Tag: Baptism

Scripture for Tuesday, March 21

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Death of Jesus Christ, faith, forgiveness, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Life of Christ, prayer, Saved from hell, Scripture, truthLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 21, is 1st Peter 3:21 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

worship-the-first-century-way-cover-kindle“This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also ~ not the removal of dirt from the body but the answer of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

There are several things we do to be saved. Jesus’ part was to die in our place on a physical cross for our sins. Our part is to believe he did. Then to confess it to others. Then to repent of the sins that he died for. Some people call this process (and it is a process) giving their heart to the Lord.

But many people go through life wondering if they were sincere enough when they gave their heart to the Lord. What is in one’s mind long ago sometimes becomes a fuzzy memory. So, they re-give their heart to the Lord all over again periodically throughout their life.

Thank God, he has given us something we can do, an action to prove we were sincere enough, more than a long-ago state of mind. He gave us a physical action to reassure our conscience toward God ~ “baptism that now saves you”, the same baptism wherein you are reborn to live a new life (Romans 6: 4)

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#salvation, #savedfromhell, #wash, #sins, #water, #wood, #baptism, #crucifixion, #bornagain, #reborn

 

Scripture for Saturday, November 26 (11/26)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn faith, Inspirational, Saved from hellLeave a comment
The scripture for today, November 26, is John 11:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE” ‘ And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ “

Jesus was talking to the sister of his close friend, Lazarus, who had just died. Of course, we understand he was talking about spiritual death ~ the death of our souls. And death in the original Greek means separation; so in the case of our souls, it would be separation from God.

Revelation 20:6 & 14 refer to the second death which is the lake of fire. So what is the first death of our souls?

In John 3:3 Jesus said we must be born again of water and the spirit. Romans 6:4 says “we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death [of that sinful life] in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a NEW LIFE.”

Someone has said “Born once [physically], die twice. Born twice [physically & spiritually], die once.” If we emerge from the waters of our mother’s womb, that is the first birth of our souls. If we emerge from the waters of baptism, that is our second birth.”

So when Jesus said believers would never die, he meant our souls would never die. How reassuring!

Scripture for Thursday, October 27 (10/27)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Daily, Death of Jesus Christ, Inspirational, Saved from hellLeave a comment

The scripture for today, October 27, is Mark 10:27 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man, this is impossible, but not with God: All things are possible with God.’ “

Can we be perfect? God let mankind try for many centuries to be perfect.

To one group of people he gave over 600 laws and said, “If you keep these, you will be perfect.” But, as hard as the Jews tried, no one could keep the Law of Moses perfectly.

To the rest of the world, he basically said, “Try to figure out for yourselves how to be perfect.” So they tried all kinds of religions, but with all of them, they could not be perfect.

Finally, mankind was ready for Jesus. He came to earth and lived that perfect life that is impossible for us to live. He became the perfect Lamb of God, and became our sacrifice for our sins, for Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death.” He paid the wage for us.

So now, according to Romans 6:3-4, just as Jesus died on the cross, we too can die to our sinful nature ~ the part of us that sins and doesn’t care. Then, just as Jesus was buried in his tomb, we too can be buried in a watery tomb of baptism. And finally, just as Jesus was raised up out of his tomb the Savior, we rise up out of our watery tomb the saved.

Then God considers us perfect too. God cannot associate with sinners in his heaven. He can only have perfect people in his heavenly home. Impossible for us to live there with him some day? Yes. But, God sent Jesus to fix that problem.

With God, nothing is impossible.

#Perfection, #LawOfMoses, #CivilLaws, #Ethics, #Morality

Scripture for Sunday, September 4 (9/4)

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The scripture for today, September 4, is Daniel 9:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Cover-KINDLE“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands….’ “

A lot of people in the world think that God should feel obligated to take them to heaven. After all, they are fairly good, and better than some. God couldn’t possibly in all good conscience turn them away.

Yet, their entire life they resent God. Mostly they don’t like his commands; they don’t want anyone telling them what to do or not do. Or they claim to love God but create their own commands that just aren’t in the Bible, making themselves God.

Ultimately, heaven is God’s home, not ours. He is not obligated to invite anyone into His home. Besides, only perfection can live with God who is perfect. It only takes one sin to make us an imperfect sinner.

So how do we become perfect? That’s where God’s awesomeness is demonstrated. By following Jesus who was perfect and never sinned, and obeying Jesus’ commands, God considers us perfect by proxy. One of his commands is to be baptized in the name of God the Father, God the Son/Word, and God the Holy Spirit.

God treats us the way we treat him. If we don’t want God in our life, God doesn’t want us in his life. God never forces anyone to agree with him or spend time with him here on earth so they can live with him in his heaven.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: DESCRIBE WHAT IT IS LIKE TO ENDURE THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE WHO NEVER WAS INTERESTED IN GOD.

#Bible, #GodsCommands, #baptism, #heaven

Scripture for Thursday, August 11 (8/11)

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The scripture for today, August 11, is Romans 8:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”

Death literally means separation. Physical death means separation from this body on earth. Spiritual death means separation of our soul from God who is Life. Whenever we sin, our soul dies. It happened to Adam and Eve who didn’t think God meant it when he said, “In the day you eat of the fruit, you will die.” They could no longer walk and talk with God in the garden because they were now separated from him, spiritually dead. With that eventually also came physical death.

There are certain spiritual laws that cannot be broken. For example, it is impossible for God to lie. It is also impossible for God to sin. Therefore, God cannot co-exist with sin. We sin. Another law is that sin demands death. For centuries, God allowed mankind to sacrifice an animal in their place to take their death punishment. But it was just a temporary fix. Finally, he sent the Son in bodily form to be sacrificed in our place and take our death punishment. Now, all we have to do is be “in Jesus” which is accomplished by baptism: Galatians 3:26 says this.

What is the role of our spirit? When we die, we say our spirit has left our body. So, as long as we are alive, it means our spirit is still in us. We are not conscious of our spirit being in us; we just know it is because we are still alive. In the same way, when we become Christians by believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized, God’s Holy Spirit enters us; Acts 2:38 says so. This is when we become spiritually alive; Romans 6:3-4 says so. We are not overtly conscious of God’s Spirit being in us, but we know it is true because our soul is now alive.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: LOOK UP ACTS 2:38. WHAT DOES IT SAY TO PROVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IS IN US? HAS ANYONE EVER TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAD TO DO MORE THINGS THAN THIS?

#death, #Holy Spirit, #Soul, #Baptism

Scripture for Wednesday, July 20(7/20)

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The scripture for today, July 20, is Ecclesiastes 7:20 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”

Many people believe if we don’t murder or steal, and if we help people poorer than ourselves, and aren’t mean to our family, God will have no choice but to let us into heaven. But it only takes one sin to be a sinner.

God ~ who is Perfect Goodness ~ cannot dwell with sin. But mankind has never figured out a way to be perfectly good. Remember, the cost of sin is death (Romans 6:23). So in Old Testament days, God allowed people to kill perfect animals as a substitute for paying the cost of our sins ~ temporarily.

Then Jesus came. He became that perfectly good person (Hebrews 4:15) ~ that perfect Lamb of God (John 1:29). Then he died in our place to pay the cost of our sins ~ permanently. Now all he asks is that we love him, thank him, worship him, follow his examples and his commands (there aren’t many). Then, God the Father will consider us perfect too. Then we will be accepted into heaven.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: Acts 2:38 says to be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins, not because our sins have already been forgiven, but so they will be. It is no more water salvation than the cross was wood salvation. Have you been baptized for the forgiveness of your sins?  Why?

Scripture for Monday, July 4 (7/4)

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The scripture for today, July 4 is Romans 7:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.”

This is not talking about just any law. It is talking about the law, a specific law ~ the Law of Moses.

Have you ever tried wading through Leviticus, the third book of the Bible? It’s full of all those laws in the Law of Moses (over 600 of them). Thank God Jesus nailed them to the cross and we are no longer bound by killing animals, stoning people for adultery, tithing, having priests, burning incense, going to the temple three times a year, only traveling 1/3 of a mile on the Sabbath, paying for traveling mercies, and on and on.

How did “we” in today’s scripture die to the law? He said in the previous chapter (6:4) “we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death” and in Colossians 2:14 where Christ “having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” and in Hebrews 9:13, 10:1 “By calling this covenant ‘new’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear….The law was only a shadow of the good things that are coming.”

God now freely gives us His gifts through Jesus Christ our Lord. How amazing. How blessed.

Scripture for Wednesday, June 8 (6/8)

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The scripture for today, June 8, is Romans 6:8 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

We all want to live with Christ, but how do we die with him? Earlier in this same chapter, God inspired the writer to say this: “We died to sin….don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ 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…we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:2-4).

So, just as Christ did a physical action to die for us, we do a physical action to die with him. And just as Christ’s physical death overcame spiritual death, so our physical action overcomes our spiritual death. Then we are born again, or as this verse says, we “live a new life”

Some say this is water salvation. But it is no more water salvation than the cross was wood salvation. We live in a physical world and God has us sometimes do physical things in order to obtain a spiritual outcome. Our singing praise songs is a physical thing, but it is no less spiritual in its outcome. Our eating the Lord’s Supper is a physical thing, but it is no less spiritual in its outcome.

Have you died with Christ?

Scripture for Friday, June 3 (6/3)

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The scripture for today, June 3, is Romans 6:3f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“Or don’t you 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….because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

Oh! Baptism does all that? Some people say no, but God says yes. Indeed, in baptism we obtain a new life ~ are born again. And in baptism we are freed from sin ~ forgiven. Look at it this way: Just as Jesus died carrying our sins on himself, we die to our sinful nature ~ the part of us that sins and doesn’t care. Then just as Jesus was buried in his tomb, we are buried in our watery tomb. And just as Jesus came up out of his tomb the Savior, we come up out of our tomb the saved ~ with a “new life” and “freed from sin.”

Everything works together beautifully ~ hearing, believing, confessing, dying to sin, being baptized. What an honor and privilege we have been given to imitate what he did for us! And for those reasons!

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The scripture for today, April 9, is 1st John 4:9f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY-COVER-KINDLE“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

We human do not have the will to live perfect lives. We give in to sin. We can never get it right. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. In the Old Testament era, God let people kill an animal in their place whenever they sinned, but it had to be done over and over. Then God put a stop to that by sending his Son to us for awhile with a body, so his Son’s body could be killed (paying our wages) in our place.

Finally, God invited mankind to “live through him” ~ that is, become Christians. How do we become alive through Jesus? Of course we know about believing Jesus was the Son of God and repenting of our sins. Also Romans 6:4 says when we are baptized, we begin to live a new life, we are born again.

But it does not stop there. We must try the best we can to live as Jesus lived, speak as Jesus spoke, love as Jesus loved. We are not saved by good works because we are still sinners, but we do demonstrate our salvation through the love of God by good works (James 2). With Jesus living in us, we are his mouth, his hands, his feet. It is then that we offer our own bodies as daily sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

This is love.