One day last week, when I was walking downtown on my lunch
break, I walked past a man on the street corner who was handing out religious
tracts. He was a neatly dressed man, wearing a red ball cap with a cross on
it. He handed me a tract, and I read it
as I walked. About halfway through, I
decided I’d turn back and ask him some questions. As I approached him, his
interest perked up, and I could tell he was glad to receive some kind of
response from someone. I introduced
myself, and after some small talk, I asked him how he’d respond to the question
of what I have to do to be saved.
Basically he said all I’d have to do is believe in Jesus, ask him to
save me, and accept him as my savior, just like the thief on the cross did.
Knowing that’s how he would respond, I asked him what he would say to a verse
like Mark 16:16: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he
who does not believe will be condemned [emphasis added].” He said something to
the effect of, “Well there are other verses about baptism, like Acts 22:16 and
Acts 2:38, but they’re more of a figure of speech. They’re not literally saying
you have to be baptized. You’re really just taking these verses out of context
when you say you have to baptized.”
Since I had to get back to work, we didn’t get to talk much after that.
I tried to point out some other scriptures about baptism as best I could in the
short time I had, but it was clear he didn’t have much interest in my point. I
thanked him and went on my way.
I kept the tract he gave me, and it wasn’t until after I got
home that afternoon that I noticed something.
On the back, it gave some steps on how to be saved, and under the “Forgiveness”
heading, it said the following:
“Acts 2:38 ‘…Repent…in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins…’ Repent – to change one’s mind. You must agree with
God that you have sinned against Him.”
So what about the dots (…)?
If you’re not familiar with Acts 2:38, I’m listing it here,
and I’m bolding and underlining a VERY important part that the tract leaves
out. I’m not sure what translation the tract used, so I’ll just use the NKJV. “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.’”
His tract, in my estimation, intentionally left out “and let everyone of you be baptized” in
order to change the verse to support the view that baptism is not essential for
salvation. My argument is simple. If you’re
going to include repentance as a necessary step of salvation based on Acts
2:38, then you MUST include baptism as a necessary step as well! By replacing baptism with dots, you’ve
completely changed the text, which is strongly warned against in Revelation
22:19. As a side note, remember that he told me all I had to do is believe in
Jesus and accept him as my savior because there’s nothing I can do outside of
grace? Why then would his tract say I
must repent? Isn’t repentance an action
I’m taking in order to receive grace? That’s a contradiction to his belief/faith
only doctrine. Like belief, repentance, and confession of Christ’s deity, baptism is an action we must do in order to demonstrate
our obedient faith in God’s saving grace. All of these actions are important,
and they must all be done in order to be saved.
Back to the dots. Isn’t
that something the religious world does quite often? Don’t people replace
commands and statutes established by God with dots in order to make scripture
fit a man-made doctrine they’ve been taught their whole lives? People may not
do it intentionally, but they’re just as guilty as someone who intentionally
alters scripture.
As a response to the dots in the tract, here are just a few
(of many) points, backed by verses, which show the essentiality of baptism.
It’s the only way to BE IN CHRIST - Galatians 3:27
It’s the only way to WASH AWAY OUR SINS – Acts 22:16
It’s the only way to CONTACT CHRIST’S BLOOD while reenacting
his death, burial, and resurrection – Romans 6
It’s the only way to be ADDED TO THE CHURCH – Acts 2:38-47
Be wary of peoples’ dots.
Look into the scripture, and let it speak. You’ll likely discover
something that other people don’t want you to know.
