Preachers have been arguing about baptism for a very long time now, and it still separates close friends from different denominations today. I’m just asking you to believe what is written. Most any Bible out there that is sold in the Christian book store says that baptism does now save us in 1 Peter 3:21 (below).
1 Peter 3:21
21 There is also an antitype which now saves us — baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, NKJV.
The problem comes in when we lean on our own understanding, rather than simply accepting what is written. If your Bible says that baptism saves us then why would you agree with a different message? Allow me show you why.
John 12:42-43
42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. NKJV
Christians, who can see plainly what their own Bible says, do not admit it before men because it is not inline with what their denomination teaches. Therefore, they eventually end up just as blind as their teachers because they too willing speak against the scriptures (1 Timothy 6:20-21, Ephesians 4:17-19).
We who are called to teach, do not “go beyond what is written,” or add to the Word of God (1 Corinthians 4:6-7, Proverbs 30:5-6). The King James says, don’t even “think beyond what is written.” Therefore, if you asked me if baptism saves us, I’m going to say yes, because that is exactly what 1 Peter 3:21 says!
On the other hand, the people who are not called by God to preach, will say what they want to say in order to build their crowds (2 Timothy 4:3-4, Acts 20:29-31). They do not concern themselves with what God requires of His servants (1 Thessalonians 2:4-6, Galatians 1:10), but their day is coming. The very Word of God that they reject will in turn judge them on the last day according to the Words of Jesus Christ written in John 12:48.
Therefore, test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and not just the verses, but what is said in-between reading the verses, since most error is in their interpretations, and not the reading of the scriptures.
Know for sure that the person that the Lord sends to you will speak in line with the Lord’s Words (John 3:34, Jeremiah 23:22). People who do not speak in line with what is written are not “sent” by God to speak to you, but are simply called by man to fill the building with people. They may mean well, sound sincere, but they are not “sent by God.”
Get this. Everything we would ever need for this life has “already been given to us” through our knowledge of God’s which is contained in His Word (2 Peter 1:3). So there is absolutely no reason to go beyond what is written in your Bible. Don’t look for anything that isn’t already in there, because it will only fill your head with junk that is against God’s Word, and place you further away from having what God has given you.
False teachers have to pull you away from the Word of God in order to have you rely on them (Acts 20:29-31), and there is a lot of that going on these days. Check those verses in your Bible. We are supposed to participate in the promises written in our Bibles in order to receive what God has already given us (2 Peter 1:4), but how can that be done when we accept things that are against God’s Word? Check the verses to see for yourself that I speak according to the truth.
Here is what you need to know.
The people who are not baptized will not accept God’s will for their life, point, blank, period (Luke 7 29-30). Read it for yourself.
Luke 7:29-30
29 And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. NKJV
If someone doesn’t accept God’s will for their life, can they possibly make it into the Kingdom of Heaven? Many who call Jesus Lord will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because they did not do the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21). That means that there are many saved people who will not make it.
Matthew 7:21-22
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. NKJV
Therefore, baptism does save us. It may be indirectly, but it is required. So, get Baptized! I’m Alan Ballou; a servant. If I can answer a question for you in accordance with what is actually written in the Word of God, please contact me, or just leave a commit below.
One more thing to keep in mind here. Jesus commanded us to love one another (John 13:34-34), and love comes from a pure heart, sincere faith, and a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:4-7).
1 Timothy 1:3-7
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia — remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. 5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. NKJV
In our baptism, we made the pledge (vow, promise) to keep a good (clear) conscience before God (1 Peter 3:21, above). As Christians, we need to know that. Many of Jesus’ disciples followed Him up to a point, but then refused to accept what He said (John 6:60-69).
Check those verses because the same is true today. I can’t help but think that if most knew about baptism before they were baptized, then they would strive to keep their vows. As it is written, “strive to enter through the narrow gate” (Luke 13:24-28). Why? Many will seek to enter but not be able. Check the verses!
Anyone who plans on obeying Jesus needs to know about keeping a good conscience toward God, since it is a part of the process of remaining in love. Very few today know that we have got to fight in order to remain in the faith (1 Timothy 1:18).
1 Timothy 1:18-20
18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, 20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. NKJV
Notice that waging the good warfare, or fighting the good fight (as some Bibles put it) is having (keeping) faith and a good conscience (verse 19 above).
The Christian life is not something to be taken lightly. If you are not fighting to remain in the faith, chances are you are on the very edge with one foot in the world, and with the teaching that is being spread around today, you probably think it’s ok with God. However, we have to remain in the faith or risk falling away to destruction (Hebrews 10:36-39, Colossians 1:21-23). Check the verse.
Alan Ballou; a servant. Author of “How To Stop Sinning.”
Dear Baptist/evangelical brothers and sisters in Christ,
I ask you to consider these points:
1. When God said that he would preserve his Word, what did he mean?
Did he mean that he would preserve the original papyrus and parchment upon which his Word was written? If so, then his Word has disappeared as none of the original manuscripts remain.
Did he mean that he would preserve his word in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek only? He would not preserve his Word when it was translated into all the other languages of the world?
Or did God mean that he would preserve his Word…the message/the words…the Gospel: the free gift of salvation, and the true doctrines of the Christian Faith? Would God allow his Word/his message to mankind to be so polluted by translation errors that no translation, into any other language from the three original languages, continues to convey his true words?
2. There IS no translation of the Bible, from the original ancient languages, into any language, anywhere on earth, that translates the Bible as the Baptists/evangelicals believe it should be translated.
No Bible translation on earth translates Acts 2:38 as, “Repent and believe in Jesus Christ every one of you and you will receive the Holy Ghost. Then be baptized as a public profession of your faith.”
There is no translation that translates, into any language, Acts 22:16 as, “ And now why tarriest thou? arise, believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Then be baptized.” Not a single translation in the entire world translates that verse in any way remotely resembling the manner in which Baptists believe it should be translated.
Isn’t that a problem?
And this verse, I Peter 3:21 as, “Asking Christ into your heart in a spiritual baptism, which water Baptism symbolizes, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”
And Mark 16:16 as, “He that believes will be saved, and then baptized, but he that does not believe will be condemned.”
Why would God allow EVERY English translation of the Bible throughout history to be mistranslated or use such confusing language as to suggest that God forgives sins in Baptism? And not only all English translations, ALL translations of the Bible have retained these “mistranslations or confusing wording”.
Do you honestly believe that God would allow his Word to be so polluted with translation errors that EVERY Bible in the world, if read in its simple, plain interpretation, would tell all the people of the world that God forgives sins in water baptism??
3. Why is there not one single piece of evidence from the early Christians that indicates that ANYONE in the 800-1,000 years after Christ believed that: Water baptism is ONLY a public profession of faith/act of obedience; sins are NOT forgiven in water baptism? Yes, you will find statements by these early Christians that salvation is by faith, but do Baptists and evangelicals really understand how a sinner obtains saving faith? THAT IS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION, MY FRIENDS! Does the sinner produce faith by his own free will or does God provide faith and belief as a gift, and if God does provide faith and belief as a free gift, with no strings attached, when exactly does God give it?
4. Is it possible that: Baptist-like believers, at some point near or after 1,000 AD, were reading the Bible and came across verses that read “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” and “Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved” and established their doctrine of Salvation/Justification first, based on these and similar verses alone, and then, looked at the issue of water baptism, and since the idea that God forgives sins in water baptism doesn’t seem to fit with the verses just mentioned, re-interpreted these verses to fit with their already established doctrine, instead of believing the “baptism verses” literally?
Is it possible that BOTH groups of verses are literally correct?? If we believe God’s Word literally, he says that he saves/forgives sins when sinners believe/call AND when they are baptized? Why not believe that God can give the free gift of salvation in both situations: when a sinner hears the Gospel and believes and when a sinner is baptized?
Should we re-interpret God’s plain, simple words just because they don’t seem to make sense to us?
Dear Baptist/evangelical brothers and sisters, your doctrine is very well thought out and very reasonable…but it is wrong. Do you really believe that God would require an education in ancient Greek or a Greek lexicon to understand what he really wants to say to you? And do you really believe that Baptist “Greek” scholars understand Greek better than the Greeks themselves? If the Greek language, correctly translated, states in the Bible that Baptism is only a public profession of faith as Baptists say, then why do the Greek Orthodox believe that the Greek Bible plainly says, in Greek, that God forgives sins in water baptism? Somebody doesn’t know their Greek!
Please investigate this critical doctrine further. Do you really want to appear before our Lord in heaven one day and find out that you have been following a false doctrine invented in the sixteenth century by Swiss Ana-baptists?
God bless you!
Gary
Gary, does 1 Peter 3:21 say to ask Jesus Christ into our hearts? What does your Bible say in John 14:21-23, or perhaps I should ask for your interpretation of those verses. So, according to your Bible, or what you have come to believe, when will Jesus make His home in our hearts?
John 14:21-24
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. NKJV
According to those verses, Jesus will reveal Himself to those who simply obey Him, and we have been taught by God to do just that according to the Word of the Lord written in 1 Thessalonians 4:9.
1 Thessalonians 4:9
9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another NKJV
Jesus commanded us to love one another (John 13:34-35). So, let’s see. A person could be baptized, which allows them to accept God’s will for their life as I have mentioned in my original post (Luke 7:29-30), and then God Himself is able to teach them to obey Jesus, and Jesus Himself is able to reveal Himself to them.
What part of that do you not understand? Ok, so there is no Bible out there that is interpreted 100% correctly, but what part of what I mentioned above requires a Bible? Your problem is that you do not know the scriptures, and so you are like fighting anyone who does not agree with the things you have found out. Consider Philippians 3:15 below.
Philippians 3:15
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. NKJV
God is able to reveal things to His people. Praise God! I could mention every verse that is misinterpreted in the Bibles I use, but who would I help? I’m trying to reach people who have already purchased a Bible, and so I need to reach them from where they are right now. How should I do that? Can I start with, “Hi, I’m Alan Nobody Ballou, and the first thing you need to do is to trash that new Bible you just bought?” No, first show me that you know what you are talking about.
Indeed, baptism does save us, but it is not as you have described it. Go back and read your post because it seems like you are answering someone else. I did not say a lot of the things that you are saying. Maybe you are answering your own questions, or just trying to promote your website, I don’t know.
However, I simply quoted 1 Peter 3:21 and it still remains true. Also, consider Romans 6:1-22, which most people skip over. It talks about following through with the pledge made during baptism, and if it is followed, we would indeed be saved. I would learn that first before I stood up to testify that 1 Peter 3:21 was not true.
Romans 6
6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. NKJV
If you have a question about something I have said, please ask. I’m Alan Ballou; a servant.
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