For years, the churches of Christ have been known for emphasis on the topic of baptism. Baptism has been a constant discussion among theologicals for hundreds, it not a couple thousand years.
As various religious groups have found themselves divided over baptism, it is key to look at what the Bible says regarding baptism. One overlooked passage is Romans 6.1-14. For instance, look at a few of the questions and let Romans 6 answer them:
Is baptism really important?
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6.3)
When one is baptized they are baptized into Christ – that is really important.
What does baptism do?
“We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6.4)
Baptism connects one with the death of Jesus and the raising to walk in a new life – that is really important.
Is baptism necessary?
“For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. (Romans 6:5)
To be united with Christ, you must be baptized – that is really important.
Singing is powerful aspect of our worship that motivates one to a greater attitude and a greater desire to worship. Music has a tendency to transport the mind into a higher realm.
In 1780, John Wesley published his rules for singing as a part of a hymnal he produced that same year.. The list is fascinating and the points apply to this year even more than the year they were written. The list is contained below:
Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.
Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all.
Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can.
Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep.
Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation.
Sing in tune. Whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before or stay behind it. Take care not to sing too slow.
Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing.
A few years before the hymnal was published, Mr. Wesley wrote his views on a new song in a journal entry dated, July 3, 1764,
“I seldom relish verses at first hearing. Till I have heard them over and over, they give me no pleasure, and they give me next to none when I have heard them a few times more, so as to be quite familiar.”
I find it interesting that emphasis John Wesley put on singing. He knew there are something about worshipping God in song that brought delight to the worship of God.
He wrote more than 30 books and
his works have been translated into more than 30 languages and sales have
reached millions of copies. If you are familiar with his works, you know about
his profound knowledge and wisdom. Some may know of him through his work, “The
Chronicles of Narnia.” His name was Clive Staples Lewis; better known as C. S.
Lewis.
C.S. Lewis was a writer who left
atheism to follow Christ and became an apologist for Christianity. (An
apologist is one who offers an argument in defense of something controversial.
Basically, be spoken in defense of Christianity.)
In a treatise on apologetics,
Lewis stated, “One of the great difficulties is to keep before the audience’s
mind the question of Truth. They always think you are recommending
Christianity not because it is true but because it is good.”*
C. S. Lewis then declared, “One
must keep on pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is
of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it
cannot be is moderately important.”*
God’s truth is of infinite
importance. As Kevin mentioned on Sunday
night in our study, God’s truth is invaluable. God’s truth is His word (John
17.17). God’s word is that which will furnish us to every good work (2 Timothy
3.16-17). Further, it is God’s word which is able to save our souls (James
1.21; 1 Peter 1.23).
Do you take God’s Word, His Truth
as infinitely important?
Do your actions show that God’s
Word is infinitely important in your life?
“Church.” Depending on your vantage point that very word carries a lot of weight. For some it is a word of intense pain, for others, it is pillowy soft. the church disappointed me. The church hurt me. The church came to my side. The church supported me. The church abandoned me. The church saw me through the roughest days of my life. The church ostracized me. The church is my family.
The church of Jesus is not very popular with some today. Some politicians don’t like churches because we don’t pay taxes. Others despise the church because they were scarred by somebody in the church years ago, and they believe everybody in the church is a hypocrite. Many believe the church is judgmental and narrow and therefore don’t like it. There are those who are a part of the church but who seem to have a love/hate relationship with it.
I have chosen to love the church and here is why:
(Note, I could give a very cleaned up “churchy” list, i.e. Because of its founder, because it is where the saved of God are)
I love the church because the Bible tells me to: For some of you that may be hard to swallow but I’ve tried to live my life without a guide and it just gets me in a mess. And the world’s most proven and reliable guide is the Bible. So when Peter in his epistle says “love each other deeply” I have made a decision to do that.
I love the church because it is where I can fail safely: Everyone – EVERY ONE who is a member of the church has admitted in the admission exam that they are sinners. Repentance from sin is a part of God’s plan. So in so doing, you are saying, I am human, I make mistakes, I fail. Sometimes churches get in the way of themselves and appear to be cleaned up too much. We are only clean in the sense that we have the continual cleaning from Jesus. I admit because sometimes church ends up looking more like a display case of trophies than a rescue site from sin that that is hard to love. But again, I have made a decision to do that.
I love the church because it is where I can ask questions without repercussions: There are those who think you can’t ask questions in the church. I dare you, try it. Ask away. God invites investigation, i.e. Psalm 8:3. Now, the world seems to think this is not so, but oddly, it is the intelligencia of the world that will shoot you down. Try that. Find an atheistic scientist, professor, lecturer and question him. Suggest to her that God might be real. Ask them if there is any possibility they might be wrong. Then, get out of the way!
I love the church because I can have fun with the people there without feeling dirty or mean. Yes, there are rules. Guess what there are everywhere. Even places that tout there are no rules. Try it, go to Little Caesars (just the most recent place to try the “there are no rules” marketing ploy) and try to go behind the counter and start dipping in the pizza sauce with your hand multiple times and drinking, open the register and take out all the cash – there are rules everywhere. Yes, there are rules in churches but those rules are ones that lead to greater long-term health and happiness. Leonard Sweet in The Gospel According to Starbucks, suggests that you may find more genuine fellowship in your church than anywhere else. When I go home from a night out with my brothers I don’t have to wonder if I committed a crime, harmed another, lost my wit and did something that when I am sober I’ll regret. I’m not suggesting that Christians never sin together but my experience says that long-term good memory fun comes here. I love the church because I love the people in the church – the flawed but faith-filled people who are IT.
I love the church because it gives me instant family: Imagine you are on the road traveling in a city you don’t know well and you run out of gas. It’s late and the stations are closed. It feels like a rough side of town. Your family is in the car and it’s 11:45 at night. Your heart is racing and you see a group of 4 or 5 guys coming down the street toward you. What’s that in their hand? A gun, no, it’s a Bible! Would you feel better if you knew they had just come from a bar or a Bible study? I imagine you can answer that one quickly. I love that I can go anywhere and have instant family and friends and help if there is a local church there.
I love the church because it does good: Tornado, flood, earthquake, wreck, broken home or broken heart, big disaster or small collapse the church comes through. It is not the corner bar, the Muslim mosque, the local association of atheists but it is the church. Same with inner city relief organizations. Check out most of the higher institutions of learning – they were started by people of faith. Research the history of healthcare and hospitals – they were started by believers. Who constantly visits with and conducts services for those in prison? The church. Who establishes crisis pregnancy centers to help women in desperation? The church. Who teaches the moral values that undergird ethics in business? The church. Who taught many of us older people, long before the Civil Rights Movement, to sing, “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world”? It was the church. Who feeds the poor in your community? The church. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, who was there first with the most practical help? Who sent the most money without scraping any off the top? Who’s still there today? The church. Whether national disaster or local emergency you’ll see God’s Family step forward, yearning to help!
“Thank You, Father, that Jesus loved the church with His life. Even though we stumble and have our share of black-eyes and wrinkles, He loves us anyway. We’ve been cleansed by the washing of water through the Word. May the church strive to be a worthy bride for the coming groom. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”
Dale has preached for 40 years and is currently blessed to work with the Spring Meadows Church of Christ in Spring Hill, TN. He and his brother Jeff run TheJenkinsInstitute.com that provides multiple resources for ministers and churches.
God planned and designed it. The church of Christ was established in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 2:2-3; Acts 2). This church would have a distinctive founder, builder, head, body, mission, plan of salvation, membership, worship, name, doctrine, and work (Isaiah 28:16; Ephesians 2:20; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 4:4; Mark 16:15; Acts 2:38; Acts 2:47; John 4:24; Acts 11:26; Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 15:58). The church of Christ is the church of the New Testament.
Christ purchased it. Inspiration teaches, “There is one body…” (Ephesians 4:4). What is the one body? We can stay in the book of Ephesians and answer the question. “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (1:22-23). Paul is teaching exactly what Jesus Christ taught. Our Lord said He would build His church, (Matthew 16:18) which is the one body. It is built upon the one foundation, Jesus Christ (2:20; 1 Corinthians 3:1). Jesus is head and savior of the body, the church: “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). The church is under the authority of Christ: “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ…” (Ephesians 5:24). Jesus loves His body, the church: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church (Ephesians 5:25, 29). Christ died for the church: “…even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25).
I am a member of the body. “For we are members of his body…” (Ephesians 5:30; Acts 2:47). We are reconciled to God in the one body: “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Ephesians 2:16). We are to have unity and growth in the body (Ephesians 4:16).
The relationships within the church strengthen me. The spiritual, emotional, physical, social, recreational, and intellectual parts of life are shared with brothers and sisters within the church on different levels.
Love (agape) serves as the example from the Godhead and is to be exhibited among the children of God in the church. We are blessed with relationships with those who have the same spiritual goals and who serve under the same Head, Jesus Christ.
It’s mission is to fulfill the statement of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. We have one mission; to make known “the manifold wisdom of God” (3:10). God desires the salvation of the world and the church is to preach the gospel to every one.
We Believe the Bible. We believe the Bible to be the verbally, inspired, inerrant, plenary, Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We believe the Bible to be our only authority in religious matters (Colossians 3:17).
It faithfully proclaims how to be saved. The Bible teaches us that we are saved by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:5, 8-10). In order for man to get into the grace of God, he must do his part which is through faith (Ephesians 2:8). The Bible teaches that we must hear the word of God (Romans 10:17). After hearing the word of God we must develop a working faith (James 2:14-26). Then we are commanded to repent (Acts 17:30). The Scriptures then instruct us to confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Acts 8:37), and be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins (Romans 6:1-4).By obeying the gospel plan of salvation we have forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, membership in the church of Christ, and are made heirs to the blessings found in Jesus Christ. This makes us a Christian only.
It is restoration minded. The Lord’s Church is not perfect on the human side and is always in need of improvement. The church of Christ pleads for a return to New Testament Christianity. Our goal is to speak where the Bible speaks and keep silent where it is silent, calling Bible things by Bible names and doing Bible things in Bible ways. “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
A native of Ohio, Steve has been preaching for over 27 years serving as full-time minister in congregations in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and South Carolina. He is currently serving as one of the ministers for the church of Christ at Gold Hill Road in Fort Mill, SC. After graduating James A. Garfield High School, he completed a B. S. degree in Business and Ethics at Asbury University (Wilmore, KY) and the M. A. Min., from Freed-Hardeman University.
Steve and his wife Deanna have two children and are enjoying their first grandchild, Maisy. He enjoys books, research, writing, Church / Restoration History playing and listening to vintage Country and Bluegrass music, collecting vintage country music memorabilia and photography.