Video Transcript: Lesson 5 Exploring Further

Hi, I'm David Feddes. And welcome to this lesson in Christian basics we're exploring further in lesson five what the Bible teaches about salvation. I'm presenting material written by Dr. Ed  Roels along with some additional comments by me, David Feddes, the presenter, question  one, what does it mean to be saved? In general, we refer to salvation as something that takes place only once in a person's life. One cannot be saved today and lost tomorrow and then be  saved over and over and over again. Salvation is not the same as forgiveness, a person can  be forgiven over and over again. And all believers are forgiven repeatedly, but truly saved only once. Salvation involves the sincere confession of our sins, and a sincere profession of faith  in Jesus Christ, as the one who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. When we  sincerely confess and profess these things, we become children of God, our sins are forgiven, and we are given the gift of eternal life, we may still sin at times after we're saved, and we  may also. And we may also lose our sense of blessedness, and joy of our salvation at times.  But sin by itself does not take away our position as saved children of our Heavenly Father. So there may be times when we don't experience the fullness of the happiness and joy that  comes with salvation. But that doesn't take away the fact and the position, that we're saved  children of God. By sincerely confessing our sins and humbly asking for forgiveness, we can  again be restored to a right relationship with God. We obviously should never take our sins  lightly or act as if they don't matter very much. God forgives and we might say, Oh, it's his job  to forgive us. So we'll just sin all we want that probably indicate that we weren't saved at all if  we thought that way. So we, we shouldn't take sin lightly. But we shouldn't let our sins and  weaknesses destroy our confidence that we truly belong to Christ in spite of those  weaknesses. Remember the day the words of David in Psalm 51, after he was guilty of the  terrible sins of adultery, and murder, he prayed, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let  me hear joy and gladness, hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities create in  me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me, Restore to me the joy of your  salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. David was saved and knew God before he  committed those terrible sins, but he still did them. And they were awful. And now he prays to  be forgiven of those sins, and to have the joy of his salvation renewed and you and I to, even  after were saved will have many times and we have to come to God in a broken hearted  fashion, and admit what we've done wrong lately and find God's forgiveness. Question two,  What must a person do to be saved? We must sincerely confess our sins, demonstrate true  repentance for what we've done or failed to do, and put our complete trust in Jesus and His  sacrifice to atone for all our sins. It's very important, however, to realize that salvation is a gift,  and is not something we earn or merit. That's why it can be a little dangerous to ask, What  must a person do to be saved? Yes, repent and believe. But at another level, you don't do  anything to be saved. God does the work of saving you. by confessing our sins and putting  our trust in Jesus, we acknowledge that there's nothing we can do by ourselves to atone for  our sins, or make ourselves right with God. We do not simply promise that we will change our  conduct and start walking on a new path. And then assume that God will be satisfied with our  good intentions or our sincere promises. Rather, when we humbly confess our sins and place  our trust in Jesus, we throw ourselves on his mercy, with the acknowledgement that there is  absolutely nothing we can do to win the favor of God, or earn the gift of salvation. When you  write a check, the amount of the check depends on how much money you have in your  account. And if you don't have enough money in your account, the amount of the check won't  do you any good. But if somebody puts a huge amount of money in your account, then even if you didn't earn that money, even if it was a huge gift, your check or the check that's given to  you that you can sign it because somebody else is covering the amount of that check. If God  writes you a check of eternal life based on the value and merit of Jesus, you don't earn all that value in merit. God is giving it as a gift and all you need to do is accept it and sign your name 

to it. Salvation is there for always in completely a work of God's grace, rather than the result  of human effort. It may be significant when a person sincerely says I'll try to do better from  now on, but that's much different to recognizing our own inability to get right with God.  Through our own efforts, our own efforts will never do the job. The apostle Paul carefully  obeyed all God's Old Testament laws when he was younger, describing himself in Philippians  3:6 as someone who was faultless in regard to legal righteousness. However, in regard to  salvation, Paul wrote, God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved  us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace  you have been saved, that later he added, For by grace, you have been saved through faith.  This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may  boast, For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God  prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. So when God gives us His grace, when  he saves us not by our own doing, then he also gives us work to do. But we're not saved by  that work we're saved in order to do that work. Question three, can a person be saved without knowing it? Can a person think he is saved without really being saved? The answer to both  questions is yes, a person who is saved definitely should know that he is saved without doubt  or hesitation. However, there are people who are genuinely sorry for their sins, and who  sincerely trust in Jesus for salvation, who still sometimes doubt that they are truly saved. They may feel that they're simply not good enough to be a child of God. And they deeply regret that they still wrestle with significant sins in their lives. All believers should regret any sin in their  lives. But they should not focus so much on their sins, that they forget the many promises in  the Bible that God will truly forgive all those who sincerely repent of their sin and trust Him to  forgive them all. Our sins may be great, but compared to the magnitude of God's mercy, and  the value of Jesus blood, all of our sins put together are like one tiny little coal compared to  the ocean of God's love and forgiveness so we can be sorry about those sins we commit, but  then leave them to the ocean of God's love and forgiveness. As Isaiah 1:8-10 teaches, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson,  they shall become like wool. And I John 1:9 teaches If we confess our sins, He is faithful and  just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We need to claim that  promise and take it to heart, don't think, Do I deserve to have my sins forgiven? No, you of  course you don't deserve to have your sins forgiven. Just admit them, confess them, and then trust that He is faithful. He is just, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all  unrighteousness the moment you take your eyes off Jesus, you'll be shaken by doubts of  every kind. But no matter how serious your sin or how weak your faith, if you look to Jesus,  you're saying it's also possible for people to believe they are saved when they're not.  Regrettably, there are many people like that. These people often take sin very lightly, and  therefore they believe they have nothing to worry about. They often overestimate their on their own holiness and underestimate their own sinfulness. They do not put their trust in Jesus  alone, since they feel they don't need a savior. They often have a sense of self righteousness, and believe that they are much better than those other people they might say on. I may not be perfect, but I'm basically a good person. And because of that they think they're good enough.  And even if they do recognize that they're not as good as they should be, many feel that God  is a very kind and gracious being who really doesn't take sin very seriously. In his sight, they  argue no, and is so bad that he should suffer any significant punishment for whatever sins he  might happen to have done. These people are in a far worse situation than those who truly  believe in Jesus but aren't living the kind of holy life they would like to live. Those who are not  absolutely sure of their salvation, often tend to underestimate the mercy and kindness and  grace of God, while those who don't feel a need for a Savior tend to overestimate their own  goodness while under estimating God's holiness, and righteousness and justice. At one time, 

the apostle Paul had much confidence in his own righteousness. However, when he came to  know Jesus and put his faith in Jesus, Paul realized that in God's sight, he had not been  righteous at all, before he accepted Christ. Question four, what is meant by substitutionary  atonement? This phrase refers to the teaching that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. That is Jesus was our substitute. When he died on the cross, He took our place.  We could never pay the penalty for our sins. So we needed a perfect Savior, who was willing  to die in our place so that our sins might be forgiven and God could look on us with favor  instead of wrath. Romans 3:25 states this truth in these words, God put forward Jesus as a  propitiation by His blood. I John 4:10, focuses on the love of God in substitutionary  atonement. This is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. propitiation means a sacrifice that God lovingly provides a  sacrifice that endures God's wrath against sin, and brings the sinner into God's favor and  acceptance. Romans 5:10, states, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to God,  by the death of his son, we deserved to die because of our sin. But we could never pay the  penalty for our sins and still live. Jesus therefore, became our substitute. Our sacrifice of  propitiation, since Jesus had no sins of his own to pay for he and he alone could pay the  penalty that we deserve, and still live. After Jesus died and was buried, He arose again on the third day, and returned to his father in heaven. When the devil the great accuser wants to call  attention to our sins, Jesus is there in the presence of the Father in Heaven, to declare that all our sins have already been paid for, as Romans 6:23 teaches, The wages of sin is death, but  the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can therefore live all the days of our life on Earth in gratitude, joy and obedience, for what Jesus has done for us is our perfect  substitute. The phrase substitutionary atonement is not found in most Bible translations.  However, the idea of substitutionary atonement is found in every translation, you might not  find those two words right together. But the idea that's covered is all over the Bible. It's at the  very heart of the gospel. Included among the relevant scripture passages about  substitutionary atonement are the following. Isaiah 53, that whole chapter is about  substitutionary atonement. Listen to verses five and six. He Jesus was pierced for our  transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have  turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Galatians  3:13, says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of Allah by becoming a curse for us. I Peter  2:23-24 says, Jesus committed no sin, He Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that is the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds, you have been  healed. I Peter 3:18, says, Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the  unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. I John 4:10 says, In this is love, not that we have  loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Hebrews  7:25, says, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost, those who draw near to God through him,  since he always lives to make intercession for them. And Romans 8:34, says, Christ Jesus is  the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, and who  is indeed interceding for us what a privilege to know that God our Father loved us enough to  forgive us into sin, Jesus. And even though the father needs no further convincing, Jesus is  right there in heaven always to remind our father of what he's done for us, and to speak of the Father's love and to appeal to the Father's love and to claim the blood that covers all our sins. Therefore, you and I can have tremendous assurance because Jesus is always speaking for  us. Question five. If someone does not believe in Jesus, is there some other way he can be  saved? No, Jesus is the only way to salvation. There is no other. Jesus Himself said I am the  Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Jesus also  said I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. And whoever believes in 

me shall never thirst of Jesus is the savior. The one who fills our cravings, the one who takes  care of all that we need from God. On another occasion, Jesus said, I am the door of the  sheep, all who came before me are thieves and robbers. I am the door. If anyone enters by  me, he will be saved. Then he changes pictures a little bit, I am the good shepherd, the good  shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know my own and my own know me, and I lay  down my life. For the sheep. It's Jesus who does this, not all the others. Those who claim to  be saviors are thieves and robbers Jesus is the savior. Throughout history, there has never  been anyone else like Jesus, only Jesus was perfect, and totally free from sin. Only Jesus  had the love and holiness and the ability to give his life to pay for the sins of others. And no  one else had the power to rise again from the dead. Jesus said, For this reason the Father  loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again, no one takes it from me, but  I lay it down as my own accord. And I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to  take it up again. Jesus has the power and authority to lay down his life, to pay for our sins,  and then to take that life back again, and live forever in power and victory and to share that  power and victory with you and me, nobody else has that kind of life and power. Now, very  young children, of course, do not fully understand who Jesus was or what he did. But those  little children can still love and trust Jesus and believe that He died for them. Even many older people have little knowledge or understanding of Jesus, but they do believe in Him and trust  Him to be their Savior. Jesus himself said that we must become like little children in humility,  faith and trust, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. See, Matthew 11:25, Matthew 18:3,  Matthew 19:14, little children don't have to be grownups in order to be saved. In fact,  grownups after in some ways, become more like little children, and trust in the love and care  and salvation of Jesus. It is Jesus who saves us not our own efforts, not our knowledge.  Anyone who has saved at any time or any place will be saved only because of what Jesus did when he lived the perfect life and died for the sins of those who put their trust in Him. Jesus  and Jesus alone is the perfect savior, whether our knowledge of him is small, or whether our  knowledge of him is great. Question six, what does it mean to be spiritually dead? Are all  people spiritually dead unless they're born again? A spiritually dead person is someone who  is not saved, he has not been born again. Christ does not live in him. He has only the old sin  nature with which everyone is born ever since Adam and Eve. Many people who are  spiritually dead are self centered, immoral, proud, foolish, and disobedient. However,  spiritually dead people are not necessarily bad people in the sense that they're always  violating the law, or hurting others or robbing people or treating them disrespectfully. Some of  them may actually be kind, friendly, helpful and pleasant to live with. However, they do not  serve others out of love for God, they do not trust in Jesus, they do not seek to live according  to the teachings of God's Word. They do not put Christ first in their lives. They do not  acknowledge or confess their sins before God, and they do not seek to live to the praise and  honor of God. You say, well, but if they're pretty nice people overall, so what if they're not  praising God or honoring him? Well, the most important thing in all the world is to love God.  Above all, that's what the Bible teaches. If you're good in most other respects, and don't love  God, and means you're very bad, in the thing that matters most. I'll take a little different  example. If I told you that I treat our pets quite well, that are nice to the cats that I am pretty  kind to the friends that I meet and the co workers that I live with, and they're just have one  little problem. I treat my wife like dirt. I don't like to talk to her. I don't want to have anything to  do with her. I ignore her and neglect her and, and just do things she doesn't like but other  than that, I'm a good person. So you know, Doesn't that prove that you don't have to be nice  to your wife or love your wife in order to be a good person. Now if I said that you say what  kind of knucklehead dummy Are you? You know you treat your wife like that you there's  something wrong with you? Well, that's what I'm saying. When it comes to our relationship to 

God even if you're kind of a good person overall decent friendly you In other aspects of your  life, but you treat God like dirt, as though he doesn't matter, as though he's not worth loving  and obey. Then, if you're not walking with Jesus and trusting him, no matter what else is going right in your life, you are severely wrong and sinful. And as I said before, even if people are  equally dead, that doesn't mean they're equally decayed. Some people who are dead in sin  actually still look pretty good. Others have decayed very far, and their lives have rotted away,  and they become very bad. But good people without the life of Christ in them are still dead  people spiritually speaking, by human standards, some of them may be considered good and  worthy of praise. However, they do not have the love or the life of Christ in their hearts. And  they do not seek to live to the glory of God, they're spiritually lost Ephesians 2:1-3 puts it this  way, you were dead in the trespasses and the sins in which you once walked, following the  course of this world following the prints of the power of the air, that is Satan, the spirit that is  now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of  our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body in the mind, and were by nature, children of  wrath, like the rest of mankind. Likewise, Colossians 2:13, reads you who were dead in your  trespasses, God made alive together with them. Revelation 3:1 says, you have the reputation  of being alive, but you are dead. Jesus was speaking to a particular church, which was  reputed to be a great church and lots of activity. And Jesus says, You're just dead. There's no  spiritual life there, even though you're acting very religious, according to the Bible. Therefore,  every person who is not born again, is spiritually dead. Questions seven, what does it mean  to be born again? Can we somehow earn the privilege of being born again, can a person be  born again more than once. To be born again means to receive new spiritual life from the Holy Spirit. It cannot be earned or merited by anything we do. It's a gift of God. And just as we can  be born physically, only once, we can be spiritually born again, only once we can be born  from above, only once. Now, when it comes to being born, did you decide to be born? No,  someone else gave you life, and then you were born? Well, so it is with being born again. You can't make yourself be born again. God gives you life and then you're born again. And then  you have that life and you don't have to be born again and again and again and again. Being  born again involves the miraculous, spiritual and somewhat mysterious work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. When a person is born again, it's as if the seed of a new spiritual life is  planted in the center of his life. He has a conviction of sin which drives them to genuine  repentance, sincere faith in the atoning work of Jesus, a new purpose for living, a heartfelt  desire to do what God wants him to do. A deep love for Jesus, and a genuine love for others.  Being born again also brings the heart of joy, Thanksgiving, and a new spirit of praise and  gratitude in a person's life. The following passages all refer to this new birth, Jesus said,  unless one is born of water in the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is  born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. II Corinthians 5:17, says,  If anyone is in Christ, he has a new creation, the old has passed away the whole, the new has come Ephesians 4:22-24. Say, you were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus to put off your  old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and his corrupt through deceitful desires,  and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created after the  likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Colossians 3:9-10 says you have put off  the old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge  after the image of its Creator. I Peter 1:3-4 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord  Jesus Christ, according to His great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living  hope to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. I love those words, born  again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that  resurrection life of Jesus comes into us, and we are born again in that life. People who are  born again are made new spiritually, and have a sincere desire to serve God in every area of 

their lives. However, they are not yet perfect In this life, they still sin and fall short of being all  that they want to be or hope to be. And as long as they're on this earth, they will have to  wrestle with failure and temptation. However, even if they do fail at times, they do not lose  their status as children of God who are truly in Christ and destined for an eternity of joy and  peace and love in his presence. There are five important theological terms, which describe  various aspects of our salvation. These five terms are regeneration, conversion, justification,  sanctification, and glorification. Let's look at each of them. Regeneration describes being born again. Conversion describes the initial radical change in our lives, when we turn away from  living a sinful life that dishonors and displeases God, to a life that honors and pleases Him. So our whole life is converted into something else. I grew up in a house that was once something else, the house that I grew up in was a nice house. And it had many good things about it, it  had started out as a granary, just a box or building that stored grain, and then it had been  changed or converted. From that kind of thing, to a house in which people live. And when  were converted, were changed from something old to something where God himself is at  home and where the life of God is lived out in the way we live. Justification describes our  standing before the judgment seat of God are standing that we have right now God's legal  verdict, God's statement about whether we're innocent or guilty. And as people who are  declared by God Himself to be not guilty, God counts Jesus goodness as ours, and he counts  our sins as paid for by Jesus, even though we may still need to be cleansed over and over  again, we as believers in Jesus are declared justified or not guilty, because Jesus paid the  penalty for our sins past, present and future. And because Jesus perfect obedience is forever  counted as our obedience. So justification is something that happens once for all when you're justified, God declares you right with Him forever, because of what Jesus did. In contrast, a  justification is sanctification. That's not a one time declaration of God of our standing before  him. But it's God's transformation of who we are. Sanctification describes the process of  becoming more and more holy in our lives, through the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells  within us. Sanctification is a lifelong process, which is never fully completed until the day of  our death, or if Jesus returns before we die. So sanctification is not like justification. And  justification is that one time declaration that you're right with God and that all of Jesus  goodness is credited to you. Sanctification is, as the goodness of Jesus actually comes into  your life bit by bit through the work of the Holy Spirit in you. And it's a gradual change where  you more and more become like our Lord Jesus Christ, but you're standing with God doesn't  depend on how you're gradually becoming more like Jesus you're standing with God depends on all of Jesus fully accomplished goodness just being credited to you even before you've  started to become good. glorification describes the future glory which we will experience when we will be with Christ forever in glory. We will have perfect new bodies and will forever be  without sin or sickness, or sadness of any kind. We will also experience joy and love and  peace, far beyond anything we've ever experienced before our whole lives will reflect the  glory of God will perfectly honor him. Now, according to the Bible, our salvation includes all of  this and includes regeneration, conversion, justification, sanctification, and ultimately  glorification. Question Eight what is meant by eternal life? Does this refer simply to the length  of life? Or does it refer to something more than that? The phrase eternal life doesn't always  refer to exactly the same thing in the Bible. Eternal life sometimes refers to a life that never  ends. And in that sense, eternal life is the same as everlasting life life that just can't die.  However, eternal life may also refer to a new quality of life, a life in Christ that is far superior,  more heavenly, more godlike than life without Christ. This life too, does not end it's  everlasting, but it's more than just everlasting. The emphasis is more on the kind of life that a  believer experiences rather than on the fact that it has no end. In some Bible translations, the  phrases eternal life and everlasting life seem to be you interchangeably. Consider some of the

following passages that speak of eternal life. Jesus prayed in John 17:3, this is eternal life,  that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sinned. So in  knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ, you've already entered into eternal life, according to  Jesus. John 5:24, Jesus said, Whoever hears my word and believes him who simply has  eternal life, not will have but in this case, he says, already has eternal life when you hear and  believe. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Jesus went on to  say, a time is coming and has now come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of  God, and those who hear will live, even there. He's not talking about the resurrection from the dead at the end of time. He's saying that right now the time is coming, and has come when  the dead are hearing the voice of the Son of God, and are coming to life. And so they're  coming to life, even now as they hear Jesus speaking to them. And then Jesus says a few  verses later, that those who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out at the end of  time to be judged. So there is a now element to eternal life when we hear Jesus voice and  our, our soul springs to life within us, and the eternal life of God comes within us. And then  there's a future dimension to eternal life as well, when our bodies are resurrected, when our  entire self is made perfect, and we live with God forever. Luke 18:29-30. Jesus said, There is  no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the  kingdom of God, who will not receive many more time, more in this time and in the age to  come eternal life. So already now many blessings are received, and in the future, eternal life.  Matthew 25:46, Jesus said, these unrighteous will go away into eternal punishment, but the  righteous into eternal life, so their eternal life is referring to that everlasting life in the new  creation with God. I John 3:15, says everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you  know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him, someone who murders and doesn't  repent, or someone who hates and doesn't repent, just doesn't have that eternal life in him  right now. So here, he's not talking about just the future of life after death, or life after Jesus  second coming, but right now having eternal life dividing in you, John 3:16, For God so loved  the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have  eternal life, eternal life now, and eternal life forever. Question Nine, can a person be saved  without being baptized? Can a person be baptized without being saved? Why is baptism  important? The answer to the first two questions is, yes, some people are truly saved. But for  one reason or another, choose not to be baptized or, or were unable to be baptized, at least  not for a while, think of the thief on the cross, for instance, he was never baptized. But Jesus  said to him, today, you will be with Me in Paradise, he came to Jesus at the last moments of  his life, and he was saved even without baptism. And there are many others who might not be baptized immediately. Perhaps they put off baptism because they're afraid of the reaction of  family or friends or government authorities, if they're baptized. Some may consider the  baptism is not really important or required since they emphasize the baptism of the Holy  Spirit. Still, others may live in a place or situation where there is no one around to baptize  them. And so there are people who have truly been born again who've come to faith who  maybe haven't had the opportunity to be baptized yet that are truly saved. And there may be  some, even who have a serious misunderstanding of baptism that they don't really need to do it. And yet they have been saved by faith in Jesus. Now, many others are baptized out of  tradition, or the expectations of family or friends, but they don't have a true saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Many children are also baptized, but never come to the point where they  commit their lives to Jesus. And so such people might be baptized, but they're not truly saved. Why is baptism important? First, because Jesus commanded believers to be baptized. If  Jesus commands something, it's important, and we better do it. He said, baptize people in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything I've  commanded you. So we shouldn't be baptizing people when they come to Christ. And if you're

a person who is converted and comes to Christ, then you need to be baptized in the early  church, there appeared to be no questions about the importance of Christian baptism.  Second, baptism in baptism is a sign in the seal that a person belongs to Jesus Christ, that  his sins are washed away, and that he belongs comes to Christ in every area of his life. It's a  great blessing for a person to live in this life knowing that he has received the God appointed  sign that his sins are truly washed away, and that he belongs for time and eternity to his  Savior Jesus Christ. Baptism is a seal and a sign of our relationship to Jesus. And it really  blesses and strengthens our faith and displays that faith for others to see. Now, notice this  there are many churches that practice the baptism of infants, as well as the baptism of  professing believers of various ages. Those who practice infant baptism do so for different  reasons. Some wrongly believe that children are saved through baptism itself. But not  everybody who baptized as babies believes that others baptize infants, only if they're the  children of believing parents, and they emphasize that children of believers in the Old  Testament received the sign of circumcision according to the explicit command of God. This  sign of circumcision indicated that the children of believers belonged to God and thus  received a sign which indicated the removal of sin and impurity. Now in the understanding of  those who practice infant baptism, children of believers today should we see baptism as the  New Testament sign of this spiritual blessing. It's also interesting to note that three of the  relatively few stories of baptism in the New Testament involved the baptism of entire families,  there's something about family solidarity in these baptisms, Acts 16:15, speaks of Lydia and  her household being baptized, Acts 16:31-33, speaks of a jailer in the city of Philippi, who  comes to believe in Christ and he and his whole family are baptized. I Corinthians 1:16, tells  of the baptism of the household of Stephanus. So it's not just baptism of this or that isolated  individual. But when head of the household comes to Christ, the whole household, it seems,  would come to Christ and be baptized and that may well have include included little ones in  such stories we don't know for sure. So there are some people who do believe in the baptism  of children of believers because baptism replaces the sign of circumcision in the Old  Testament, in which little children as well as converts were to be circumcised at the time that  they entered into the people of God. Here's some scriptures about baptism. Jesus said, Go  therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of  the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. on Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit was richly out  poured upon the church and 1000s came to Christ, Peter told the crowd, in Acts 2:38-39,  Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of  your sins, for the promises for you, and for your children, and for all who are far off everyone  whom the Lord our God calls to himself, repent, believe, be baptized, that's the command, as  many of you, as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ Galatians 3:27, Colossians  2:11-12. Give some of that link between circumcision and baptism. In Christ. Also, you are  circumcised by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which  you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him  from the dead. There are many other examples of baptism in the early church that are given,  especially in the book of Acts. Also, notice in I Corinthians 1:13-17, where the apostle Paul  indicated that he baptized very few believers himself, since he really didn't want people to  focus on him. Rather than on Jesus, He came to preach the gospel. And he actually most of  the time, let others do the baptizing. A Paul was certainly not opposed to baptism himself, he  spoke of it and of its importance. But Paul wanted new believers to recognize that Jesus is  the Savior who died for them, and that Apostles and Evangelists and teachers and preachers  were just servants who proclaimed the message of salvation. And baptism is not more  important than the gospel message and faith in that gospel message itself. It is through faith  in that gospel message that we come to know our Lord Jesus Christ. Question 10 Is it 

possible to be absolutely sure of our salvation? If not, why not? If so, how do we gain this  assurance? Yes, it is possible to be sure of our salvation. Some may question this since they  know of people who at one time seemed to be saved but later left the faith and went back to  another religion or to no religion at all. Others recognize that they themselves may not always  be very confident of their salvation since their faith is weak at times their lives do not always  demonstrate that Christ lives within them. However, our assurance of salvation does not rest  on anything that we have done or can do, but it rests completely on what Christ has done for  us, and our sincere belief and what the Bible teaches about Christ. If we truly believe the  promises of God and humbly and sincerely confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we  may have to be sure, then we may be sure that we are truly God's children. It's also  important, however, that our lives do reflect what we claim to believe. Not only should we  seek to stay away from all known sin, but we should also firmly choose to pursue only that  which is pleasing to our Lord. John 20:31, has great words of assurance these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name, Romans 8:16, says, The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we  are children of God. I John 5:19-20 says, I write these things to you who believe in the name  that this is I John 5:13. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God  so that you may know that you have eternal life. And then jumping forward to I John 5:19. We  know that we are from God. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us  understanding, so that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true. In his  Son, Jesus Christ, you see how the assurance is focused on Jesus and when we know Jesus and that he is ours, then we can have blessed assurance of eternal life. Question 11 Is it  possible to feel short of our salvation even though we are not truly saved? Yes, there probably are. Many people like that they may put their trust in the fact that they were once baptized are members of a local church, attend church regularly and read the Bible and pray fairly often.  However, all these activities can hide the fact that they've never truly been born again. They  do not truly love the Lord with their whole heart, and they're not putting their trust for salvation in Christ alone. It's therefore important for us each to examine our own hearts, and lives to  make sure that our confidence is never based on our own activities, but rather on the finished  work of Jesus on the cross, and his special work in our hearts and lives. If our faith is weak at  times, and we're not living as we should, we should earnestly pray to the Lord for spiritual  renewal, greater love for him, and a sincere desire to serve Him in all that we do. We should  also, again, read and study those passages in the Bible which teach us about all that Jesus  has done for us, so that we build our lives on the solid foundation of the truth of God, as found in His Holy Word. As this old song says, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood  and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy lean on Jesus name on Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground, is sinking sand.