Man does not have the authority to change the will
of God on any subject. We have been given severe warnings in several
places in the Bible concerning any changes that we try to make to God's
word. As we have already seen in Galatians 1:6-9, if we pervert the
gospel by changing it, we will be accursed.
Another such warning comes in the closing verses of the Bible. Revelation
22:18-19 says, "For I testify unto everyone who hears the words
of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will
add to him the plagues that are written in this book; And if anyone
takes away from the words of this book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part from the Book of Life, and from the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book." These are very stern
warnings that should get our undivided attention.
How much stronger warnings could God give to those who try to make changes
to His will when they change immersion into sprinkling, or to change
the necessity of baptism for one to receive forgiveness of sins and
be saved to their saying that baptism is not necessary for salvation.
God has said plainly that it is necessary.
They also say that one's sins are forgiven and that one is saved
when he accepts Christ as his personal savior. He can be baptized later
if he wants to in order to join that particular denomination; but as
we have already seen this contradicts what God has said and will cause
many people to be lost eternally. If you were baptized for some
reason other than for forgiveness of sins in order to be saved then
you do not have salvation and you are still lost. Who are you
going to follow: God or man? As our Lord warns us in Matthew
15:14, "And if the blind lead
the blind, both will fall into a ditch." Don't allow
someone, who has added to and taken away from God's word, to
lead you. Open your eyes and read God's word for yourself. Those
who have added to and taken away from God's word will be lost.
If you continue to follow them, then you too will be lost.
What You Need to Do
In Acts 19:1-5 we have an example
of twelve men, that the Apostle Paul met at Ephesus. They had something
wrong with their baptism. In verses 3-5 we read, "And
he said to them, into what then were you baptized? So they said, into
John's baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism
of repentance, saying to the people, that they should believe on Him
who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard
this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."
When these twelve men found out that there was something wrong with
their baptism, they made it right. They were then baptized for the right
purpose.
Please refer back to how you answered the questions in Lesson
8 concerning your prior conversion. If you thought you were saved
and your sins forgiven when you accepted Christ as your personal savior
and you were later baptized, then the purpose of your baptism was not
for the forgiveness of your sins so that you could be saved. But now
you have learned the truth about the purpose of baptism from the scriptures
that have been pointed out. Please don't rationalize away what
you actually did to be saved and now say that you were actually baptized
for the forgiveness of sins in order to be saved. Many people end up
doing this. Your soul's salvation depends on your being right
with God.
Is there something wrong with your baptism? You may say no, but if there
is, we cannot fool God. He knows for sure and you will suffer the eternal
consequences. It will be a sad day if you stand before the Lord on the
day of judgment and find out that there is something wrong with your
baptism. Baptism, that is done according to scripture, for the right
reason and purpose, is such an easy thing to do. It is not difficult,
at all, to make sure that it is done right.
Questions
Lesson 21 Man
Is Not To Change What God Says
1) (Revelation 22:18-19) If we add to God's
word God will add to us the plagues written in God's word. God will be well pleased. It will not matter.
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2) If one has added to God's word by substituting sprinkling for baptism,
then God is well pleased.
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3) (Revelation 22:18-19) If we take away from God's word We will still be saved. God will overlook it if we are sincere. Our name will be taken out of the Book of Life and we
will be lost.
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4) We will be lost if we add to or take away from God's word.
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5) (Matthew 15:14) If the blind lead the blind Both will fall into the ditch and be lost. God will have pity and save both of them. They are not responsible.
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6) We are in no danger of being led astray.
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7) (Acts 19:1-5) What did these twelve men do when they found
that there was something wrong with their baptism? None of these needed to be baptized. They were not baptized. They were baptized again for the right purpose.
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8) These twelve men refused to be baptized since they had already been
previously baptized.