Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
According to your church you are not in a saved state until you have been baptised in water.Why would you call them "unsaved"??
Is that your call - or is it GOD's??
Pretty arrogant of you to assume that you can read their hearts . . .
Show me where the BIBLE says that. Show me where the Bible speaks of people who reject the visible Church are are still part of it.By the way. All the people born of and led by HIS SPIRIT
ARE THE CHURCH
Ephesians. Alll of it for startersShow me where the BIBLE says that. Show me where the Bible speaks of people who reject the visible Church are are still part of it.
Chapter and Verse, please.
Why ask this? Any time this topic comes up, it sounds like nothing more than someone searching for an excuse to not get baptized (just like those that try to find ways to not attend church and take communion). You are told to do it in scripture. If you can then you should.Is water baptism a requirment to be saved
I'm big on justification by grace through faith so that's obviously apart from baptism. That said you should know something about this rite of Christian passage before dismissing it as unnecessary or superficial. Did you know that brides were baptized in their wedding dress? The old life as a child and a single woman was over, shes literally burying the old life and rising up to be a wife and a mother. Jesus was baptized, he clearly didn't need to be saved, he was salvation. As a man his old life as a carpenter was over, I'll wager he never picked up another hammer or chisel again. Its actually symbolic of a funeral, if you haven't died to sin there is no point in burying you and certainly no power to raise you up to walk in newness of life.Is water baptism a requirment to be saved
And yet there is a natural progression and association - as attested in scripture - which makes perfect sense. A wise old priest friend of mind used to declare:Its no more nessacary to be baptised to be saved then its nessacary to have a funeral to be dead.
Indeed, they stopped the ordinary folk from reading it for a long time in historyYes. The Catholic Church does not verbally encourage or discourage its parish to read THE WORD of GOD
I didn't mean that they verbally discourage but they do not instruct that it is very IMPORTANT to know THE WORD of GOD for oneself either
They don't but should mention to its parishioners that they should
And they don't
I think that we should note that it is no longer generally the case. It is true that in the mix of worship and bible study it seems that the Catholic Church leans to the worship side. However if you then look at the offices (breviary) you come to appreciate the volume of scripture being used for personal consideration and reflection on a daily basis. The field and flavour of that is no doubt different to the field and flavour of the weekly bible studies attended by many in the Churches of the Reformation Traditions in addition to Sunday worship, and along with a raft of personal bible reading plans that are available, and the preaching in these traditions has a tendency to be more exegetical (and often exclusively so), whereas congregations in the Catholic Traditions are more likely exposed to a wider range of preaching genres.Indeed, they stopped the ordinary folk from reading it for a long time in history
Wow thats so interesting that you world associate baptism with belonging. I dealt with this years ago, and a Bible College teacher I used to know world tell me, baptism means, 'identification with'. Apparently the early church did not allow the unbaptized to participate in the Lords Supper. You were not considered a member until then. Belonging to, identification with....hmmmm.....it fits.And yet there is a natural progression and association - as attested in scripture - which makes perfect sense. A wise old priest friend of mind used to declare:
There are three B's in being Christian:I see Baptism as part of the belonging B, and I think the maxim holds good and equates with your understanding, indeed your post reminded me of it.
- Believe
- Belong
- Behave