance, must be obeyed in order to become "such as should be saved."