What do we mean by faith? By Faith! we do not mean blind faith, meaning faith without proof or verification; we mean knowing that once we ask Jesus to come into our hearts as Savior from our sins and as Lord of our lives, that He does come in and save us, not as a feeling, but because He gave us absolute proof that He will do what He promised when He came back physically from the dead. What is Jesus’ promise? That He will come into your heart when you ask Him to.

The Apostle Paul in the book of Romans Chapter 4 tells us about Abraham that he was saved not as a result of being circumcised which represented the Law but because he believed God’s promises to him. Moses records in Genesis 15:6, "Then he believed in Yehovah; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." Paul tells us that God made this declaration to Abraham not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

"Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the Father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be reckoned to them." (Rom 4:9-11)

The point of this being that he was saved by believing on God’s promises, not because of some religious act. Paul’s point is that once we have repented of our sins we are saved by believing on God’s promises through Jesus also, not because of some religious act like water Baptism or because we speak in tongues. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 10:9-10 when he says if we believe God the Father raised Jesus physically from the dead we shall be saved. When we believe on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are saying we believe God’s promise that He accepts Jesus’ death and shed blood for our sins and that He has proved this to us by bringing Jesus back from the dead.

Paul further explains to us that Abraham following Yehovah in obedience through circumcision did not save him but was simply evidence of the faith and salvation Abraham already had. When a person has truly repented of his sins and turned to God for His forgiveness of those sins by faith through Jesus’ death and shed blood on the cross, it will be evidenced in the future by his changed life and obedience to Christ’s commands; but not as the means to his salvation, but as a result of the saving faith he already has. This truth is covered clearly on page 17 of What Is Eternal Life? In the same way, water baptism does not save us either, but our following Jesus in obedience to Him through water baptism is simply evidence of the saving faith we already have.

When sharing the Gospel, how do we properly administer Salvation?

1. First, we are to Preach the Gospel, preach Jesus, share the Gospel with men (Acts 8:5, 35, Rom 10:14-15, Rev 19:10).

2. Second, the person must believe on the Gospel and then give evidence of his saving faith through confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord (Acts 8:13, 37, Rom 10:9-10, 13)

3. Third, when they give us evidence of the saving faith they already have through confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord, then and only then do we baptize them in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19-20, Acts 8:12, 13, 38, 10:47-48).

4. Finally, we are to then lay our hands on them and pray for them to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for ministry outreach and release (Acts 1:8, 8:12-17, 19:6-7).

Since Peter, Paul and Philip would only baptize a candidate when they gave evidence of already having salvation through verbal confession, the teaching of infant baptism is also unscriptural and in error. A several week infant does not have reasoning capabilities. Even if in a church service he hears the Gospel, he is not able to understand it or receive it by faith. Finally, he cannot, as Paul says is necessary for salvation in Romans 10:9-10, confess with his mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in his heart God the Father raised Jesus physically from the dead. Peter and Philip and the book of Acts make it plain that water baptism is only for those who have already believed on the Gospel and made a public profession of this fact, but not for the purpose of being saved, but because of the salvation that they already have.

Infant baptism is centered in an incorrect interpretation about what the Bible means by predestination. This incorrect interpretation teaches that God has already determined those who will be saved and those who will be lost. Salvation has no bearing on whether a person believes on the Gospel or not, but only on God's predetermined choice of who He will save and who he will dam. Infant baptism is practiced to immediately introduce into the kingdom those who have already been chosen. I go into great detail about how the context of many of the passages used to support this wrong interpretation of Scripture does not support this heretical teaching in Section 5 Chapter 5 titled "Evangelism? Or Predestination?"

What is the purpose of water baptism. Water baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is our first opportunity to give physical witness to the World of our faith and salvation in Jesus and the meaning of that salvation. Paul tells us the meaning of water baptism in the Book of Romans:

"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." (Rom 6:3-5)

When we receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we receive the Holy Sprit and are made one spirit with Christ (1 Cor 6:17). What this means is that whatever is true for Jesus is now true for us. This is symbolically demonstrated in water baptism. When we receive Jesus, His death becomes our death for our sins. We die in Jesus and are buried with Him. This is symbolically demonstrated through our going under the water. But being made one spirit with Jesus means more than just His death and burial becoming our death and burial for our sins, it also means that we are raised in the likeness of Jesus’ physical resurrection to New life. It means we are a new creation as Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation77; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." This is symbolically demonstrated in water baptism through our coming out of the water. We are declaring to the world that when we received Christ we died in Him, were buried with Him and that we shall also be raised from the dead, recreated anew, in the likeness of Jesus’ physical and spiritual resurrection. In light of this, Paul admonishes us in Colossians 3:1-4

"If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."

I had been saved for a year before I had had an opportunity to be baptized in water. The reason being that I had been saved in circumstances which would not have allowed me to be baptized in water again, since they had baptized me as a new born infant. God first had to change my circumstances and church so that I could follow in obedience to Him through water baptism as a confessing believer. A year after I was saved he moved me out of the circumstances I was in and led me to become a part of a church that taught salvation by faith and believers baptism.

When I did finally receive water baptism It came about in a strange way. I had been attending this church for some time. I had filled out a card expressing that I wanted to be baptized in water and was waiting to be contacted so I could be. Finally, one Sunday evening when I came to church, I arrived in the back of the church and over heard the Pastor talking to some people about water baptism. I walked over and asked him if I was on the list he was holding. I don’t think I was, but he knew me that I was a professing born again Christian and so told me that yes I was and that I needed to go with the rest and get ready to be baptized.

In this church the Pastor always asked us to share briefly how we became Christians, how we came to have saving faith in the Gospel. I gave my brief testimony of how I came to have saving faith and then was baptized. What I did not know was that a friend of mine, named June Mason, from my before Christ days had come to visit this Church that night and as a result heard my testimony about how I had received Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord and then witnessed my baptism. As a result, that night she gave her life to Jesus Christ and believed on the Gospel with saving faith.

Other passages in the New Testament which talk about our salvation through faith in Jesus’ death and shed blood only, not through receiving the Holy Spirit or because we speak in tongues or as a result of water baptism, are the following:

Acts 13:38-41
Ephesians 2:8-9
Galatians 3:1-9
Romans 1:16-17; 3:21-28, 20; 4:1-25; 5:2-11; 10:3-17

I encourage you to look them up and read them.

What are evidences of a person being truly saved? First, we need to understand that only God knows those who are truly saved. Peter made this plain in Acts 15:8 when he said, "God who knows-the-heart. . . ." Paul makes this more clear in 1 Timothy 2:19, "Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His.’" Though only God knows those who are his, the Scripture gives us evidences of those who are truly His and therefore saved. What are these evidences? First, the confession of a person’s mouth. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 10:9-10,

"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Often when I go out on the field and share the Gospel, I run into people who claim that they are Christians but that their faith is personal, between them and God. Not according to the Apostle Paul. When a person is truly born from above and comes into relationship with Jesus Christ, he wants to share it with everybody. I received Jesus as Savior and Lord 34 years ago and the high light of my week is when I get to go out and share the love of Jesus Christ with men.

Jesus put it this way in the Gospel of Mark 8:38: "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Only Jesus knows those who are his, but when a person claims to be a Christian but is ashamed of his Christian testimony, Jesus says I have a right to question the legitimacy of his faith.

A second evidence of Salvation is a love for the children of God. The Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:13-15

"Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of spiritual death into spiritual-life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in spiritual death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal spiritual-life abiding in him."