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The relevance of baptism in christian tradition
The relevance of baptism in christian tradition
The relevance of baptism in christian tradition
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The last parallel comes in Galatians 5:16 and in Romans 6:12; “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” and “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof”. These verses speak to the morality required after baptism occurs. In both of the verses, a new life of good works is actually seen as an overwhelming freedom that the believer has been granted. It’s crystal clear that we can’t earn our salvation, conversely we are saved unto good works. The verses speak of how to live as a Christian after the baptism occurs and they are vindicated; and not speaking of men trying to become acceptable or needing to stay vindicated. The book of Galatians is a must
read by every Christian that will challenge their way of thinking and give them an appreciation of the gift that they have been granted from God in Jesus Christ. It imparts about God, who is the Father of Jesus Christ, who brings about all things linked to deliverance. Christ became a jinx for us so that He could buy back us from the jinx of the law and we as believers are tormented with Christ but yet we live in Him. Paul should be appreciated for this heartfelt message that He delivered to the Galatians that still applies to this generation and will apply to a generation to come. Paul is a true messenger of the Lord and pieced together this well written epistle through the help of the Holy Spirit to tell a dying world that they need not work to gain favor with God, but only believe in the work that has already been done for them.
Throughout many of Paul’s letters there are many debates pertaining to the authorship, destination, date, and the purpose. In the book of Ephesians many scholars debate on the authorship and if Paul actually wrote the letter, or if it was a scribe. Although there are some debates on whether Paul actually wrote it or not, he does refer to himself twice in the letter. In 1:1 and in 3:1 Paul states himself, 1:3 states, “For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles” (NIV) In verse 1:3 Paul states that he is a prisoner, therefore it is debated that he did not specifically write this because he was imprisoned in Rome at this time. According to Wallace “This, of course, is not to say that the letter must be by Paul, but it is to argue that without such internal testimony, no such claim could be made” (Wallace). Many scholars also debate on the vocabulary usage and the structure of the letter. Some believe that the structure is similar, but the vocabulary seems to be different than his New Testament epistles. Hoehner claims that,” Though the book has a close affinity with Colossians, critics claim that Ephesians is uncharacteristic of Paul” (Hoehner 613). The destination of Ephesians is somewhat debated, but many do believe that the letter was sent to the church of Ephesus. “Some to claim that Ephesus is a better starting point, others suggest Caesarea.” (Wallace) Although this is an argument that has many valid points, it is obvious that Paul was imprisoned in Rome while he wrote Ephesians. It is said by Hoehner that “Ephesians was probably delivered by Tychicus (Eph. 6:21-22), who also took Paul’s letter to Colossians (Col. 4:7-9)” (Hoehner 613). As for the date goes m...
...tle. Which is, “THAT YE SIN NOT”? What the Scripture is saying here in verse 1 is that if by any reason you should fall into sin, because of the lack of consecration and watchfulness you do not have to remain in the state of sin. God will grant unto you by His mercy another opportunity to be redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ, for the removing of your sins. Jesus is the advocate for those who fall in the temptation of their flesh and sin. The word advocate in the Greek parakletos, pronounced par-ak’-lay-tos, meaning an intercessor, counselor: comforter. Jesus Christ is represented as the mediator that counsels you unto strength, showing you the way back unto God. Once you have returned unto the Father, He will comfort you and keep you, only if you allow Him. The Lord will never console you in the state of your sins, for He finds no pleasure in you sinning.
The book of Colossians is a letter to the church of Colossae, encouraging them to continue their walk in the faith, of which Paul has ascribed to, and resist the philosophy and empty deceit of human tradition. This passage specifically, Colossians 1:15-23, is meant to establish the supremacy Christ and the sufficiency of his sacrifice on the cross. From this passage, a rather simple truth is found: do not attempt to add on to what is already complete and sufficient. Christ came to this earth fully God and fully man – he was perfect. Through his perfection, he was able to make the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Christ was then able to present man “holy and blameless and irreproachable” before God. Man does not need to do anything else to gain that gift of salvation except to continue in the faith and hold steadfast to the hope of the gospel.
After going through this amazing book of law called the Old Testament, I’m asking myself if the author can top this book with another. My honest and human answer would be not, but God’s best, was yet to come. This Old Testament contains a “to do” and “to be”, aware list, that can be effective for coming generations. However, this being said, I wonder if it was necessary, to go through all these steps and sacrifices, to finished what was started. Old Testament itself reveals in many passages that God has a lot more to offer. And yet again, my human brain questions the time and how He does it. Was it necessary to wait so long? Four hundred years of suspense and quietness like someone press the mute button, generations passed by and some may have heard, how God delivered this nation from Egypt captivity, others may not. The commandments and all the rules and regulations given to them by God, were to remind them that, obedience to God can set them free. God promised to Israel nation a Savior, He promised a Messiah that would restore a broken relationship with Him.
So it can be said that gnosis is secret knowledge revealed to man hat only get by someone or a
The Book of Hosea is one among the several books of the Hebrew scripture and appears as the first in the order of the twelve Minor Prophets. The term ‘minor’ refers to the length and not the importance of the books when compared to the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah. All the twelve minor books are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Haggai & Malachi (Feinberg, 1990). Hosea was instructed by God to marry a prostitute, by the name of Gomer, who symbolized covenantal relationship between Israel and him (God). Hosea’s prophesies were unique in the sense that they were relayed through the names given to his children. This paper seeks to give an illustrative description on the first chapter of the book of Hosea.
The Book of Romans Romans is a very important addition to the Bible. This is written by Paul to the Roman church. Much of Romans is showing the righteousness of God in different ways. “Romans road” passages are a great description of how to lead someone to christ (His saving righteousness).
Four books of the Bible, referred to as the Gospels, summarize the good news of Jesus Christ. The four books of the Gospel are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
One of the main themes in Chapter Fourteen is that of morality. Cari Barney defined morality as “conformity to the rules of right conduct” (lecture). Man is “a moral being” obligated “to act according to moral principles” (McDonald, 2007, p. 165). Deep down within man’s conscience, there is the sense of knowing right from wrong and knowing God’s requirements (Romans 2:14-15). This awareness should cause all humans to strive to adhere to what God requires of us. The moral consciousness of man is within the heart (Proverbs 4:23). McDonald (2007) stated, “So man is in himself a moral being with moral obligations and responsibilities (p. 165). Man’s lifestyle should resemble biblical principles that have been instructed by God.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptiz- ing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” ( Matt. 28:19-20 NIV ). The idea of sharing in the death of Christ connects remission of sins with baptism which the death of Christ effected. ( Act 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21). Just as physical washing cleanses our bodies from filthiness, so also baptism symbolically cleanses our spirits through participation in the death of Christ. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (I Cor. 12:13 NIV). In addition, baptism connects with spiritual birth along with the Spirit’s reception. Hence, participation in Christ’s resurrection indicates that the Holy Spirit is presently in our lives. Baptism is an indication of the relationship we have with Christ and wherever we find ourselves in the world, our deportment, attitude and disposition should be in alignment with our confession of faith. Jesus’ baptism should help us realize how much we are loved by God. Jesus died to pay a debt he did not owe to release from a debt we could not pay. Baptism is a two-fold operation because we are symbolically
1 Timothy chapter 3 describes traits from the management term job specifications. This specific term is explained as a summary of qualifications that are necessary to successfully perform a particular job. It is essentially a simple list of things an employee must do in order to carry out a certain task or job well at that business. 1 Tim. chapter 3 verse 2 through verse 7 gives us a list of qualifications of what an overseer must not do. The next 5 verses explain what deacons in the church as well as women are not supposed to partake in as members of the early church. It is important that a person who is a potential employee to know what they will have to do to get the job so that there will be less oppourtunity for confusion if they are hired or selected.
...Today as a Christ follower, we will never be satisfied if our life is not bearing lasting fruit because we are not fulfilling the purpose for which we were “grafted “into the Vine. Let’s examine the “fruit” of our lives. Is it the kind of fruit that reveals the character of Christ? Let’s not settle for fruitless Christianity. God will do the work of making us fruitful – we must only abide, surrendering our lives to His mission of making disciples of all nations through us. The whole notion of mission is to stretch out to work the work of evangelism not through hierarchy, sovereignty, rather through humbleness, hospitality, affection love for the others. That is what Jesus who portrayed as the one who we do not deserve to untie His sandals straps in the first Chapter of John, later become feet washer, intimate with humanity leaving His equality with God.
The word 'gospel' means good news. There are four gospel accounts in the New Testament:
The biblical narrative is one that is still going on to this day. The biblical narrative tells the story of God and how he reveals himself to us. Rhodes points out that “God comes to each through a historical event or series of events” (2). It is in this way that God reveals himself to us and this maintains the relevance of the biblical narrative in our lives. God reveals himself through formative stories in the bible such as Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall of Man, The Flood, God’s Covenant with Noah, and the Tower of Babel. From the very beginning of the biblical narrative we see that God relates to us on a personal level. He created us, he formed us, he created the world in which we live, and he has been an active participant in the narrative since before it began.
Baptism, one of the most prevalent signs of Christian faith, has, for a long time, been a highly debated topic within the community of the body of believers. There are many different ideas surrounding the different practices and views of baptism, even the reason of why we carry out the act of baptism. Just as the idea of a marriage ceremony is to profess your love and commitment to each other, a baptism ceremony has the same effect, but instead your commitment is to Christ. This essay will take a look at this topic, the philosophical ideas surrounding it, how the Bible address it, and also the historical context in which this theological topic falls into.