Shaolin
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- Sep 18, 2021
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How do you explain salvation for those who were never baptized.
Remember Gods word is eternal
I believe I covered that in my post. A person can genuinely get saved if they are not baptized if the person that leads them to Christ is ignorant of Scripture or prone to false teachings, and does not tell the person he is witnessing to that baptism is required - only because God is merciful. But, when that person hears that baptism is necessary - JUST as Scripture teaches - and does not receive baptism into Christ, then he has refused to enter Christ. And salvation is ONLY found in Christ...if you are not in Christ, then you are not saved; no matter what you believe:
Romans 6:3*
Or are you ignorant of the fact that those of us who were baptized through immersion in water into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?
Galatians 3:27*
because however many of you who were baptized into Christ, have entered Christ.
Acts 2:41
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added to the church that day about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:38
And Peter said to them, "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.
Acts 18:24-26
Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
Acts 19:1-6
And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
I Peter 3:21
Which also is now a type for you of deliverance through baptism, not the washing of the flesh, but of a right conscience of integrity in pledging yourself into God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Acts 22:16
And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.
AGAIN...when we take the WHOLE Word of God, and not just verses here and there that seem to support our personal theology, Scripture teaches that unless one receives water baptism, he will not make it to heaven. That is because the NT Scriptures are NOT a "testament," they are covenant documents. We enter into the New Covenant of God in Christ today through faith, repentance, and water baptism (again, just as Scripture teaches), and if you are not in covenant relationship with God in Christ, then you are not saved, no matter what you believe.
Those passages like Acts 16:31 and others which only mention faith as a prerequisite to salvation, are true in the intent, but not complete statements on how to get saved. Again...we must take the WHOLE Word of God on the subject of how one gets saved, not cherry pick the Scriptures in order to support our own brand of false teachings. When we take all of the over 300 passages in Scripture that address salvtion, and not just 6 like calvinists do, then we come to the truth of the matter, which is faith, repentance, and water baptism into Christ. Baptism in the new covenant equates to the ceremonial rite of entrance into the old covenant through circumcision. In case you have not noticed, from cover to cover, God is big on ceremonial rites, and He is the one who instituted covenants from the very beginning.
We should always take what Scripture teaches in full over and above what faulty, biased, imperfect men say and teach...because we cannot get saved, nor make it to heaven, by listening to, defending, or walking in false teachings. We can only get saved and make it to heaven by listening to the Truth.
And besides...as I also said in the post - if you got saved, and got baptized also, but fail to engage God in personal relationship in prayer and worship and obedience, then you got saved for nothing and will still end up in eternal fire. Salvation is not the end of the issue like false teachers claim...it is only a means to qualify you to be able to enter into God's presence, and that for relationship.