THIS IS SALVATION

Welcome to this section, this article is actually a E book and consists of many pages - If you have the time to read through or print you are most welcome ! We are still working on this booklet and will break it down into sections that people can read and that will be more web friendly. Thanks for visiting !

WE Christians know Jesus as the only Way, Truth and Life (John 14.6). Orthodox Jews will refer to Jesus as Jehoshua and Jewish Christians will call Him Yeshua. The meaning of this Name is “Yahweh saves” or "Yahweh redeems". God’s nature is intrinsically linked to His Name and reckless pronunciation of His Name, especially in orthodox Judaism, is forbidden to this day. Verbalizing God’s Name, Yahweh or Jehovah as many still prefer, is therefore regarded as very sacred [Yahweh is the derivation of the so-called tetragrammaton (YHVH)]. In the same manner, yet not practised the same way, the nature of the Son of God is intrinsically linked to His Name and this was the reason for God’s personal choice of the Name of His Son.

The Name of Jesus is therefore the reflection of full Salvation just as the Bearer thereof is its embodiment. What this explanation boils down to is : If we desire Salvation, we will have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Acts 16.31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." Jesus was sent into the world with one clearly outlined purpose, i.e. to save sinners (1 Tim. 1.15). And this is Salvation!

THE Scriptures speak of the full gospel we must attain and which goes beyond our verbal confession of Jesus as Lord. We learn from the Acts of the

On Pentecost Day three thousand souls were gathering around Peter and the apostles. They were in great anguish as the Holy Spirit baptism was something they had never anticipated even after the mighty miracles of Jesus and John the Baptist who had publicly declared Him God’s chosen Lamb. Luke tells us that many people flocked to the Upper Hall when the Holy Spirit came down like a mighty wind upon the place where the followers of Jesus who were then still an insignificant group of believers, were waiting faithfully upon the fullfilment of God’s promise (±120 – Acts 1.15).

Those outsiders were desirous to know what they were supposed to do in order to share in the apostles’ newfound spiritual abundance. And Peter who was then clearly saved and filled with God’s Spirit, rose to his feet and boldly gave them the key to Salvation:

Acts 2.38: "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" (KJV).

LISTEN carefully to how Peter instructed his audience : "......be baptized for the remission of sin." And he then linked baptism directly to the One whose cruxifiction had caused more than just a stir in Jerusalem not so long ago.

Peter also later testified that Jesus wrought Salvation through His shed blood and this is the crux of Salvation : (Acts 4.12) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Salvation then hinges on, (1) the Person of Jesus, Son of God, Saviour of the world, and (2) on His Name. Peter’s statement then implies that Jesus hung on the Cross for a definite purpose and that His Name was just as much linked to His sacrificial death as His body indeed was. He was therefore not just any spiritual healer. He was declared the Saviour of the world! And His Name also acquired divine significance after His resurrection (Acts 4.10-11; Phil. 2.9-11). Jesus paid the penalty of man’s sins according to Paul’s message, meaning that we have been redeemed by Him (Eph.1.7; Col. 1.14). And this is Salvation!

WE have been snatched from the Kingdom of satan and brought over to the Kingdom of of Jesus (Col. 1.13) : "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Nothing can express Salvation better than this statement made by Paul. We have virtually been unshackled by Jesus who was sent by the Father into the world to give man a new lease on life (Phil. 2). And for this cause Jesus left His heavenly glory and He put on the form of a servant in order to deliver us from the bondage of sin. Jesus paid the full penalty of sin on our behalf. Yet, He did not nullify sin on the cross. Sin still proliferated after His cruxifiction and resurrection and this world is still lying in the grip of satan (1 John 5.19). But Jesus broke the

power of sin on the cross and He made a clear division between condemnation and salvation once and for all. John therefore rightly declares that those who are reborn don’t sin (1 John 5.18).

Jesus wrenched our will from satan’s grip on Calvary and He gave us the power to make a choice between right and wrong so that we will not remain in sin and as He now rules supreme over us we have been given an opportunity to walk in the Light for we have fellowship with Him (1 John 1.3 and 6) . Those who want to remain in sin will therefore keep on sinning and those who desire Salvation, will grasp it and they will take hold thereof (1 John 3.3-10). We then here have a two-sided issue: (1) Jesus gave us life, but (2) it is for us to take what He has offered us through His suffering on the Cross.

IN and through God’s Plan of Salvation we can detect His absolute greatness of character, His justice towards man. Had Jesus then only given Salvation to us theoretically, or even dying on the Cross for us without leaving us a choice to either accept or to reject His offer of Salvation, He would then indeed have been manipulative. Why? It would then have been as though He had given us a gift with an ulterior motive in mind , i.e. with the intention of enticing us into submission so that we would then have had no option but to serve Him. And serving Him this way would then have meant forced submission. Now, this is the wonder of God’s true nature which His Son is sharing with Him (Col. 1.15) : God holds out the gift of Life to us, yet also simultaneously giving us a choice to either accept or reject this Life He is placing so generously at our disposal through His Son (1 John 5.12; John 17.21-26). And once we realize that we are serving Jesus willingly, we will grow in love and faith for the Spirtit of God will then spur us on to also grow in good works. We will become more like Jesus as He will then reflect His beauty in and through us.

As we grow spiritually, we will rest in Him, full knowing that because we are carrying His Name in baptism, we will make a definite effort to lay off sin (Gal 5.16-26). We will then also experience how we will daily be transformed by His Spirit coming to our aid and the inclination to sin will fall away because we are then subjecting ourselves wholeheartedly to God’s Will and the guidance of His Word. After repentance we will have the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ working in us and inspiring us to persevere on the spiritual road (2 Pet. 1.3-9).

Therefore, once we know Jesus, we will not live our lives anymore after the flesh but we will live after the Spirit (Rom. 8.2). We will be led by the Spirit of God instead of giving an ear to deceptive spirits which are bent on making us disobedient to God (Rom. 8.1; v. 14; 1 John 4). Obedience will therefore enable us to follow Jesus with determination of heart as we will then desire to perform His will in everything we do and He will give us the necessary measure of faith to fully believe and trust Him (Rom. 12.3; Heb. 2.13; Ps. 112.7). He will then draw nigh unto us for He will give us His Promise, the Holy Spirit, so that we can have faith in Him (Eph. 1.13; 1 Cor. 12.3). And this is Salvation!

TRUTH then hinges on a give-and-take-basis. Therefore, as Jesus has given us Life, it is for us to obediently take it and claim it as our own, that is, if we want to. We are therefore not obliged to follow Jesus but once we have taken hold of Him, we must know very well that He will regard us as His prized possession. He will then exercise His Lordship over us but we can then also rest assured that there is no better hiding place on earth than in His pierced hands! For if we remain in Him, we are bonded with His divine blood (John 15.4). If we follow Him, we have indeed become partakers of His glory (Heb. 3.1 & 14).

Therefore, although Jesus paid the full price of redemption (=salvation), it is for us to complete the deal. We have to become signatories to the Contract He had drawn up between Himself and His disciple (Rom. 15.27; 1 Cor. 9.12; Eph. 3.6). And this is Salvation!

HAD redemption meant that we were not required to also do something on our part,, in other words, that we could then just sit back and relax "as Jesus had done it all for us", we wouldn’t have been God’s partners in Salvation. Once we accept Christ’s Lordship in our lives, we have become partakers of the spiritual things, even of Christ’s sufferings (Rom. 15.27; Eph. 3.6; 2 Cor. 1.7). So if we claim that God didn’t require us to also do something ourselves, in other words that we were not meant to also accept the challenge of working out our own Salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2.12), then we would by now completely have forgotten about the purpose of Calvary. And Calvary would then only have been a page in history for us, no matter how noteworthy that page may be!

Therefore, just as God had instructed the Israelites to share His greatness and His existence with the next generation, likewise He instituted the Christian baptism as a sign and symbol of Salvation and as proof of our repentance (Acts 2.38). And that is why the apostle Jude could remind the saints of the gospel that was once entrusted to them and the water baptism was an integral part of that gospel (v3). There are then two sides to integrate the two sides to Salvation :

v God gave us His Son who shed His blood to save us, and He sent His Holy Spirit to enable us to bring the one and only Saviour to a lost world, also to equip us in order to proliferate in good deeds (John 1; 1 John 1.7; Acts 2.33; Acts 1.8; James 5.16; 1 John 1.8-10; Gal. 5; Col. 3);

v We must turn around and leave our old lifestyle behind and then, as reborn Christians, we will be renewed by Christ (John 3.5). Only then will we be ready to receive baptism and we will be true vessels of the Living God especially after baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2.38-39).

Should we decide to participate in Salvation our way and therefore setting aside God’s prescribed order (i.e. the Biblical way), we are lost, for God sent forth His apostles to preach the Gospel of Truth (Acts 1; 1 Cor. 15.1-2; Gal. 1). God knew exactly what man needed in order to acquire Salvation and He therefore gave us an authentic Saviour offering us a solution that is better than any other religion or cult can offer us. We therefore have to take heed of God’s Plan to redeem man so that we can diligently execute His conditions. And this is the meaning of Salvation for Salvation is more than just taking note of the suffering of Jesus on Calvary.

PETER clearly gave this instruction to people who were acquainted with God’s Laws. The Jews had to perform their moral and spiritual obligations in order to be full partakers of election and their election has therefore always hinged on repentance and adherence to God’s commands. Repentance could also mean adopting a different approach and for this reason God had sent prophets in the past to move man to action: Isa 58.1: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins." And this is the message of repentance which still goes for the partakers of the New Covenant.

What God then in effect requires of believers is to turn around full circle and to face the appointed Redeemer, Jesus Christ as He wrought Salvation for man on the Cross (Acts 2.36; Acts 4.12). Sinful man who by nature stands in disobedience, must then do something to prove his obedience to God and unless he is willing to perform an act of repentance, he will not be saved. Disobedience therefore stands in opposition to Salvation and as Salvation demands complete obedience, mortal man will indeed be endowed with New Life when he surrenders his will to God (2 Cor. 10.5-6; Isa. 1.19; Rom. 6.4; Rom. 8.10).

WE have to confess what we believe in our hearts, i.e. what has motivated us to turn around (1 John 4.15): "Whosoever shall CONFESS that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." Unless we then openly confess we are not saved and we don’t have Salvation. God will only dwell with us and in us if we confess His Son as our personal Saviour (Redeemer). Paul deals with this in his Letter to the Romans (10.9): "..if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from he dead, you shall be saved." We will therefore only have Salvation if we are willing to apply God’s Word. And this will materialize once we put our promise to repent in action.

Repentance is therefore only one step towards Salvation for what makes the act of repentance valid, is the verbal confession of our hidden intention, i.e. stating with our mouths that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and then our confirmation that Salvation comes through the Son who has delivered us from our bondage of sin will naturally follow (1 Joh. 3.23; 1 John 2.23; Heb. 1.5; Rom. 1.3). Once we believe and tremble before God because of our disobedience, we will repent and acknowledge our sin!

John the Baptist therefore rightly preached the baptism linked to repentance and confession of sin but Peter took it one step further because the Redeemer had then already paid the penalty of sin on the Cross. Like Paul, Peter then preached the baptism of forgiveness of sin and pointing to the Cross, the epitome of redemption and forgiveness of our sins (Rom. 6.4; Acts 2.38; Acts 4.12). As the sacrificial blood was shed by Jesus for the Salvation of man, Peter very appropriately incorporated the Name of Jesus into the baptismal act as baptism without the definitive statement made by Peter, i.e. using the Saviour’s Name in baptism, would then have fallen outside the parameters of the New Covenant. The sacrificial blood of animals was by far not the divine blood shed by Jesus which had the Power to not only cleanse man on the surface (to purify him ceremonially) but to also clear man’s conscience as atonement wrought by Jesus, embodied the complete forgiveness of sin (Heb. 9.13-14): "The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (Thompson’s Chain-Reference Bible).

Therefore John’s baptism only pointed to the true Salvation that was still to come.

IF we submit to baptism (doing what we have promised when we repented) we have the sure confirmation that our sins are forgiven. Peter was clear on this : Acts 2.38: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins...." According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Sixth Edition, remission means an act of reducing or cancelling the amount of money the subject is obliged to pay. And according to the 1987 edition it means pardon or forgiveness (=of sins by God); freeing from debt, punishment etcetera. Paul therefore rightly states that Jesus has cancelled our debt on the Cross for He died to set us free and He this way paid the penalty of our sins (Rom.5.8). If we are baptized in His Name – which is intrinsically linked to Calvary – our sins are then indeed cancelled in baptism for it is in and through the water grave of baptism that we are symbolically buried with Jesus and again raised unto Life with Him. What it then also implies is that unless we are baptized, our personal sins are not cancelled even though Jesus has already paid the full penalty of our sins! We must therefore become partakers of atonement through baptism and that is what Paul implies in Rom. 6.4 : "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Chrsit was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Thompson’s Chain-Reference Bible).

It is, however, not the water grave that brings repentance for if it were the case, we would be following the traditions of the Essenes who believed that the water purifies the soul. Had it therefore not been for the application of the Name of Jesus in baptism, we would then not have been able to link remission of sin to baptism as the One who hung on the Cross, wrought Salvation. It is therefore the Name of Jesus that we use in baptism that washes away the sins of man (1 Cor. 6.11). Yet this doesn’t imply that we can just claim the Name of Jesus without submitting to the water baptism for we have Peter, chief apostle on Pentecost day, giving us an explicit command to be baptized, that is after performance of the act of repentance. (John 21.17).

WE must integrate the redemptive work of Jesus on the Cross by submitting to baptism as our faith and obedience contract in the baptismal act and the faith that is hidden in our hearts then comes to light in a clearly defined act of faith, i.e. the actual baptism we boldly undergo. And this is Salvation, for it is in and through Salvation wrought by Jesus that we have the sure evidence of the remission of our sins (Heb. 9.14; 1 John 1.7).

Salvation is therefore very appropriately vested in the Name of Jesus for what Salvation in effect embodies is the New Life we have gained through our acceptance of Christ Jesus as the only authentic Saviour of the world. It is through faith in the shed blood of the Son that we are being saved and not through the Law and its works (Gal. 2.16; Gal. 3.11). God brought forth His Son through the Power of His Spirit and he created divine blood in Him so that His blood would have the ability to break the power of sin over man (Heb. 9.14; John 1.13; Luke 1.31; Heb. 4). As man’s sins have always separated him from God, he has now been reconciled with God through the Cross which have cancelled his debt (Gal. 3.13; Eph 2; 2 Cor. 5.18).

Had it not been for the Cross of Calvary, the outward obeisance to the Law of Moses and especially its works would still have applied (=its commands and precepts). Compare Gal. 4.9: "But now that you know God – or rather are known by God – how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?" (Paul was addressing Christian Jews who wanted to judaise Christianity and he explained to them that man was justified by faith and not by works – Gal. 3.24). And faith agrees that God’s power is vested in the blood of Jesus (Heb. 9.14; 1 Joh. 1.7). But just as faith of the heart is linked to verbalized faith, i.e. by the evidence coming from our lips and mouth (Rom. 10.9), likewise faith in the blood of Jesus must culminate in a deed, and we must therefore enact our faith, and that entails the actual stepping into the baptismal font.

THESE three witness are in agreement for the Spirit, the water and the blood are the full expression of man’s Salvation.

Jesus shed His blood on Calvary for the remission of man’s sins (Isa 53). The Father sent His Spirit after the Son’s resurrection to endow man with Power from on High so that he could become a witness for Jesus (Acts 1.8; Acts 2.33). Man repents to be reunited with God in true worship and he is baptized in water because he confesses Jesus as Lord in word and in deed! This is the crux of the Christian message : Jesus offers us Salvation, man accepts His offer and he then validates his faith in his Saviour by submitting to baptism in His Name (Col. 3.17).

THE threefold baptism in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit was a practice from a later era, i.e. established as only baptismal formula by the post-apostolic Church (Council of Arles 314 A.D.) This knowledge has come to us through research as the main Christian tradition maintains that baptism in Jesus Name was only meant for Jews of the early Church. This is a blatant lie! Cornelius was a Roman centurion and he was also baptized in Jesus Name for Jesus was preached as Lord and Messiah (Acts 10; Rom. 1.3 & v7; Rom. 6.23; Acts 2.36). Although the initial converts mainly had a Jewish background, there were Romans (Gentiles) who also underwent the baptism in Jesus Name (Acts 10). However, this is a separate issue affecting also early post-apostolic literature and it therefore falls outside the parametres of this booklet.

IF we have assurance that our sins are forgiven and that God does not require anything more of us for Salvation, namely the water baptism, then why don’t we abolish baptism altogether? But as our faith requires obedience, we have to be baptized for baptism is the expressed statement of our obedience to the gospel of Jesus which offers Salvation on specific terms. Peter gave this instruction through the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Day : "Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins...." and we can then frankly make a confession at our baptism as the Christian pastors of old indeed used to do: "Because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, I baptize you for the remission of your sins" (=forgiveness of sin; being forgiven; to give up – Oxford 1987 edition).

God has forgiven our sins through the cruxifiction of His Son. When we are then baptized in the Name of the Son, God forgives us our sins not because His Son had not already paid the price fully and completely, but because we are associating ourselves with His death on the Cross by publicly stepping into a font of water and participating in the washing away of our sins. And this action (ritual) embodies the cleansing of our souls in a symbolic way. The water baptism then reaffirms God’s Plan of Salvation just as much as the holy communion confirms the death and resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor. 11.23). The holy communion was therefore appropriately given to candidates straight after baptism since the earliest days of Christianity.

1 Peter 3. 21: "..In it (Noah’s Ark) only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Obedience is therefore a matter of conscience towards God. We answer God’s call and we undergo baptism after our repentance. However, baptism was never an ablution like the Essenes used to overindulge therein, nor was it ever a matter of cleansing bodily dirt, i.e. like when a junior has touched a senior and the latter must then quickly resort to ablution in order to avoid ceremonial impurity. But baptism does wash away the symbolic stain of sin, yet again, not a real stain as was propagated in the Mysteries and the ancient cults like original sin that became an issue in infant baptism during the post-apostolic era. (An in-depth discussion of Infant baptism versus immersion falls outside the parameters of this book).

The blood of Jesus has atoned fully for the stain of sin but the water baptism brings reassurance, namely that we have submitted ourselves to the Power of the Cross and we therefore have to make a verbal confession of our faith in Jesus as the crucified and risen Saviour (Rom 6.4). We must therefore not only believe in our hearts but we must also confess with our mouths and actions that Jesus has wrought salvation for us. If we declare at the baptismal font that Jesus died for our sins, we can then indeed extol the gift of forgiveness of sins at our initiation into the Body of Jesus (our baptism) along with the Psalmist : "Lord open my mouth so that my lips can praise Thee." Is there indeed a better place to confirm the purpose of the Cross than at the baptismal font for it is in the presence of more than one witness that our word will indeed be established (Math. 18.19).

Again, if we confess with our mouths, we bring the intentions of our heart to light. If the baptism then takes place during the Christian gathering in Church – which is the ideal situation - an excellent situation is created as our faith in Jesus Christ is then reaffirmed. The congregation, the one who baptizes and most importantly the candidate are then afforded an opportunity to again listen to the confession of the Christian faith as it is verbalized at the baptismal font.

This is public confession and for such confession many early Christians were persecuted. Eusebius of Caesarea, an early Church Historian, declared that the persecutions were linked to the Name of Jesus. Such verbal confession in the redemptive work of Jesus on the Cross in the hearing of the congregation and of course visitors then reflects a communal obedience to God’s Son, our Saviour (Rom. 1.4).

Just as Jesus was willing to publicly associate Himself with a criminal death, likewise we prove our faith in Him publicly by physically stepping into the water grave and explicitly associating the baptismal act with the forgiveness (remission) of our sins (Acts 2.38).

If we only acknowledge Jesus’ death without ever undergoing baptism linking us openly to the Cross, our discipleship is indeed phoney. We are then not authentic Christians who are willing to take up our Cross to follow the Master and we will have no real proof that our personal sins were forgiven. It is therefore not sufficient to only confess that Jesus died for the sins of the world and that we are saved by Grace and not by works!

CERTAINLY not, although it is the ideal situation. Our motivation must therefore be to abstain from sin but as we are still proceeding towards full sanctification while on the pilgrim’s road, we will sometimes fall short and we will sin. We will either sin in words, or in deeds, yet never deliberately (=in weakness of the flesh). For if we are tempted, we might lapse into sin but we then will know that we have a High Priest who is always interceding for us with the Father on High (Heb. 4; Heb 7). We need not run away but we can come back to Jesus and confess our sins. The First Pastoral Letter of John deals with the issue of sin and God’s Mercy.

Our baptism and our confession of sin then effectually cover us as we are clothed in baptism with Jesus our Saviour (Gal. 3.27). Our confession that our sins are forgiven in the Name of Jesus and that we have therefore been baptised in His Name then apply, and it will consequently not be as though we have to undergo baptism recurrently for then baptism becomes a mere ritual or Jewish ablution. Yes, we can and do spoil our spiritual garments through reckless and sinful deeds which we then lapse into and we do so because we have neglected to diligently watch and pray (2 Thes. 5.19). But then God will again forgive us and the sins we have then committed will again be washed away in the Fountain of Blood that opened for us on Mount Calvary.

Calvary’s blood is then effectual for our sins eternally and Jesus will therefore again commemorate the holy communion with the saved (Math. 26.27-29). We don’t know the exact details of the Second Coming of Jesus but what we know is that it is required of us to believe what He has told us (Acts 1.9-10).

So, if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us as Jesus intercedes for us with His Father (Heb. 4; Heb. 7.25; 1 John 1.9). And God will always listen to His Son as He looks to man through an eye veiled with the blood of His precious and only Son (John 3.16).

This is how we have become co-partners in Salvation and that is why God will hold us accountable for what we have done with such great Salvation (Heb 2.3). If we deny Christ and if we trample on the blood of Jesus by disregarding His redemptive work on the Cross, we are lost and especially if we have sinned against the Holy Spirit. And we will commit this sin if we ridicule this great Gift of God to man and this Gift came to us through the death of Jesus on the Cross and His ressurection by the Father (Heb. 10.29; Acts 2.33; Acts 3.15). And this, once again, is Salvation for Salvation must be integrated in our spiritual walk through -

1. Repentance and confession of our sins;

2. Baptism in water;

3. Confession of those sins we have lapsed into after our baptism and while running the race in order to preserve our bond with Jesus so that we can have continual fellowship with Jesus (James 5.16; 1 John 1.9). Unfortunately the post-apostolic Church who only retained a shadow of Truth, has given us a warped idea of this most essential requirement in the Christian doctrine. We can only feel at home with confession if we are truly born again for unconfessed sin will testify against us just as much as all our deeds will when we shall meet Jesus face to face (Rev. 20.12; 1 Cor. 4.5)

All these actions are an outflow of our conscience which was awakened by God’s Spirit and our obedience to His call to surrender to Jesus. We therefore have to take hold of Salvation while focussing on Christ Jesus as our ultimate model of purity and holiness, full knowing that without holiness nobody will see God (Heb. 12.14; Heb. 3). And this is Salvation which will shine through our lives and if we can take hold thereof we will grow into a luscious tree planted by the waters of Life. Our faith in the one and only authentic Saviour will then offer shade to many Christians who are scorched by sin and iniquity.

NOW that we have been clothed with Jesus in baptism, we will walk in liberty as Jesus has paid the full penalty for our sins on Calvary and we have then declared through our act of obedience that we acknowledge what He has done for us. This way, we have agreed to the contractual requirements between God and us. Jesus has reconciled us unto God, His Father, and the contract He entered into with us ensures the remission (forgiveness) of our sins. And this is the meaning of baptism. Had we not had the reassurance that our sins were washed away, and that Jesus has approved of us as His disciples we will remain in bondage. But because we have verbally confessed our faith in Jesus and have heard the verbal statement of the forgiveness of sin in our hearing at our baptism, we will indeed be able to rest fully in Him. We will remind God of our baptism when we are being cleansed through sanctification.

We will also have the courage and the conviction of our conscience to go to Jesus, our eternal High Priest, every time we have separated ourselves from His Presence through either a slip of the tongue, or an evil thought, a jealous spirit we have allowed to overrule us, or a temptation to succumb to lust, etcetera, until we have attained complete holiness. Yet full and complete holiness most of the times only comes to us through suffering, and most of the times only culminating into complete fruition on our death beds. How many godly and faithful people had to be cleansed by God’s cleansing fires of pain and suffering while onlookers were observing the agony of their loved ones who "had been faithful to God all their lives" yet having been transformed into a spectacle through a terminal disease, or even suffering at length from diverse infirmities in old-age! Now, this too is linked to our Salvation as Paul says that it is through suffering that we are being made whole! (2 Cor. 1-7; Phil. 3.10; Heb. 2.10).

Airy fairy Salvation teaches that we only have to acknowledge Christ’s death on the Cross, we only have to mention His Name, but real discipleship meet the realities and challenges on the Christian Way face to face and dealing with them in a mature and responsible way. Authentic discipleship live Christ full knowing that once we have undergone baptism we have an obligation to walk the narrow way as sin and baptism have never been bosom buddies. Therefore everytime we lapse into failure and sin, we will be reminded of our baptism through our awakend conscience for we have indeed become Christ’s property and as such we will have to conform to His image and likeness (Eph. 4.24). Therefore Paul states in Rom. 6-4 : "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t we know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

Authentic Christians will therefore live that New Life in Christ not because they have acquired Salvation through rebirth only, but because they have made a statement and have accepted Jesus as their Saviour and for this cause have been buried and resurrected with Him in baptism. And this is Salvation!

We may know that Jesus died for the whole wide world, yet unless we repent, acknowledge and confess our sins, we won’t have Salvation regardless reassurances that He died for us. So, if we conform to the aformentioned conditions, baptism will indeed be the expressed confirmation of our faith, i.e. that Jesus died for us, personally! We know this for faith in the blood of the Lamb will then rule our conscience. Because the Name of Jesus is linked to Calvary we will know that He has washed away our sins yet not through the water in the font but the water remains the reflection of the burial of the sinful self (the old Adam’s nature) and the rising out of the water grave then is the authentic symbol of our new life in Christ (2 Cor. 5.17).

We therefore don’t participate in original sin as if we have to be baptized in infancy and leaving our Salvation to a parent acting as substitute at baptism until we can grasp faith in Jesus Christ. And we will confess the sins we have been guilty of when the time is ripe for us to choose between right and wrong and because we will then be able to take responsibility for our actions. When our conscience will be awakened by God’s Spirit, we will be compelled to answer God’s call to repentance and obedience else Salvation then only becomes a dead ritual hinging on transference of spirits without the significant personal involvement through our awakened conscience which is so necessary in baptism (=my parents believe on my behalf and they verbalize the faith on my behalf) .

Once we reach maturity of age, we will be able to receive baptism for then we will be able to understand the Good News (Mark 16.16). Knowing a righteous God means that we know that He will only keep us accountable for the sins we have committed. As baptism gives us access to God’s Kingdom we will also realize that we will have to die to sin just as Christ Jesus died for us. We will take heed to this Truth because of our baptismal message coming from Paul, i.e. that we have been clothed with Christ Jesus in baptism (Gal. 3.27).

THIS word was derived from the Roman pledge or oath, i.e. an act of initiation. As baptism was reckoned as initiation into the body of Jesus meaning that we belong to Jesus once we submit to baptism in His Name, the Greek word "musterion" (mystery) was linked to sacrament. It was mainly the Reformists who wanted to cleanse the Christian doctrine from Catholic contamination (i.e. paganism). However, the sacraments of baptism and holy communion were left untouched. There was, however, an idea to discard this word completely with the result that baptism is no more regarded as a sacrament.

Sacrament according to the Oxford Dictionary 1987 edition means : “...solemn religious ceremony in the Christian Church.... believed to be accompanied by great spiritual benefits." Baptism was initially, i.e. in the post-apostolic Church, also linked to the Passover so that it was recommended that candidates be baptized during this Jewish festival (Tertullian). Now this is not Salvation, this indeed is splitting hair just as much as the practice to only serve the holy communion at Passover, therefore once a year, is. We know that baptism forms part and parcel of the Christian faith. We also know that it was part of the Church’s foundation and that Paul informs us that the foundation of the Christian Faith was laid once and for all. He therefore also warned against faulty workmanship, i.e. implying wrong teachings and apostasy which will be judged by God (1 Cor. 3.10; Gal. 1.8-24; Eph. 4.5; Col. 3.17).

IF baptism is not linked to remission of sin (forgiveness of sin) then the holy communion which goes hand-in-hand with baptism, is also not linked thereto (John 13.15; 1 Kor. 11.23+).

If we cannot confess our sins at baptism and publicly declare that we submit to baptism because Jesus had died for our sins and that we have forgiveness of sin in His Name, we may as only rely on repentance and on the Cross without submitting to baptism for the question is : What purpose does baptism then serve if it is only regarded as a shadow of the Cross? Then faith and confession of the Name can attain the very same, not so? Yet, it is because Salvation contracts in Jesus and in His Name that we submit to baptism in His Name and it is because we believe that our sins were washed away at Calvary’s Fountain that we are willing to undergo baptism.Therefore Peter has rightly declared: "Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sin.... " (Acts 2.38).

Well, either Peter was a deceiver or we are making him one and it is definitely the latter as Jesus chose Peter as His chief apostle on the day of Pentecost and he gave the key of Salvation to us on that historical day. I am sure Peter did not just dip his candidates in the water without saying a word. Neither did he baptize them by only confessing the Name of Jesus over them, else he wouldn’t have underscored the meaning of baptism "for the remission (forgiveness) of sin".

As verbal confession was a necessary part of faith since the foundation of Christianity, I can imagine that the baptismal candidates would definitely have participated in some ritualistic confession (See Rom. 10.9; 1 John. 4.3). The apostles didn’t lay down hard and fast rules for baptismal procedures according to my research. That is now for either inclusion or exclusion of verbal confessions by the candidates. But they undoubtedly would have adopted a uniform approach to doctrinal issues and Paul clearly refers to one baptism only in Eph. 4.5. He then did refer to water baptism as Eph 4.5 represents the apostolic confession of faith, i.e. "I believe in one Lord, one faith and one baptism" (First Century Church). One faith would then epitomize the full gospel and all the (Biblical) doctrinal issues related thereto, amongst others the baptism in the Holy Spirit which is clearly not dependent on man’s decision but on God’s gift to man (Acts 2.33).

THEREFORE, if we keep on postponing our baptism, our repentance will be in vain no matter what the Church Fathers and Great Christian Scholars so-called may have ruled.

It was especially Calvyn who stood firmly on the foundation of being saved by Grace and not through works. Now Paul also propagated this idea yet Paul clearly referred to those Christians who wanted to judaize Christianity. If we study the Talmud we will see to what extent the Jews to this day are relying on command upon command and word upon word (law upon law) and we can then only realize the depth of God’s grace that came to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Now, concerning baptism : it is reasoned that baptism is not a work. Isn’t work then also a deed or an action done according to a certain pattern of conduct and especiallly conforming to certain spiritual requirements? Deeds would then in this instance imply righteous deeds we are performing and which we do with Salvation in mind.

Paul says that we must take hold of Salvation, so that it implies that Salvation is something we must attain. It therefore is not something that falls into our laps automatically and that just because Jesus died for us on Calvary and because He has cancelled our sins, we can now enjoy the benefits of the Cross without doing something definite ourselves! No, Salvation is something we must willfully accomplish even though we have all the means at our disposal (i.e. the Cross, the blood, the resurrection, the Holy Spirit).

We are therefore indeed saved by Grace yet we must still act upon (enact) Grace. We must apply the blood and we must claim Salvation personally through obedience. What it then boils down to is that our works that are being accomplished through Grace are performed in us by the Holy Spirit always coming to our aid. Reborn Christians have then been empowered to overcome sin through Grace because Grace surpasses the Law but Grace does not abolish the prescriptions of the Law. For this reason Jesus did not come to nullify the Law but He came to fulfil it (Math. 5.17). The written Law is now invisibly imprinted on the tables of our hearts through Grace yet we have been instrumental in our Salvation as we have made a decision to be obedience to God’s Voice.

Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit through Grace (=the core Truth of the New Covenant) so that we can internalize the Law for the Law is now embedded within our minds and hearts and it is then no more necessary for us to verbally repeat the Law as Israel of old was required to do – and of course still being unable to get rid of a sinful inclination! For this reason Paul instructed the Roman Christians in no uncertain terms in his letter, i.e. not to misuse Grace for we cannot remain in sin just because we are dependent on Grace (6.4). Shoud we do so, we are remiss!

CLAIMING that we are under Grace and that baptism is not necessary, is wrong and of course also rationalizing that if we die without getting to the baptismal font, we shall anyhow be saved through Grace as the intention of our heart, i.e. acknowledging that baptism was the right thing to do, was known by God. In other words, baptism is either regarded as historical and therefore pertaining to the past, or it is not really an absolute prerequisite for Salvation.

But we are only fooling ourselves with such argument. Claiming that God will forgive us if we keep postponing our baptism until it is too late for us to be baptized, will also benefit us. Even though we may desire to be baptized on our deathbeds yet, due to our circumstances not being in a postion to do so - in other words we will then be exempted from undergoing baptism - it will not help us as there is nothing written in the New Testament that underscores such approach.

What God desires of us then is not to harden our hearts the minute we receive the Gospel (Heb. 3.15) God wants us to repent TODAY and to, regardless of being under Grace, to undergo baptism as a sign and symbol of our obedience (1 Pet. 3.21)

IT was actually in the post-apostolic era that a new approach to baptism was adopted, i.e. to postpone baptism for a later period in life and when the candidate would by then have sewn his wild oats, so to say, i.e. being ready only then to receive baptism. Constantine did this and his attitude towards baptism reflects the trend of his day.

The apostles of Jesus lived Him and through sanctification and a dedicated lifestyle took hold of Salvation – they subjected themselves to holiness and righteousness just as the Pauline epistles prescribe. The idea of complete dedication was rooted in Christianity right from the initial stage and pursuing a sinless lifestyle was not only the ideal but it was pursued at all cost, however, at least by the apostles and those who were serious about following Jesus, i.e. the authentic Christians. Yet, those Christians were human like all of us but they had the right mind-set along with the right teaching. They knew that Grace required them to full surrender. Their example was carried over to those who got acquainted with their message but their approach of full dedication was not always pursued by later generations.

We can gather from the apostolic epistles that even the first century Christians constantly had to be prompted to holiness and sanctification and their were of course apostate sects who opposed the apostles’ teachings and who were lax in their morality. Yet baptism as such formed an integral part not only of the apostolic assemblies but also generally of the apostate sects. Therefore, although the right example was set by the apostles, it was not stringently followed especialy in the post-apostolic era even though the desire to pursue holiness, was not totally absent. And this we can glean from the early Christian literature informing us about the struggle Christians had against sin and their desparate attempts to attain holiness. Some Christians, like Origen, even went so far as to undergo castration, i.e. the symbolic burning of the body (1 Cor. 13). The latter was of course a custom that was also in sway in the apostolic era yet it was implicitly rejected by Paul. However, such approach gives us an idea that there were Christians whose intentions to serve Jesus with all their heart were indeed good, regardless their senseless efforts to overcome the sexual drive this way.

Christians got a warped idea of Salvation through wrong teaching as Jesus, our High Priest, surely had made provision for our weaknesses and for this reason the confession of sin, and with a view to overcoming our sins and not to condition us to repetatively confess the same sin, then came part of Christians’ conduct. Confession of sin was therefore clearly not to be used as a crutch and to condone a sinful lifestyle! Jesus who introduced the New Covenant of Grace would never have held us responsible for our sinful actions had He not also equipped us fully and completely with the means to overcome sin. Therefore, again, Paul’s very important Letter to the Romans (Chapter 6).

We therefore have no excuse to remain in sin and we need not to resort to all kinds of self-imposed measures in the hope of being holy unto the Lord. If we follow their example and dedicate ourselves to Jesus, living for Him and acting out our dedication through prayer and fasting, we will surely overcome and sin will have no dominion over us. Else the Cross and what it can do for sinful man is a farce! Salvation then also ensures our victory if we adhere to Biblical principles and live a dedicated life to God. Also pursuing Truth, i.e. the to be baptized with God’s Spirit, so that we will be able to overcome sin in a constructive way and of course with the help of Jesus who is our Advocaste. And should we fail through temptation, we needn’t go to the extreme and mutilate our sexual organs, for we can only take refuge in our High Priest who is always pleading for us had our knees buckled to satan’s onslaught (Heb. 4). And there is much more to sin than fornication and adultery! Yes, satanic attack is still in place even though we are under Grace but Jesus was sent to deliver us from satan’s control (Acts. 10.38).

AND, of course, desiring to first live our lives here to the full before surrendering it to Jesus.

If we hear the Voice of the Lord beckoning us to repent, we must not postpone for it might be too late. We must take heed and perform God’s will for us, i.e. to repent! Had Jesus postponed the Cross their might have been no redemption for us at all and then their would have been no Salvation either, and especially for the Gentiles. Yes, Jesus could wilfully have sidestepped Calvary as He could have asked His father to send Him help from above - thousands of angels - to deliver him in Gethsemane from the hands of the Sanhedrin and Pilate had He desired that path, yet He didn’t for your sake and mine! So, when we hear the gospel, we must take heed! And the preachers will be held accountable should they fail to stress the urgency of repentance.

SHOULD we keep on postponing our baptism, we might end up in a situation where we might have completely lost our opportunity to conform to the commandment of Jesus (Mark 16.16). Yes, we may then desire it, but it will then be too late forever! Testomonies have come down to us of people who had been baptized in the past shortly before death had set in. My grandfather took a dying man on his request –and after he had prayed earnestly asking God to help him so that the man won’t die during baptism (he was living under a Calvanist government and at a time when the so-called Anabaptists were persecuted for their faith; =Anabaptists means to be rebaptized and this label was actually given when Calvyn and Luther were in control). The man was baptized and he only died a few days later. But everybody is not so lucky. This man had postponed his repentance because he had not accepted Jesus as his personal Saviour when the Good News were brought to him in his early adulthood.

THOSE who still postpone this essential requirement of Salvation, are not yet saved. They are not prepared to follow Jesus and because they keep on postponing, they are living in disobedience and they may, through their own reckless attitude, loose out on Salvation. The onus therefore rests on pastors to emphasize the living gospel and very often this is not done.

The foundation of the gospel must never be underrated for many a time visitors come to Church without being told why Jesus died on the Cross and what discipleship truly entails. The Church has also, due to a diluted gospel, lost its fervour. We don’t pray as the apostles used to for the souls that God is sending on our way and into our assemblies.

Therefore Paul’s instruction remains: Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, don’t harden your hearts. Paul was aware of those apostate Christians who propagated baptism of the dead and they were clearly not part of his assemblies as we can sense that he refers to them in an indirect way (1 Cor. 15.29). The gnostics even wrote a Book of the Dead and this practice is linked to them.

IT may be a true reflection of Calvanism but it is not apostolic for Paul clearly says that we will each carry our own burden to the market (Gal. 6.5)

Calvanism and Lutheranism were bent on territorial expansion and for this reason infant baptism was rationalized. The founders of our faith, the apostles of Jesus, never focussed on numbers and a large following to the extent of sacrificing Truth. The gospel was therefore not meant to be misapplied because of our sentiments and our preferences and partialities. We are individually accountable to God although obedient Christians will also function as a unified body, always being one in Christ. The Word of God will remain standing : He who (1) believes and (2) is baptized shall be saved, i.e. not parents or a substitute at baptism (Mark 16.16).

Therefore, don’t postpone for you may miss out on Salvation! We should never be arrogant and change what God has prescribed in His Word for us through His apostles (Acts 20.27). There is no evidence in the New Testament of so-called deathbed repentances as baptism and repentance were always a matter of immancence. I want to be the last one to give a flippant promise of eternal life to anybody just because death is hovering at his/her bedside as I know only too well that eternal life and the keys of eternity belong to Jesus alone (Rev. 1.18). And besides, He is the One who pleads with souls and it is souls who either accept Him or reject Him. I think the repentance message has been neglected by spiritual leaders far too much.

BAPTSIM is regarded by many as historical so that water baptism would then only have applied to the apostles of Jesus. Had this been the case then the Holy Spirit baptism would also pertain to the past. But now we know that Peter says that the promise is also for generations to come. And this promise (The Holy Spirit baptism) is intrinsically linked to baptism (Acts 2.38).

When Paul then wrote to the Corinthians that he was not sent to baptize, he in effect meant that he was not only sent to baptize (like the Ebionites who joined their ranks and who focussed squarely on ritual ablutions would have done). Paul was not one for the petty party politics. And had he abolished the water baptism, he wouldn’t have stated in his letter that there is but one baptism (Eph. 4.5). If we assume that "one baptism" now applies, i.e. after the apostolic age (first Century Church) we are only fooling ourselves for the apostle who wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians (4.5) also prescribed actual baptism in his Epistle to the Galatians (3 27) and Paul never discarded the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, according to the apostle Jude our reversion to the initial gospel is of the utmost necessity and we can gather from his short letter to the early Christians that wrong teachings had already then been in sway (Jude v3).

LET us preserve the unity in the Body of Jesus and promote the Love of Christ. There are Christians who are leaning heavily on the Name of Yeshua in stead of Jesus in baptism. I think such approach leads to unnecessary strife and division. Yet, should somebody feel to be baptised in the Jewish Name, let him feel free. But then those who baptise this way, should also respect the English translation. Therefore, as long as we have Jesus of Calvary in mind, Son of God and Saviour of the World, we can use this English translation without qualms. Jesus is not petty. He knows the intentions of our heart.

I think that those who confess that they are baptized for the remission of my sin, i.e. for the forgiveness of their sins, are not sinning for they are only confirming what Jesus has done for them on the Cross. Peter clearly stated that baptism is for the forgiveness of sin (Thompson’s Chain Reference Bible). And, surely, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and he was also the chosen spokesperson for Jesus on Pentecost Day.

Besides, the baptism is a symbol of the death and resurrection of Jesus, although it is not a sacrifice as the transsubstantiation doctrine indeed boils down to (=the wine transforms into the blood of Jesus and the bread becomes His flesh in reality, i.e the eucharist).

Let us rather focus on the deeper meaning of baptism and our unification at baptism with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who bought us at a very high price. Let us also focus on His sacrificial death symbolized in and through baptism. Let us further make it our aim to receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and also permit the speaking of tongues in the assemblies so that God can bring the Gifts of prophecy and interpretation of tongues in action in the assemblies. There are many Christians who believe that tongues are from the devil. What I would like to point out is that the Essenes practised their own kind of unknown tongues or sounds and their tongues were definitely not a sign of Holy Spirit baptism. The yogi’s also practice their kind of unknown tongue, which again vastly differs from true Holy Spirit tongues, something Paul could boast in (1 Cor. 14.39). Paul knew the difference and that is why he could give such sound teaching and it seems that the Corinthians who always had a bone to pick with one another, were seemingly not only ignorant but some definitely held on to their past experiences.

Let us therefore, along with the water baptism, strive for the gentleness that was so like Jesus. And let us also pursue love with all our might (1 Cor. 13).

Heb. 12.14 : Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy, without holiness no one will see the Lord."

Let us also remember Paul’s direction: Heb. 6.1 : Therefore, let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity...