"MAN THINKING STILL"

I pray these writings are of benefit to many as you read them. Let's begin. Question #1; What is it that separates man from God? What is it that keeps us from being in Christ? Only one thing; SIN!! Sin is, according to the Greek language, an offence or wrong of man against God and what He spoke. Sin, or rejection of God and Christ, is what separates us, and the removal of that sin will get us in the relationship we need and desire with Christ. Question #2; How is this sin removed or taken out of the way so we can honestly, biblically say we are in Christ? According to the Word as it is written, there is only one way that sin is removed, forgiven, taken out of the way by God for those initially outside of Christ. This is our topic of study for the lesson today.

According to the Holy Word of God, sin is removed, remitted or forgiven to the non-Christian when they are obedient in baptism or immersion by faith. In Colossians 2:12 the Holy Spirit speaks through Paul and says, "in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." (ASV)

All my life I have heard it said by some that baptism is a work. As I read this verse in Colossians, I see that it truly is, but it is a work of God and not man. When man is obedient and submissive to the teaching of Christ and God here, God does the most important operation for the one outside of Christ. HE removes or forgives that one thing that separates man from God; sin.
Let's notice something together in the scriptures that many do not see. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 the apostle Paul says, "For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Think about that. God made, "declared" in the Greek, that Christ was ALL sin. HE became every horrible sin we can think of and even the ones we cannot. This is why God turned away from Christ as He was on the cross. Then, as we all know, He was taken from the cross and His body was buried. Then three days later He was resurrected to a new life. Most of us believe and trust that this took place.

The third question I ask is this; After Christ rose from the grave, where was the sin that was placed on HIM as He hung on that cross? It was no longer on Him. God had removed it. This is the picture Paul paints in Romans 6 for us to see so clearly. When we are obedient to Christ and are buried with Him by faith in baptism (immersion), God removes it from us. That is His promise by our faith in Him. By faith we are buried and trust Him to remove or forgive our sin or rejection of Him, and by that same faith we are resurrected trusting Him in that operation to give new life as we are faithful to His Word for our lives. We need a clear conscience toward God in our obedience. 1 Peter 3:21 says, " The like figure where unto even baptism (immersion) 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:

Many believe and trust something that is nowhere found in the Holy Word of God. Many believe that all a person needs to do to be saved is to pray a prayer and 'ask Jesus into their heart." This is not founded in scripture. Jesus, however, stated very clearly that for a person to be "saved from sin", he must be a trusting believer and one who dies to sin and self, and then are immersed (buried) into Christ to put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). Sin is forgiven in the mind of God, not in the mind of man when man feels something special. As we are obedient to God's Word, by our faith in HIM, He does what no man made teaching could ever do, HE FORGIVES AND REMOVES THE SIN THAT SEPARATES US FROM HIM.

For those who have a problem with baptism or immersion for the proper and bible reason, I believe they do not have a problem with baptism at all. I see that it actually goes back to their belief in what Christ said to do in the first place. It is a faith or trust issue. Jesus said, "He that believes and, then, is baptised..." Believe first that what God and Christ have already stated in Their Word and simply do by faith what is written. God is so much wiser than man and his thinking. Man's standards will never replace the standards set down by God. I want to encourage you to listen to God, read His Word and do not listen to any teaching of man that contrary to what God has already spoken.

Believe on His Word completely, trust what He said to be absolutely true and right, repent of the sin of rejection of His teachings and commands, confess Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, die to those sins by repenting, and be buried with Christ in baptism trusting God to wash those sins away, and then rise with Christ to live a life of serving, growing and producing fruit for His kingdom.

God Bless until our next time together. Mark