Do I Have to Be Baptized to Be Saved?

Do you have to be baptized to be saved best is one of the questions will be answering on today's edition of core Christianity hi this is Bill Meyer along with pastor Gabriel Sanchez and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

You can call us with your question. At 833, the court, that's 1-833-843-2673 also post a question on her Facebook, Instagram or twitter account. You can watch us on YouTube and messages that way and of course you can always email us your question here is our email address its questions at core, Christianity.com burst up today let's go to Kim in Marshall, Texas Kim what your question for pastor. Israel told me they were and I wanted to find out that even possible. They're opening a gateway for demonic activity in their life and what would you think I do besides pray for discernment.

Kim, thank you for that question one.

I would say no it is not possible for a Christian to be a witch like I do think that when when people begin to dabble in things like the occult that yes it's it's a huge open door for the evil one for saying were inviting things into our lives that that aren't good and in the New Testament immediate you know that though the world of the apostles was really the world of the occult.

There was all sorts of you know strange practices divination all of those things happening. And yet when people turned to Jesus through the preaching of the apostles. They left behind those practices and there is a scene in the book of acts Kim in acts chapter 19 where Paul has been preaching in Ephesus and there's this really this great revival through the proclamation of the gospel and we read in acts chapter 1919 verse 18.

Also, many of those who were now believers came confessing and divulging their practices in a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to 50,000 pieces of silver.

So the word of the Lord continue to increase and to prevail mightily. I would say you continue to pray for this individual. And I think you have a frank conversation and say look at when we follow Jesus. Yet we we don't just add Jesus to our already crafted spirituality.

We embrace him as the Lord and we follow him and we turn away from. We repent of those practices that are out of accord with God's word and certainly witchcraft the occult. All of those things are are condemned by God. And as you said it gateways to evil things, things that we don't want to invite into our lives in so it's only by the work of the Holy Spirit. Kim and I pray for this, this friend of yours that that their heart might be opened and really that they would they would come to a deep sense of the glory of Christ and the worthiness of Christ for for us to leave behind whatever it is that were clinging to that we might follow him in and may the Lord grant grace. To that end, and may the Lord give you wisdom as you continue to have conversations with your friend Israel. You know, there seems to be this movement in our culture.

I just recalled synchronous more people want to take different beliefs, some from Christianity, some from other faith traditions or even the occult and sort of mix them together in a blender and then say this is my religion. Yeah, that's not a milkshake.

I want to have bill and that the thing is right with with something like this were talking about the occult and witchcraft writing. It's really easy for a lot of Christians to say yeah.

No way those two things can't mix you know witchcraft and the Christian faith.

But there are a lot of other ways I think, in which believers, well-meaning believers. Do you sort of makes their own religious ideas with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We want we want add Jesus to our spirituality, whatever that is that the spirituality that we've crafted. We want to Jesus.

It's very much like us who hates the things that we hate and loves the things that we love even the sins that we love are the sins that we struggle with and we have to we have to rid ourselves of that. We have to let the word of God speak for itself. Call us to repentance where we need to be called to repentance and lead us and guide us into the truth more and more, and so this is something that all believers I think can struggle with is is just wanting to mix Jesus with with their own spiritual ideas and spirituality know Jesus is not something you add to your life. Jesus is the Lord who redeemed us by his blood and calls us to follow him, don't drink the synchronistic milkshake at the syncretistic that's right know I like you know Oreo cookies and cream that window can be there. You this is core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez. Let's go to Carly and Tyler Texas Carly what your question for Israel taking my call. Only one meaning question my faith or anything else but a couple of very dear friend of mine and church very involved in ministry and have since then walked away from the faith and kind of I deconstructed their faith. And so my question of what they had to say about salvation and what dilemma was with the Bible and the Gospels is that it may feel like an intern as God's picture of love legally riots bake basically construct a higher level of love and what the Bible it illustrated.

They feel like because you have to expect your heart to be that if God really people the way that he said he does would end up regardless.

And that happened because of you know bad things that happen in our life that make our hearts that I guess it is just a bunch of excuses I guess why. Why send that really Jesus died on the crown to pay from what is available for everyone while Carly thank you for that for that question.

Glad you're thinking about this and having his conversation conversations with friends who were hearing about a lot of people deconstructing their faith, leaving behind the Christian faith questioning right everything that they were taught may be as as children or even as as ministers, pastors in the church. It sounds to me like the idea here is that they think we can do it better than God. Our our our religion are religion of love love is actually more loving then then the Christian religion because in Christianity right.

There's this exclusivity.

It's Christ the gospel. I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except by me. And so something like that. A lot of people in our society today don't like that. But does that mean it it's it's not loving me to imagine for a moment.

Judge who just on the basis of nothing other than there's a criminal before we done this heinous thing and just as you know what I know you done this horrible thing you've heard this family in a terrible way in the family you know that that the victim there, their families, all there in the courtroom but but the just I just you know I just have so much love and so I'm just gonna let you off the hook because of my great love and and you're free to go and and go and be at peace. That kind of thing that would be love by people there would be outrage and there is oftentimes outrage when when we see injustices that take place in people getting off the hook. You think of how that that other family would feel God is a loving God, but he's also a just God and a lot of times I think we wanted.

We want to emphasize, you know, maybe the love of God, to the exclusion of justice, which at the end of the date corrupts the love of God. Or maybe, maybe people you know in in the church can focus a ton on the justice of God. They don't have a good understanding of God's love. But when you look at the Gospels.

It's very clear.

I think that there is no greater love than the love that God is demonstrated towards sinners one we didn't deserve it. God would be totally adjusted to just leave mankind humanity in in this state of perdition where where we've rebelled against God. We've we've sinned against him every day you think about what what Romans five says you know both of God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us it's it's God's love for people who don't deserve it, who were his enemies who were shaking in our fists at him, and yet still he sent his son into the world to suffer and die for sinners and and that's why the gospel is this exclusive message because there is no other hope for sinners. Another name given under heaven by which we must be saved. And so it sounds to me like like there's just there just confusion on on on that point and you know I I would encourage you to to continue to to talk to these friends to pray for them and to magnify the love of God.

It's it's revealed to us in Scripture saying look that there is no greater love no greater love than the love of Christ as demonstrated in the Gospels as preached by the apostles as received by the faithful believers. That's our hope it's it's the love of Jesus is not in our own righteousness. It's in the fact that he's gracious towards sinners and I and I hope that your friends would come around to that that reality that that hope again. I really is.

I think a great pride to say oh I could do it better right stemming.

The reality is we couldn't we couldn't do better than the Lord. And so I God bless you Carly thank you for your question, I love your courtroom analogy there Israel that would be so helpful when you're talking to somebody who has that position would be loving for that judge to let that murderer criminal off the hook right there with the victims in the courtroom course not.

That's right, both just and he's loving right to be balances those two very yet he's God he doesn't really well, much better than we do, and in the gospel God bore our punishment if it's not just like yeah it's all good. Everything's fine. No sin demands payment if you will. And this is the love of God that God has sent his son into the world that Jesus would assume humanity to pay for our debts. That's love. You're listening to core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez's we have a group of people that we call our inner core who support this program on a monthly basis we want to say thank you to those folks and encourage you to get involved in the inner core. Yeah, the inner core is as Bill just said is it's a group of supporters.

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One of the ways you can submit a question to us. Your core Christianity is by emailing us. Our email addresses questions at core, Christianity.com Mike emailed us that she said I happened to catch a prior broadcast were a question about baptism came up. This was a great opportunity to take the focus off the baptism as there are many Catholics and non-Catholics that think you need to be baptized in order to be saved or that some sort of grace is attained through the act of baptism. Unfortunately, I think Pastor Sanchez muddied the waters at best. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.

No acts are required, including baptism, there is no storehouse of grace, we gain access to through the sacraments, nor does baptism draws closer to the Lord. I pray that you will get an opportunity to clarify this on the air yet. Thank you for for that email, you don't. I don't want to muddy the waters of baptism, the waters of baptism.

Look first.

I do believe that baptism is a means of grace and what I mean by that is it's it's one of the ways that the spirit of God can and does work in the world today.

Jesus himself. Jesus himself, the eternal son of God is the one who instituted baptism for the church so any theology that minimizes baptism or that says I we just don't really need it work were just saved by grace through faith which by the way, I agree with were saved by grace through faith.

Therefore, we don't need rituals like baptism and holy Communion will look at at the end of the day.

The problem that you have there is is first and foremost with Jesus because Jesus is the one who gave us the signs of the gospel for his people for his church to communicate his and his saving power to do the signs his grace and often times in the New Testament. You know you have this close association between the sign itself in the saving work of God.

The saving work of the Holy Spirit. I think about what what we read that in Titus chapter 3 verse five he saved us. God saved us. That is not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit you have this sort of we might call it sacramental language. This language of of washing associated with salvation. What I'm not saying here is that every person is baptized. This is saved at that moment that kind of a thing know salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit. It's only by the spirit in and through faith that were saved. With these signs of salvation, if you will, are given to us given to the church and we needed we need to value them as gifts given to us by God himself and so insofar as as we encourage people to be baptized. We call people to be baptized, which is precisely what the apostles themselves did. Insofar as we remind people of their baptisms sing look this is a part of your right beard and your new identity in Jesus Christ were buried with Christ in baptism. It's what Paul says in places like Galatians chapter 3 in Romans chapter 6 that reality is we just need to have a more biblical understanding of baptism in the church today. There is, I think a lot of you don't list sub biblical views of baptism, we just record these mantras about baptism. Well, it's just an outward sign of your inward faith. If you if you believe it's get baptize if you want. It's not that big of a deal but no that's that's that's not the teaching of the New Testament. Baptism is a gift given to us by God and God himself is the baptizer it's the sign of his saving work.

It's God's object of promises being extended to his people and we are called to lay hold of those promises by faith to say amen to God speaking to us through his word and through the signs that Jesus gives and again we value them because the gift giver the one who gives them is Jesus himself. And so we have to be careful that we don't we don't set aside that we don't devalue good gifts that the Lord is giving to us to his people, especially when they remind us of his love of his forgiveness of the gospel. We need those reminders and we need those tangible, visible physical reminders every every day.

Frankly, a man, thank you for that. A girl you're listening to core Christianity let's go to John in St. Louis, Missouri.

John what your question for pastor Bernard Roberts on Colorado. I dare thought after their center. What what you think when it say that God is Jesus Christ. You know, the son of God, but easy-going God, but you it say like when he hands the kingdom over God the father that he will be subject to the father so I'm just trying to figure out.

I know I know they're cold there coequal but how does it and then when the devil tempts you know the Lord Jesus to know that you know that just rely on your own. You know abilities like Turner's bread and the water are what is termed as bread. And through all the stuff you read there yet. So it is, is that just as is analgesic the clear but horrible. How does that out of our sandbox between how the father. Your powers of songbooks on a still individual art as far as the relations are, but he has his own will, but he follows the will of the father thought I was trying to confuse out of that work in conjunction with know what the Trinity's great great questions were getting into Trinitarian theology here were getting into Christology a right understanding of of Christ.

And so a few things one in the Trinity. There's one will and and so that that's really important. Christ look the word that the second person of the holy Trinity when he assumed humanity.

He assumed everything that is to be human including the human will.

And so in the training there's there's one will but but in terms of having a proper Christology. A proper understanding of Christ that the God man, one divine person to natures, we say that he has. He has two wills, the divine will and the human will, and so far as the human will is a part of human human nature and Christ assumed everything that it is to be human so that he might redeem it, heal it restore it in some really, really important now with regard to this idea of Jesus submitting to the father being subordinate to the father is that we how we parse this out one in the life of the Trinity.

You know the three persons of the holy Trinity, while distinct, are equal in power and glory. There isn't one who is let you know beneath or subordinate to in terms of in terms of God's essence, there was an ancient heretic named Arius and that's what he was arguing essentially that the sun was less than he was divine but he was less divine than the father. He was not consubstantial with the father is the technical theological word that we sometimes use coequal of the same substance of the same essence in the church.

The early believers. The Orthodox is faithful to the Scriptures, rejected the teaching of Arius and condemned it as as heresy. So we would say first and foremost within the Trinity. You don't have this this subordination with regard to essence, that would be sort of falling into the heresy of Arianism were leading down that road. But when Jesus assumed humanity in in the history of salvation and the economy of salvation. Sometimes we say there he came as a servant submitting to the father's will you think of what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 in particular, I'm thinking of verse will start in verse four. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped is equal with the father but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross and so that that submission if you will happened in the context of Jesus is coming to earth, accomplishing redemption for for us, redeeming us so the persons of the holy Trinity. Jesus is not less than the father equal in power and glory to I Jesus in John chapter 5 does all should honor me, just as they honor the father that the three persons of the holy Trinity are our the objects of our our our worship, father, son and Holy Spirit, one God, same and substance undivided and so of the best ways to do so to parse us out in terms of that the Trinitarian relationship that there's equality the same essence substance, but then in terms of the economy of salvation God the father sends his son into the world. Jesus, the eternal word of the father submits and comes as a servant so that he might redeem us IQ for that for that question. Getting into some some deep theology, Christology, Trinitarian theology, but it's good stuff that is good stuff. Thanks John for the question you're listening to core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez. Let's go to Dorian in St. James Missouri Missouri Dorian, welcome to the program hello hey Dorian yeah eight.

I actually don't have a question.

I have a couple of comments to support something that you said I apologize for coming in late iDisk email store turn the radio on and heard you talking I got to one is what you are talking about churches that focus on miracles and whatnot. My work, my ministry is to do multimedia video and audio for my church, and for other churches done.

I always tell my people. We may have the technology to do razzle-dazzle fancy transitions and whatnot but our ministry is to be an enabler for the message. When people focus on razzle-dazzle you and no fancy transitions we get track from that message. They start focusing on what we're doing in the cool transitions of the sparkly building there that you know that the fairy does yeah and they missed out on what the message is hey yet during that I don't want to take a job that will have a few more seconds and the program left the let me just say I agree with you that the razzle-dazzle in the pixie dust or whatever it was that you called it there. The gospel doesn't need that that the resurrection of Jesus Christ doesn't need that I think of the women who went to Jesus's tomb, thinking that he was still dead after he had risen from the dead, they bring perfume and and spices. They want to anoint his body when he's alive from the dead doesn't need our razzle-dazzle perfume.

He's the Lord of heaven and earth, we can just let him speak to his word. Thanks for listening to core Christianity to request your copy of today's special offer. Visit us at core, Christianity.com and click on offers and the menu or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833 when you contact us. Please let us know how you been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time.

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