June 27, 2000
Well-known evangelist, D. L. Moody was once asked, “Sir, what must I do to be saved?” Moody replied, “I’m sorry, it’s too late.”
Startled, the man asked, “Too late to be saved?”
Moody said, “No. It’s too late to do something.”
Moody did not know this man, had no idea what his life was like or how much of it was left. However, he did know what a person has to do to be saved.
The first question: saved from what? The man obviously knew that Moody was an evangelist, a person who has something to say about God. He may have known that Moody proclaimed the Gospel or “good news.” What he seemed unsure about was the content of that good news — that God forgives sin and grants eternal life to sinners by grace through faith.
Nearly thirty years ago, sin had me in more trouble than I ever expected or wanted. My life was chaotic; everything needed a miracle. I do not recall asking to be saved, but I knew I needed something and cried out to God.
God knew exactly what I needed. He also knew that I was helpless and unable to do anything to get out of my troubles. I needed to be saved, but first I had to hear the good news. He brought it to me in various ways: I read the Bible, and all sorts of other books. I went to church. Finally, I heard it: Jesus is God; He came to earth and put on human flesh so He could die for my sins; then He rose from the dead and offers eternal life to all who believe.
I believed it and when I did, I knew God forgave me and I belonged to Him. I knew that Jesus had come to live in my heart. He gave me eternal life and saved me from sin.
I remember the first time I read about a man who came to Jesus asking the same question as the man who came to Dr. Moody. He was young, wealthy, and in a position of power. If anyone could do anything to gain the favor of God and earn their salvation, this man could.
Jesus asked him about the commandments. The man said he kept them all. Then Jesus said he lacked one thing; he needed to go and sell all he had and follow Him. The man became very sad and walked away. He wanted eternal life but was not willing to pay that price for it.
Before believing the Gospel, I might have assumed this story meant salvation can be had through generous and sacrificial giving. However, I now see that interpretation contradicts other plainer passages. Jesus must have meant something beyond my initial assumption.
Jesus did tell the man to keep the Law but the New Testament clearly says that salvation does not come through keeping the law. Rather, it shows how the Law lays out God’s high standards and no one keeps it. We fall short and we need to be saved from our failure and sin.
This man claimed that he kept all the commandments but Jesus knew otherwise. By asking him to give up all his possessions, He showed the man that he did not keep the first one: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Instead, this man put money ahead of God. No one can earn salvation by giving their possessions away. The point Jesus makes is that rich folks like their money and even if something could be done to be saved, that man was not willing to do it.
Maybe some people are willing. They have a long list of things they “do for God” yet they miss the most important thing — what God has done for them. As the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Our puny efforts to do something for God go beyond being too little and too late; they insult the Giver. His salvation is a gift that we cannot earn, deserve, buy, find by a quest, or obtain by doing anything. As Moody implied, it is already there — waiting for us to receive it.
Showing posts with label salvation by faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salvation by faith. Show all posts
Monday, December 4, 2017
Friday, November 18, 2016
Computer and other hoaxes .......... Parables 512
May 28, 1996
A friend sent me an E-mail message with a grave warning. A new and extremely destructive computer virus, unlike all others, was being transferred through E-mail messages.
I believed the warning and, as instructed, sent notices to everyone on my E-mail list. The next day, two other friends, who know far more about these things than I do, kindly told me this virus is a hoax. It does not exist. Hastily, I sent retractions to everyone.
As a writer and teacher, checking sources is almost automatic, to make sure information is correct before passing it on to others. Almost automatic was not good enough this time. I simply believed my source without a second thought. Happily, no harm was done.
Gladly receiving and believing information without verifying it can make someone easy prey for unscrupulous sales gimmicks or just a hard sell. For that reason, our laws protect those who sign purchasing agreements by allowing three days to change their minds.
Some consider themselves shrewd by demanding visible proof before agreeing to anything. However, these days, visible “proof” has questionable value. For instance, computer-generated television commercials have realistic cars changing into realistic tigers and roosters gargling with mouthwash. A good graphics artist can make even the most outlandish ideas appear true.
In commercials, it may not always matter if the treatment is real or pretend, but there are situations when all information needs to be carefully verified. For instance, doctors will not prescribe drugs unless they had been thoroughly checked and rechecked. Grocers will not purchase products that claim to be food unless they are licenced and clearly labeled.
Spiritual claims also need careful examination. Some groups say, “Those who belong to us will live forever” or “Who needs Christ? Just live a good life and you will be okay.”
Unfortunately, neither statement square with what God says about eternal destiny. Since this is His habitation, His word on the matter is important.
Consider His great love: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Consider our great need: “There is none righteous, no, not one.... For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.... the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Consider His solution: “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God.”
The good news or Gospel of the Bible is diametrically opposite to the notion that eternal life is something we can earn or deserve. Unfortunately, few understand that it is free and fewer still receive it for themselves. All could learn something from the people of ancient Berea.
When the Apostle Paul arrived there, his reputation for sound, persuasive preaching preceded him. He had successfully preached from the Scriptures in Thessalonica, “explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.”
When he and his friends arrived in Berea, Paul began preaching in the local synagogue. The Bible says they “received the message with great eagerness....”
However, these people were not gullible victims of a slick presentation. The next line says, “the Bereans... examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
Even with Paul’s reputation, these people verified what he said, an attitude that is important for everyone. The gospel still sounds too good to be true — so check it out, be sure of what it says. Unlike computer viruses, God’s good news is not destructive and never a hoax.
A friend sent me an E-mail message with a grave warning. A new and extremely destructive computer virus, unlike all others, was being transferred through E-mail messages.
I believed the warning and, as instructed, sent notices to everyone on my E-mail list. The next day, two other friends, who know far more about these things than I do, kindly told me this virus is a hoax. It does not exist. Hastily, I sent retractions to everyone.
As a writer and teacher, checking sources is almost automatic, to make sure information is correct before passing it on to others. Almost automatic was not good enough this time. I simply believed my source without a second thought. Happily, no harm was done.
Gladly receiving and believing information without verifying it can make someone easy prey for unscrupulous sales gimmicks or just a hard sell. For that reason, our laws protect those who sign purchasing agreements by allowing three days to change their minds.
Some consider themselves shrewd by demanding visible proof before agreeing to anything. However, these days, visible “proof” has questionable value. For instance, computer-generated television commercials have realistic cars changing into realistic tigers and roosters gargling with mouthwash. A good graphics artist can make even the most outlandish ideas appear true.
In commercials, it may not always matter if the treatment is real or pretend, but there are situations when all information needs to be carefully verified. For instance, doctors will not prescribe drugs unless they had been thoroughly checked and rechecked. Grocers will not purchase products that claim to be food unless they are licenced and clearly labeled.
Spiritual claims also need careful examination. Some groups say, “Those who belong to us will live forever” or “Who needs Christ? Just live a good life and you will be okay.”
Unfortunately, neither statement square with what God says about eternal destiny. Since this is His habitation, His word on the matter is important.
Consider His great love: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Consider our great need: “There is none righteous, no, not one.... For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.... the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Consider His solution: “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God.”
The good news or Gospel of the Bible is diametrically opposite to the notion that eternal life is something we can earn or deserve. Unfortunately, few understand that it is free and fewer still receive it for themselves. All could learn something from the people of ancient Berea.
When the Apostle Paul arrived there, his reputation for sound, persuasive preaching preceded him. He had successfully preached from the Scriptures in Thessalonica, “explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.”
When he and his friends arrived in Berea, Paul began preaching in the local synagogue. The Bible says they “received the message with great eagerness....”
However, these people were not gullible victims of a slick presentation. The next line says, “the Bereans... examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
Even with Paul’s reputation, these people verified what he said, an attitude that is important for everyone. The gospel still sounds too good to be true — so check it out, be sure of what it says. Unlike computer viruses, God’s good news is not destructive and never a hoax.
Monday, May 30, 2016
The true nature of humanity .................. Parables 438
September 13, 1994
A Canadian doctor, after 12 years of doing surgery in war-torn places, has come to this conclusion: “There are only bad people and worse people.” He hopes he is “only one of the bad.”
Many people say war brings out fine attributes in people such as courage and national pride, but this doctor seems totally disillusioned. For him, there is no human goodness and war makes it obvious.
According to the Bible, the doctor is correct. It is those who see a positive side of human nature, wars or not, that are disillusioned. Consider this verse from the Old Testament: “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). That means everyone, even those who seem the most saintly, have sinned.
A second passage from the New Testament adds more: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12).
Certainly by human standards, people often do good (the doctor did some good during his 12 years of service), but the Bible teaches that by God’s standard, sin pollutes every person and every deed. God even says the good we do is polluted. One of His prophets explains: “All our righteousness is as filthy rags.”
For God to condemn what we esteem, must mean He sees something behind our supposed good deeds that we cannot see. Consider our motivations. I honestly must admit I am often influenced by selfish desires for personal gain or recognition. I know God sees that and does not approve.
If sinful motives were not enough to condemn even the good we do, God expects even more. He says “whatever is not of faith is sin.” Not only do selfish motives fail His test, deeds done in unbelief fall short. He wants us to be motivated by faith.
According to God’s Word, all sin, even sin not apparent to us, needs to be exposed by God and acknowledged to God. His purpose is not so He can condemn us (sin already does that) but so He can forgive and cleanse our sin from us. Accepting and believing His evaluation of our condition is the first step towards good deeds that are not motivated by selfishness and unbelief.
God, through grace and the power of His Spirit, provides a way to be rightly motivated in godly activities. Our hope is in the righteousness of Christ, given freely to all who admit their need. Romans 3 says “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
The goodness of God is a genuine gift. No one can earn or deserve it; we do not have the capacity. We cannot even claim the smallest measure of goodness. Nothing we do without Jesus can satisfy God’s high and holy standard. Without His offer of salvation by grace through faith, none of us would even seek that degree of goodness.
Even with faith in Christ, the good we do is clearly from Him. Any believing Christian who thinks otherwise simply proves our sinful tendency toward pride.
As the doctor said, war does amplify the extremes of our sinful nature. While we respect those who courageously risk their lives to defend homeland and families, we should never forget it is because we are sinners that we go to war in the first place.
A Canadian doctor, after 12 years of doing surgery in war-torn places, has come to this conclusion: “There are only bad people and worse people.” He hopes he is “only one of the bad.”
Many people say war brings out fine attributes in people such as courage and national pride, but this doctor seems totally disillusioned. For him, there is no human goodness and war makes it obvious.
According to the Bible, the doctor is correct. It is those who see a positive side of human nature, wars or not, that are disillusioned. Consider this verse from the Old Testament: “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). That means everyone, even those who seem the most saintly, have sinned.
A second passage from the New Testament adds more: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12).
Certainly by human standards, people often do good (the doctor did some good during his 12 years of service), but the Bible teaches that by God’s standard, sin pollutes every person and every deed. God even says the good we do is polluted. One of His prophets explains: “All our righteousness is as filthy rags.”
For God to condemn what we esteem, must mean He sees something behind our supposed good deeds that we cannot see. Consider our motivations. I honestly must admit I am often influenced by selfish desires for personal gain or recognition. I know God sees that and does not approve.
If sinful motives were not enough to condemn even the good we do, God expects even more. He says “whatever is not of faith is sin.” Not only do selfish motives fail His test, deeds done in unbelief fall short. He wants us to be motivated by faith.
According to God’s Word, all sin, even sin not apparent to us, needs to be exposed by God and acknowledged to God. His purpose is not so He can condemn us (sin already does that) but so He can forgive and cleanse our sin from us. Accepting and believing His evaluation of our condition is the first step towards good deeds that are not motivated by selfishness and unbelief.
God, through grace and the power of His Spirit, provides a way to be rightly motivated in godly activities. Our hope is in the righteousness of Christ, given freely to all who admit their need. Romans 3 says “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
The goodness of God is a genuine gift. No one can earn or deserve it; we do not have the capacity. We cannot even claim the smallest measure of goodness. Nothing we do without Jesus can satisfy God’s high and holy standard. Without His offer of salvation by grace through faith, none of us would even seek that degree of goodness.
Even with faith in Christ, the good we do is clearly from Him. Any believing Christian who thinks otherwise simply proves our sinful tendency toward pride.
As the doctor said, war does amplify the extremes of our sinful nature. While we respect those who courageously risk their lives to defend homeland and families, we should never forget it is because we are sinners that we go to war in the first place.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Saved by Grace .................. Parables 406
February 1, 1994
When I think of “gracious”, I think of my mother’s friend Eileen, a delightful woman who loves people and relishes life. Everything about her communicates goodness, elegance, refinement, charm, style, and beauty, all synonyms of the word “gracious”.
“Grace” is the root of gracious and used to describe fluid motion, symmetry, adornment, dignity; it has a host of dictionary definitions. With that many connotations behind the word, what does the Bible mean when it talks about the grace of God?
Martin Luther challenged a medieval idea that grace was something God infused into people when they took part in Communion. After much study and the discovery of a serious textual error in a once-popular Latin Bible, he happily announced biblical grace is “the unmerited favor of God.” In other words, God is good to us even though we don’t deserve it.
Luther easily supported this meaning by recalling what the first Christians believed and by pointing to verses like Romans 3:24: “(We) are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
This man turned the world upside-down with his definition, however he admitted it was not a new idea. The early church and the Bible had always made it plain. Unfortunately, church-goers in his day were caught up with religious duties and had lost sight of the foundation for faith.
The same thing happened to the nation of Israel. God made a covenant with them and declared to them they were His people. They were supposed to express faith in Him through obedience and draw near through certain religious activities. After a time, they began to disobey God and distanced themselves from Him. They should have stopped their religious expression and repented of their sin but instead disregarded repentance. Their worship became mere ritual and God was not pleased. He said, “These draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.”
Ephesians 2:8,9 explains that our relationship with God also depends on grace: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Salvation means forgiveness and removal of sin so we can have an intimate and personal relationship with God. Grace freely offers this relationship, not the performance of good works or religious duties. While doing good can soothe the conscience or make us look righteous in the eyes of others, God looks on the heart and sees our propensity to turn away from Him. He knows our failures yet graciously provided a way they could be forgiven.
We need grace. Without it, we either ignore God or offer Him that which is tainted, even out-and-out polluted. He has never developed relationships on the basis of our good, only on the basis of His generosity. It is somewhat ironic the above verse says we might otherwise boast about what we do when no amount of good deeds could ever cover over our sin or remove the fact of its guilt.
Grace provides the answer to our spiritual needs. Through grace, we are given faith to believe in Christ. Through Christ, we are given a relationship with God. Through the delight and joy of knowing Him, we are given a deep desire to obey Him, even to happily be involved in various religious activities. Remove grace, or replace it with a foundation of our own works and there is no relationship. At best, we are left with vain boasting and empty ritual.
When I think of “gracious”, I think of my mother’s friend Eileen, a delightful woman who loves people and relishes life. Everything about her communicates goodness, elegance, refinement, charm, style, and beauty, all synonyms of the word “gracious”.
“Grace” is the root of gracious and used to describe fluid motion, symmetry, adornment, dignity; it has a host of dictionary definitions. With that many connotations behind the word, what does the Bible mean when it talks about the grace of God?
Martin Luther challenged a medieval idea that grace was something God infused into people when they took part in Communion. After much study and the discovery of a serious textual error in a once-popular Latin Bible, he happily announced biblical grace is “the unmerited favor of God.” In other words, God is good to us even though we don’t deserve it.
Luther easily supported this meaning by recalling what the first Christians believed and by pointing to verses like Romans 3:24: “(We) are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
This man turned the world upside-down with his definition, however he admitted it was not a new idea. The early church and the Bible had always made it plain. Unfortunately, church-goers in his day were caught up with religious duties and had lost sight of the foundation for faith.
The same thing happened to the nation of Israel. God made a covenant with them and declared to them they were His people. They were supposed to express faith in Him through obedience and draw near through certain religious activities. After a time, they began to disobey God and distanced themselves from Him. They should have stopped their religious expression and repented of their sin but instead disregarded repentance. Their worship became mere ritual and God was not pleased. He said, “These draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.”
Ephesians 2:8,9 explains that our relationship with God also depends on grace: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Salvation means forgiveness and removal of sin so we can have an intimate and personal relationship with God. Grace freely offers this relationship, not the performance of good works or religious duties. While doing good can soothe the conscience or make us look righteous in the eyes of others, God looks on the heart and sees our propensity to turn away from Him. He knows our failures yet graciously provided a way they could be forgiven.
We need grace. Without it, we either ignore God or offer Him that which is tainted, even out-and-out polluted. He has never developed relationships on the basis of our good, only on the basis of His generosity. It is somewhat ironic the above verse says we might otherwise boast about what we do when no amount of good deeds could ever cover over our sin or remove the fact of its guilt.
Grace provides the answer to our spiritual needs. Through grace, we are given faith to believe in Christ. Through Christ, we are given a relationship with God. Through the delight and joy of knowing Him, we are given a deep desire to obey Him, even to happily be involved in various religious activities. Remove grace, or replace it with a foundation of our own works and there is no relationship. At best, we are left with vain boasting and empty ritual.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Will machines rule the world? .................. Parables 404
January 18, 1994
Psychologists are concerned that computers and other technical equipment is robbing people of their relational skills. They say that we are becoming so dependent upon machines that we don’t need each other. Not a few science fiction writers even speculate that someday, machines will rule the world.
Don’t believe it. This week, I can prove that we don’t need machines at all; machines need us. During our vacation my husband laughed when he found me playing Minesweeper on a computer in the corner of a Radio Shack store. He was already convinced I would not survive two weeks without my 486 and laughed that I simply could not survive without my computer.
When we got home, we discovered the opposite. My PCU has a rechargeable battery. Because I turned it off while we were gone and wasn’t using it, the battery did not recharge and some of the memory needed to start the computer was lost. It would not “boot” and I had the last laugh; it was the computer that could not live without me!
While I do use this machine a great deal, I am not helpless without it. I can still write, draw pictures, and play other games besides those designed for computers. A fruitful life does not depend on any machine... but this machine’s life and usefulness does depend on me. Pull the plug and it is a mere dust-collector.
After fixing the problem, I thought about co-dependency (another psychological buzz-word) and how God designed us to live as useful tools for Him. The Bible even says, “Offer yourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.”
Certainly we are not machines. Unlike a computer, we have power to choose who we will serve and how. However, like a computer, we do need a power source, something that motivates us and gives us our energy to keep going. Furthermore, the power source we rely upon will determine how we live.
The Bible teaches that we are insufficient in ourselves to keep ourselves going forever. That is, our life comes from God. In Him we live and move and have our being. It teaches that fruitful abundant living also requires Him as our power source. Jesus said, “I am the Vine and you are the branches. If anyone remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
He didn’t mean we couldn’t function at all on our own. Those without Christ are still able to do things. However, without a relationship of dependency and faith, what we do is not sufficient to keep us going for eternity, nor is it enough for fruitful, abundant, godly living.
Even my machine did some things on its own (after I plugged it in) without my direction. It destroyed some sectors on its own hard drive, which was rather foolish. Now it needs some major surgery to correct that problem; a procedure that will wipe it clean and reformat it.
Believe it or not, the Bible talks about our self-reliant efforts in the same terms. God says that what we do apart from faith in Him and His direction is sinful and destructive. In fact, we are so damaged by sin that we also need major corrective surgery to remove it from our lives. We need Jesus to wipe our hearts clean and give us an entirely new life.
Between my Bible and the sometimes goofy circumstances of life, God keeps reminding me how important it is to rely on Him for motivation, power and direction. What I do on my own is either destructive or makes me as useless a computer with a pulled plug.
Psychologists are concerned that computers and other technical equipment is robbing people of their relational skills. They say that we are becoming so dependent upon machines that we don’t need each other. Not a few science fiction writers even speculate that someday, machines will rule the world.
Don’t believe it. This week, I can prove that we don’t need machines at all; machines need us. During our vacation my husband laughed when he found me playing Minesweeper on a computer in the corner of a Radio Shack store. He was already convinced I would not survive two weeks without my 486 and laughed that I simply could not survive without my computer.
When we got home, we discovered the opposite. My PCU has a rechargeable battery. Because I turned it off while we were gone and wasn’t using it, the battery did not recharge and some of the memory needed to start the computer was lost. It would not “boot” and I had the last laugh; it was the computer that could not live without me!
While I do use this machine a great deal, I am not helpless without it. I can still write, draw pictures, and play other games besides those designed for computers. A fruitful life does not depend on any machine... but this machine’s life and usefulness does depend on me. Pull the plug and it is a mere dust-collector.
After fixing the problem, I thought about co-dependency (another psychological buzz-word) and how God designed us to live as useful tools for Him. The Bible even says, “Offer yourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.”
Certainly we are not machines. Unlike a computer, we have power to choose who we will serve and how. However, like a computer, we do need a power source, something that motivates us and gives us our energy to keep going. Furthermore, the power source we rely upon will determine how we live.
The Bible teaches that we are insufficient in ourselves to keep ourselves going forever. That is, our life comes from God. In Him we live and move and have our being. It teaches that fruitful abundant living also requires Him as our power source. Jesus said, “I am the Vine and you are the branches. If anyone remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
He didn’t mean we couldn’t function at all on our own. Those without Christ are still able to do things. However, without a relationship of dependency and faith, what we do is not sufficient to keep us going for eternity, nor is it enough for fruitful, abundant, godly living.
Even my machine did some things on its own (after I plugged it in) without my direction. It destroyed some sectors on its own hard drive, which was rather foolish. Now it needs some major surgery to correct that problem; a procedure that will wipe it clean and reformat it.
Believe it or not, the Bible talks about our self-reliant efforts in the same terms. God says that what we do apart from faith in Him and His direction is sinful and destructive. In fact, we are so damaged by sin that we also need major corrective surgery to remove it from our lives. We need Jesus to wipe our hearts clean and give us an entirely new life.
Between my Bible and the sometimes goofy circumstances of life, God keeps reminding me how important it is to rely on Him for motivation, power and direction. What I do on my own is either destructive or makes me as useless a computer with a pulled plug.
Monday, September 7, 2015
A special dunking ................ Parables 323
June 23, 1992
One day last May we took a ten-hour drive to Alberta to watch our oldest son get dunked in a swimming pool. It was not an ordinary dunking.
Standing outside on the lawn in front of the building, he explained to family and friends why he was doing this. He related how his own abilities to wisely govern his life had failed him. He said God called him to commit himself to a relationship with Him, one in which God governed and he obeyed. He believed God had a valid claim on his life and wanted to publicly acknowledge that claim in the manner God commands — so he was baptized.
People understand baptism in various ways. For some it is the entrance requirement into a particular religious system or church denomination. Other consider it a necessary work or action for salvation; no one can go to heaven without it. Yet biblically, it is neither of those.
True, some religious organizations can make it an initiation rite or say baptism is necessary to get to heaven, but the Bible says those who have saving faith already have eternal life — because of it they are automatically members of the family of God. Furthermore, Jesus was baptized and He had no need for either. So why be baptized?
First, Jesus was baptized as a demonstration of His willingness to fully obey the righteous demands of God. Therefore, for Christians, it is a step of obedience because God says that is what we should do: “Repent and be baptized...” By it, we follow Jesus.
Second, baptism involves identifying oneself with Christ. Just as Christ died and was buried for our sins, so those who believe are immersed in a symbolic grave. Then, just as Christ rose from the dead to new life, so the Christian rises out of the water to signify the new life he has already received.
Notice, new life does not come by baptism. Baptism is only a symbol of it. The Bible teaches clearly that new life comes only from Jesus Christ. “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5). It does not say he who is “baptized” is given life.
Third, baptism is a renunciation of the world and its influence, a declaration that the new Resident Manager is the Lord. Our son made this plain in his explanation of why he was going to be dunked. He said that his old life was out of control and filled with things that he didn’t want. So he offered it to Christ, was placed in the Kingdom of God, and now renounced the old kingdom and its dominion over him.
Finally, baptism is an affirmation of what God has done. The person participating, in effect, says: God has done an act of grace in my heart. I once rejected Him and was lost, separate from Him and in sin. But now I belong to God and by this act of obedience, I am showing my intention to live in such a way that I will bring Him glory.
Baptism does not insure against making mistakes or sinning again; neither does new life. However, God works to conquer old habits and their power. We have seen that in our son and rejoice in what God has done and is doing in his life.
One day last May we took a ten-hour drive to Alberta to watch our oldest son get dunked in a swimming pool. It was not an ordinary dunking.
Standing outside on the lawn in front of the building, he explained to family and friends why he was doing this. He related how his own abilities to wisely govern his life had failed him. He said God called him to commit himself to a relationship with Him, one in which God governed and he obeyed. He believed God had a valid claim on his life and wanted to publicly acknowledge that claim in the manner God commands — so he was baptized.
People understand baptism in various ways. For some it is the entrance requirement into a particular religious system or church denomination. Other consider it a necessary work or action for salvation; no one can go to heaven without it. Yet biblically, it is neither of those.
True, some religious organizations can make it an initiation rite or say baptism is necessary to get to heaven, but the Bible says those who have saving faith already have eternal life — because of it they are automatically members of the family of God. Furthermore, Jesus was baptized and He had no need for either. So why be baptized?
First, Jesus was baptized as a demonstration of His willingness to fully obey the righteous demands of God. Therefore, for Christians, it is a step of obedience because God says that is what we should do: “Repent and be baptized...” By it, we follow Jesus.
Second, baptism involves identifying oneself with Christ. Just as Christ died and was buried for our sins, so those who believe are immersed in a symbolic grave. Then, just as Christ rose from the dead to new life, so the Christian rises out of the water to signify the new life he has already received.
Notice, new life does not come by baptism. Baptism is only a symbol of it. The Bible teaches clearly that new life comes only from Jesus Christ. “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5). It does not say he who is “baptized” is given life.
Third, baptism is a renunciation of the world and its influence, a declaration that the new Resident Manager is the Lord. Our son made this plain in his explanation of why he was going to be dunked. He said that his old life was out of control and filled with things that he didn’t want. So he offered it to Christ, was placed in the Kingdom of God, and now renounced the old kingdom and its dominion over him.
Finally, baptism is an affirmation of what God has done. The person participating, in effect, says: God has done an act of grace in my heart. I once rejected Him and was lost, separate from Him and in sin. But now I belong to God and by this act of obedience, I am showing my intention to live in such a way that I will bring Him glory.
Baptism does not insure against making mistakes or sinning again; neither does new life. However, God works to conquer old habits and their power. We have seen that in our son and rejoice in what God has done and is doing in his life.
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