East End

4-6-08

Twisted Scripture: Acts 2:38, 39

The question is often asked, what is necessary for salvation? Many groups use these verses to say that baptism is essential for salvation. Yet Paul made a distinction between the two when he wrote, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 1:17). Paul would then go on to describe the gospel as “the message of the cross” which is God’s power to save in 1 Corinthians 1:18. Therefore baptism and the gospel are two different things. To be saved you must have faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. That is the gospel in a nutshell. Baptism is a Christian’s first act of obedience after salvation. We must remember there is nothing that we can do to earn salvation and trusting in baptism to help save you is essentially trusting in something you can do to be saved. Ephesians 2:8, 9 are very clear on how you receive salvation when it says, “for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Baptism is symbolic of you dying to your old way of life, and as you come up out of the water symbolizes that you are a new creation in Christ as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” May we never complicate the gospel, but preach Christ, Him crucified, and on the third day rising from the dead.