Part 3: Christian Basics
People know, without coaching, that they must do something to find pardon for their sins. At the least they understand that they must believe that God is. James, Chapter 2, Verse 19 tells us:
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.
Most accept the Bible to be the Word of God. From these words they believe they will find instructions how they might please God.
The Bible is, indeed, the Word of God. I Peter, Chapter 1, Verse 24 quotes, in part, Isaiah 40:6—8:
"All
men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the
grass withers and the flowers fall,
but
the word of the Lord stands forever."
We know that selected men wrote the Bible by inspiration from God. There are many proofs that these words are both accurate and have been carefully kept for our understanding today. To better study about the Bible read What is the Bible? This subject is included as one of this series of lessons.
The first thing to be seen is that the Bible includes both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). Briefly, the OT is history for our reference. It foretells the arrival of our Savior. It details the Law of Moses that was the foundation of the Jewish faith.
The NT tells of the marvelous arrival of the man named Jesus. It carefully outlines His birth and ministry. He was able to heal many and raise the dead. These miracles prove that He is the Son of God. At Jesus’ Transfiguration God voiced that we should hear the teachings of Jesus. But the Jewish leaders rigged charges against Him and He was killed, crucified on a cross. After three days He arose—absolute proof that He is the savior, the Messiah, foretold in the OT.
Jesus remained on earth for several days. He instructed his apostles to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. They did this and on the next Jewish Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended on them. The Spirit gave them many divine powers. These powers were given to prove that the apostles spoke the truth.
That Day of Pentecost was when Jesus’ church was established. This is spoken about in the Book of Acts in Chapter two. Jews from many nations were gathered in celebration of the Feast of Pentecost. After the Apostle Peter spoke to them, telling that they had crucified the Messiah, they were very sorry. They asked “What must we do to be saved?” Peter told them to "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.” It is suggested that you read Chapter two several times.
We should carefully note, here, that there is a divinely assigned purpose for baptism. This is carefully stated in Acts 2:38, it is for the forgiveness of your sins. It is not to prove that your sins have been forgiven nor is it to place you into the church.
From studies of the NT, we find several steps we must take toward salvation. These include hearing the Word of God, believing that Word, confessing to our fellow men that we do so believe, repenting of our past sinful life, being baptized in Jesus’ name and striving to live a sinless life thereafter. In the King James Version, Romans, Chapter 10, Verse 10 we read: For with the heart man believeth unto [or toward] righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Acts, Chapter 11, Verse 18 states that repentance is also unto life. Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 3 reads: Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
The above several quotations show concretely that belief, repentance and confession are unto or toward (in the direction of) salvation. But it is only baptism that puts us into Christ or salvation. The Greek Language supports these exact words.
In Acts the people were told to “ repent and be baptized . . ..” They had believed the words of the apostles, and believing them they repented. Some 3,000 of them were added to the Lord’s Church that day. Obviously it is the Lord who does the adding when He sees that His commands have been obeyed.
In Acts, Chapter 22 the man, Saul, a persecutor of believers was rendered sightless by the blinding light of the Savior’s presence. Saul asked, “What must I do, Lord?” The Lord told him to go into Damascus and there he would be told what he must do. Saul deeply repented of his misdeeds against Jesus’ followers. Ananias was sent to Damascas. He said to Saul, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” (Acts 22:16.) Saul obeyed. He was soon renamed Paul and became a great apostle and writer of many NT books.
Saul was asked to do exactly what the believers of Acts, Chapter 2 had been told to do. There is no scripture in the NT that counters these instructions. Many of the religions of men tell differently. Of course it is the Word of God that we must follow.
After our sins have been washed away we must strive to live a Christian life. We will have developed many bad habits before our conversion to Christ, but we must learn to avoid these as we grow to be mature Christians.