I listened to your radio broadcast this morning and it was “wonderful”. I am going on my first mission trip this weekend (San Jose, Costa Rica). We will be building and offering our witness. I want to share the words I heard this morning from you. Thank you for starting my day with such a great message. I am 58 and very low on the learning curve but I am so excited about my God that I never knew. I reside in Central Georgia and I just subscribed to your podcasts. God Bless You!!

But Chip, please know that I will in no way be a participant in division within the church. For years I have prophesied against denominationalism and the division it brings to the body of Christ. Teaching the unity of the saints as prayed for by Jesus in John 17 along with the coaching of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12; that we the body are consisting of many parts having a diversity of gifts administered at the discretion of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of strengthening, encouragement, edification, and comfort of one another in all purity of heart. Not judging but forgiving and bearing one another’s burdens till we all come to the fullness of the knowledge of Christ. He also said in Philippians 3:15, 16 that even the mature among us on some things will think differently, but let us live up to what we have already attained having the unity of mind of Christ.

Water Baptism
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things unseen.
(Hebrews 11:1)
The evidence of Faith is obedience, without obedience Faith is dead. (James 2:17)
Without Faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:16)
By Faith we receive Christ as Savior and Lord; the evidence of that Faith is obedience to the commandment of Christ to be water baptism. (Mark 16; 16)
Faith, repentance, and confession that Christ is the risen lord and savior, (son of God) all take place prior to salvation.
The word of God tells us there are 2 parts to our salvation process and all part must be met.
1. Jesus doing His part (completed on the cross and resurrection)
2. We have to do our part consisting of 3 conditions;
a. Jesus said “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16)
b. If you confess with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead you will be saved (Rom. 10:9)
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom. 10:10)

Since obedience is synonymous with a living Faith, and Faith is required to be present prior to salvation, the obedience of water baptism also takes place prior to salvation. God has always throughout the Bible required man to step out in Faithful obedience prior to Him fulfilling His promises to us.
Jesus said “unless a man be born again of the water and the Spirit he can in no way enter into the kingdom of Heaven. (John 3; 3-5)
He did not say unless we are born again after we experiences salvation we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Since being born again and salvation happens simultaneously. At what point are we born again? Can anyone be born again unless they first die?
When we submit ourselves to the obedience of baptism, spiritually we both die in submersion and are reborn to newness of life through water baptism. (Romans 6:4, Colossians 2:12) We are therefore born again at baptism receiving the Holy Spirit indwelling with our spirit. Did not the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus after His baptism? Was Phillip swept away by the Holy Spirit upon the confession of Faith by the Ethiopian or upon his baptism?

In every example of salvation recorded in the New Testament following the resurrection of Christ, when someone asked what must I do to be saved, once they confessed that they believed that Jesus is the Christ (son of the living God) and that He was raised from the dead then they were told you must repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins calling on the name of the Lord.
Acts 8:12, 13, 36, 9:18, 10:47, 16:14, 16:33, 19:5, 22:16,
In (1 Peter 3:21), we are told that in the days of Noah “eight people in all were saved through water, and this water symbolized baptism that now saves us-not the removing of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

We feel conviction when God allows us to see our own sins through the eyes of truth, with a broken spirit we then apologize to God for our sins, by Faith we believe God will forgive us thru the blood sacrifice of Christ, by Faith we confess that Jesus is the Christ sacrifice for our sins and was raised from the dead, and by Faith we repent of our sins and are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins receiving salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit as a seal guarantee of what is to come, to live within us guiding our thoughts, our communication with God, and our decisions, enabling us to express His love of others. By Faith we believe Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father being given all authority over heaven and earth to judge both the living and the dead speaking to the Father on our behalf. At this point we display Christ’s seal of ownership, being bought with a price and commissioned to be His ambassadors to the lost people who do not know the unfathomable depth of His love.

Concerning the thief on the cross when Jesus told him following his statement, “remember me when you come into your kingdom,” Jesus replied “I tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise.” We must remember what Jesus said to Peter in reference to the apostle John, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you.” (John 21:22) Jesus will do what He will do at His own discretion. He chose to take Elijah to Heaven in a chariot of fire without him ever seeing death, should we expect the same? We must be careful not to misunderstand when we are commanded to be baptized prior to us receiving our salvation based on His treatment of the thief?
In ministry for the Gospel of Christ-Nelson