ewq1938 said:
You can repent of sins verbally. Water is no longer needed in the remission process.
Romans 10:9 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.
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Belief and confession results in salvation. Water baptism is not needed because it is exactly the same as verbal confession.
Nothing in scripture demands water baptism as necessary for salvation. It is always belief in Christ that saves, and non-belief that condemns.
How convenient that you stopped at Romans 10:11, why don't you let Paul finish is thoughts...
Romans 10:13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[14]
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of
whom they have not heard? and how shall they
hear without a preacher?
[15] And
how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Here we see that Paul saying, one has to
here the word when preached correctly, not simply take a verse and try to make it fit to your view of "simply believe and confession".
There is obviously more to "preaching Jesus" that to simply "believe and confess."
Here are some examples...
Act 8:26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
[27] And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
[28] Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
[29] Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
[30] And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
[31] And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
[32] The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
[33] In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
[34] And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
[35] Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and
preached unto him Jesus.
[36] And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Here we see that he preached unto him Jesus. And, somewhere in that correct preaching, Water Baptism was preached. Why? - Because you cant preach "Jesus" without preaching water baptism because it remits sin.
[37] And Philip said,
If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
[38] And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch;
and he baptized him.
Lets look at another example...
Act 16:24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
[25] And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
[26] And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
[27] And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
[28] But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
[29] Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
[30] And brought them out, and said, Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?
[31] And they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
and thy house.
Many simply stop right there and say one is saved by simply "believing."
However, the key is NOT this verse, it is in what follows...
[32] And they
spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to
all that were in his house.
[33] And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes;
and was baptized,
he and all his, straightway.
[34] And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
Note they must here the word, which included Water Baptism
for the remission of sins. And, like the eunuch in the desert (Yes, God even provided water in the desert), was baptized.
The Gospel of Christ is the Death,
Burial, Resurrection. And, to deny water baptism is to deny the Gospel.
Acts 2:38 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.
God bless.
) that was hanging on the cross next to Jesus got to heaven when there is no indication he was baptized? Jesus said to him "....Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
