God's Plan of Salvation

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

The Sinner’s Prayer
August 18, 2013
Audio Player

00:00
00:00
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

Text: Acts 9:1-19

 

I.         A key feature of salvation in many denominations is the praying of the sinner’s prayer.

            A.        It is generally presented at the end of a service to tell people how they may be saved.

            B.        Each “Sinner’s Prayer” varies in detail, but generally carry the same theme: that if a person sincerely says these words, God will save them.

II.        The history of the Sinner’s Prayer

            A.        There is no sinner’s prayer mentioned in the Scriptures.

                        1.         No one is told in the New Testament to pray to receive salvation.

                        2.         So where did the concept arise?

            B.        The Reformation made a great many changes in the religious scene and during this time a number of denominations were founded.

                        1.         Yet, by the 1600's these new denominations were becoming steep in traditions and the earlier zeal of faith was waning.

                        2.         The majority of people still held to the Catholic idea of infant baptism.

                                    a.         Preachers tended to minimize the importance of such baptisms because people would hide behind them, saying things like “I’m a baptized Lutheran and that’s that.”

                                    b.         It is hard to persuade people to come over to your denomination when they believe they were made permanent members of their current denomination by infant baptism.

                        3.         Hence, a theology developed that one was forgiven of the sin of Adam at infant baptism, but you still needed to be reborn

                                    a.         This allowed “salvation” in infancy, but “conversion” as an adult.

                                    b.         Even to this day, many people see “rebirth” and “forgiveness” as separate issues, but they remain fuzzy as to what is actually the difference.

            C.        During the 1700's came a great era of strong preaching.

                        1.         It created an environment where people felt the need to respond to the message.

                        2.         Eventually Revelation 3:14, 19-20 became a popular passage for appeals.

                                    a.         The passage is directed toward lukewarm Christians, not unbelievers.

                                    b.         Yet, listen to how it was altered by John Webb who preached in the mid-1700's: “Here is a promise Union to Christ; in these words, I will come in to him, i.e. If any Sinner will but hear my Voice and open the Door, and receive me by Faith, I will come into his Soul, and unite him to me, and make him a living member of that my mystical body of which I am Head.” [Christ’s Suit to the Sinner, p. 14]

                        3.         By looking straight into the sinner’s eyes while speaking as if Christ was talking instead of the preacher, raised great emotions – more emotion that one displays at baptism. So, preachers concluded that the point of faith was more important than the point of obedience. This is when Huldreich Zwingli put into words the famous statement that baptism was only an outward sign of an inward grace.

            D.        Between 1730 and 1750, Eleazar Wheelock used a technique he called the Mourner’s Seat to gain conversions.

                        1.         He selected sinners and had them sit on the front pew.

                        2.         During his sermon he would tell these sinners that “salvation was looming over their heads.”

                        3.         Being placed in the spotlight, these sinners were emotionally readied to be counseled to be converted. They would listen to whatever they were told because when emotions run high, people tend not to reason.

            E.        The desire for an emotional conviction produced the famous Cane Ridge Revival in Kentucky in 1801. During the multi-week meeting, people allegedly barked, rolled in the aisles, and became delirious. Some speculate it was due to the intense heat in the tents and the long periods of going without food as the preaching went on and on.

                        1.         This emotional response was what “rebirth” was all about, preachers claimed, and so the second Great Awakening began.

                        2.         Preachers were enamored with the idea that they could manipulate people into conversion.

                        3.         A writer in that era complained, “The appeals, songs, prayers, and the suggestion from the preacher drive many into the trance state. I can remember in my boyhood days seeing ten or twenty people laying unconscious upon the floor in the old country church. People called that conversion. Science knows it is mesmeric influence, self-hypnotism .. It is sad that Christianity is compelled to bear the folly of such movements.” [ J. V. Coombs, Religious Delusions, pp.92ff]

            F.        In 1835, Charles Finney took Wheelock’s Mourner’s Seat method and modified it into something he called the Anxious Seat.

                        1.         “The church has always felt it necessary to have something of this kind to answer this very purpose. In the days of the apostles, baptism answered this purpose. The gospel was preached to the people, and then all those who were willing to be on the side of Christ were called to be baptized. It held the place that the anxious seat does now as a public manifestation fo their determination to be Christians.”

                        2.         The Anxious Seat had its detractors. It was considered to be an emotional conversion influenced by the preacher’s animal magnetism. They considered it a manipulation of people’s emotions which brought about a premature profession of faith. John Nevin was, perhaps, the most vocal detractor, calling Finney’s methods “heresy”, a “Babel of extravagence,” “fanaticism”, and “quackery.”

            G.        By the end of Finney’s life, it became evident that the Anxious Bench approach led to a high fallout rate. Emotions cool over time and a conversion based on raw emotion will not last.

                        1.         In the 1860's Dwight Moody took Finney’s system and modified it. Instead of calling for a public decision, which produced responses under pressure, Moody asked people to join him and his trained counselors to a room called the Inquiry Room.

                        2.         In the Inquiry Room, the counselors asked the potential convert questions, taught him from the Scriptures, and then prayed with him.

                                    a.         Recall that in the 1700's prayer was loosely associated with conversion.

                                    b.         By the 1800's it was standard practice to pray to “receive Christ.”

            H.        R. A. Torrey succeeded Moody’s ministry after Moody’s death in 1899. He, once again, modified Moody’s method to include “on the spot” conversions in the street. Torrey popularize the idea of instant salvation with no strings attached.

                        1.         From this time, it became common to think of salvation separate from church membership or a change in lifestyles.

            I.         Also during the early 1900's a baseball player, Billy Sunday, was converted and eventually began to preach. He called his meetings crusades and Sunday was first to mix the ideas of entertainment with teaching.

                        1.         Billy Sunday’s crusades were basically Moody’s method with a bit of a circus touch.

                        2.         After a thunderous sermon that contained heavy moralistic messages with political overtones and humourous, if not outlandish, behavior, salvation was offered to the audience. Often it was associated with prayer, which Sunday called “the sinner’s prayer,” but at times people were told they were saved if they simply walked down “the sawdust trail” to the front. Eventually people were told they were saved because they publicly shook Sunday’s hand while acknowledging they would follow Christ.

            J.         Sunday’s methods sprouted many imitators and in 1936, Billy Graham was converted at one such imitator’s crusade.

                        1.         Graham’s crusades are a cumulation of the prior methods, but he managed to add the respectability that was often lacking in his predecessors.

                        2.         By the 1950's Graham’s counselors were using a prayer from Graham’s Four Steps to Peace with God. This book was based on Sunday’s tract called Four Things God Wants You to Know.

                        3.         By the late 1950's Bill Bright formalized the “four spiritual laws” so that the average believer could take the crusade experience to his neighbors. The method ends with the sinner’s prayer, “Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”

            K.        With this long history, is it a wonder that people today think that this is the way to be saved? Little do they realize that the sinner’s prayer is a relatively recent innovation.

III.       How the Sinner’s Prayer is justified

            A.        For years, people have been told “just receive Christ into your heart” and “trust Jesus as your personal Savior.” The method for accomplishing this, we are told, is the sinner’s prayer.

                        1.         John 1:11-13 - Read this out of your translation and then listen to it from the Living Bible paraphrase, “Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. Only a few welcome and received him. But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them. All those who believe this are reborn! – not a physical rebirth resulting from human passion or plan – but from the will of God.”

                        2.         Is it a wonder that the Billy Graham Crusades endorsed this version?

                        3.         This verse teaches that we receive Jesus through faith. Those who do so have the right to become children of God by being born of God.

                        4.         It does not mention prayer as the method of receiving Jesus, nor does it state that only faith is necessary to receive Jesus.

            B.        Many base the plea to “let Jesus come into your heart” on Revelation 3:20

                        1.         First, the passage is directed to members of a lukewarm church. It is directed to people who are already Christians.

                        2.         It is not a passage about how unbelievers become Christians.

                        3.         It does not mention prayer as the way to let Jesus into your heart.

            C.        Some state that the basis of the sinner’s prayer comes from Romans 10:9-10

                        1.         Notice that once again prayer is not mentioned in this passage.

                        2.         Also, there is nothing in this passage that says belief and confession are the only things needed. It simply establishes that they are necessary – not exclusively necessary. Actually the Greek indicates that belief and confession lead to salvation, but does not state that they cause salvation.

                        3.         There is no mention of recognizing that a person is a sinner (Luke 13:3).

            D.        Some will state that “calling on the Lord” is the sinner’s prayer - Romans 10:13

                        1.         Peter quoted this save verse from the Old Testament in Acts 2:21. When his audience asked what they needed to do to be saved, he responded with repent and be baptized - Acts 2:37-38

                        2.         In the context of Romans 10, Paul equates calling on the name of the Lord with belief and confession.

                        3.         Ananias told Paul that being baptized was calling on the Lord - Acts 22:16

                        4.         Calling on the Lord is not just calling out His name in prayer - Matthew 7:21-23.

                        5.         Calling is doing what the Lord commands. It is appealing to the Lord for authority - Colossians 3:17

            E.        Others will cite Luke 18:13-14 as an example of some one praying the sinner’s prayer.

                        1.         Question: Did this prayer make the man saying it a Christian?

                                    a.         The honest answer is no.

                                    b.         It was prayed by a Jew who remained a Jew after the prayer.

                                    c.         It was prayed by a man living under the Old Law before Christ’s death on the cross.

                        2.         If we want examples, we ought to look in the book of Acts. Acts describes the actions of the early church. How were people saved then?

                                    a.         If we look at the examples, there is no record of someone being asked to pray to receive salvation

                                    b.         Acts 2:37-38 - These people were told to repent and be baptized.

                                    c.         Acts 8:4-5, 12-13 - These people believed and were baptized

                                    d.         Acts 8:35-39 - This person heard, confessed his belief, and was baptized.

                                    e.         Acts 10:33, 42-43, 48 - These people were commanded to believe and be baptized.

                                    f.         Acts 16:13-15 - Even though they were in a place of prayer, it was Paul’s preaching that opened Lydia’s heart and the result was that she and her household were baptized.

                                    g.         Acts 16:30-34 - The jailer was told to believe, he and his household heard the word preached, and immediately they were baptized.

                                    h.         Acts 18:4-5, 8 - Paul taught and many Corinthians responded by listening, believing and being baptized.

                                    i.         Acts 19:4-5 - Paul taught some Ephesians that they needed to believe in Jesus and on hearing this they were baptized.

                                    j.         Acts 9:6 - Saul wanted to know what to do. He was told to go into the city and wait for someone to tell him.

                                                (1)       He waited three days, praying and fasting - Acts 9:9-11

                                                (2)       If anyone could have been saved by prayer, it would have been Saul

                                                (3)       Yet what did Ananias tell Paul when he arrived? - Acts 22:16

                                                (4)       In other words, three days of prayer and fasting left Paul still in his sins

                                                (5)       What did Saul do? - Acts 9:18

IV.      People have advocated praying for salvation, yet Jesus asks a simple question - Luke 6:46

            A.        Jesus did not ask people to pray for salvation. He told them to listen, to believe, to repent, to confess, and to be baptized.

            B.        If you want to be saved, what must you do?

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

THE SINNER’S PRAYER
Recently, I heard a preacher tell the story of his visit to a hospital where a man with a terminal disease was saved through prayer. Many call this “the sinner’s prayer.” It might be prayed anywhere, such as the bedroom, corn field, driving along in a car, a church service, as well as a sick bed in a hospital. Friends, in all candor, we do not read in the word of God about an alien sinner being saved by prayer. In fact, the expression “the sinner’s prayer,” is not found one time in the Bible. Such is the figment of a man’s imagination. 
In the world-wide commission of Jesus, given after His resurrection, He never said anything about prayer. He said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16), and that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations” (Luke 24:47). 
In all the cases of conversion recorded in the book of Acts, not one time was an alien sinner told to pray. On Pentecost, the inspired apostle Peter told the Jews, after they had asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” to “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). Nothing about praying, here. When Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch the first thing the eunuch asked was, “See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” Philip, after hearing that he believed that Jesus is the Son of God, baptized him, Acts 8:35-38. No prayer, here. This harmonizes with what Jesus said in Mark 16:16. In the conversion of Lydia, Acts 16:14-15 and the Philippian jailer, Acts 16:30-33, we do not read of them being told to pray. However, they were baptized after faith and repentance. The Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized, Acts 18:8. All of them did what Jesus said to do in the great commission, and for the same purpose Peter stated in Acts 2:38 -- for the remission of sins. 
Saul of Tarsus, who was praying, was told by Ananias to “arise. and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Here was an alien sinner who was told to quit praying, get up, be baptized, and wash away his sins. “Calling on the name of the Lord” is an expression that means “appealing to the name of the Lord,” or “appealing to the authority of the Lord.” This is what a person DOES, rather than just what he SAYS. The word “call” is the same word translated “appeal;” in Acts 25:11 where Paul said, “I appeal to Caesar.” In other words, Paul is saying, “I will call upon Caesar.” He has the power as emperor to exonerate me. To be saved, we need to appeal to Jesus, obeying Him. 
The blind man who had been healed by Jesus rightly said, “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth” (John 9:31). This comports with Proverbs 28:9, “He that turneth his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.” Yet, preachers say than an alien sinner can pray for the forgiveness of sins, and God will forgive, while at the same time he ignores water baptism, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, and the plain teaching set forth in the examples of conversions in the book of Acts. 
--Weldon E. Warnock, Truth Magazine

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

[RETIREDFAN1]

If You Go To Hell 

Going to hell? — not far fetched! Many are headed to hell; Ask Jesus! "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mt.7:13-14). Likely many reading this — some sitting on church pews saying “amen” are going to hell! Even you! Hell is real; the threat is not imaginary. But if you go to hell, it is no accident. It is your choice. I know you do not want hell’s miseries; you do not deliberately pick that “lake that burns with fire and brimstone.” Yet, when you choose the road, you also — necessarily include its destination. Choose booze — choose fornication — choose the “pleasures of this world” — choose to “just live as you please,” and you choose hell! — at the end of that road . . . Your choice! — plain and simple! In the words of Joshua, “Choose for yourselves this day….” If you go to hell, it will be in spite of God. Do not blame God!! “The Lord is ...not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2Pet.3:9). God never forces you, overwhelms you, or makes you a robot. Yet He “works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil.2:12). He tries to get you to do right — to listen — to choose the road to heaven. To go to hell, you must reject all God’s efforts to the contrary. If you go to hell, it will be in spite of God’s love for you. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (Jno.3:16-18). To go to hell you have to refuse such love; you must “despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering.” Otherwise, the “goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Rom.2:4) — and eventually to heaven. If you go to hell, it will be in spite of Jesus. You, as a sinner, have no sacrifice for sin. There is nothing you can do to free yourself from the guilt and consequence of your sin. It is a hopeless case! Hell looms on the horizon inescapably. Until — until Jesus enters the picture! He volunteers to be that sacrifice for sins. He volunteers to accept your punishment deserved as a sinner. For you, Jesus was scourged as a criminal. For you, Jesus died on the cross as a criminal. For you, his blood was poured out as a sin sacrifice. He changed your prospects from hopeless despair —from inevitable hell to an open door into God’s favor, blessings, and heaven. To go to hell, you have to ignore such a sacrifice on your behalf. If you go to hell, it will be in spite of Christians. They are the ones who pester you trying to persuade you to change your life and turn to God. They just will not leave you alone to go quietly off to hell. To go to hell you have to turn a deaf ear to all their warnings and all their appeals. Christians are the ones who will not give up on you even when you try and fail miserably. They are there to pick you up and encourage you to try again. To go to hell you have to ignore people who care that much about you — or you may have to get angry with them and then refuse their help and concern. Christians are the ones who pray for you — even when you quit praying. They pray about your difficulties and your trials in life. They pray about your spiritual weaknesses and your sins. To go to hell, you must fight their prayers to God for you. Christians are the ones who know what you can be — a son of God reflecting His image. They are not satisfied for you to fail to become all that God can make of you. Christians are patient because they were once where you are — and still have problems with spiritual weaknesses. To go to hell, you will have to close the door on these people who love you — who love your soul. Are you not finding it hard to keep on going to hell with such obstacles in your way? In Jesus’ words to Saul, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Act.9:5). Why not just quit trying to go to hell — quit lashing out against those who try to help you — quit turning your back on God who wants to forgive you? Serving God and going to heaven is a tremendous alternative! - by Joe Fitch

[RETIREDFAN1]

I was a member of the Baptist Church at one time, and this is what I learned.
(1) The Baptist church told me baptism doesn’t save men but God says it does.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us . . . . There it is in black and white. Baptist church says it does not; but God says yes it does.
(2) The Baptist church told me I was saved by “grace alone” but the Bible names about twenty other things that saves us along with grace; therefore “grace alone” cannot possibly be true; and if it is not the truth, it’s a lie.
(3) The Baptist church told me I was saved by “faith only” but the Bible says “NOT by faith only” (Jas 2:24). How can a man be saved by “grace alone” and “faith only”? The Baptist says “faith only” and God says “NOT BY FAITH ONLY”.
(4) The Baptist church told me “once saved always saved” and they got really mad when I asked them; in innocence; to show me in the Bible where it says that. I was really excited about the guarantee of heaven and wanted to read it for myself, and also show it to others. What a letdown that was when I found out it isn’t so. Jesus said people had fallen and were lost (Rev 2:5). The apostle Paul said it was possible for him be lost (1Co 9:27). Paul said others could fall (Gal 5:4). The apostle Peter told us how to keep from falling (2Pe 1:10).
(5) The Baptist church told me I must (tithe) give 10% to be pleasing to God; and passed the plate every time the door was open; but God left it up to me as I purposed in my heart (2Co 9:7); and to give on Sunday (Lords Day) and there is no New Testament percentage to giving. We are taught not to be stingy, and God loves cheerful giving, but to teach a percentage is error and false doctrine.
2Co 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
2Co 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
(6) The Baptist church told me I could take the Lord’s Supper (communion) every once in a while, but the Bible example is on the first day of the week; and since each week has a first day, we know to take it each first day of the week (Sunday); each Sunday and every Sunday.
(7) The Baptist church also told me if I wanted to be a member of the church, they would have to vote to let me in. They stood me in front of the congregation and said a few things about my sinful past; but that was all over and done with and I had been saved already (before baptism) and if there were no objections I could “join the Baptist church”. But the Bible says the Lord is the one who adds people to the church. The Baptist said they would add me to the church after they voted on it; but the Lord is the one who adds the saved to the church:
Act 2:47 . . . . And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
There it is in black and white The Lord adds the saved to the church. He is the saviour and He adds the saved to the church; therefore, the Baptist doesn’t have one thing to do with who is added to the church and God has never said . . . . . . for us to “JOIN” anything.
(  Now, this is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. The Baptist church assured me I was saved when I wasn’t; told me to repeat a so called “SINNERS PRAYER” and sent me off in the “WRONG DIRRECTION” away from the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. His blood was shed in His death and we contact that blood when we are baptized into his death.
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Hundreds and thousands and hundreds of thousands think everything is OK when it is not. They think their sins have been forgiven when they haven’t been. They will not read and study their Bible and will not change having deluded themselves into believing a lie (2Th 2:11).
I know there are some Baptists reading this who are disagreeing, calling baptism a “waterdog salvation”. Let’s ask you to read 1Pe 3rd chapter beginning in the 18th verse through the end of the chapter; see what you think. Again that’s 1Pe 3:18-22. See for yourself what those 5 verses say.
Tom Wade

[RETIREDFAN1]

When you die, don't worry about your body...
Your relatives and funeral staff will do it. I know this first hand. I’ve done it myself… 

They will take you out of the house and deliver you to the funeral home of your family’s choice. 
They will take off your clothes
They will wash you
They will dress you up
They will even apply makeup to make you look presentable 
Many will come to the funeral to honor you.
Some will even cancel their plans and ask for leave to go to the funeral.

Your things--things you hate to be borrowed will be sold, donated or burned.
Your keys
Your tools
Your books
Your CDs, DVDs, games
Your collections
Your clothes...

And be sure the world won't stop and cry for you.
The economy will continue.
You will be replaced in work. Someone with the same or even better ability will take your place.

Your property will switch to heirs.
And don't doubt the small and big things you have done in your life will be spoken of, judged, doubted and criticized.

People who only knew your face will say, ′′Poor thing!"

Your good friends will cry for a few hours or several days, but then they will laugh again.

Your pets will get used to the new owner.

Your pictures will be hanging on the wall for a while, then they will be put on furniture and finally stored at the bottom of the box.

Someone else will sit on your couch and eat from it.

Deep pain in your home will last a year, two, maybe ten... Then you will join the memories and then your story will end.

It will end among people, end here, end in this world.

But your story begins in a new reality... in your life after death.

The things you once have will lose their meaning. You cannot bring your earthly possessions here.

the beauty of your body
last name
property
loans
working position
bank account
the house
the car
academic titles
Classmates
trophies
Friends of the world
man / woman
the kids
the family...

In your new life, you will only need your soul.
The only property that will last is the soul.
......................................................................................

The big question is: Do you know where your soul is going after this life is over?

Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

The Bible is clear that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3:3). 

John 3:18 explains in the simplest terms who will go to heaven and who will go to hell: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." So, those who go to hell are specifically those who do not believe in Jesus’ name. 

Mark 16:16 

(NKJV) 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

(Matthew 25:46).

(NKJV) 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

We can choose to trust in Jesus’ payment for our sin, or we can choose to pay for our sins ourselves—but we must remember that the payment for our sin is eternity in hell. 

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31)

Acts 2:38

(NKJV) 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

[RETIREDFAN1]

The Lamb of God
R. J. Evans

 
"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29).
 
There are many things to which Jesus is compared.  But surely none so fitting as that of a lamb.  Like a lamb, He is---loveable, gentle, and innocent.  However, because of these characteristics, let us never think He is weak or powerless.  Let us observe the following about Jesus:
 
He is the saving Lamb.  John the Baptist realized that fact when he referred to Him as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."  The law of Moses required animal sacrifices for sin.  When a lamb was brought to be offered as a "sin offering" it was to be "without blemish" (Lev. 4:32-35).  But the blood of animals, though offered repeatedly, could never take away sins (Heb. 10:1-11). But Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, offered Himself as "one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12).  Thus, as the Lamb of God, He qualifies  perfectly as the one to save us, for He lived a sinless life.  He is now our perfect High Priest who "was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15).
 
He is the sacrificial Lamb.  The Prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah as a lamb being led to the slaughter, "And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So he opened not His mouth" (Isa. 53:7).  The innocent, pure Lamb of God had to be sacrificed as PART OF GOD'S PLAN FOR MAN TO have the opportunity to be saved from his lost condition.  Jesus suffered and died to take away our sins, "who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously" (1 Pet. 2:23).
 
He is the triumphant Lamb.  We read of the Lamb of God in Revelation, chapter five, as the one who could open the scroll that no man could open.  A strong angel asked in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?"  One of the elders said to the Apostle John that "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and loose its seven seals."  But as John looked for the lion, instead he saw "a Lamb as though it had been slain"  (Rev. 5:6).  The Lamb of God received the praise and worship from the living creatures and elders as they sang a new song saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain And have redeemed us to God by Your blood" (Rev. 5:8-9)..  This was because He had overcome---had been sacrificed and shed His blood for the sins of  the whole world (1 Jn. 2:2).  He alone was worthy to open the scroll. 
 
We ask, "What if there had been no Lamb?"  For this to have happened is too horrible to even contemplate.  Yet, those who do not submit to the Lamb of God, are in the same condition as if He had never come!  When His judgment comes, they will have to face the "wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"  (Rev. 6:16-17).  Let us never lose sight or fail to consider the "wrath of the Lamb".
 
We come in contact with the saving power of the blood of the Lamb of God when we are "baptized into His death" (Rom. 6:3).  For it was in His death that He shed His blood, and it is by our obedience to His gospel, having been "baptized into His death" that our sins are forgiven.  Consider this very carefully, as stated by the inspired Apostle Paul: "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just has Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4).  Paul described his own conversion, which was in exact accord with what he is here teaching the Romans.  He told the Jerusalem mob that Ananias came to him with a question and a command: "And now why are you waiting?  Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).  When Paul was baptized, his sins were washed away (cleansed, forgiven) by the blood of the Lamb.  This is true of every person who ever became a Christian in the New Testament (see each conversion recorded in the book of Acts); it is still true today.
 
"Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?  Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"