Becoming
Just A Christian
Chapter two
Clarence W. Fell
That They all
May Be One
John
17:21
Becoming Just A Christian
Different groups have different ideas
about how a person becomes a Christian.
Some teach that all a person has to do is say a simple prayer, while others
teach that a person is saved only after many long hours of prayer. Some teach that baptism is a part of becoming
a Christian, but others teach that it is not.
Some even say that God has already decided if you will be saved or
lost. These conflicting ideas confuse
people. Tragically, many fall victim to
Satan’s divide and conquer strategy.
We can cut through the confusion, defeat
Satan’s strategy, and just be Christians.
We do this by following the simple plan of salvation found in the New
Testament. When we follow that plan then
we are safely on the path that leads to heaven.
Another benefit of being just Christians
is that we will be working for the unity that Jesus prayed for in John
17:20,21. Jesus prayed, “I do not
pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their
word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that
they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” We can stand together in unity. We can stand together on the common ground of
a solid book, chapter, and verse foundation and successfully fight Satan’s
divide and conquer strategy. We can stay
focused on the simple truth of God’s Word and gain victory for ourselves and
our loved ones. Together we can make a
difference.
Grace and Salvation
Grace makes salvation possible. Without God’s grace we would be hopelessly
lost. We simply don’t have the ability
to create our own plan of salvation (Jeremiah 10:23). Only God can make a plan
of salvation.
To properly understand the role of grace
in salvation we need a solid Bible foundation.
We don’t need the theories and speculations of man. Our aim is to understand grace the way God
meant for it to be understood. To do
this let’s consider some of Bible examples.
Noah and Grace
Noah’s experience is an excellent example
of God’s grace. In Genesis 6:7,8 we read, “So the Lord said,
‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made
them.’ But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord.” Noah’s escape was a
gift of God’s grace. It came in the form
of a special plan that God designed. In
Genesis 6:14 we read about this plan, “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood;
make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.”
Noah and his family stood together united
upon the common ground of God’s plan.
Their escape was by God’s grace.
It was a gift from God. Yet, Noah
and his sons had to follow God’s plan.
They had to build the ark to escape the coming destruction. Grace did not exclude work on their
part. God did not build the ark for
them, but rather He supplied the plans for the ark. In this way Noah and his family were saved by
the grace of God.
God offers us a way to escape eternal
destruction, but we must follow His plan.
The Christians of the first century followed God’s plan and were saved. Today we must choose whether to follow that
same plan or follow a plan designed by man.
One will save, the other won’t.
Joshua and Grace
Joshua is another example. God gave Joshua the city of Jericho. God said, “See! I have given Jericho into
your hands, its king, and the mighty men of valor” (Joshua 6:2), yet there
was something that Joshua had to do to receive this gift from God. Joshua and his army had to march around
Jericho exactly the way God said before they would receive this gift from God. Joshua’s obedience does not change the fact
that God gave Jericho to Joshua. When we
use Bible words in Bible ways there is no conflict between God’s grace and
man’s obedience.
This principle is easy to illustrate. Imagine that you are watching an infomercial
that offers you a plan to make a million dollars in one year, guaranteed. Normally such a plan would be expensive to
buy, but today, and today only, the plan is absolutely free. Now, because the plan is free, a gift of
grace, does that mean it will automatically work without any effort on your
part? Of course not. You still have to work the plan. This is the same principle involved in God’s
plan of salvation. He gave us the plan
of salvation absolutely free. It’s a
gift of grace, but we still have to follow His plan.
Paul taught, “For by grace you have
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians
2:8-10). God’s Grace does not exclude
man’s obedience. There are some things
we must do, things that God “prepared beforehand that we should walk in
them.” These things are “not of
yourselves” but rather are “the
gift of God … prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” God freely offers us this plan of escape, but
we must follow it. (Other verses of interest are Gen. 19:19, Num. 21:4-9, II
Kings 5, Psalm 84:11, Proverbs 3:34, and Jonah 4:2.)
Faith and Salvation
“For by grace you have been saved
through faith” (Eph. 2:8). If
salvation was by grace only, then everyone would automatically be saved
because God does not want anyone to perish (II Peter 3:9), but salvation is not
by grace only. It is by grace through
faith. Faith is required to receive the gift of salvation
from God. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
What
is Faith?
Where can we learn about faith? Do we look it up in Webster’s dictionary, ask just any preacher, or
study the Bible? Let’s look in God’s
dictionary, the Bible, to learn about the faith that receives the gift of God’s
grace.
“But they have not all obeyed the
gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has
believed our report?’” (Romans 10:16).
In the Bible the faith that receives God’s grace is the faith that obeys
the gospel. Obeying the gospel and
believing the gospel are virtually the same thing (See also Heb. 3:18-4:6, I
Peter 2:7). Translations vary in how
they translate the original Greek. Some
use the word obey and some use the word believe. These variations exist because saving faith
and obedience are so intertwined that you can’t have one without the other.
There is a type of faith that does not
receive God’s gift of grace. John
12:42,43 records such a case, “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; for they loved the praise of men more
than the praise of God.” They
believed that Jesus was the Son of God, but they rejected Him and so their
faith was worthless.
James wrote about saving faith and
worthless faith, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he
offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do
you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was
made perfect. … For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without
works is dead also” (see James
2:14-26).
When we understand that saving faith
obediently surrenders to the will of God, then we can easily see how other
verses fit into God’s plan. Verses such
as...
“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” (Matthew 7:21). A person must actually do what Jesus said to
do, not just claim to do it (see also Luke 6:46).
“...taking vengeance on those who do
not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ” (II Thessalonians 1:8). Again, we see that God requires our
obedience. He clearly states that He
will take vengeance on those who do not obey the Gospel. If faith is going to save, then it must be an
obedient faith.
“He became the author of eternal
salvation to all who obey him” (Hebrews. 5:9). People who don’t understand how saving faith
and obedient surrender blend together are often puzzled by verses like this
one. But when they learn that saving faith
includes obedient surrender, then verses like this pose no problem.
The faith that receives the gift of God’s
grace is like Noah’s faith; it trusts God’s plan and follows God’s plan. Saving faith is a firm conviction that God’s
plan is the right plan. It is a personal
surrender to God that changes the way we live.
Saving faith is the essential key to accepting the gift of God’s
grace. To reach the saving blood of
Christ we must obediently surrender to His will.
In our effort to stake out common ground,
we are calling people to obediently surrender to the will of God, to let go of
man-made doctrines, and trust in His Word.
In this way we can stand together fighting Satan’s strategy of
confusion. Our loyalty will belong to
Christ, and our goal will be heaven for ourselves and our loved ones.
Repentance
and Salvation
The Bible also
connects repentance to salvation. Peter
taught that God is “...not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).
Those who perish are those who don’t repent.
In Acts 11:18 we read, “When they heard
these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ‘Then God has
also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.’” Repentance is an opportunity “granted”
to us by God. It’s a part of God’s plan
of salvation (See also Luke 13:3, 5).
In Acts 17:30 we read that God “...now
commands all men everywhere to repent.”
Repentance is not optional. It is
a command.
So, what is repentance? Repentance is a change of direction. In our case it is turning away from sin. This is a natural part of saving faith. If a person does not turn from sin, then
there has not been a personal surrender to God.
To receive the gift of salvation, a person must stop rebelling against
God.
While we can talk about saving faith and
repentance separately on paper, the two cannot be separated in practice. A person who does not repent has not
exercised saving faith. He has not
surrendered to God. He is like the
rulers in John 12:42 who acknowledged the truth but refused to accept it in their own lives.
We are calling people to repent, to make a
personal surrender to the will of God, to let go of man-made ideas, and turn to
the pure Word of God. When we do that,
then we stake out common ground, stand together in strength, and fight Satan’s
strategy of confusion.
Confession and Salvation
The Bible also connects confession to
salvation. “For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation” (Romans 10:10).
“But whoever denies Me before men, him
I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33).
What is the confession that we make? It is the good confession that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. For example, “Now
as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See,
here is water. What hinders me from
being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If
you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:36,37, also see John 20:30,31).
This confession is a natural part of
saving faith. If a person refuses to
confess, then there is no personal surrender.
So, while we can talk about saving faith, repentance, and confession
separately on paper, the three cannot be separated in practice. The person who refuses to confess has not
obediently surrendered his life to God.
We are calling people to make this good
confession, to let go of
denominational traditions, and simply trust in the Word. The good
confession is a step toward that common ground where we can stand
together in strength fighting the divisive schemes of Satan.
Baptism and Salvation
Faith, repentance, and confession are
generally accepted by most religious people without much discussion, but when
the subject of baptism comes up,
disagreements erupt. Why or how Satan
has managed to make this a major point of division we cannot say, but he has
successfully used baptism to divide and conquer many people. Some preachers say that a person must be
baptized and some say that baptism does not matter. Many of these preachers have academic degrees
from religious colleges and still don’t agree. If preachers can’t agree, then
where does that leave you? Should you be
baptized or not?
We desire to stand where the Christians of
the first century stood. We do not want
to defend pet ideas or denominational traditions. We want the pure Word of God
to base our eternal hope upon. We want
to stand together in the unity that Christ’s prayed for in John 17:20-23.
Baptism is from God
Baptism is not something that man
created. Baptism is in the Bible because
God put baptism in the Bible. The
Christianity that Jesus taught includes baptism (Matthew 28:18-20). If we are going to practice that same
Christianity, then we must also practice baptism. A Christianity that excludes baptism is
something different than what Jesus established.
Man has no right to take baptism out of
Christianity or to redefine baptism. To
change baptism in any way is to rebel against God (Rev. 22:18,19). If a preacher, any preacher, tells you that
you can practice the same Christianity that Jesus taught without practicing the
baptism taught in the Bible, then that preacher is wrong.
Baptism
and the Blood
Sins are washed away by Jesus’ blood (Rom.
5:9, Eph. 1:7, 2:13, Col. 1:20). Our
salvation hinges entirely upon coming to the saving blood of Jesus. A person cannot be saved until the blood of
Christ washes away his sins. We should
ask: At what point is the blood
applied, or how does one come to the blood? Different people answer in different
ways. The only safe answer is a Bible
answer and the Bible answers…
“And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash away your
sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts
22:16). The saving power is not in the water itself, but
rather it is during baptism that Jesus’ blood washes sins away. That is why Ananias could say to Paul, “Arise
and be baptized and wash away your sins.”
Peter wrote, “There is an antitype
which now saves us—baptism” (I
Peter 3:21). Baptism saves because God
set it up as the point where the blood of Jesus washes our sins away.
Perhaps the clearest text is Romans
6:1-11. The essential role of baptism
is seen by answering this one question, when are we united together with Christ
in the likeness of His death? Read
Romans 6:1-11 and let the Bible answer.
The Bible says, “...as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into His death? Therefore we
were buried with Him through baptism into death...For if we have been united
together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the
likeness of His resurrection.” We
are united with Christ in the likeness of His death in baptism. If we are not united with Christ in His
death, then we will not be united with Christ in the resurrection.
If a preacher tells you that you can be
united with Christ in the resurrection even though you have never been united
with Christ in death, then that preacher is teaching something different than
what God’s word teaches. Don’t listen to
him (Matt. 15:14).
Obedient
Surrender Is Not Optional
Those who take baptism out of their
Christian practice or redefine baptism to suit themselves are saying in effect
that obedient surrender is optional.
Yet, obedient surrender to the will of God is not optional. John tells us that the obedient are blessed
and enter the gate leading to the tree of life (Rev. 22:14). If you want access to the tree of life, you
must surrender to the will of God, and baptism is a part of His will.
Oddly enough some preachers teach that
obedience is optional. Even though
Hebrews 5:9 directly states that Jesus “...became the author of eternal salvation to all who
obey Him,” and Luke reports, “But
the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having
been baptized by him” (Luke 7:30).
Look at these two verses again.
These verses don’t require a degree in theology to see that God requires
obedient surrender. Consider also Paul’s
warning that Jesus will take “...vengeance
on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 1:8).
The necessity of surrendering to the will of God is a clear Bible
teaching (Matthew 7:21-23). If a person
truly surrenders to the will of God, then that person humbly obeys all that God
has said. If a person disobeys in some
things, then that person did not truly surrender (James 2:10).
If a preacher tells you that obeying God
in baptism does not matter, then that preacher is wrong. God said, “To him who knows to do good and
does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). Is Baptism good?
The
Apostles Commanded It
The apostles commanded people to be
baptized. They did not just suggest it
or merely encourage it, but rather “...commanded them to be baptized” (Acts 10:48).
This case of Peter commanding baptism is
even more impressive when we go back up to verse 44 and see what occurred
before they were commanded to be baptized.
In verse 44 the Holy Spirit moved upon these people. Peter saw this with his own eyes and heard with
his own ears the effect of the Holy Spirit upon these people. And after seeing the action of the Holy
Spirit upon these people, Peter “...commanded them to be baptized.” The action of the Holy Spirit did not excuse
these people from baptism. Peter did not
merely suggest baptism; he commanded them to be baptized.
If a preacher tells you that God does not
care whether or not you are baptized and that you can excuse yourself from
baptism, then that preacher is preaching a different gospel than Peter preached
(Galatians 1:6-9). Peter did not excuse
people from baptism. Even after the Holy
Spirit fell upon them he still did not excuse them from baptism. By what right does a preacher today excuse
people from baptism? (See also Acts 2:38
and 22:16.)
Why Did the Apostles Command Baptism?
You might wonder why the apostles
commanded people to be baptized when
just the opposite is commonly taught today.
The reason the apostles commanded people to be baptized is because they
were under direct orders from Jesus to go into all the world and baptize people.
Teaching and practicing baptism was not an option for the apostles (Matthew 28:18-20).
Matthew 28:20 shows us that the apostles’
converts were to practice the same things the apostles practiced. The command of baptism did not end with the
apostles but was passed down to their converts and their convert’s converts and
so on down through time. Thus nearly
2000 years later we are still under that same command. Yet, as unbelievable as it sounds, there are
preachers who teach that God does not really care if you are ever baptized or
not.
If a preacher tells you that baptism does
not matter, then you know that he is following a different teaching than Jesus
taught. In which case you will have to
decide whether you want to follow Jesus’ teaching or some preacher’s teaching.
(I personally recommend following Jesus’ teaching, John 12:48).
Following
Jesus
Followers of Jesus are suppose to follow
His teaching and His example. In Luke 6:46 Christ asked, “Why do you
call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do the things that I say?” He was disappointed that while some professed
Him as Lord they did not obey Him. This
same sad situation still exist today.
Jesus directly told us to practice baptism. He also set us an example by being baptized
Himself, and yet some who claim Him as their Lord refuse to follow Him in
baptism.
Jesus’ baptism illustrates the importance
of baptism. In Matthew 3:13-15 we read
that Jesus was obedient unto baptism in order to “fulfill all
righteousness.” Now think about this
for a minute, if Jesus, the sinless son of God needed to be baptized in order
to “fulfill all righteousness,” then how much more do you and I need to
obey God in baptism? How do we dare
excuse ourselves?
Baptism
Is How We Get Into Jesus
Baptism is our entrance into Christ. Prior to baptism a person is not yet in
Christ. I know that this goes against
what many preachers say, but the message of the Bible is…
“Or do you not know that as many of us
as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans
6:3).
“For as many of you as were baptized
into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
A preacher might claim that a person who
rejects baptism is still walking in the way of God, but the Bible says
otherwise (Luke 7:30). Before you follow
such a man, first verify whether or not he will be your judge in the day of
judgment. See if he has the power to
override God’s Word and get you into heaven even though you rejected part of
God’s Word? If you are not absolutely
positive that he can achieve this on your behalf, then I suggest that you
humbly obey God in baptism.
But What About the Thief on the Cross
Many people point to the thief on the
cross as an excuse for not being baptized.
Let’s consider the thief for a moment.
1. Was
the thief baptized?
We
don’t know for certain if the thief had ever been baptized. Many people overlook the possibility that the
thief could have been baptized sometime before his arrest and crucifixion. We know for a fact that some disciples fell
away (John 6:66). Could the thief have
been such a disciple? Yes, but we can’t
say for certain either way. We know for
a fact that great numbers of people were baptized before the crucifixion (Matt.
3:5,6; Mark 1:5; John 4:1). Could the
thief have been a part of the multitudes that were being baptized? Yes, but we can’t say for certain.
Our lack of certainly about the thief’s
past makes him a dangerous basis for rejecting baptism. To say that the thief was never baptized is
just a guess. Most of us will agree that
a guess is not a good foundation to build our eternal hope upon.
2. How did the thief know so much about
Jesus?
We
know for a fact that the thief was familiar with Jesus and His teachings. While suffering the torture of crucifixion,
the thief had enough conviction to defend Jesus saying, “This man has done
nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41). How did
the thief know Jesus well enough to come to His defense?
How did the thief know Jesus’ teachings
well enough and have enough faith in Jesus to request just prior to death, “Lord,
remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
3.
Jesus had the power to forgive sins.
This fact is overlooked when considering
the thief. Jesus said to a paralyzed
man, “Your sins are forgiven you,” and then to prove that He had the
power to directly forgive sins He healed the paralyzed man (Luke 5:17-24).
Today Jesus does not physically walk the
earth and directly forgive sins as He could do in the first century. Today He has set a plan of salvation in place
by which anyone can come to His saving blood and be cleansed, but to reach the
saving blood we must follow His plan. Pointing to the thief as a pattern of
salvation is a dangerous practice to say the least.
4. Old
Testament or New Testament.
The thief lived and died under
the Old Testament. We live under the New
Testament which went into effect after Jesus’ death. The New Testament tells us what God expects
of us in our time. Refusing baptism
based on the example of the thief reveals a misunderstanding of the Old and New
Testaments. (For further study see Jer.
31:31,32; Gal. 3:19-24; Col. 2:14-17;
Heb. 1:1,2; 8:7; 9:15-17; 10:9,10).
5. Today
we are baptized into Jesus’ death (Rom. 6:1-11).
It was
not possible for the thief to be baptized in the likeness of Jesus death,
burial, and resurrection before Jesus’ death.
The baptism that we practice today was not delivered to the apostles
until after the resurrection (Matthew 28:18-20). The thief might have been baptized under John
the Baptist’s teaching, but he could not have obeyed the baptism that God
expects of us today.
6. Making
an exception into a common practice.
If it could be proven that the thief had
never followed Jesus or had never been baptized and that he was truly an
exception to the common practice, this still does not prove that baptism is
optional today. We do not take an
exception and make it the common rule of practice for everyone. If it was an exception, then that necessarily
infers that the common practice was to require baptism.
7. Who
are you going to follow?
You have two choices, a thief that may or
may not have been baptized, or
Jesus who was baptized (Matthew 3:13-15).
Which one do you choose to follow into eternity?
God’s Plan of Salvation
While we can talk about saving faith,
repentance, confession, and baptism separately on paper, these cannot be
separated in practice. The person who
refuses baptism has not obediently surrendered to God (Luke 7:30). When these four elements are brought together
as God designed, then the blood of Christ washes away our sins (Rom. 5:9, Col 1:20,
I John 1:7).
Just as God’s grace devised a plan of
escape for Noah and a plan of victory for Joshua, God has devised a plan of
salvation for us. If God Himself had not
devised this plan, then faith, repentance, confession, and baptism would be
worthless. It is God’s grace that gives
these value. These are gifts of God’s
grace. In these God has granted us a way
to reach the saving blood of Jesus. When
we follow these Bible steps, we are becoming Christians the same way the people
of the first century became Christians.
|
“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. Many will say to Me in that
day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in
Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never
knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23 |
Chart of Conversions in Acts
|
|
Hear |
Faith |
Repent |
Confess |
Baptized |
|
Day of Pentecost
Acts 2:36-42 |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
Samaritans Acts
8:4-12 |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
|
The Eunuch Acts
8:26-39 |
X |
X |
|
X |
X |
|
Saul Acts
22:1-16; 9:17-20 |
X |
|
|
|
X |
|
Cornelius Acts
10:25-48 |
X |
|
|
|
X |
|
Lydia Acts
16:13-15 |
X |
|
|
|
X |
|
Philippian Jailor
Acts 16:23-34 |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
|
Corinthians Acts
18:4-11 |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
|
Summary |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
The Bible and Obedience
|
The following references show you what
the Bible says about obedience. It is
important that you read the Bible for yourself and get your feet firmly
grounded on a solid book chapter and verses foundation. This list is not exhaustive but it provides
plenty of verses. |
|
Matthew 7:21-27 Matthew
12:50 |
|
Mark 3:35 Luke
6:46 |
|
Luke 8:21 Luke
11:27,28 |
|
John 10:27 John
13:17 |
|
John 14:15, 21, 23, 24 John
15: 10, 14 |
|
Acts 5:29, 32 Romans
1:5 |
|
Romans 2:6-10
Romans 6:16,17 |
|
Romans 8:1,13 Romans
10:3,9,13,16 |
|
Romans 11:22 Romans
12:1,2 |
|
Romans 13:2 romans
14:12 |
|
Romans 15:18 Romans
16:17,19, 26 |
|
I Cor. 7:19 I
Cor. 9:27 |
|
Eph. 2:10 II
Thes. 1:7-9 |
|
II Thes. 3:14 I
Tim. 6:14 |
|
Hebrews 5:9 Hebrews
11:8 |
|
James 1:22 James
2:10 |
|
I Peter 1:2, 14 I
Peter 3:1 |
|
I Peter 1:14 I
John 2:3, 17 |
|
I John 3:22, 24 I
John 5:2,3 |
|
II John 6 II
John 9—11 |
|
Rev. 22:7, 14 |
YOU
ARE INVITED
Come visit with us, look us over, and ask any
questions that you have about the
Sunday
9:00 A.M. Bible Study
Sunday
Wednesday 7:00 P.M. Bible Study
If
you prefer, you may write or call, and ask us any question that
you have. Mail your questions to:
7115 West 65th Street
Little Rock Arkansas 72219-0062
E-Mail—donmcclain@sbcglobal.net
Call—(501) - 568-1062
Web-Site— http://www.w65stchurchofchrist.org/My_Homepage.html
—————————————————–
Elders Deacons Evangelist
George
Rumker Glen Gray Don
McClain
Louis Sharp Brady Speer