Sunday Sermons
Questions and Answers
Who will be saved?
“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).
Shouldn’t we just “preach Jesus”?
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:35-36).
Isn’t it legalistic or pharisaical to teach baptism?
“When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John” (Luke 7:29-30). “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men? And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven’, He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’”(Matthew 21:25). Here is it clear that the chief priests and the elders were being very evasive and legalistic in trying to get around answering Jesus’ question about the authority behind God’s baptism. They knew that if they admitted that this command to be baptized came from heaven, and then they were without excuse for not submitting to it. People who seek to evade the command to be baptized and make arguments why they do not have to be baptized are acting like the enemies of Jesus in the first century.
Are only some of God’s followers baptized?
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13)
What does God require of me to be forgiven?
“Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins”(Acts 2:38).
How do I get into Christ?
“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
What blessings are included when one is “in Christ”?
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). “His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we haveredemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:6-7).
How many people have put on Christ?
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28).
What gives us a full assurance of our faith?
“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).
Isn’t man saved by faith only?
“You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).
What is the response of those who gladly receive God’s word?
“So then, those who had received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41).
Doesn’t including baptism for the forgiveness of sins teach salvation by works of men?
“Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).
Doesn’t baptism contradict grace?
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (one is made alive together with Christ in baptism: Romans 6:4-5; Colossians 2:12-13) (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
What saves us?
“Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you---not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).
Is the practice of baptism for the forgiveness of sins something that was only meant for first century Christians?
“Peter said to them, ‘Repent and each you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself” (Acts 2:38-39). “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:15-16).
Was Paul saved upon the point of faith in Jesus? Or did he still have unforgiven sins before his baptism?
“Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (Acts 22:16).
What does baptism symbolize?
“Or do you not now that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5). Contrary to popular religious opinion, the Bible never says that baptism is the outward sign of an inward grace, that is that baptism symbolizes that one has already been forgiven. Rather, in the Bible baptism is presented as a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Jesus died for our sins, we die to the practice of sin. As Jesus was buried in the tomb, we are buried in the waters of baptism. As Jesus was raised from the dead, we are raised to a new life. Jesus was not alive when He was placed in the tomb, and neither are we spiritually alive prior to baptism. Notice that Paul teaches that newness of life follows baptism and is not present before being baptized.
What must I do to enter into the kingdom of God?
“Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Throughout the New Testament, the “water” that spiritual blessings are associated with is the water connected to baptism (Acts 8:36; 10:48; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21). This is not the water associated with the natural process of birth, for every human being has already at birth met that requirement, thus making it no requirement at all. Being born does not confer salvation (John 3:6). And finally, such a verse would have the conditions for being saved being many years and decades apart.
What is so important about being in God’s kingdom?
“Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God and Father” (1 Corinthians 15:24). “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
What must I do to be added to the Lord’s church?
“So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls”(Acts 2:41). “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (KJV) (Acts 2:47).
What is so important about being in the Lord’s church?
“The church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). “The church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23).
