God created you. In Psalm 139:13,14 the Bible says, "For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." God loves you. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
God wants you to know Him. "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).
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I feel that the testimony copied below as to what God has promised to do,
and in fact DOES do, in baptism is beautifully done.Date sent: Sat, 27 Jun 1998
From: mejack@bright.net ((Walter L. "Jack" Spratt))
Subject: Re: Viewpoint Study #40> Ray: I just spent some time at your Web Site. Down loaded #67 for further study. I think you have improved the appearance of your web site. I like! I think we are saved by faith alone, but, of course, I include a lot more in faith than do our "Faith Only" friends! What do you think of the following as related to Colossians 2:11-13?
> To what extent did the covenant of circumcision that God made with Abraham and renewed or restated in the covenant God made with Israel have to do directly or individually with their soul's salvation? Was not that covenant related primarily to a proliferation of their people; a physical nation or kingdom; and a parcel of land to call their own?
> I take all of this to be a type of which those entering into the new covenant through Christ is the anti-type or fulfillment. A type does not prove anything; it only illustrates! A new covenant is not required to match in every detail.
> The Scriptures do not say that baptism is a sign of the new covenant as circumcision was of the Mosaic covenant. The circumcision here referred to by Paul is a circumcision of the heart and performed by God and not by man. It is probably a metaphorical reference to the purity of the heart accomplished by the cleansing blood of Christ.
> This cleansing; this purification; this covenant relationship; this salvation; this forgiveness; this redemption; this rescue; this transfer into the kingdom of Christ; this circumcision of the heart -- all are done BY GOD when we have the kind of faith that leads us to surrender to the Lordship of Christ and by His command to be united with Him in His death by burial in the waters of Christian baptism.
> It is all consumated, not BY the act of baptism but IN the act of baptism! It is all because of God's amazing grace. In no way do we ever deserve even the privilege of surrendering our hearts -- our lives, to permit God, in His marvelous power, to accomplish all of this when we are baptized.
> Verse 12 -- "having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead" certainly makes this association. Baptism does not take the place of circumcision as a sign of an already existing covenant relationship.
> Baptism, ordained and commanded by God, is the PLACE, POINT, or TIME, determined and announced by God, where we come into contact with the blood of Christ that blots out our sins, reconciles us to God, brings us into that new covenant relationship with God and enables us to rise from that baptismal grave a new creation. Our being baptized into Christ completes our being born again of water and Spirit.
> Baptism as such does not save us. It is God who with HIS great power saves us by doing all that is involved in bringing us into a saved relationship with Him when we have "faith in the power of God' to submit to His command to be baptized.
> God's grace, like God's love, is unconditional in its extension. But the benefits of His love and grace are conditioned upon our faith and obedience.
> I do not see baptism as a sign of anything. I do see it as a symbolic reenactment of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
> In my obedience to His command that I be buried in (immersed in) water, I understand and accept by faith the power of God to: circumcise my heart; forgive my sins; make me alive in Christ Jesus, and restore me to that eternal living relationship with my God -- a relationship that was broken by my sin -- my failure to live up to the perfection for which I was created -- sin that brought upon me the sentence of death and condemnation.
> There are several important factors in our relationship with God associated with the blood of Christ. With His blood, He purchased the church (Acts 20:28). We are baptized into His body, the church! (1 Cor. 12:13. compare Col 1:18). With His blood we are brought into an eternal covenant relationship with God (Heb. 13:20 compare Matthew 26:28). I do not fully understand just how God does or accomplished all these things when I submit to His command to be immersed in water, but I believe He does accomplish them. Praise to our great God for His power; His love and His grace.
> It seems reasonable to me that if we are baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3) and it was in His death that He poured out His blood -- the blood of the new covenant, that it is as we are baptized ("into Christ") that God applies that blood to our sins, thus blotting them out (Rev. 1:5) and at the same time brings us into covenant relationship with Him.
> Thus, no baptism, no contact with His atoning blood, no forgiveness, and no covenant relationship with Him.
> No blood -- no cleansing, no salvation!
> No blood -- no circumcision, no purification, no salvation!
> No blood -- no covenant, no salvation!
> No blood -- no redemption, no forgiveness, no salvation!
> No blood -- no rescue, no transfer to Christ's kingdom, no salvation!
> No baptism -- no application of blood, no salvation!
> No faith -- no surrender to His Lordship, no baptism, no salvation and no hope! ~ Jack.....