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Grounded-In-Biblical-Truth |
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The Great Commission of Jesus Christ to His church as recorded in Mark 16:15 reads, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
The question naturally arises, "What is the relationship of baptism to conversion? Does it precede, or follow, conversion?"
Before answering this question, let us define our terms.
Christian conversion is that change in the conscious life of a sinner, rooted in the work of regeneration, in which he turns from sin to Jesus Christ. In the words of Acts 20:21, a convert will exercise "repentance toward God [i.e. from sin] and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."
Christian baptism is the immersion of such a convert in water, in token of his previous entrance through faith into the communion of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. This definition is based upon the doctrine expounded by Paul the apostle in Romans 6:3-5: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried [i.e. immersed] with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection."
Baptism symbolizes the remission of sins and the washing away of them. In Acts 2:38, Peter the apostle exhorted his hearers to "be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." And in Acts 22:16, Ananias exhorted Saul of Tarsus to "be baptized, and wash away your sins." Contrary to baptismal regenerationists (chiefly Roman Catholics and Campbellites), baptism only symbolically, not actually, washes sins away and remits them. Sins are actually washed away and remitted in and through the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Revelation 1:5; 7:14). Therefore, baptism only symbolizes what has been actually been performed by Jesus Christ and been received through faith.
Your servant for Jesus' sake.
Address all questions to pastor
Daniel E. Parks (2 Corinthians 4:5) e-mail RedeemerBC@aol.com
Pastor, Redeemer Baptist Church
2801 Cleveland Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40206 / 502.899-9205
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