I believe the gospel of Jesus Christ saves us no7t my works,
Romans 1:16,
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized will be saved; he that believeth not shall be condemned.
No power in water to wash away sins.
The power is in the blood.
Salvation is conditional not unconditional as Reformed theology teaches.
First condition, God requires man to believe in everything Jesus did.
Also that belief includes believing in everything Jesus taught.
John 5:24,
-Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life.
Jesus taught to have ever life you must believe His word.
Do you believe what Jesus preached in His great commission, Matthew 28:19,
- and Jesus came and spoke to them saying,
ALL authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age. Amen.
Danthemailman, can I disobey Gods commandment to be baptized and be saved?
1Peter 3:20-21,
- baptism doth also now save us...
So the gospel that you preach is "water baptized or condemned." John 3:18 - He who
believes in Him is not condemned; but he who (is not water baptized? - NO)
does not believe is condemned already, because he has not (been water baptized? - NO)
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The gospel is the "good news" of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that
BELIEVES.. (Romans 1:16) To "believe" the gospel is to
trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as the ALL-SUFFICIENT means of our salvation. To trust in works for salvation (including water baptism) renders Christ an IN-sufficient Savior. (Romans 4:5-6; Titus 3:5) Salvation is conditioned on faith and not works. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Jesus did not teach salvation by works, but by
believing in Him for salvation. (John 3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26) If you trust in works for salvation then you don't believe the words of Jesus.
In Matthew 28:19-20, we have here a command of Christ to go and make disciples of all nations, and baptize them. However, it does not say here that baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation. The same command also includes the clause "teaching them to observe all things" that Christ has commanded. If we are to assume that baptism is essential to salvation, then by consistent interpretation of the context, we would say that absolute obedience to all of Christ's commands is also necessary for salvation, which would result in salvation by works.
In 1 Peter 3:21, Peter tells us that baptism now saves you, yet when Peter uses this phrase
he continues in the same sentence to explain exactly what he means by it. He said that baptism now saves you-
not the removal of dirt from the flesh (that is, not as an outward, physical act which washes dirt from the body--that is not what saves you),
"but an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (that is, as an inward, spiritual transaction between God and the individual, a transaction that is
symbolized by the outward ceremony of water baptism).
Just as the eight people in the ark were "saved
through water" as they were
in the ark. They were not literally saved "by" the water. Hebrews 11:7 is clear on this point (..built an
ARK for the
SAVING of his household). The context reveals that ONLY the righteous (Noah and his family) were DRY and therefore SAFE. In contrast, ONLY the wicked in Noah's day came in contact with the water and they all perished.