Churches of Christ -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 20th century
Faith is emphasized also by Acts 2:36 where Peter concluded his great
Pentecost sermon by saying, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know
assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have
not believed?” (Rom. 10:13-14). “Without faith it’s impossible to be
well pleasing unto God” (Heb. 11:6). Therefore, the first condition of
salvation is faith.
The second one is repentance. Acts 2:38 says, “Repent”; Acts 3:19 says,
“Repent”; and Acts 17:30 says “Repent.” You can go home and read these
Scriptures and you’ll find the commandment to repent in each of them,
and it’s given as a condition of salvation.
Furthermore, we are taught that “with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”
(Rom. 10:10). And in the eighth chapter of Acts we read that when the
Ethiopian eunuch said, “See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be
baptized? and Philip said, If thou believest with all of thine heart,
thou mayest, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God.” Therefore, confession is a condition of salvation.
When the Pentecostians inquired what they must do to be saved, the
inspired apostle Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, everyone of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
Ananias told Paul, “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized,
and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet.
3:21). No one, who knows the Bible, can have a good conscience toward
the Lord until he has been baptized. Baptism is the answer to the quest
for a good conscience.
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). Friends, there are a thousand ways to
go to hell; one of them is to disbelieve. But suppose I ask you who will
be saved. You cannot give me a Bible answer to save your life without
mentioning baptism. For Mark 16:16, the word of Jesus Christ, says, “He
that believeth _and is baptized_ shall be saved.” To leave out baptism
would be to omit part of the Lord’s answer. No sane person ought to take
the responsibility of taking away part of God’s word. You cannot give a
Bible answer to the question without mentioning baptism!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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