Yesterday we had a funeral to attend for Cecilia’s uncle, he was 96 and lived a full life. It was a 3-1/2 hour drive for us one way. So we decided to do it in one day. There was a Catholic mass, the cemetery and a celebration luncheon.
We arrived back home about 10 pm.
We were raised Catholic and left the Catholic Church because of all the child abuse. I often jokingly refer to myself as a recovering catholic. Since leaving I have become a born again Christian and have read through the Bible and studied it daily.
Something the priest said during the funeral mass bothered me. He stated her uncle was saved because he was baptized. I believe he was saved because of his faith in Jesus Christ, but I cannot find anywhere in the Bible that’s says baptism saves a person. I believe the verses below are misconstrued about saving through water.
1 Peter 3:18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit, 19in which He also went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built.
In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water. 21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
These verses are rich, but let’s concentrate on verse 21, “21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”
Peter was careful to point out that it isn’t the actual water washing of baptism (not the removal of dirt from the body) that saves us, but the spiritual reality behind the immersion in water (the pledge of a clear conscience toward God).
YOU have to have a clear conscience toward God, you have to confess you are a sinner and that you believe that Jesus Christ saves you through the resurrection.
You must believe He died on the cross for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead, “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”
Without that faith in the Christ you just have water removing dirt from the body.
Do you have a clear conscience towards God or do you believe in baptism, i.e. the washing of water saves your soul?
If you believe in the latter, why not just take a bath?
Faith or bathe, it’s your choice.
Blessings, David
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