Sola Scriptura: Baptism Part One-Physical Embodiment

Now I by no means want to discourage anyone from the full blessing that is found in following the Lord in His command, that those who have received Him as their Savior and come to the knowledge that He is Lord, which comes in obedience in baptism. But there are some who have fallen away for the meaning of God's great truth by teaching that the water of baptism carries with it the fullness of salvation.

Now they do not attempt to say that it is solely baptism that saves (at least to my knowledge), but they agree with Scripture that salvation comes through faith alone in Christ Jesus. Yet, even with that agreement they add to it; and by doing so destroy the grace of God by making it about works and not about simple, yet amazing, mercy. If our salvation is based on the merits of our deeds, then how do we differ from the Judaizers (Jews who crept into the New Testament church and taught that the requirements of the Jewish tradition and Torah must be followed, along with Christ, to be saved)? It is impossible to add to grace for when such an action is done then we do away with it by making it about ourselves.

Now let us pull from the Scriptures to see what God has revealed to us about baptism. Paul was writing to the Church of Rome about their sin and how they continued in sin after being found in Christ.

• "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we might walk in the newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin." Romans 6:1-7

The baptism which the Word speaks of here is not that of water baptism, for it speaks of being baptized into Christ Jesus, which is the baptism that comes through faith in Jesus. What this means is that we have been spiritually immersed into Christ, that is, that we have been united and now identify with Him. Spiritually we have died to our old selves that we might walk in the newness of life. This was not a physical baptism; where as water baptism is. And that is what the act of water baptism carries. It is a symbolic reflection of the spiritual. The water carries with it no great power, but let us not forget the great importance of it.

Though our salvation is not achieved through baptism, it is important because our Lord calls us to follow Him in doing so. It must be so that we are obedient to Him. Also it shows to whom we belong. Baptism is a trade mark of the Christian faith, and by following Him into baptism a mark to the world is made that we belong to Him.

During the days of the Crusades, when Catholicism was trying to take back the Holy Land, mercenaries (paid fighters) were used in this quest. They had no allegiance to the Vatican or to Christ, but were willing to fight for money. How ever, since the Pope had deemed it a Holy War, the men, though not Christian, had to be baptized in order to fight. Reluctant at first to do so, the men came up with an agreement. They would be baptized as long as they could hold their swords out of the water. They were willing to be immersed in water, but they were not willing to identify with Christ.

Therefore the baptism of water is the physical embodiment of the spiritual baptism into Jesus, whom we identify with as our Savior and the Lord of lords.

To Him be the glory forever and ever, amen.

For Today in the City of David there has been Born for You a Savior

I hope that all are enjoying the celebration of the Lord Jesus' birth. May God grant to all of you a joyous time with family and friends. I want to take a short time now to comment on what Christmas is from the message that my pastor spoke today.

There are some that say that Jesus, who is called the Christ, is the reason for the season. Yet I disagree with such a statement as enlightened by my pastor. The reason for Christmas is, "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Did you catch that? " In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5). Jesus wasn't really the reason for the season.

Though we celebrate it in remembrance of His birth, the original purpose of Christ birth was so that He could come and take away our sins some years later on the cross. The reason we have the season to celebrate is because of the sin within ourselves that brought Him here. If we needed not redemption His birth would have never come. So even though this should be a time of celebrating God's greatest gift, it should also be a remembrance of why such a gift was made. God bless you all and may Christ Spirit dwell in you richly.

Sola Scriptura: Church Discipline

In the last couple of post I have discussed two weaknesses in the church today either directly or indirectly. Directly I attacked the sort of preaching that is happening in many of the churches of the world today. Ones those are weak and insufficient to the mark which God has called pastors to preach. Indirectly I attacked the number of people in the church who are mistaken of their salvation, thinking they have received the salvation of God, but actually have just been deceived and claim to their salvation, which they don't have, because they came at the end of a service to the front of the church.

Well with weak preaching comes weak people, both on the level of leader and layman. Christ has called us to be His body and it should be our goal to resemble His ways, which are perfect. “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). That is what we are called to be: perfect. It is a high calling and one none of us are able to reach. Yet it should be the goal of all of us, and the goal of the church as a whole. And Scripture shows that we are to hold one another accountable and even discipline when needed, to maintain the testimony of one's self, the church, and Christ.
Yet we do not do it very well as a whole. Many members of my church are in sin and the majority of them are lazy. Why is it then that the church does not correct those who are wrong? Is not Scripture adequate? "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

I think the reason the church does not like to discipline is because its members don't want to offend anyone, and they find themselves in sin themselves and how are they to remove the speck from another's eye with a plank in their own. So the church is left weak because no one is willing to stand and correct the wrong. Now, I don’t want to sound as if there are none who are trying to do what it right in the sight of the Lord by rebuking and encouraging the sinful. But for the most of the church they don’t feel that it is their responsibility, but that of the leadership. So they go to the pastors and tell them of the other peoples' sins.

This is the first flaw in those who think they are doing right. The Word calls us to go to one another and tell them of their sin so that they might turn away from it (Matthew 18:15, Galatians 6:1). We need to understand that some one might not be aware of their sin. They might not be as far as another in their spiritual journey and the Word and Spirit of God might not have yet enlightened them to the understanding of there error. So before it becomes a wide spread issue in the church, go to the brethren and tell them their sin so that them might know and turn from there wickedness. Some might know they are wrong, but lack the strength to stop and just need the encouragement and accountability to do so. "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). If the brother repents from their sin then we have won your brother (Matthew 18:15).

This will hopefully be the end and no more action will need to be taken, but some times people fall into sin and do not wish to exit without a fight. Matthew 16-17 list out the next steps in dealing with a fallen brother; we are to go and take with us one or two others to rebuke and exhort (though Scripture does not say this, reason goes to show that this should be a man of spiritual maturity and most likely an elder of the church). It is the hope that this person will repent, but if not then you go to the church and announce the sin to the whole congregation. Then the church goes to the brother to encourage and rebuke and if the fallen brother still wishes to live in his sin then he is to be excommunicated and treated like a Gentile and a tax collector.

With that said, we are not to see that person as an enemy of the body, and we are still called to love them. "If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" (2 Thessalonians 3:15). The reason we remove him from us is for his good (along with the sake of the church and Christ's name), so that he will be put to shame and that he might go hateful of his sin, in the loss he has, and then be willing to turn from that sin and be reconciled to the church.

Some people say that discipline is bad because it means kicking out people who aren't saved and they might never hear the gospel of Christ again, thus we are condemning them to hell. Some might say that it would be foolish to kick out a fallen brother as we are signing his death certificate in which he will fall away from God's love. Well, are we greater then God? Do we know His will better than Him? We are simply to obey what He has commanded in this Word, and trust that He at work and doing according to His purpose.

If we remove a sinner, one never saved by the atonement of Christ, because he refused to repent then we are not responsible for their blood, for it is the Father who draws and the Son who saves. If it is God's will for that sinner to be saved then they will be, whether or not we remove them or not. And if the brother who is removed never comes back then we must trust what John spoke, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us" (1 John 2:19).

In the end we must realize why all things happen the way they do, and that is for the glory of God. We must trust that He is sovereign and allow Him to do as He wills and we must do as His Word dictates. When we try to do things by our own means then we will be found in error; thus says the Lord, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways...For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Sola Scriptura: Weak Preaching

I don’t know when the trend started. Whether in America or before that (in the Evangelical church), yet I find it of little importance. But it is a trend that has been a serious weakness to the church of God as a whole. Paul spoke boldly to his hearers and called the young pastor, Timothy, to do the same.

• "7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity" (1 Timothy 1:7-9)

Timothy was sent out to be a pastor the Ephesus and he was told by Paul to not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is just the way it is when we say the gospel is offensive. That is a sad fact to some, but to some it is the gloriousness of God. To the Greek the gospel was foolish; to the Jew it was a stumbling block. But to those whom God chose to reveal His Son to it is the means in which Faith comes. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

The Word must be spoken in the manner in which it was given. Yet many preachers give weak sermons, meant more to cheer on a lazy group, instead of edifying Christ body.

Why? That is a good question and I wish I had the answer to that and I feel that it changes from preacher to preacher. One reason I think it so it because of what I stated earlier: the gospel is offensive. Men of the pulpit are fearful of what might come to be if they were willing to stand and tell the people of the church the truth. They might be thrown out of the door and told never to return leaving them and their families hungry and homeless.

Some might feel pressure from members of the church to "keep it simple stupid." I think that many of today's pastors have great wisdom and desire to teach the church the great truths but feel that they have to keep their level of knowledge to the height of the lowest member. Others I fear don’t have the knowledge in themselves to teach the flock of God.

In my previous post I spoke on the use of altar calls. Could it be that men of the pulpit have to rely on such measures because they don’t deliver a sermon that has the power to bring one to saving faith? I don’t know much and I don’t claim to. I am a layman of the church who is trying to point out some simple flaws it has. My desire is to be a pastor and my views of the church might be affected by that, but when I look at the great men of the past whom God has built up and established a lasting ministry, even past their own lives, I see men who preached the gospel of Christ; Genesis to Revelation, who were not fearful to speak the whole truth of God. They may not have always had the biggest churches, the highest pay, or the most respect in their time, but God blessed them in ways we can only imagine.

Men who are called to the ministry of eldership of a church must be willing to lose all in sake of achieving that goal, trusting that God will provide, and meet the requirements which God has given: to shepherd over His flock and feed them His Word. And the flock needs the whole diet, not just the desert. That means teach on: Election (whether for or against), Atonement, Baptism, End Times, Creation, Incarnation, Woman's Role in the Church, Sexual Sin, Giving to God, Responsibilities of Elders, Service of Deacons, Sin, and all the other stuff that is hopped around so that no one is offended. And once you get though all that then teach some deep theology. You might not find it all important because no one is saved by theology, but were you not made wiser by it, allow us the same pleasure.

Sola Scriptura: Altar Calls

I am not to overly aware of denominations and their actions outside of the Baptist tradition. I know some things about their doctrine, but for the way they conduct their service I am not. One of the things I most dislike about the Baptist tradition is that at the end of every service we have to sit through another song, not sang in the heart of worship, but in the hope that one might come down the isle to the pastor and give their heart to Christ. It is an emotional moment in which a hymn of peaceful melody is sang in hopefulness of one making that trip to the altar. Yet, I find it no where in Scripture prescribed to have this tradition.

So why then do we do it? Well, it all started in the early 20th century with a man hungry for converts. He called men and women to the altar to receive salvation. Well, as time went on the man who began it all was found to be a heretic, but the tradition of altar calls was well affirmed in that the numbers of converts increased. So with the use of pragmatism a tradition was started.
So why is it wrong? I find that in the modern church of America there are many churches, such as mine, which are great in number, but small in work. Now this can be related to the lack of church discipline in the church, but I will hit on that later. One of the largest reasons the church is ineffective in our society today is the fact that many, if not most, of its members are lost sinners lacking a Savior. But, when the preacher gave his sappy message of a better life, a better marriage, less stress, God's blessing, prosperity, and so on, who could resist such a calling to the altar to receive such things.

The message of hell and brim stone is given which terrifies the heart of the sinner knowing that if he don’t walk the isle he will forever burn in unquenchable fire. Not that this is a true statement (apart from the walking down the isle) and a preacher does well to teach his flock of such things, as that is what our Lord did, but what happened to the latter part. We must be willing to deny ourselves to follow Him. We must be willing to endure suffering to follow Him. We must be willing to lose all, even life, in order to follow Him. So it is that men and women come down the isle to seek salvation not knowing what salvation entails. They want the "fire insurance" of God, with out the regenerative and sanctifying work in their lives. Such salvation is not worth anything and won’t even deliver them from the hell they fear.

What the Scripture teaches is that a heart which is truly receptive to the work and Word of God will do all it can in order to display the fruits of repentance. A saved life does not happen on the altar of a church, but in the heart of a repentant sinner. When a sinner understands the depth of their wickedness and their inability to save themselves and seeks the forgiveness of God for their sin and is willing to turn from their sin and live in the manner which the Word calls for, then that sinner is truly forgiven and receives the Spirit of God which enables them to follow in obedience to Christ.

If the Spirit of God truly dwells in the heart of a repentant sinner who has been given a new birth they will have no fear to come to the pastor and to the church to tell them of the change God has made so the need of an alter call is done away with. Yet, when we use music and time to get them to come to that faith (which is not saving) we have over stepped the will of God in that we have created our own means of saving souls. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

Praise God, deliver the message, and trust that God is at work in the hearts of those He has chosen and let Him do as His will dictates.

Sola Scriptura

I am confident that the scripture is the sole source for truth. Some might call me narrow minded because I don't hold to the traditions set in action by those prior to me. I do not follow with the Catholic tradition because I find that it has conflict with the Truth. I do not even follow all of the traditions of the Baptist's, though I am one, because I find there is conflict with them also. I say, "sola scriptura." So I am starting a series of post to affirm what I believe based on what the Word of God reveals.

Psalm 19
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

2006 Spring Semester Schedule

Class Schedule

-M-W-F- 0800-0850 New Testament I, Redditt
-M-W-F- 0900-0950 Principles of Sociology, Dedrick
-M-W-F- 1200-1250 New Testament II, Asher
-M-W-F- 1300-1350 Old Testament Law and History, Redditt
-M-W-F- 1400-1450 History of Philosophy, Wirzba
-T-R- 0930-1045 American Government, Cairo

The True Church

About 5 hours of my day was spent discussing the church. That would not be a bad thing to me at all, except that it was mostly negative. I don't like to be negative. Talking about the church I like to be as positive as possible. Yet, I find that most of my conversation about the church is negative and it revolves around one main issue.

My title, The True Church, has nothing to do with one church, as if I were to say that the Baptist church is the only true church. That would be foolish. Yet I find that there is very little care about the True Church. And when talking about the True Church I am talking about the body of believers whom God has chosen. Yet I struggle with churches because I find none that are True. The reason I struggle with churches is because most of our churches don't have very many saved and spiritual people.

When I say saved and spiritual people I am addressing two different groups. Our walls are filled with the worlds lost who have no clue to who Christ is. Yet they make a major impact on how we do our work. Then there are the weak, those who are not strong in the doctrines of Christ, and they greatly affect the work of the Church. Why is it that such a weakness has crept into the churches of the world and made the Church weak.

When we read in Acts it tells us that the people were concerned with four main things. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer. Well, most churches do well at fellowship, we still do the Lord's supper, and most still pray; but how many really hit the apostles' doctrine hard and dig deep beneath the surface?

This is the weakness of the church: weak preaching leads to weak people. Our churches are filled with the lost and weak because the message is not being taught to them and they are not expected to uphold it. And that is why I am convinced that there are not many, if any, True churches. Since when did churches start using by-laws to manage their work. When did the Scripture not suffice. I'm sick and tired of churches who can't do anything because tradition dictates what is acceptable and the Word is not the standard.

Here is a challenge, show me a church where the Word is preached, powerfully in the Spirit and sound in doctrine, week in and week out and I'll show you one of two things. A church that has a ministry that is reaching to the sky, or one that is struggling to make it another week. Why? Well if one is faithful to God He is faithful to them and will bless them according to His purpose. Yet, the world hates the Church, the body of Christ, and those who are in the Church, its many members. They do not know Christ, but might love the church, the orgization it has become, because it is now designed to flatter the ear instead of teaching the Truth, the Apostles' Doctrine.

So now we have organizations established with a few who are members of the Church, surrounded by people who are members of a church, trying to seek out the will of God while every effort they make is rejected by those who are lost and weak. But we can't do anything because we are afraid and intimidated by the fact that there might be a few who get mad.

Georgetown College

I drove over five-hundred miles in two days to go to and come back from Georgetown College. All in all it was a great trip, and now nervousness and excitement settle in as I prepare for the actual departure to Georgetown College for school.

I arrived Thursday in Georgetown and after a moment of confusion I found the Admissions building and made sure I knew where to be at 2 o'clock for my meeting with Cammi Carpenter. After that I was set to see campus and I met up with Kristie and her roommate, Rachel, and friend, Bobby Joe, for Lunch at the Caf, which is short for Cafeteria. After some good food Rachel and Bobby Joe went to class and Kristie and I glanced around the campus until she had to leave for her class.

I hung around some on the campus until I met with Cammi. Our meeting was great and Cammi got me pointed in the right direction. I met up with Kristie again and she helped me with my scheduling and then she left for her lab. I retreated to my hotel room and had a much needed nap.

Upon waking up I got dressed and went and saw Kristie at her work, the Mulberry, and a little before 9 o'clock Rachel, Steven, and I left for PHA, an independent fraternity, for Devo. That was awesome. I guess it fits the mold for the normal Christian college devo in which you come in sing a few songs and then some one speaks; in this case it was a member of PHA. The speaker was great. A message about the greatness of God's grace, which not only saves us from His wrath, but enables us to live in His way.

Rachel and I waited for Kristie to get off work and then we went out to T.G.I. Fridays for dinner. It was fun getting to hang out with Kristie and to get to know her roommate a little. We arrived back to campus around midnight and they walked me to my car, as odd as that sounds, figuring it was about 20 degrees, and then I drove them to their building.

Day two was good as I got up around 7am and checked out of my hotel. The gentleman working was Indian, from India, and his music sounded very familiar and I asked him from where he came. Then I told him how Indian music was a lot like that of Arab’s and we began to talk about the conflict in Iraq. After a good conversation I headed to the library to meet with my V.I.P., Visit In Person, group. That was kind of odd with the fact that most of them were high school seniors and below and I am 22 years old. It was a good time where I got to hear from some of the professors and students about classes and campus life.

When finished with that I did some Georgetown investigating trying to see how to get to some of the places I might need to go to. One thing I guess I'll need to find is a church to attend. There are thirty-one Baptist churches in Georgetown so my selection is not limited, but it might be difficult. There are many large churches, but I am thinking about attending a smaller church that has less resources. Being that I am a Religion major I am hoping that God will be able to use me in one of the local congregations. If I am to attend a large church I might just be another Georgetown student and my abilities not needed, so I guess I will just have to be prayerful about that as to where God might lead me.

After my exploring I called Kristie to see if she wanted to do anything and I unfortunately woke her up from a nap. I figured she needed to sleep after staying our late with me the night before so I made my journey back to Sparta the wrong way. I went through Lexington during rush hour and then hit the always bad Knoxville traffic. But around 6:30 I made it home. All in all it was a good trip.

After some time being bored at home Lance called me to ask about my trip and to encourage me. I really needed that and it was awesome. He came over and we talked about all sorts of things and as the night came to be late he decided to stay the night and we laid in our beds talking about stuff till one in the morning. I never really knew how much Lance and I had in common and now we are both trying to leave home to go to school. I guess we both have nervous excitement about it and basically we agree that we just have to leave it up to God to have it work out the way it should.

Kristie, Rachel, and Lance, thanks for a great two days.