Spiritual Viewpoints

by Rick Smith

Jesus

Must I Be Baptized To Be Saved?

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I’m convinced a person serious about salvation and once understanding baptism would not ask if they had to be baptized to be saved. Instead, they would ask, “When can I be baptized?”

If I was questioning baptism, I would begin with Jesus, what he said and did. “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”Then John consented” (Matthew 3:13-15). Jesus was sinless, had no sins to confess, none to be forgiven, but his desire to fulfill all righteousness was paramount.

I must ask, “What would Jesus want me to do?” I am a sinner, no doubt about that. So do I need to be baptized? Jesus met with his disciples and gave them the following instructions. “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Mathew 28:18-20). The answer is yes, but before baptism takes place something else is required, and it makes sense ~ “…go make disciples.”

What is a disciple? When that question is understood and complied with, baptism falls into place. “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. (Love Jesus more than anybody else) 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”  (This is an unceasing death, recognizing our lives are now spent in Christ’s service and not for ourselves).

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Luke 14:25-33). (Turn everything you have over to God, and he gives it right back to you as its steward ~ to be used for his glory).

Okay, that’s deep, but I get it. Jesus wants a total commitment of my life in order for me to be a disciple or follower of him. Even though we are at different levels of understanding, we can agree that we need to have accepted Jesus as Lord, and with it have a deep longing to follow him. Next, we find the apostles telling folks what to do in order to demonstrate their discipleship, prove their allegiance to Christ, to turn their back on the world and live for Christ. “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves  from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:36-42). The apostle Peter pointed them towards Jesus, told them how their sinfulness crucified him, and how they could be forgiven. They must become disciples or followers of Jesus, repent and confess their sinfulness, be baptized or immersed in water for forgiveness and then receive God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. At that point God would add them to his family, the church, the community of God.

Without knowing everything about being baptized into Christ, you can at least realize the question: “Do I have to be baptized to be saved?” should rather be, “When can I be baptized?” I want to go to heaven! You can learn more about Baptism by responding to this Blog with questions. I’m praying you, if you never have, will make a decision to live for Christ and be baptized into him.

 

I Want You Lord

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Verses of Scripture can be like cool breezes blowing through the screen door on a hot summer day. Psalm 141 gives me that kind of comfort.

“O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to you.
May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the
evening sacrifice.”

I’m enthralled at the notion that God hears us when we speak to Him. He knows our voices. It may be for that reason that David says “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (v.3). Even that tells us what an awesome God we have. He will guard the thoughts of our hearts so that we will speak what is good, not evil.

That happens when our hearts reach out to Him, “Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies” (v.4).

Imagine your prayers going up to God as though they were a sweet fragrance. Our prayers go before the Lord like incense! They please Him. We make God happy!

Finally, there is the lifting of our hands in prayer, like little children reaching up with the anticipation of being held by a father. This act, to God, is as the evening sacrifice. “Dear Lord, I raise my hands in hopes that you will lift me up! Amen.”

What does God expect from His children? “But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge” (v. 8). That seems to be the answer. God wants us and wants us to want Him.

We can do that!

We Preach Christ

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“Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” I Corinthians 1:22-24).

“Often times we are asked, ‘What do you preach?’. The answer is simple. ‘We preach Christ crucified.’ This lofty theme has ever been the only hope of the world. In the days of the early church it produced a moral revolution. Thrones have vanished and empires have fallen, but the kingdom of Christ endures and is still able to bless those who will believe in Christ crucified, the power and the wisdom of God.

The apostle states, ‘We preach Christ.’ The economic or military condition of the Roman Empire was not a concern of Paul’s preaching. He preached Christ. His preaching was the doctrine of a person. Nothing else in its true sense is preaching.” (John C. Whitehead, Vol. 1, Oct. 1949, The Gospel Guardian)

My father-in-law wrote this 68 years ago. It’s just as true today. It would be wonderful if all preachers would take Paul’s advice and preach Christ crucified. It seems that today’s sermons are more about personal dysfunctions than the function of the cross. Too often we come away from church with paralysis of analysis instead of encouragement from the Word. We dig deeply into “church problems” and pass the cross from the other side of the road.

Sixty eight years ago John C. Whitehead talked about “the doctrine of a person”. Wouldn’t it be great if all of us had planted our feet firmly on that principle instead of fighting over all the concocted doctrines our pea-brains have deduced? If we held up Christ crucified, we would have come together in unity a long time ago.

If you’re preaching this Sunday — preach Christ crucified. If you’re listening to preaching this Sunday — listen for the story of Jesus. If your preacher ignores this doctrine of a person, I’d find out why — and give them what for!

JESUS AND BUDDHA

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Ravi Zacharias, a native of India, wrote an interesting book called: The Lotus And The Cross. It’s a fictional conversation between Jesus and Buddha putting emphasis on each of their beliefs.

During the conversation, Gautama, Buddha’s actual name, boasts that he was born five centuries before Jesus. The point being that Buddhism outdates Christianity by 500 years. If that tends to shake someone’s faith or give them cause to ponder, they need the answer provided by Jesus in the narrative. “And if we must talk about who predates whom, another of my choice servants was Abraham, who also lived long before you [Buddha]…I say all that just to say this: Abraham came more than two thousand years before you. And just for the record, before Abraham was, I Am.” Ravi Zacharias brilliantly weaves the truth around eternity. Of course, John 1:1 says it better, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

The Lotus And The Cross states some interesting facts about Buddhism. For instance, Buddhism has a catalog of rules by which a Buddhist builds merit: 4 sets of rules for 4 great offenses, 13 rules required for formal participation in the brotherhood, 30 rules to curb greed and possessions, 92 rules of offenses under yet another category, 75 rules for proper behavior of novices who seek admission to the order, 7 ways of settling disputes, 227 rules for the male monk and 311 for the female — plus scores of fine-print contingencies.

Forgive me, but as I read all those rules I thought about the church in which I grew up, as well as myriads of denominations fraught with rules and regulations. Many churches can stand toe-to-toe with the Buddhist rule-making department. After saying that, I’m reminded of the question put to Jesus by a Pharisee, “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments‘” (Matthew 22:36-40).

Isn’t it wonderful that our God is the great “I Am” and that our unique responsibility is to love Him, others, and self? I can do that!

The Grace Gate

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“Therefore Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:7-11).

Jesus is both the gate through whom we enter the fold of God and the good shepherd that leads and protects us once we are safely within. This is a beautiful picture of God’s grace working. Jesus opens the way and leads us through the mountains and valleys. We can have a full life as we listen to His gentle voice ~ and He calls us by name, so there should be no misunderstanding.

Yet, the mundane can lure us away from God’s fold and take us into dangerous pastures. Evil is sneaky. Sometimes it’s a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing.

Ordinary events can turn your ear away from God’s voice if you aren’t listening: a car grabbing your parking spot in the mall, your spouse criticizing you, a child talking back, a store clerk being snippety, an employer overlooking your creativity ~ any of these and a million other trivial things could cause you to step off the godly path into inappropriate anger, filthy language, or total impatience.

We have to keep our ears tuned to the Shepherd’s voice. We need to do whatever it takes to remain spiritually-minded.

Just as the mundane can woo us away from Jesus, it can also keep us close. Reading the Bible early in the morning; praying late in the day; encouraging another to live for the Shepherd; letting your light so shine that it brings glory to God ~ and other little things can help keep our feet on the path.

God’s gate of grace and path to heaven is worth giving our all. The Shepherd’s voice is so calming. Jesus said, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me ~ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father ~ and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15).

Indeed, the Lord is our Shepherd.

ECHOING CLICHES

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As we grow older and gain more wisdom our perspectives may change. Some folks don’t like change, others are intolerant, and all should be skeptical. We never want to accept falsehoods that undermine our spiritual foundation. So, when we learn something we’ve not previously comprehended, how do we present it to honest brethren in ways that will not shake them?

Although it’s comfortable to sit firmly on held beliefs, that feeling of security may become a painful cactus sticking us in the derriere. A fresh look may be more biblically sound than some old paths. After all, we must carefully heed the warning of Jesus, “Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matthew 15:6ff).

Our goal must be to lift up Christ, not echo clichés that have become traditional. For instance, our penchant for certain words can diminish Christ while lifting the Church higher than the cross. We seldom say someone believed on the Lord, or became a disciple of Jesus, or began to follow Christ. Instead, we parrot the cliches and say someone “became a member of the Church.” Preachers urge their congregations to “be faithful to the Church” and never “leave the Church,” or if they do, to “come back to the Church”. It’s as though the church died for Christ, not he for the church.

Can you see what I’m saying; do you understand? How many times have you heard someone say, “So and so fell away from the church?” Why didn’t they say “So and so fell away from the Lord”? Now you tell me ~ who did they fall away from, if not the Savior?

You may argue that it’s only a matter of semantics, but is it? Or, could it be a mindset that diminishes the headship of Christ, and elevates the church as an institution?

The church didn’t die for us, Jesus did. When we accepted Christ, we became part of HIS church. The church is made up of all the saved people on earth. Your congregation is a family of believers who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.

The Apostle Paul puts this in proper perspective as it’s not a matter of word usage, it is a matter of spiritual understanding. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:18-23).

When we recognize the church as a body of people called out of sin into salvation because of the sin offering of its Savior, our speech will then acknowledge us as having our first devotion to the Lord. Let’s be careful to acknowledge and lift up Jesus (Jn.12:32), so all people will be drawn to him!