news:FXFyb.60758$t01.39970@twister.socal.rr.com...
> Uncle Davey wrote:
> > news:vsm893o7att892@corp.supernews.com...
> >> This article is not archived in the free.christian newsgroup on
> >> Google. Reposted for all to see.
> >
> > <article snipped>
> >
> > Baptism, being one of the two sacraments, is an outward sign of an
> > inward grace.
> >
> > Just as the other sacrament, the Lord's Supper, is not a 'means of
> > grace' as the Catholics call it, but in fact gives you no benefit,
> > (and at least in the apostolic period if not today actually physical
> > harm, if you eat and drink unworthily), so also baptism makes not a
> > blind bit of difference to a person's salvation.
> >
> > Even in the Covenant theology applied by Presbyterians and
> > Congregationalists who are evangelicals which baptise the children of
> > believers, there is no suggestion that a believer's children are more
> > likely to get saved if they are baptised than if they are not.
> > Baptists on the other hand believe that a person should be converted
> > already prior to baptism. Very well then, if they are converted, then
> > is the blood of christ already applied to them or not at that time,
> > or are they on a kind of provisional licence, before they actually
> > get baptised, and if they let too many weeks run by between
> > conversion and baptism, they could actually fall away?
> >
> > There is not any suggestion of that in scripture. The sign of baptism
> > is to strengthen the believer and give a blessing. That's one of the
> > reasons why I didn't get my kids baptised, although I am a Calvinist.
> >
> > When we say that baptism is a necessary part of what we need to have
> > for salvation, then why not the Lord's supper every week as well? And
> > then we fall right into the sacerdotalism that characterises most of
> > Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism.
> >
> > At the end of the day baptism is an act which we carry out, and in
> > fact a God-centred view of salvation ought to see that salvation is
> > what God does, rather than what we strive for. Grace is
> > irresistable, redemption perfect. No works from us required in the
> > salvation process.
> >
> > I'm sorry if that's not a webpage, or an essay, or a research paper,
> > but I'm a Usenetter; I do Usenet posts.
> >
> > Uncle Davey
>
> Excellent post, brother.
>
> God bless,
> Jason
>
Thanks.
Best,
Uncle Davey
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