Five short subtopics overview

¶ … Bible and when possible an outside source.

Baptism in the Old Testament, John's Baptism and Baptism after the Crucifixion of Jesus

The word, baptism, is not found on the Old Testament books of the Bible. The closest thing to baptism is the ceremonial washing that a Leviticus priest had done.

Baptism is found in the New Testament being in the book of Matthew. In being baptized by John the Baptist, the Bible says in Matthew 3:4-6,

"4 John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then [people from] Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins" (Holman Christian Standard Bible, 2004).

This is the first form of baptism in the Bible where the word is used. In the same chapter of Matthew 3: 13-17, it is written

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 but John tried to stop Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?" 15 Jesus answered him, "Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him [to be baptized]. 16 After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. 17 and there came a voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son" (Holman Christian Standard Bible, 2004).

Baptism represents the washing away of the old life covered by sin and the cleansing of the new body in Christ. This is symbolic gesture that all Christians must do but there is a more spiritual concept to the baptism of Christians in the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, it states,

12 "For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body -- so also is Christ. 13 for we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free -- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit" (Holman Christian Standard Bible, 2004).

This is the baptism by the Holy Spirit, when He enters the life of the person accepting Christ as his Savior.

The usage of baptism in Jesus' time would be to describe the placing of a fabric in a vat of dye and when pulled out it would emerge 'different' (Baptism FAQ, 2010).

Common Grace vs. Saving Grace

Saving grace is "the Holy Spirit's regenerative work on the sinner through the Gospel," whereas common grace is "God's favorable bestowal upon all of mankind of those things necessary for creaturely existence on this sin-plagued earth" (Cloud, 2006).

Common grace is the goodness of God where he allows humanity to live and have the essentials of life whether or not they believe in Him. These things include the rain, food, sun, basic health, and the overall care of God for humanity.

Saving grace is the 'rebirth' and the 'forgiveness' of sins from the person that accepts Jesus Christ as their personally God and Savior. Accepting Jesus, allows us to be forgiven through the blood of Christ and reborn in Him. Michael Slick in the web article, "Titus 2:11-14, the Results of Saving Grace," states, "While eagerly looking ahead to the return of Christ, you are to turn away from ungodliness, you are to turn to holiness, and you are to do good works. This is the result, the manifestation of saving grace" (Slick, 2010). Titus 2:11-14 says,

11" for the grace of God has appeared, with salvation for all people, 12 instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a special people, eager to do good works" (Holman Christian Standard Bible).

Common grace is the courteous of God to all living creatures while on the Earth; but saving grace is the only way to get into Heaven and have eternal life through the forgiveness of our sins and believing in God.

The Doctrine of Divine Providence

Divine Providence is the way God rules over all things in the world and the Heavens. Gotanswers. org states,

"The purpose, or goal, of divine providence is to accomplish the will of God. To ensure that His purposes are fulfilled, God governs the affairs of men and works through the natural order of things. The laws of nature are nothing more than a depiction of God at work in the universe. The laws of nature have no inherent power, nor do they work independently. The laws of nature are the rules and principles that God set in place to govern how things work" (Gotquestions.org, 2010)

The Bible, Proverbs 16:9 states: "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Though God allows man free will, he also has a guidance control in our life.

In Acts 9, God directly deal with Saul through a blinding light and converts Saul to his will changing his name to Paul. This is the divine providence of God and the control of the universe through direct or indirect means.

Faith

Faith is the act of believing and trusting in God though we cannot see or feel his existence. The believing in Jesus and His atonement for our sins by way of His death on the cross is a form of faith. Faith can be described as the belief in God for His mercy and goodness, even though we have all sinned and disappointed God.

Eternal life is granted to the saved by the repentance of our sins, and the belief in Jesus as our Savior. Paul states in Ephesians 2: 8-10,

8" for by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift -- 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 for we are His creation -- created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them" (Holman Christian Standard Bible, 2004).

One of the best examples of the description of faith comes from ChristianityEtc.org's website article, "What is Christian Faith?" And states,

" the Bible is the record of God's ongoing efforts to restore this relationship that he intended with his human creatures. It relates over and over again his calls, his invitations, to human beings to trust him, to have faith in his word, and to accept his good gift of grace and his good will" (christainityetc.org, 2010).