Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Battle Over Baptism
    The Battle Over Baptism
    The Battle Over Baptism
    Ebook86 pages1 hour

    The Battle Over Baptism

    By Dr. Shelton Smith

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    An important past of Christ's Great Commission is "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28:19). Some groups baptize "because of" salvation already received, while others baptize "in order to receive" salvation. Is baptism essential to receive salvation? Or is it essential in order to be an obedient believer? Nine New Testament "water passages" have become the center of controversy because some groups employ them as proof texts in their case to establish the necessity of baptism to be saved. In "The Battle Over Baptism," Dr. Shelton Smith examines the nine passages carefully. His study clearly demonstrates that no New Testament passage requires baptism for salvation.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSword of the Lord Foundation
    Release dateAug 2, 2016
    ISBN9781370955725
    The Battle Over Baptism

    Read more from Dr. Shelton Smith

    Related to The Battle Over Baptism

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Sep 24, 2021

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Jun 15, 2020

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Dec 30, 2019

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Jun 24, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Jul 22, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Oct 28, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Speakers

      Jun 24, 2019

      I have some exciting news to share! Evangelist Support Network – the network for evangelists that my husband and I head up – is holding an intimate three-day conference for evangelists and their teams this August called ES Connect 2019. Such will tak

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Great Shaking

      Nov 27, 2020

      Way back in the last millennium when I was still a teenager there was a popular song made famous by Jerry Lee Lewis, “There’s been a whole lotta shakin goin’ on.”This is certainly true of today’s world. One major difference between the current global

      5 min read

    • Article

      SPIRITUAL WEAPONS OF WARFARE Part ll

      Mar 16, 2020

      To be subject to the wiles of the enemy means to be deceived. The Hebrew word for wiles is nekel. It basically refers to five things that often happen to us. The first, as discussed in the previous article, is treachery – betrayal of trust, behaviour

      3 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Sep 29, 2023

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Mar 18, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Radiance

      Dec 30, 2022

      Radiance
      7 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Aug 7, 2020

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Nov 19, 2021

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Why Do Many People STRUGGLE With A LACK OF FAITH?

      Feb 11, 2022

      The apostle Paul exhorts Christians to “walk by faith and not by sight” – 2 Corinthians 5:7. What we see here is a contrast between truth and perception—what we know and believe to be true and what we perceive to be true. This is where the Christian

      3 min read

    • Article

      Spiritual Weapons Of Warfare

      Jun 15, 2020

      To be subject to the wiles of the enemy means to be deceived. The Hebrew word for wiles is nekel. It basically refers to five things that often happen to us. As we have discussed in previous articles, the first wile is treachery. The second wile is c

      3 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Oct 2, 2020

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Oct 30, 2020

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Battle Over Baptism

    3/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Battle Over Baptism - Dr. Shelton Smith

      The Battle Over Baptism

      by

      Dr. Shelton Smith

      P. O. Box 1099 • Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37133

      (800) 251-4100 • (615) 893-6700 • FAX (615) 848-6943

      www.SwordoftheLord.com

      Copyright 2006 by

      Sword of the Lord Publishers

      Distributed by Smashwords

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (printed, written, photocopied, electronic, audio or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

      All Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible.

      CONTENTS

      Chapter 1—Saved First, Then Baptized!

      Chapter 2—The Battle Over Baptism

      Chapter 3—The Nine New Testament Water Passages

      Chapter 4—John 3:1–8: Born of Water

      Chapter 5—Mark 16:15, 16: And Is Baptized

      Chapter 6—Acts 22:16: Wash Away Thy Sins

      Chapter 7—Romans 6:3–5: Baptized Into Jesus Christ

      Chapter 8—I Peter 3:20, 21: Baptism Doth Also Now Save Us

      Chapter 9—Titus 3:5: The Washing of Regeneration

      Chapter 10—Galatians 3:26–28: Baptized…Put on Christ

      Chapter 11—Ephesians 5:26: The Washing of Water

      Chapter 12—Acts 2:38: Be Baptized…for the Remission of Sins

      Chapter 13—Infant Baptism

      Chapter 14—Editor’s Baptism Articles Elicit Appreciation, Excite Adversarial Reactions

      Chapter 1

      Saved First, Then Baptized!

      The religious world is greatly confused about a lot of things, including eternal salvation. Such confusion, unfortunately, is also strongly present in professing Christendom. That is, there are a lot of people who call themselves Christians, yet they are clueless as to the Bible’s message on how to become one.

      Salvation—that is, true, genuine salvation—is the gate of entrance to the Christian life. Even some professing Christians have so garbled up the matter of salvation that they, in fact, are not Christians at all, but religionists, because their teaching on salvation is incorrect. They sometimes have a form of godliness (II Tim. 3:5), but the real thing they have totally missed.

      The general consensus of today’s self-centered thinking is that whatever you decide on a matter will be fine. It seems that, according to man, God’s opinion doesn’t count all that much. But I’m going to say here, and say it clearly, that, according to God, man’s opinion doesn’t count all that much. Therefore, it would be good if we set aside every human opinion and reasoning and make certain that we understand God’s point of view.

      Now specifically do I want to address the matter of salvation and its relation to baptism. Some denominations teach incorrectly that salvation is not possible without baptism. Some incorrectly teach a doctrine of the absolute essentiality of water baptism in order to go to Heaven.

      So I want to establish here that the Bible kind of salvation and the Bible kind of baptism are two separate things. That’s right: salvation is one thing, and baptism is a second thing altogether. You may have salvation without baptism, and you may have baptism without salvation.

      Do you mean to say that a person can be saved without ever being baptized? someone will ask.

      My response is Yes, positively yes. A person, any person, in fact, all people who go to Heaven do so because of a faith-based salvation. Whether they’ve been baptized or not has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not they will be admitted to Heaven. The Bible way is salvation first, then baptism.

      Salvation Received by Faith, Without Baptism

      "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

      "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

      "For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."

      "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."—Rom. 10:9–11,13.

      These verses clearly concern salvation and how it is received, yet there is NO mention of baptism!

      "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."—Eph. 2:8,9.

      Is it not quite obvious that these verses are about salvation and how it is received? Yet there is NO mention of baptism!

      When I go to a baseball game, I know several things are required for admission: (1) it takes money to buy the ticket, (2) you must actually buy the ticket, and (3) you must present the ticket at the gate. If you leave out any one of the three steps, you cannot get in to see the ball game. Therefore, every time I talk to someone who has not been to a ball game, I give the whole story. If I leave anything out, there is sure to be disappointment.

      Often when people are coming to Middle Tennessee, they will ask me how to find the Sword of the Lord headquarters. I tell them: From I-24, (1) they should come on Old Fort Parkway for one-half mile, then (2) turn right onto Bridge Avenue (at Red Lobster) and (3) go about eight blocks, and after going through the second light, immediately turn left into the Sword parking lot.

      Recently I gave those directions to a friend as he approached the city, but he never did find us. I either gave him bad information, or he didn’t follow closely what I told him. Whatever the case, he didn’t make it.

      So my point is, if you expect to get to the desired destination, you will be well advised to get a good set of directions about how to get there. If just any directions will get you to Heaven, it’s the only place that is that way.

      In some of the subsequent chapters, we will look closely at the passages where baptism is mentioned, but for now let’s get a handle on what salvation is and what it is not!

      I say again, salvation is by faith (without baptism).

      If you are counting on baptism to save you, you

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1