Quote:
Originally Posted by Felicity
I believe there is more to baptism and the need to be baptized than just a test of obedience but I believe disobedience to a direct command of Christ and the men He chose to be His apostles and who set down apostolic precedent and doctrine will have very serious consequence.
If a person knows nothing more than that they are commanded to be baptized ... and they don't understand what it's all about ....... it's reason enough to be baptized. Just do it! There's no excuse under the sun why a person shouldn't.
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I agree, baptism is a part of our walk with Jesus, no question. There are alot of things that are important in our walk with Jesus.
But where we should focus is preaching faith in the accomplished work of Jesus Christ, this is the gate and we should present it as such.
If we then will teach folks to seek after God as to how He would have them to follow Him, then folks begin a process of maturing in relationship with Christ.
When folks are hammered early on with "you gotta to this or you are none of His", then you have immature believers that don't how to walk on their own.
Why? Because they learned to just follow the instruction that is very forcefully presented from the pulpit rather than following the commands of Jesus as they understand the reasons and need.
This approach allows the preparation of the hearts so that the sovereign Holy Spirit "falls" on them, rather than in a hyper emotional context that leaves them wondering, "what on earth just happened to me, was that really God."
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