Campus Bible Ministry

An Educational Work of the Park Street Church of Christ in Ashland, Oregon
Serving Southern Oregon University and the Region

Location:  Corner of Park Street and Fremont Street

Ashland, Oregon

 

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greg@campusbibleministry.org

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541-482-4635

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P.O. Box 763 Ashland, OR  97520

Send your Bible questions to qanda@campusbibleministry.org for Bible answers.  All questions will be answered through e-mail, and many will appear on this page.

Is Baptism an Outward Sign of an Inward Grace?

A common explanation of baptism is that it is an 'outward sign of an inward grace'.  By this they mean that baptism is simply symbolic and has nothing to do with salvation.  This, however, is not what the Bible teaches.

Is there symbolism in baptism?  Yes.  Romans 6:3, 4 as well as Colossians 2:12 speaks of baptism as a burial in water and a rising to newness of life (Romans) and being "raised with Him through faith in the working of God" (Colossians).  So, yes, there is symbolism in baptism.  But does that mean it has nothing to do with our salvation?  No.

Note in Romans 6:3, 4 that when one rises from baptism [a burial or complete submersion in water] that he or she rises to walk in newness of life.  The old man of sin is now dead and the new life begins.  So at baptism we clearly understand that a new birth has taken place.  It is the spiritual birth.  It is the new birth Jesus spoke of in John 3:3-5.  Baptism is the point at which we begin the new spiritual life with the Lord.

Peter was also emphatic on this purpose.  He told those who asked what to do, to repent and be baptized.  Why baptism?  For the remission [forgiveness] of sin (Acts 2:38).  He emphasized later that it was not the physical cleaning in water, but the answering of a good conscience toward God.  A spiritual cleansing.  In fact he said baptism saves (1 Peter 3:21).

Continue this study.  Find an exhaustive concordance and look up all the forms of the word 'baptize' [such as baptism, baptized, etc.].  As you read these passages ask why they were being baptized.  Keep notes on each passage.  Allow the Bible to answer the question.

While there is symbolism involved in the action of baptism, it is also the time when God washes away our sin (Acts 22:16).  When is one saved?  When they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, repent of their sin, confess Jesus as the Christ, and through their obedience to the Lord in baptism.

 

Question:  "Can a bishop be married?"

If you are asking this question regarding a specific religious group, each group will answer differently.  But let us remember that despite the many different groups claiming to be "Christian", there is only one source of truth - that is the Bible.

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach..." (1 Timothy 3:2 NKJ).  These are some of the qualifications given in the New Testament for the bishop.  Note that one qualification of a bishop is that he is the husband of one wife.  The simple and direct answer to the question is: A bishop not only can be married, he must be married.

Let us take it a step further.  The bishop must be a man.  Many in our world press for women to be placed in every position of every organization.  This cannot happen in the church of our Lord.  Jesus is the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22, 23) and has declared that the bishop must be the husband of one wife.  A woman cannot meet this qualification.  A woman cannot be a bishop.

For clarification, the New Testament defines the bishop as the overseer of the congregation.  He is also described as an elder and a pastor.  These three terms define the elder's work as a mature Christian man who oversees the congregation while he shepherds [pastors] the flock of God [the congregation].  In the New Testament we have the pattern of a plurality of elders overseeing a single congregation.  A bishop has no authority to oversee any congregation but the one which selected him and of which he is a member. [Note the words used of the same persons in Acts 20.  Elders in verse 17.  Overseers (bishops) in verse 28.  And shepherd (verb form of pastor) also in verse 28.  All three terms refer to the elders or bishops of the church at Ephesus whom Paul met at Miletus.]

We know this organization is foreign to the practice of many religious groups today, but it is what Jesus Christ set for his church.  No man has the authority to change what Jesus has placed in order.  That order is each congregation having a plurality of bishops [where there are qualified men to serve as bishops] to oversee and shepherd the congregation.  And, there is no authority on earth above that local congregation and her bishops.

This is not only a simple plan, it is a divine plan.  We are bound by this plan and cannot have any other - and still expect the blessings of Jesus Christ.

Question: "Adam and Eve were created in God’s image...does God have an actual body?"

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:26, 27 American Standard Version, 1901).

"And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7).

"And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him" (Genesis 2:18).

"And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man..." (Genesis 2:21-23).

Note in this account of the creation of man and woman that the general reference to creation is in Genesis 1 and the specifics of that creation is given in Genesis 2. Both man and woman were in the image and likeness of God. And, note that creation involves the flesh and the spirit (Gen. 2:7).

The flesh is that part which dies, the spirit does not.

"...and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead" (James 2:26).

"For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). Paul refers to the physical body to be dissolved, but looks ahead to the resurrected, glorified body of eternity (see also 1 Corinthians 15:35-58).

God created us, both a physical entity and a spiritual entity. The physical we bear for a short time in this life. The spirit, at the death of the body, departs and goes into the realm or place of the dead called Hades. Then at the coming of Jesus all will be joined to a resurrected body and eternity will begin. Jesus speaks of the resurrection and judgment of all humanity (John 5:27, 28; Matthew 25:31-41) and later Paul gives comfort to Christians about Christians who had died (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

In this light consider these two final passages.

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).

"See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having" (Luke 24:39). Jesus said this proving that he was indeed Jesus and had been raised from the dead - in his resurrected body.

God created us in his likeness, as spirit beings. The physical body of man is the earthly tabernacle. All will one day receive another resurrected body and will endure through eternity. Those who have obeyed and are faithful to Jesus will have an eternity in heaven and those who have not believed, obeyed, and remain faithful to Jesus will be separated from God through eternity (2 Thessalonians 1:5-7).

The Bible declares that God is Spirit, therefore he does not have the physical body as we do.

God has done all and provided all that we, if we look, to see that he exists and to know that he has revealed himself through the Bible. His plan was unfolding in the Old Testament to prepare the world for his Son, Jesus. Jesus went to the cross and paid the price for our sins. Now through him we can have that great and eternal hope of eternity with God. This is God’s desire - that we live with him through eternity. He does give us the choice though. Consider 1 Timothy 2:3-7; Acts 2:22-42.

 

"What about the Thief on the Cross?"

Many look at the comforting words of Jesus to the thief on the cross for their assurance of salvation.  There are differences, however,  Consider the following [It also appears on our bulletin page].

I Want to be Saved Like Him

Many people who refuse the Biblical teaching on baptism point to the thief on the cross. He was saved but he was not baptized. So, according to them, baptism has nothing to do with salvation. They want to be saved like the thief.

The thief was looking our Lord ‘in the face’ and asked a question of him. It was within the Lord’s authority to forgive. Never will this preacher argue that point. Those who have brought this up are not looking Jesus ‘in the face’. They desire to make their circumstances like the thief’s, without the crucifixion.

The thief had lived and was living under the law of Moses. He was answerable to the Lord under that covenant. Those who are living today are under the New Covenant, the New Testament. There is no promise to any man this side of the cross like the promise Jesus gave to the thief.

When those at Pentecost asked Peter what they should do Peter was direct. He told them to repent and be baptized. And he explained that baptism was ‘unto remission of sins’ (Acts 2:38). Paul was told to be baptized, and immediately did it. Why? Because through baptism he was calling on the name of the Lord and in it received the washing away of his sins (Acts 22:16).

No man today is in the situation of the thief. But all are subject to the instructions of Acts 2:38 and 22:16.

 

"What shall we do?"

This is the question asked of Peter and the apostles after they finished their sermon about Jesus, whom God made both Lord and Christ [Acts 2:36].  Read that sermon and note that those who asked obviously believed the preaching of Peter and the apostles.  That faith is seen in their question.

What was Peter's answer?  "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"  (Acts 2:38)

Two things were necessary.  Repentance, which is a change of mind followed by a change in behavior/life, was required.  Baptism, which is immersion in water, was also required.  What happened at baptism?  Their sins were remitted, or forgiven.   Truly an important instruction.

What did they do?  Three thousand of them, those who gladly received his words, were baptized (Acts 2:41).   And, when they were baptized the Lord added them.  What or to whom were they added.  They were added to the saved (See Ephesians 5:23  the body, which is the church, is the body of the saved ones).

Did they stop their?  No.  They continued in this new life in Christ.  Read Acts 2:42-47.  Then continue reading the book of Acts.

The sad fact is that many religious groups argue with Peter's words of Acts 2:38.  But they are plain.  We should hear them, obey them, and rejoice in our salvation and new life.  It is this time when we rise to walk in new life (Romans 6:3,4).

Come study these passages, and all others, with us more.  Let us all desire to simply by servants of Jesus - obeying from the heart that form of teaching which he has given (See Romans 6:16-18).

 

Updated:Saturday May 24, 2008 11:11 AM

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