We Are Asking All the Wrong Questions

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”-Matthew 3:7-10 (John the Baptizer).

Christianity is divided, and it sometimes gets very territorial and ugly. Some will hate me for saying this, some will try and refute me for saying this, but the things we divide on are (usually) non-essential. What is more, the divisions are usually based on when a person gets saved instead of what they must do to be saved! We ask “is a person saved on confession? Is a person saved when they’re baptized? Is a person saved when they show maturity, and produce fruit in accordance with repentance?” And, to be fair, the Bible says all of it, so no wonder we all pick and choose verses to latch on to! But it’s time to stop asking WHEN a person is saved, and merely ask “What must I do to be saved?” Let’s dive right in to the Word, and see what it says, and see how we can, in spite of our differences, unite to get back to the work that the prophets, Jesus and His disciples did! From the time He was baptized and then tested in the wilderness, Jesus proclaimed “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).  In John 3:3, Jesus says “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus also preached (in the same conversation with Nicodemus““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:16-21)

Jesus also preached “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26) If this doesn’t describe repentance, I don’t know what does!

Jesus commanded His disciples “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Jesus also promised: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17)

Just from the words of Jesus, we can see: faith, repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. He preached it all. Never mind that Peter preached ““Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Or that he wrote “Baptism, which corresponds to this [speaking of Noah and the flood], now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:21-22). Or that Paul preached faith (Romans 10:17), repentance (Romans 2:4) and baptism (Romans 6:3-4), and all in the same book! Was he talking out of both sides of his mouth? NO! It’s ALL true!

And NONE of this (faith, repentance, baptism, remission of sin, or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit) is a result or work of US, it’s a work of Christ and the Cross, but we DO have to surrender and submit, denying ourselves and taking up our crosses to follow Jesus! So, let’s get back to that: dying to ourselves and our comforts and traditions, getting back to obeying the WHOLE word of Christ, proclaiming Christ and Him Crucified, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all He commanded us. And behold, He is with us, always, even to the end of the age.