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�But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.� (John 1:12)
�For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.� (John 3:16)
�That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.� (Romans 10:9-10)
Many people have misunderstood verses such as these and believe they are saved simply because they believe in Jesus and that they will automatically go to heaven. And they do worship Jesus; they go to church on Saturday or Sunday morning and then go to movies that curse Him, or they watch a television show on their TV which curses Him and teach false doctrine. They read the Bible and then close it to read pornography, or watch it in the movies or on television, or listen to some false Judeo-Christian minister on the radio; where they listen to sermons that there is no differences among Christians such as a Greek or a Jew etc. Never realizing that when the scriptures speak of no difference between the Greek or the Jew, it means that they must be called by Almighty God to a saving belief in Christ. Then after listening to this they seek out the other races to fellowship with, no matter what false or pagan beliefs those groups have. Many seek especially the Jews, for they believe falsely that the Jews are God�s Israel people. Never taking into consideration that they are fellow shipping with a people that hate Christ with all their heart, mind and soul. So they believe falsely that they will go to heaven simply because they �believe� in Jesus Christ.
Even the devils and evil spirits �believe� in Christ and know Him and obey Him: �And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. (Mark 1:23-27)
We find this belief in Christ by the demons and evil or unclean spirits in Luke 4:34: �And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.�
So we can clearly see that a simple belief in Christ is not a sign that one is saved. One must have faith, but that faith must be backed up with works, otherwise that faith is vain, and will not produce salvation. This is related very clearly in the Book of James: �But wilt thou know, O vain man, that FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD? Was not Abraham our father JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how FAITH WROUGHT WITH HIS WORKS, and BY WORKS WAS FAITH MADE PERFECT? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED, AND NOT BY FAITH ONLY. Likewise also was not RAHAB THE HARLOT JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For AS THE BODY WITHOUT THE SPIRIT IS DEAD, SO FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD ALSO.� (James 2:20-26) So if one professes a belief in Christ and does not do the works as well, he/she is a liar and has no salvation.
What, then, is �Salvation?� If some one claims that Jesus has saved him/her, it means that he/she has received the remission of sins. �To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins.� (Luke 1:77) To receive this salvation of the remission of sins, one should, 1). Believe on Jesus Christ.� �He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.� (Mark 16:16) 3). Confess all their sins: �and there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.� 4). Receive baptism (Mark 16:26) for the remission of sins (Mark 1:4) And: �Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as THE LORD OUR GOD SHALL CALL.� (Acts 2:38-39) And be cleansed of his sins: �And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.� (Acts 22:16)
Only then can a man receive the salvation of the remission of sins on the basis of the scriptures. Only this has been written in Mark as: �He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.� (Mark 16:16) And as we have seen from other verses one who has done this will show, by his works, that he is saved also, for the works will be his witness of his salvation. Therefore, a man who has received the remission of his sins, gains in Christ�s Doctrine till the end and perfects his salvation. At this point of time, the verse: �And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.� (Acts 16:31-34)
Peter goes on to say: �If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.� (1 Peter 4:11) Then we have the testimony that: �Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But IF OUR GOSPEL BE HID (if we do not speak out and confess the word of God), IT (the Gospel of Christ) IS HID TO THEM THAT ARE LOST: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For WE PREACH NOT OURSELVES, BUT CHRIST JESUS THE LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.� (2 Corinthians 4:3-7)
There are many contradictory opinions and false notions among many Christians in these troublesome days regarding baptism. The commandment given by Jesus Christ (God) through the Holy Spirit after His resurrection to His apostles WHOM HE HAD CHOSEN is: �Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.� (Matthew 28:19) Now we know that Christ did not mean each and every nation on earth, but He meant only the Israel Nations for in Matthew 10:5‑6: �These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.� Again Christ, for a second witness said in Matthew 15:24: �But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.�
When the Lord chose Paul and the Disciples He said to them in Acts 13:47-49: �For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles (non-Jews; the True Israelites), that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles (Israelites) heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.� Paul was sent this way, God had revealed to him the divine mystery regarding the Gentiles (non-Jew; but True Israelites): �If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you‑ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles (Nations of the Israelites) should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.� (Ephesians 3:2‑6) But the false Judeo-Christian Clergy who neither knew this secret nor received any such commandment, create disturbance by talking whatever comes into their minds, for Jeremiah told of them: �Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD...Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?...I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?...I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD...Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?...And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.� (Jeremiah 23:1‑40)
Make no mistake, there is no scriptural basis to the idea that one should be Baptized as a sign of accepting Christ. That is only mans belief, not God�s Word! Believe what the Scriptures say about it in Mark 16:16, repent for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; Mark 1:4), in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:16, 19), THEN receive the immersion baptism (Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5); THEN and only then will your sins be washed away (Acts 22:16). And then you will be saved. (Mark 16:16)