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Dr. Louis T. Tolbot
Is Baptism Essential? Is baptism essential to salvation? M y pastor claims it is. Nothing is essential to salvation but a personal and simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, based of course on the acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.' The teaching that baptism at any time is a means of salvation is Satanic. Salvation is by grace through faith and nothing add ed. Ephesians 2:8-10, puts the mat ter in exactly the right order— “ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” All these things that men add to this statement are inventions of the devil to befog the simple truth that salvation is always by grace pure and simple. Observance of Holidays According to Jeremiah 10:2 “ W e are not to learn the way of the heathen . . . for the customs of the people are vain.” Does this mean that all our celebrations of Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, Palm Sunday, etc., are pagan? And what is the only true church? The observance of Christmas, East er, Good Friday and Palm Sunday need not be pagan, although in some churches they may be so celebrated. However, in the greater number of evangelical churches these occasions are taken advantage of by both pas tor and people to reach many with the gospel who would otherwise not attend the house of God. The true church of God is composed of all who are born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and have had their sins washed away by His precious blood; they are to be found in all Christian denominations. No one group of Christians can claim that they are the only true church of Christ. Satan's Power Does Satan have equal power with God? No. Satan does not have equal power with God. Unquestionably God has delegated great power into Satan’s hands, but it is always lim ited. It is never under any circum stance equal to the power of God.
Became Sin For Us To what extent did Christ become sin for us in 2 Cor. 5:21? Our sins were borne in His body, ■not in His nature. In that respect He was “ holy, harmless, undefiled, [and] separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26). Read Isaiah 53 which tells us that it was His soul that was made an offering for sinners. That was the real atonement and therefore the sac rifice was both an exterior act—His body broken; and an interior act— His soul offered (v. 10). Was Adam Saved? Is there any Scriptural authority for believing that Adam was a saved man? Yes; the proof that Adam was saved is twofold— the evidence of his faith in calling his wife, Eve, “ the mother of all living,” solely upon the promise of God, and before he had ever seen a child (Gen. 3:15) ; and the symbolic act of God in clothing him with coats of skins (Gen. 3:21). Adam’s attempt to clothe himself miserably failed, just as self-righteousness always does —then God clothed him (Phil. 3:5-9; Luke 18:10-14). Virgin Birth of Christ Is the doctrine that Jesus was born of a virgin mother a really vital and important part of the Christian faith? Yes—His virgin birth is demanded by the Old Testament Scriptures and declared by the New Testament (cp. Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25). And be sides this if He should prove to be the natural son of Joseph, He would be cut off from all right to the throne of David, for Joseph was of the seed o f Coniah, and God declared in Jere miah 22:24-30 that no descendant of Coniah could ever sit upon that throne. Joseph is shown in Matthew 1 to have descended from Jechonias, another form of Coniah, while Luke 3 shows that through His mother Mary, the Lord Jesus descended from David, not through Solomon and Coniah, but through another son of David named Nathan. No one is a Christian who denies our Lord’s vir gin birth.
Raising Money for the Church What do you think of the giving of teas, suppers and holding bazaars to help the finances of the church? These methods of raising money for the support of the Lord’s work are not explicitly forbidden, and there fore cannot be called sinful, but they are contrary to the spirit of Scripture, and would be wholly unnecessary if the instruction of Paul to the church in First Corinthians 16:2 were obeyed. Such expedients to raise money for the church do not tend to spirituality, and the church which allows them becomes the butt of the ungodly in the community. Scofield said j— “ A converted hand in its own pocket is the Biblical method of raising money for the Lord.” ■ Counting the Cost What is the meaning of Luke 9:62; “ And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the king dom of God” ? It is necessary to read preceding verses in order to understand this statement. It is the account of a certain man who declared that he wanted to follow Jesus whithersoever He went. So Jesus explained what was involved in following Him, stat ing that while the foxes had holes and the birds had nests, He had no home at all on earth. This deterred the enthusiastic man and he began to make excuses for a “ delaying action” ; he had to go and bury his father, etc. Another man heard Him and wanted time to go home and bid farewell to his relatives. Jesus s a \y clearly through these flimsy excuses and understood perfectly that these men, for all their brave words, were really not ready for discipleship; for follow ing Him across country without com fort, income, home, family and all the things that were dear to them. So in this sixty-second verse He was really saying—“ Count well the cost of following Me, and don’t start un less you mean to go all the way for you are not fit to be included in the kingdom of God as a laborer.” It has nothing whatever to do with salva tion, but only with Christian service.
JUKE 1954
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