Baptism

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>For The Believers In The Body Of Christ</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="For The Believers In The Body Of Christ"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id126.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Newness of Life"><U>Newness of Life</U></A><B>   |   </B><B>Baptism</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id194.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Terminating The Past"><U>Terminating The Past</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id195.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Consecration"><U>Consecration</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id196.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Confession With The Mouth"><U>Confession With The Mouth</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id197.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Separation From The World"><U>Separation From The World</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id198.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Concerning Church"><U>Concerning Church</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id199.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Abolishing All Distinctions"><U>Abolishing All Distinctions</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id200.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reading The Bible"><U>Reading The Bible</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id201.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Prayer"><U>Prayer</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id202.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meeting With The Lord"><U>Meeting With The Lord</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id377.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Lords Day"><U>The Lord's Day</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id203.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Corporate Meeting"><U>Corporate Meeting</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spiritual Food"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Spiritual Food</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Psalms, Hymns Spiritual Songs"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gospel Outreach"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gospel Outreach</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id159.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"About Us"</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id186.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id187.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Related Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id639.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="JESUS IS LORD!"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">JESUS IS LORD!</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Baptism</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>According to the Bible, a man is saved from the world, not hell.  The opposite of eternal life is perdition, but the Bible does not regard salvation as the opposite of perdition.  The Bible shows us that salvation is one's deliverance from the world.  As long as a person is in the world, he is already in perdition.  (p. 18)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Let us consider man's condition before God.  Today man does not have to do anything to perish.  I will not perish because I have killed someone, and I will not be saved from perdition because I have not killed someone.  The fact is that the whole world is perishing.  From among the perishing ones, God has pulled us out and saved us.  (p. 18)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The matter of salvation and perdition has nothing to do with whether or not you have believed or how good your conduct is; it has to do with your location.  You may not have done anything, but as long as you are in the world, that is enough for you to perish.  It does not matter whether you are good or bad, a gentleman or a villain.  It does not matter whether or not you live by your conscience.  As long as you are in the world, you are finished.  If you have not left that place, you are condemned by God.  (p. 18)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>There is a distinction between salvation and obtaining eternal life.  Obtaining eternal life is a personal matter, but salvation is a matter not only of receiving the eternal life personally but also of coming out from a wrong corporate body. Salvation means coming out of one corporate body into another.  The receiving of eternal life speaks of what one has entered into; it does not speak of what one has come out of. Salvation includes being delivered from the world, that is, coming out of the world.  (p. 19)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>There are four major facts concerning the world as shown in the Bible:  (1) The world is condemned in the eyes of God, (2) the world lies in the evil one, (3) the world has crucified the Lord Jesus, and  (4) the world is at enmity with God; it is God's enemy.   These are the four major facts concerning the world before God.  As long as a person is in the world, he is already condemned and will perish regardless of his conduct.  (p. 19)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>When I realize that the world is in a wrong position with respect to God, I will have to forsake it no matter how lovely it may be to me.  Hence, salvation is not just a matter of our personal conduct.  The corporate body to which we belong is wrong.  We need to be saved from our relationship with and our position in the world.  (p. 20)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Once a person believes in the Lord Jesus, he has eternal life and is saved forever.  All problems are solved.  But please remember that if a person believes but is not baptized, he is still not saved.  Indeed, you may have believed and you may have eternal life, but are you saved in the eyes of the world?  If you are not baptized, you are not saved, because no one knows that you are different.  You must rise up and be baptized, declaring that you have terminated your relationship with the world.  Only then will you be saved.  (p. 20)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>What then is baptism?  Baptism is a deliverance.  Believing is on the positive side and baptism is on the negative side.  Baptism delivers you out of that corporate body.  Many people in the world may say that you are one of them. But the moment you are baptized, they will realize you are finished.  The one whom they have known for years is now saved and baptized.  Your friendship with them is terminated.  (p. 21)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>`He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.”  … With believing, there is inward reality, and if one takes a further step to be baptized, he will be separated from the world, having terminated his relationship with it.  Baptism is a separation.  It separates us from others.  (p. 21; Mark 16:16)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The water of baptism typifies the tomb.  Today, when we put a person into the water, it is as if we are burying him in the ground.  When we raise him up from the water, it is equivalent to raising him up from the tomb.  Before one can be buried, he must first be dead.  You cannot bury a living person.  If a person rises up again after he is buried, this is surely resurrection.  The first part of this truth is found in Romans and the second part of this truth is found in Colossians.  (p. 27; Romans 6; Colossians 2)</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Quotes from Church History"><U><B>MORE QUOTES FROM OUR HERITAGE</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>