Lesson 927

(Lesson 927)(03-27-14) Mark 16:15-20

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."

Today's quote contains the last instructions Jesus gave to His Apostles directly. Within theses instructions is one of the most misunderstood and miscommunicated phrases that can be found anywhere in the New Testament.

Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

The word "baptized", as it is applied in today's lesson, is NOT indicative of water as a medium into which the lost are required to be "baptized".

The baptism mentioned herein is an immersion of oneself, by faith, into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

It is true that there can be no salvation without the baptism Jesus commanded herein, it is the same baptism referred to in Galatians 3:23-27 "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For YE ARE ALL THE CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

The remission of sin comes through faith, as is said in the quote, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be JUSTIFIED BY FAITH." The rules of the law were lifted by the sacrifice of Christ and are no longer applicable to a child of God, we are indeed "JUSTIFIED BY FAITH". NOT, by water immersion. (or sprinkling)

The term "baptize", from the Greek "baptizO" (as is translaterated in today's quote), simply means to immerse one thing into another to gain a desired effect. The term itself, does NOT imply any explicit medium, such as water, into which an item or person is to be immersed.

A perfect example of a baptism would be to place a peice of steel into boiling oil so as to temper, or make harder, the steel. If you do that, you have effectively "baptized" the steel.

Therefore, the baptism referred to in today's lesson does NOT direct an immersion into water, but rather, an immersion, through faith, into the body of Jesus Christ for the remission of all sin.

NOTE: Tomorrows lesson will be a continuance of today's and will further demonstrate the meaning and effect of Christian baptism.~