Unavoidable Realities Of Baptismal Regeneration Theology
Those who advocate baptismal remission theology will gladly present to anyone who will listen their case from Scripture as they see it. This article will present to the readers the part that they will never talk about, but is as much a part of this doctrine as the part that they articulate. I have listed at least four of these unavoidable realities of this particular theological doctrine. The primary proponents of this doctrine are church of Christ and Roman Catholic.
REALITY # 1 : It limits Salvation of the soul to the availability of water. No water, no Salvation. According to this doctrine, the quadriplegic, the bed-fast, the intensive care patient, or any other human being that is unable to get into water CANNOT BE SAVED. If the man in John Chapter 5 were on earth today he would be on the " no Salvation " list of people who hold this view because he could not physically get into the water. Take a moment to let this sink in. This dogma would deny Salvation to a certain group of people! To me, this is no different than a certain theology that denies Salvation to another group of people, the " non-elect ".
REALITY # 2 : The apologists of this doctrine ( church of Christ ) teach not one, but THREE different plans of Salvation; one for people saved before Jesus' resurrection that doesn't demand water baptism,one for people saved after Jesus' resurrection that emphatically demands water baptism, and one for people who are lost and saved the second time that doesn't demand water baptism.
REALITY # 3 : Baptismal remission theology demands words to be added to Scripture that DO NOT EXIST. When an advocate of this doctrine sees " believe " in the New Testament he sees water baptism even though the words are not there. Two examples of this " phantom word perception " are Romans 1:16 and Acts 16:31. When they read 1 Corinthians 1:17 they ignore the comma and the word " but " and replace them with a word that is not in this verse; " only" or "primarily". They will go as far as to ignore an exact question ( " what must I do to be saved?" ) ( Acts 16:31),and go to a verse that demands that these words be added to ask the same question ( Acts 2:37 ). The reason? The second example fits their theological mindset of baptismal remission, therefore the assumed words in favor of words that ACTUALLY exist in the first example which does not support baptismal remission doctrine as written . These apologists also see the word "water" in the New Testament every time they see "baptism" or "baptized" even though the definition for the word does not demand water.Strong's definition for this word is "immersion" or "submersion" (908).
REALITY # 4: It changes the " accepted " time for a lost person to receive Salvation from " today " and " now " to " when you are baptized in water ". Jesus offered a " now " Salvation to Zaccaeus in Luke 19:9. Peter offered a " now " salvation to the Jews in Acts 2 :21 as he preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost ( which had concluded by verse 36 ). Paul offered a " now " Salvation in Romans 1:16 and Romans 10:13 to the Gentiles and is in agreement with both the prophet Joel and Peter in Acts 2:16-21. Although baptismal remission theology advocates never talk about these conclusions, they are nontheless the inevitable results of such a doctrine. Trust Jesus with all your heart today and He will give you " immediate " and " eternal" salvation ( John 6:47, 10:28). SOLA FIDE!
Those who advocate baptismal remission theology will gladly present to anyone who will listen their case from Scripture as they see it. This article will present to the readers the part that they will never talk about, but is as much a part of this doctrine as the part that they articulate. I have listed at least four of these unavoidable realities of this particular theological doctrine. The primary proponents of this doctrine are church of Christ and Roman Catholic.
REALITY # 1 : It limits Salvation of the soul to the availability of water. No water, no Salvation. According to this doctrine, the quadriplegic, the bed-fast, the intensive care patient, or any other human being that is unable to get into water CANNOT BE SAVED. If the man in John Chapter 5 were on earth today he would be on the " no Salvation " list of people who hold this view because he could not physically get into the water. Take a moment to let this sink in. This dogma would deny Salvation to a certain group of people! To me, this is no different than a certain theology that denies Salvation to another group of people, the " non-elect ".
REALITY # 2 : The apologists of this doctrine ( church of Christ ) teach not one, but THREE different plans of Salvation; one for people saved before Jesus' resurrection that doesn't demand water baptism,one for people saved after Jesus' resurrection that emphatically demands water baptism, and one for people who are lost and saved the second time that doesn't demand water baptism.
REALITY # 3 : Baptismal remission theology demands words to be added to Scripture that DO NOT EXIST. When an advocate of this doctrine sees " believe " in the New Testament he sees water baptism even though the words are not there. Two examples of this " phantom word perception " are Romans 1:16 and Acts 16:31. When they read 1 Corinthians 1:17 they ignore the comma and the word " but " and replace them with a word that is not in this verse; " only" or "primarily". They will go as far as to ignore an exact question ( " what must I do to be saved?" ) ( Acts 16:31),and go to a verse that demands that these words be added to ask the same question ( Acts 2:37 ). The reason? The second example fits their theological mindset of baptismal remission, therefore the assumed words in favor of words that ACTUALLY exist in the first example which does not support baptismal remission doctrine as written . These apologists also see the word "water" in the New Testament every time they see "baptism" or "baptized" even though the definition for the word does not demand water.Strong's definition for this word is "immersion" or "submersion" (908).
REALITY # 4: It changes the " accepted " time for a lost person to receive Salvation from " today " and " now " to " when you are baptized in water ". Jesus offered a " now " Salvation to Zaccaeus in Luke 19:9. Peter offered a " now " salvation to the Jews in Acts 2 :21 as he preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost ( which had concluded by verse 36 ). Paul offered a " now " Salvation in Romans 1:16 and Romans 10:13 to the Gentiles and is in agreement with both the prophet Joel and Peter in Acts 2:16-21. Although baptismal remission theology advocates never talk about these conclusions, they are nontheless the inevitable results of such a doctrine. Trust Jesus with all your heart today and He will give you " immediate " and " eternal" salvation ( John 6:47, 10:28). SOLA FIDE!
