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He's here to put aside all the cares of this world and to just think very clearly and listen to every word from your Bible, dear God, and help us all to learn something and to grow in faith. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Now the part of the chapter I want to focus on is right at the very beginning of the chapter where the Bible reads in verse 1, Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation. Okay, and then he's going to go on to describe what that foundation of our faith is. What are the foundational principles of the doctrine of Christ according to the Bible? He said the repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. These are the foundational things and according to the Bible, in Psalm 11 3 it says if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? And so if we don't have these foundations right, our whole building is going to be wrong. Think about it, if you're building a building, you must have the foundation strong. That's going to determine how high you can go with that building. And if the foundation's wrong, let's say you have a single story house and the foundation's not that strong, you can't add a second story to that house. You're going to have to tear it down and start all over. And so the foundation is the most important part of any building. If you study the Bible, when they built the temple, they spent more time on the foundation. They had these gigantic single stones that were one single piece that they transported all the way from a far country where they could get these giant pieces of granite that they could use as a foundation, not concrete, but an actual stone that would last for centuries. The foundation is important. The one that we're going to talk about today is in verse 2 where the Bible reads of the doctrine of baptisms and that's what I want to talk about this morning, the doctrine of baptisms and we're going to go through seven different points on the doctrines of baptisms. Look if you would at Matthew chapter 3, I'm going to start out with something simple. Number one, baptism is by immersion. That's the first point right there. Baptism is by immersion, not sprinkling, not pouring, but actually being dunked under the water is the way that baptism is in the Bible. Now this is so clear in the Bible that I would say this, any religion who's not baptizing by immersion, they don't believe the Bible. They're just not saved. They're unbelievers because anyone who's even read the Bible one time would clearly see the baptisms by immersion. Anyone who's sprinkling or pouring is just following the traditions of men, not the word of God. Look at Matthew 3, 13 and we'll see it here. When Jesus was baptized, it says in verse 13, then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him saying, I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me. Jesus answering said unto him, suffer it to be so now for thus to be cometh thus to fulfill all righteousness that he suffer. And watch verse 16, and Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight way out of the water. Now you see when Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. The water didn't sprinkle down upon him. The water wasn't poured upon him. He came up out of the water because he was baptized by immersion and it says, and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. Turn to John 3, and lo a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. In John chapter 3, we have another count of John the Baptist baptizing and in John chapter 3, verse number 22, the Bible reads, after these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea and there he tarried with them and baptized. Look at verse 23, and John also was baptizing an anon near to Salem because there was much water there and they came and were baptized. And so there we see again that John chose a specific place in the Baptist because there was much water there because it was a very big river that he could bring people down into the water and dunk them in the water. If it was just sprinkling, he could have just had a birdbath. He could have just set up a well or a water cooler, you know, and done it that way. But no, he went there because there was much water there. Luke chapter 3, you don't have to turn there, but it says in verse number 21, now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized and praying that heaven was open and on and on, it says that this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Colossians 2 12, you turn, you turn if you would to Acts 16. Colossians 2 12 says this, buried with him in baptism. Now that doesn't sound like sprinkling or pouring. It's clear we're buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who has raised him from the dead. So number one, baptism is by immersion, not sprinkling, not the Catholic method. I talked to a guy, I knocked on his door and I gave him the gospel and he only spoke Spanish. So we were talking completely in Spanish, but I went through the whole plan of salvation with him. He did not get saved. And he said, you know, that you have to be baptized to be saved and you have to go to church and do good works and so forth. Well, I said to him this, I said, I said, you know, the Catholic church does not follow the Bible. And he said, give me an example. I said, they don't baptize by immersion. They baptize by sprinkling. And he said, show me in the Bible where you have to be baptized, where baptism by immersion. I showed him, buried with him by baptism into his death. I showed him all the scriptures I just showed you. And he said, well, he said, you know, you're right. They were immersing in that scripture. But he said, that doesn't matter. He said, it's not the immersion that matters. He said, it's the water that matters. The water is what's important. You know, cause they had, you know, the holy water or whatever. So it's just the water that's important. No, what's important about baptism is the picture of the death burial and resurrection of Christ. That's what's important. It doesn't matter whether the water is the Jordan river or whether it's my swimming pool is chlorinated. It's not the water that matters. You know, you want to talk about holy water. I mean, we're talking chlorine. We're talking that what's that, what's that acid or muriatic acid diatomaceous earth. I mean, if you have baptized in my house, you've been baptized, but the point is it's not some holy special water. He chose a river here. There was just a little bit of water where the eunuch was baptized, but let's look at Acts chapter 16. Okay. Number one, we see the baptism is by immersion, but number two, we see the baptism comes after salvation. Flip back to Acts 837. I'm sorry. Yeah. Look at Acts 16. Well, no, I'm just kidding. Acts 16, 30 it says, and brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Acts 16, 31 and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved in thy house. Okay. Look at verse 32 and they spake unto him the word of the Lord. See, that's what you need to get saved. You need to hear God's word and then it says, and to all that were in his house and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized. He had all his straight away and when he had brought them into his house, he sent me before them and rejoiced believing in God with all his house. And then, you know, he puts them back in prison. Go figure. Anyway, the bottom line is that baptism comes after salvation. Flip back to Acts chapter eight. Number one, baptism by immersion, going under the water. We showed several verses on that. Number two, baptism comes after salvation. Look at Acts chapter eight, verse 36 is the famous story about Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch and Acts chapter eight, verse 36, this guy just finished here in the gospel, Phil has been preaching to him using the Bible, using the book of Isaiah and a whole bunch of other scriptures and it says, and as they went on their way, they came into a certain water and the eunuch said, see, here is water. What does hinder me to be baptized? What is hindering me? What is stopping me from being baptized? And Phillip said, if thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. So what he's saying is if you don't believe on Jesus Christ, baptism is not for you. But if thou believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, thou mayest and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water, both Phillip and the eunuch and he baptized him. So number one, baptism by immersion. Number two, the only prerequisite for being baptized is being saved. If thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest and yet church after church will tell you that you have to do something else before you get baptized. I had a pastor tell me that if a man has long hair, he must get a haircut before he gets baptized. I've been told that. The Bible truly says that it's a shame for a man to have long hair, but no, you don't get a haircut and then get baptized. Or this is extremely common, a baptism class. How many of you have been to a Baptist church that had a baptism class? And they say, you have to take a class. And I say this, is the water that deep? You know, isn't that amazing? So what? Do you have to be a certified lifeguard? What do you need a baptism class for? Where's the class? And that's chapter eight, when he just said, hey, here's some water. He asked the enemy to be baptized, and he just said, if you believe with all your heart, you may be baptized. And he baptized them right then and there. In Acts 16, the one that we just read, did you notice that it says that he took him the same hour of the night and baptized him? That was a sure baptism class because he preached him the gospel at midnight is when the chains fell off. And he said, what must I do to be saved? At midnight, he got saved, and within an hour, he was baptized immediately after salvation. No class, no haircut, you know, no change of garment, he just got baptized immediately after salvation. So number one, baptism by immersion. Number two, the only prerequisite for baptism is faith in Jesus Christ. That's it. I don't care how ungodly a person is, if they just got saved and just believe on Jesus Christ, the next step is not to clean up their life, the next step is first to be baptized, then clean up your life, then go soul winning, then learn the Bible. But baptism should be the very first step of obedience after you're saved. You don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops to be baptized. Nope, if you believe, you can be baptized. You say, what about John the Baptist? You know, he refused to baptize people that weren't saved. You say, oh, you know, he said they had to bring forth fruits of repentance because he knew they weren't saved. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were unbelievers. They did not believe on Jesus Christ, and that's the only person he said that to. He did not say that to anyone else. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, oh, generation of vipers, who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come, bring forth therefore fruits made for repentance, and think not to say within yourself, we have Abraham to our father. He said, I'm not going to baptize you because you're a Jew, for I say unto you that God is able to eat stones to raise up children unto Abraham. He said, you must believe on Jesus Christ, you're an unbeliever, you're not saved, you're a viper, you're a false teacher, you're a liar, you're a Pharisee, you're a Sadducee. That's who he refused to baptize, unbelievers. He didn't say, you know, your hair is too long, you will not be baptized. You know, your skirt is too short, I will not baptize you. No, if you believe on Jesus Christ, be baptized. That's what the Bible teaches. So there's no other prerequisite. Number three, I'm sorry, number four, baptism should happen immediately after salvation. We just kind of went through that when we talked about these different examples. But look at Acts chapter 19, if you would. Acts chapter 19. Baptism should happen immediately after salvation, as soon as possible after salvation. In Acts chapter 8, it was right there by the side of the road, they pulled over the chariot and he baptized him. In Acts chapter 16, it was the same hour of the night, he was baptized. Well look at this though, baptism should happen immediately, and here's the key word, after salvation. So the timing of baptism is as soon as possible after you're saved. Now Acts 19 is interesting because here's a story about people who were not saved but they thought they were saved. And these people who were unsaved and thought they were saved got baptized in a great baptist church but they weren't saved and therefore they had to get baptized again because they were not saved when they got baptized. Because baptism follows salvation. I mean, my wife was baptized as a baby in the Roman Catholic Church. She wasn't really baptized, she was sprinkled. But so-called baptism, I've known many people who got baptized before they were saved and they thought they were saved, they got baptized, and then later on they realized they weren't even saved. Who here can say, I was baptized before I got saved and then I got baptized again once I really got saved? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, a lot of people like that. What is this sound that's going on? I feel like I'm preaching to like a musical background or something. Anyway, where was I? Where are we? Church? No, I'm just kidding. Acts chapter 19 verse 1. It says, And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coast to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? Okay, and watch what they say. And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard, whether there be any Holy Ghost. They're saying, We don't even know if the Holy Ghost exists, okay? Look what he says in verse 3. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said unto John's baptism, Then said Paul, John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. You see, these people said, Well, we got baptized by John the Baptist. And he said, Well, let me ask you this, Have you received the Holy Ghost after that you believe? They said, We're not even sure whether there be any Holy Ghost. Now, do you remember something about John's preaching? If you look at John the Baptist preaching in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, what did he preach a lot about? The Holy Ghost. I mean, every time. He's always preaching about how the Holy Spirit was going to descend upon Jesus Christ, and that's how he knew that it was him. And he talks about how, basically, the Holy Ghost sent him baptizing with water. He said, I baptize you with water, but he that come after me shall baptize the Holy Ghost. I mean, he literally, pretty much every time he's preaching, you'll find him mentioning the Holy Ghost like five times, okay? These people have been baptized by John the Baptist, but they did not get the message of John the Baptist. They didn't know what he was preaching about the Holy Ghost. They didn't know about Jesus Christ. They didn't understand the whole purpose of John the Baptist preaching was to point people saying unto the people, look if you would at verse number four, halfway through he says that they should believe on him which should come after him. That is on Christ Jesus. His whole message was pointing people toward Jesus Christ who was going to come after. These people were not saved. Now, let me give you an illustration just maybe to help you understand this a little bit. Let's say that you ran into somebody and you were out soul winning like Paul was doing. He's out on a missionary journey and let's say you ran into somebody and they said, oh yeah, we're Christians, we're saved, we're Baptists and you said, this is like a modern day variation of the story, and you said to them, well okay, and you started to quiz them on what they believed like Paul did, you received the Holy Ghost, do you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you or this and that, and do you know for sure if you died, do you need to go to heaven and can you lose your salvation? And let's say they gave you all the wrong answers like these people, okay, and you said, well wait a minute, have you been baptized? And they said yes. And he said, well who baptized you? And they said, Pastor Steve Anderson. Yeah, we're baptized by Pastor Steve Anderson, Faithful Word Baptist Church. And do you believe you can lose your salvation? Yeah, I think you can lose it. Now you'd be like, huh? You went to Faithful Word Baptist Church, you're baptized by Steve Anderson and you don't know that salvation is by faithful law? You'd be like, were you even listening? And that's exactly what happened in this story. Paul is saying like, why did, and you'd ask the same thing that Paul asked, why do you even baptize? You know what I mean? And that's what they're asking like, well where unto were you baptized? You know, what was the point of being baptized if you don't even believe on Jesus Christ? Now, that's what happened here. John the Baptist, he thought these people were saved. They convinced him they were saved or whatever, but somehow it was a confusion and these people were not saved and that's why they had to get baptized again. Did you notice that? Because that first baptism meant nothing. They just got what? After they got saved, it says in verse 5, when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, okay? Now, look at you would in Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10. Again, we're talking about how baptism comes after salvation. So, if you got saved after you got baptized, your first baptism was not a legitimate baptism because baptism comes after salvation. These people, after they got truly saved, now they thought they were saved when they got baptized. Once they truly got saved, they got baptized again. Look at you would in Acts 10, 43, one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. To him give all the prophets witness. Now, who believes that that's true right there? I believe that all the prophets in the Old Testament point to Jesus Christ. And how do they point to him? To him give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins. Hey, the whole Old Testament is preaching that truth and pointing toward the future coming of Jesus Christ. It's right there. And it's whosoever believeth, by the way, not whosoever lives a good life or goes to church. And it's never been anything different. All the prophets were preaching the same thing. It's always been the same salvation from the time when Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, from the time when Seth and Enos began to call upon the name of the Lord in Genesis chapter 5. It's always been the same. But look at verse 44. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word, because they believed on Christ. As they believed, they were immediately saved. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnified God. Then answered Peter. Now you say, speak with tongues? Were they rolling in the aisles and barking like a dog and slobbering? No. This is not the modern day tongues movement. This is taking place at a place where the people that they are preaching to are Italians. Do you realize that? If you study the chapter, this man was a centurion for Rome and it was called the Italian band. He had an Italian group of soldiers. They brought together all these Italians. Peter came and preached unto them. And these other men are there from Jerusalem, from Israel. They were amazed when they heard them basically testifying that they believed and praising God in their language. Wow, because God wanted these circumcised Jews to know that the Gentiles were saved too. And so they heard them speak in their own language, just like in Acts chapter 2, same thing. And watch what he says in verse 47. Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he recommended to them that they be baptized in the name of the Lord. Is that what it says? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. So my next point is this. Baptism is a command. Number five. Number one, baptism is by immersion. You need to be dunked under water. Number two, it comes after salvation. Number three, the only thing you need to do before you get baptized. I don't know if I'm ready to get baptized. Are you saved? Then you're ready. The only prerequisite is faith in Christ. Number four, it should happen immediately after salvation. Not before, and not way later after you've been certified and sanctified and all this stuff by some pastor. Number five, it's a command. It's not an option. It's not if you feel like you get baptized. This is something that Jesus Christ commands you to do. Now no human being will force you to do it, and God won't force you to do it. Don't go to heaven if you don't get saved. But it is a command of God, and if you don't get baptized, you're disobedient to the gospel. Okay, it says in verse number five... I'm sorry, where are we at here? I lost my place. What is that? Acts chapter 10. All right, thank you. So in Acts chapter 10, 48, it says he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, then prayed they him to tarry certain days. So my next point is this. Turn to Romans chapter 6. This is about halfway through the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. Number six, baptism is a picture of the resurrection of Christ. It pictures the resurrection of Christ. And let's look at this in Romans 6, 1. And then point number seven is this. Baptism should be a new start for the believer, burying the old man and starting out a new life. Look at verse one. The Bible says this. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer than right? Now why is Paul asking this question? Because he just finished saying in chapters three, four, and five, that if we continue to sin, grace will abound. He said the more we sin, the more we're forgiven. Because where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And that every sin that we commit is already paid for by the blood of Jesus. That's why he asked the question. So, should we do that? Okay, just because we can? And yes we can. That's the only reason he even brought it up. But he said, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. He's saying, no, we don't want to do that. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer than right? Verse three. No ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death. Therefore we are buried with Him by sprinkling? No. It says, therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also, and here's the key word, should walk in newness of life. Does it say even so we will automatically walk in newness of life? Well, if you're saved and you've been baptized, you're going to be different. You're going to walk in newness of life. Total change. No. He said we should walk in newness of life. You see, that's not something that we must do to be saved. It's something that we should do. And the believer does not automatically just follow Christ. Do you find yourself, now that you're saved, automatically doing all the right things? No, you have to make an effort. You have to work hard at it. You have to die daily, the Bible says. And the Bible says here that we should walk in newness of life. We shouldn't be living the same way as the unbelieving world around us. Ask yourself this question. Is there really any difference between you and the way you live and the unbelievers around you? Is there any difference in you and the way you live and the way that you lived before you got saved? You should be walking in newness of life, not the same old life, the same time. And the world is just so old. You know, it's just the same thing. There's nothing new under the sun. And the tired old world's entertainment and fun. They love to watch the same movie five million times. Batman Part 25 or whatever they're coming out with. You know, they dig up all this old garbage and the same... You know, why are you still entertained by all the same stupid stuff that when you were a little kid, you know, or when you weren't even saved or when you didn't even know what was going on? Now that you're saved, walk in newness of life. Put off these old things. The Bible says this. When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. Okay? And so no, I'm not going to go with you and go watch Star Wars and, you know, play with a lightsaber with you in the parking lot. Okay? And so the Bible says we should walk in newness of life. There should be a difference in our music. There should be a difference in the way we think, in the way that we talk, in the way that we act. There should be a difference in our life. Because the people of this world do not live a life that pleases God. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, the Bible says. We need to be different than the world and walk in newness of life. Not be just like everybody else at work, everybody else at school, but to walk in newness of life. And in 2010, why don't you say, I want to start over and walk in newness of life. I want to put off the old man. I want to bury the old man and walk in newness of life. That's what baptism pictures. He said, therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death, verse 4. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him. That the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we should also live with Him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once. But in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Watch verse 11. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lustre. He is saying when you get baptized, it pictures a couple of different things. Number one, it pictures the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But number two, it pictures you saying you know what, I am burying the old man. The old Steven Anderson is going to have to die. The one that was filled with sin and worldliness and ungodliness. And guess what, I am going to rise and walk in newness of life as a new creature in Christ. Is it automatic? No. But it is something that we should do. Jesus said if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. But it starts with baptism. Baptism pictures that step in your mind where you say you know what, yes I am saved but I also want to be different. I also want to walk in newness of life. Now many people get saved and they keep living the same way they did before they got saved. They are not walking in newness of life and many of them have not been baptized. Because when a person gets baptized, that is the first step along the road of walking in newness of life. You expect to walk in newness of life, you have not even taken the first step of baptism. You are not going very far. How many of you can say you know after I got baptized I noticed a dramatic change in my spiritual walk with God. You know you have been saved for a while but then when you got baptized you noticed a dramatic change because you are in obedience to Christ now. God blesses that obedience. But my last point is this, number eight, baptism does not save you. Baptism does not save you. So we are learning the doctrine of baptism. This is a foundational thing about what we believe. It is important to know this. Number one, it is immersion. It is after you get saved. It is right after you get saved. As soon as possible after you get saved. It is only because you are saved, not because you have cleaned up your life or turned over a new leap. It is something that is a command of God. It is not something that he just recommends but it is something that he commands us to do. It pictures the resurrection of Christ. It is a dead girl in resurrection pictured. But it should also be a new start for you. Where you say I am putting off the old man, I am going to walk in newness of life. But lastly is baptism cannot save you. Now this should be obvious but there are many many false teachers that have entered into the world that preach that baptism saves you. And they say well in order to be saved you have to be baptized. Now I am going to show you some of the scriptures that they basically twist in order to try to say well you know what, you have got to be baptized in order to be saved. Now the reason that this makes no sense. First of all as Jesus Christ said in Isaiah chapter 1, come and let us reason together, he said. God is a very reasonable and logical God. He said let's reason together. If baptism saves you then how did people get saved for 4000 years before anyone was ever baptized? How did people get saved for 4000 years all the way from Adam until John the Baptist? How did they get saved? Were they baptized? Absolutely not. Were they all unsaved? No. Many were saved. Many are in heaven. Many are not saved. Many are not in heaven. The Bible makes it clear it's because of the faith of Christ that they went to heaven. They were saved by the faith of Christ like as we are according to Acts chapter 15. So logically speaking if baptism saves how did 4000 years of humanity get saved? If baptism saves why was Jesus baptized? Did he need to be saved? Did he need his sins forgiven? No. If baptism saves how did the thief on the cross get to heaven when he was not baptized? All he did was believe. He just looked to Jesus Christ and said, Hey, I'm a sinner. This guy next to me is a sinner. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He said, This man hath done nothing amiss. He pointed to Jesus Christ because his hand was sticking that way anyway. And he said, This man hath done nothing amiss. He said, This is the Son of God. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He was saved. That's it. Look at 1 Corinthians 1. Did I tell you to turn there yet? In 1 Corinthians 1 before we get into the scriptures that false teachers will try to use to tell you that baptism saves I'm going to show you another verse in 1 Corinthians 1. You see here's what you have to understand about the Bible. The Bible we need to read the whole thing. And this is a good time to start by the way in the beginning of January and decide that if you've never read the Bible cover to cover you're going to read it through cover to cover this year. But you see the Bible is the whole book. It's not meant to just be chopped into little say in just one little part here. Take one little verse here. You've got to read the whole thing. Now if you read the whole thing you're going to find an overwhelming message. Believe, believe, believe, believe, believe, believe, believe, believe, believe, believe, believe. I mean how many scriptures can I quote right now to you that say it's all faith? He that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. But verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. John 6.47. John 3.36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. But he that believeth not the Son shall not see life with the rhyme that is gone by them. John 5.24. Verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. How about Romans 1.16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also the Greek. John 3.16. For God shall love the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 1.12. But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name. We can go on and on and on and on. How many times the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. I mean we can go on and on. I mean I'm not even scratching the surface. I could go on for an hour of just verse after verse after verse after verse. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of... Ninety times in one book of the Bible alone, the book of John. Ninety times it's believed. And at the end of the book it says that this book is written that you might believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that believing on him you might have life through his name. Look at 1 Corinthians 1.13 but false teachers will just take one verse and isolate it and use that to preach a false doctrine. Look at 1 Corinthians 1.13. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius. Now wait a minute. If baptism saves you, why is he so thankful that he didn't baptize these people? Okay. And then look what he says. Lest any should say that I baptized in my own name. And I baptized also the house of Stephanus. Besides I know not whether I baptized any other. Now watch verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel. Now wait a minute. If baptism is the gospel. If baptism is salvation then why would he say yes I'm preaching the gospel but I'm not baptizing. I mean if being baptized is part of being saved then how could you be preaching the gospel if you're not baptizing? But you see Paul was not sent to baptize. You say well why not? Paul was not the pastor of the church. Paul was not a deacon. Paul was an apostle. Okay. And he said Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel. If you notice every time someone is being baptized in the Bible they're always being baptized by either one of the pastors or one of the deacons of the church. Okay. And that's why you shouldn't just you know just I got saved and then I'm going to go start baptizing people. You know baptism is something that should be done by you know I didn't even put that point in my sermon I didn't think about it. I preached in other sermons and gone through and shown that. But the point is here that he was preaching the gospel but not baptizing. I thought baptism is part of salvation according to these Paul seizures. It doesn't even make sense. But let's look at some of the verses that they'll try to use. Here's the most common one. We're going to go in the order of the most common. Acts chapter 2. This is the one that people try to show me more than any other. Who's been out so long you had somebody show you this verse and tell you that you have to be baptized to go to heaven? Acts 2 38. I mean I literally drove by a church one time that was called Acts 2 38 Pentecostal Church. That was the name of the church. Acts 2 38 Pentecostal Church. But look at this. Acts 2 38. This is the verse that they use. And I would say this is probably the number one verse that I've been shown by people trying to prove that you need to be baptized to go to heaven. It says in Acts. I'm sorry let me turn there myself. Acts chapter 2 verse 37. Here's what it says. It says, Here's what it says. It says, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Okay. So they're saying like what should we do? So he tells them what they should do. He says, Repent and be baptized. Then Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And then it says in verse 41, Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them about three thousand souls. Now wait a minute. Let's stop and think about this. First of all, did you notice that in Acts chapter 10 when we were reading, it said that when they believed, they received the Holy Ghost, then they got baptized? You remember that in Acts chapter 10? That was the order. First they believed the word, then they received the Holy Ghost, then they got baptized. Now is that a contradiction there? Because if you have to be baptized in order to be saved and receive the Holy Ghost. But no, that's not what it is at all. First of all, look at verse 21 of Acts chapter 2. He already preached this to them earlier in the chapter, And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call in the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's just, you know, call upon him in faith and you're saved. Okay? But here they're not asking, What must I do to be saved? They just said, What shall we do? Now, should you repent and be baptized? Absolutely. But do you have to be baptized in order to be saved? No, they didn't say, What do we have to do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? Because he already told them in verse 21. They just said, We're pricked at the heart. We feel bad. We yelled, crucify him. What shall we do? Well, repent. You know, change. Change your mind. And get baptized in the name of the Lord. You know, and so forth. Now, you say, Wait a minute, Pastor Anderson. It says in verse 38, Then Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized to every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. So does that mean you're baptized in order to get your sins forgiven? Absolutely not. The word for, and we don't use this as much. Keep your finger there. Look at Romans 5. Keep your finger in Acts chapter 2 and go to Romans 5. You see, we don't speak the same way exactly as they spoke, you know, a few hundred years ago when this Bible was translated. The word for means because. Most of the time in the Bible. Okay, a lot of the time it's used as meaning because. Like, for example, even the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3, 16. The word for means because. Because in verse 15 it says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life, for God so loved the world, because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. So the word for means because. Okay, and that's a word that we don't use as much today, but here's a good example of it being used in the Bible. Look at Romans chapter 5, 12. It says wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. What does that mean? He's saying because of the fact that all have sinned. Look at the last phrase again. So death passed upon all men, because that all have sinned. Do you see that? Why did death pass upon all men? Why did death pass upon us, who were born thousands of years after Adam sinned? Even upon those which had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, it says earlier in the chapter, we have had death passed upon us because we've all sinned. The wages of sin is death and we have all sinned. The reason that death passed upon all men is because that all have sinned. For that all have sinned. See, for means because. Okay, let me give you another example. Go back to Acts 2 where we were. Have you ever seen a poster that said this, wanted for murder? What does that mean? Wanted because of murder. That's why he's wanted, because of murder. That's what the word for means. And in the Bible it's used that way even more than we use it today. He says, repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord for the remission of sins. He's saying because of the remission of sins. He's not saying be baptized in order to get remission of your sins. Because he said in Acts chapter 10, to him of all the prophets witnessed, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. Now the Bible is not going to contradict itself. It's not going to say in one place, well, to get your sins remitted, get baptized. Okay, well, what did they do for the last 4,000 years? Over here it says, well, to get your sins forgiven, you just have to believe. That's it. Just who's our believer? No, he's saying be baptized because of the remission of sins. Because your sins have been forgiven, that's why you get baptized as a result. And they're not even asking about salvation. They just say, what should we do? Be baptized because of the remission of sins is what he's saying. Now, here's the next verse that they use, John chapter 3. And I'm using them in the order that I've had them shown to me the most by people who are trying to preach another gospel. Now it's funny because they only have about, you know, I'm only showing you like three or four that I could come up with in my search. And yet I could show you hundreds and hundreds that say everyone who believes is saved. Now, if baptism is really required for salvation, that would make John 3.16 a lot. Because John 3.16 says that everybody who believes is going. And what if somebody believed and didn't get baptized and they don't go, then God lied. Because he said everyone that believes is going to heaven, period. So God can't lie. But look at John 3. Here's another verse that people use to try to say that you have to be baptized to be saved. So, in John chapter 3, it says in verse number 3, Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, where in verse 5, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And they say, see right there, you've got to be baptized. Born of water, born of Spirit. But hold on a second. Look at the next verse where Jesus explains it. He said, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. There's your water birth. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. There's your spiritual birth, the new birth, born again. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. Now, he's not saying be born the first time and then the second time. He's already been born the first time. And somebody said, well, you've got to be born again of water. It doesn't say born again of water. It says born of water. That already happened. And then born of the Spirit, he explains to the next verse. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Who's ever heard of this? My water broke. Who's ever heard somebody say that statement? Okay, you're born of water the first time. You're born of the Spirit the second time. The water breaking is what Jesus is referring to because everybody knows that a baby is in a sack of waters. Who's ever heard the term bag of waters? They say, oh, my bag of waters broke. Okay. The bag of waters is the water birth, the first time you were born. The spiritual birth is the second time you were born. So this is a pretty weak verse. And yet people are constantly showing you. Catholics love that verse to show you that. And I don't understand it for the life of me. But actually I do understand it and they don't because they're not saved. But anyway, look if you would at the other one that they use. And I only have four. I searched and tried to find every verse I could find that I've heard people try to use to say the baptism saves. There's four that I came up with. And look at Mark 16. Mark 16. Now here's what I think is funny about this one. Because Mark 16, okay, is preached by all these Pentecostal and Charismatic churches who use the NIV. Okay. And people have tried to tell me, you know, Mark 16, 16, you've got to be baptized to be saved. And yet they preach out of the NIV, which doesn't even have Mark 16, 16, because in the NIV it says... In the NIV... No, listen to me. In Mark 16 it literally says... Okay, I'm going to turn there in my handy dandy NIV here. I just use it to study out of. It's a little easier to understand. Yeah, right. You see right here in Mark 16, at the end of verse 8, the chapter ends and there's a big line that they drew. Like, you're done. They drew a line after Matthew 16, 18... 16, 8. And it says, most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16, 9-20. So right here they cut it out and said it's not part of the Bible. Okay, and yet they like to turn to it for certain things, I guess. But it's funny. Did you know that there are 678 verses in the book of Mark? And if you remove the last 12 verses like they're telling you to, then you're left with 666 verses in the book of Mark. Think about it. And we counted this one time in church. You know, 45 verses in chapter 1. We went there and counted it in church. And it has 678 verses. And if you cut out the verses that the NIV takes out, you're left with 666 verses in the book of Mark. 666. And it's called the book of Mark. Think about that. The Mark of the beast, 666. That's pretty weird. So, Mark 16, 16. Is it part of the Bible? Yes, it is. Look at verse 15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. Now, wait a minute. Is that true? Of course it's true. Is everyone who believes and baptize going to be saved? Of course it is. So what are they trying to prove? Well, you have to be baptized to be saved. It says it right there. That's not what it says. It says, Whosoever believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Amen. And then it says this, But he that believeth not shall be damned. Does it say you'll be damned if you don't get baptized? No. What if I said to you this morning, I said, If you believe on Christ and stand on your head, you'll be saved. It's true. If I said, If you believe on Christ and stand on this chair, you'll be saved. I mean, I'm standing on this chair right now and I'm saved. Because if you believe on Christ, you're saved. Period. So, yes, if you believe and are baptized, you'll be saved, but then we can show a hundred other verses that just say, If you just believe, you're saved too. I mean, it's that simple. Believing is all it is. Now, why is he saying that to them then? Because he's sending them out to preach the gospel. He's sending them out to preach unto people and get them saved, and basically what he's telling them is that's an outward sign that they can look for, okay, that's basically other people showing them that they believe. Because he's not saying to you, Believe and be baptized and you'll be saved. No, he's saying, Go out and preach the gospel to every creature. He's sending somebody out to preach. He says, Go out and preach the gospel to every creature and whosoever believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Baptism is a way for somebody to show others that they're saved. Not to show God you're saved. God already knows you're saved when you believe in your heart. Remember in Acts 10, the moment that they heard it preached, they believed it. The sermon wasn't even over and it says they were saved, just by believing in their heart. It's faith alone that saves you. And so the bottom line is that I believe both John 3.16 and Mark 16.16. Anyone who teaches that baptism is necessary for salvation believes Mark 16.16 and they don't believe John 3.16. And they're calling hundreds of verses a liar. I believe them all. Every statement in the book is true, I believe. Whereas they're basically saying, well, these three statements are true and everything else is false. No. The Bible is all true. Okay, and then the last one. If somebody could come to me after the service and tell me if there's another verse that somebody's brought up to you. But I think these are the only four that I've ever had. And I've been soul ending for like 11 years. And I've only had four verses brought up to me in my entire life where somebody's trying to prove to me you've got to be baptized. And these are the only four. Mark 16.16, Acts 2.38. What was the other one that we just did? Am I missing a count? John 3. Yeah, John 3 about the born of water. That was pretty weak. And then the last one is 1 Peter 3.21. 1 Peter 3.21 is the last one. And here's what I noticed, too. When people are preaching false doctrine, they usually have verses that are pretty unclear. You know, like, well, what should we do? Whereas a clear verse that says, what must I do to be saved? You know, believe. And they didn't even say, what should we do to be saved? Just what should we do? It's funny, people try to show you all these verses that don't even contain the word saved many times or don't even contain. Like John 3.5 where he just says, born of water, born of the Spirit, that was born of the flesh. I mean, that's not a clear statement. It's saying, oh, you've got to be baptized. It doesn't even mention the word baptism. And they grasp at straws to try to contradict 300 verses. Let me just give you a little tip for Bible study. If you've got 300 clear verses that say one thing and you have one verse that seems to say something a little different, do you think you're misinterpreting the 300 or the 1? You probably just misinterpreted that one verse. It's not like, oh, I was wrong on all 300 verses. You're an idiot. If you've got 300 clear verses and one that you're a little confused on, I think you're a little confused on the one, not on the 300. I know that's really complicated, but it's true. Look at 1 Peter 3.18. This is the last place we're going to go. It says this, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing. Remember the story of Noah's ark? Wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. Okay? Now, who were those eight souls? Who were those eight people? Noah and his wife. Noah and his wife. Who else? How many sons did he have? Three. Okay, so we're up to five. And then his three sons wise. So we had eight people. Now, let me ask you this. Did all eight people who got on the ark, were they physically saved from the flood? Yes. They all made it to the other side. But were they all saved, like going to heaven? No. I'll tell you. You say prove it. But as soon as they get off the ark, some of the descendants of Ham started a false religion, built the Tower of Babel, and had Nimrod leading them in a false religion. Okay? Number two. Ham, one of the three guys on the ark, was a homosexual. Okay? He was a pervert. Okay? And God cursed him and cursed his whole descendants and everything. Because of a wicked thing, he cursed his son Canaan, and later the Canaanites became a perverted godless society. They got off the ark and they formed a false religion, some of them. Some of the descendants of Noah. So just because they got on a physical boat, and were spared a physical death in water, does that mean that they all went to heaven? No. Just like, let me give you another illustration. Remember the Passover lamb in the Old Testament in Exodus? When they killed the Passover, if they put the blood on the doorposts of their house, then the first born child would not die. But does that mean that everybody who put the blood on the doorposts was actually a saved, born-again child of God Christian? No. No. But were they physically spared? Absolutely. And so here's the thing. Let's say somebody was saved, and they didn't put the blood on the doorposts. What would have happened? Their eldest child would have died. The blood on the doorposts doesn't save you. Putting blood on your doorposts has never saved anyone and took them to heaven. Faith is the only thing that saves you. The blood on the doorposts is not salvation. It's a picture of salvation. Noah's ark was not salvation. Noah's ark was a picture of salvation. It pictured salvation because it only had one door. When he built the ark, he called and built one door, because Jesus said, I am the door. If any man enter in by me, he shall be saved. There's only one way to heaven. When they got in the ark, he shut the door behind them. The Bible says God shut them in, because once you're saved, you're locked in. You're saved. You have eternal life. Okay, it pictured salvation, but was it salvation? Now let me ask you this. Do you think that of the whole world there were only eight people who were saved and went to heaven? Do you really think that every single person in the world died and went to hell except for those eight? I can prove to you from the Bible that they didn't. That not everybody went to hell who didn't get on the ark. Because the ark was not salvation. The ark was a picture of salvation. Baptism is not salvation. Baptism is a picture of salvation. Crossing the Red Sea was not salvation, but it was a picture of salvation, because the Red Sea represents the blood of Christ. That's why it's called the Red Sea. And when they crossed through the Red Sea, okay, they were saved from destruction of the Egyptians, but everybody who crossed that Red Sea wasn't saved, because afterward the Bible says he destroyed them, which believe not. All throughout the Bible, we have all these pictures and stuff. Remember Rahab the harlot put the scarlet thread out of her house? And anyone who was in that house was saved from destruction. But do you really think that everyone in that house was a child of God, and no one outside the house was a child of God? No. Because these are symbols, they're pictures, they're figurative. And so the ark pictured salvation, but it wasn't salvation. Baptism pictures salvation. But if you don't believe, you're not saved. Okay? All of these different things throughout the Bible, we could go on and on, all the different illustrations of the Old Testament. The sacrifices, remember the hand where they sacrificed the lamb? Do you think everybody who sacrificed the lamb at the temple went to heaven? No. It pictured the lamb of God, it pictured salvation, and I'll guarantee you there were some people who did not make that sacrifice who went to heaven by faith in their heart. So the bottom line is that these are pictures of salvation. The Bible says that these eight souls were saved by water. The Bible used the word souls as talking about how many people? The number of souls that went with Joseph to Egypt were 70, and so forth. Look what he says here in verse 21. The like figure, remember I said it's figuratively speaking? He's saying the same illustration, the same figure, were unto even baptism that also now save us. But then he puts in parentheses, just to make sure we understand, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh. It's not going to wash away your sins. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. The answer of a good conscience toward God. Once you're saved and we have peace with God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the answer to that, the next step, is to be baptized. And he says this, that the like figure were unto even baptism that also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward God, look at the next statement, by the resurrection of Christ. So look at it without the parentheses. The like figure were unto baptism even that also now save us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So what are we saved by? We're saved by the resurrection of Christ with the parentheses, which is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. So we are saved by the resurrection. The Ark pictured the resurrection. Baptism pictures the resurrection. We're saved by the resurrection. We're not saved by dunking in water. We're not saved by getting on a boat. We're not saved by walking through a door. You know, if you go through this door, every head bowed and every eyes closed. If you're not saved this morning, walk through that door and you'll be saved. How many of you believe that? But yet I could use this door as a picture of salvation and say Jesus said out the door, if any man enter in by me, he shall be saved. He shall go in and out and find pasture. So I could say this door represents salvation, but is this door truly salvation? Okay, what about when Jesus said I'm the bread of life? I could say to you that baptism is like eating bread. Jesus said I'll give him the living water and he'll be saved. Baptism or being saved is like drinking a glass of water. It's that easy. But do you have to drink a special glass of water to be saved? No. So the bottom line is it says the figure of baptism is what saves us, which is the resurrection because you're saved by the resurrection. Look at verse 22. Who has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. Now just because the chapter ends, that doesn't mean that the thought is over. He's still talking in chapter 4. Look at verse 5. It says who shall give account, this is chapter 4 verse 5, who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. And watch verse 6. Remember how I told you that I believe from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet that not everybody who didn't get on the ark went to hell? Because it says in verse 6, For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to man in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. And then why did Noah preach for 120 years? Do you remember that? For 120 years, Noah preached. And I've heard so many churches say he preached for 120 years and nobody got saved. What? Then how can we preach and get people saved all the time? How come everywhere else in the Bible when the word of God was being preached, when God's people preached God's word and the power of his people, people always got saved. Always. Because God's word is quick and powerful and sharper than any two heads. Don't tell me that Noah preached for 120 years and nobody got saved. They were judged according to man in the flesh. They lived a sinful life. They were wicked. They were with the worldly crowd. They did not get on the ark with Noah. They did not go to Noah's church. They did not want to be associated with Noah. They died in the flood because they were judged by God for their physical sins and actions. That doesn't mean that they weren't saved because he said, hey, the whole purpose why he preached was because he did get many of them saved and they were judged according to man in the flesh but they lived according to God in the spirit. He said this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, those who died in the flood, he's saying. It wasn't in vain because many of them believed on Christ and they believed the preaching of Noah and therefore they went to heaven. But they died in a physical judgment. It'd be like this. Let's say you're saved, right? And let's say you live in San Francisco, California. Let's say you're living in San Francisco, California and all of a sudden God just gets angry at all these queers and pedophiles and reprobates who live there and he just sends a big earthquake and the whole thing just goes into the sea. Wouldn't that be great? Okay, let's say that happened and let's say you're saved. Let's say I'm there cause I go to San Francisco for work. Were you with me, Victor? We were just in San Francisco, we did a job in Daly City and we were on the peninsula. What if God would have poured out fire and brimstone? I hope he would have sent us two angels and took me and Victor out of there. You know, like a lot. But the point is, I guarantee you, I guarantee you that if that happened, if God poured out his wrath on San Francisco through some natural disaster, you'd say God would never do that. Remember when he poured it out on New Orleans? When they had that gay, that southern decadence, queer rally and God destroyed it with Hurricane Katrina? Don't you think there were saved people? I know personally saved people who suffered and I know churches who had people who died who were born against saved Christians. They died just because of where they happened to be living when God's wrath was poured out. That doesn't mean that they weren't saved cause salvation is personal. It's not by the city. It's a personal choice in your own heart. And so people who got on the ark were saved from destruction. But you know what? Some of them were not Christians. And they therefore went to hell. Some of the people who didn't get on the ark, many of them, they were believers. But, you know, Noah was just a little bit radical with this whole ark and everything like that. So the bottom line is this. Baptism is a figure of salvation. It's a picture of salvation because it pictures what truly saves you. And what saves you? The resurrection of Christ. We are saved by his life, the Bible says. He died for our sins and we're saved by his life. So the moral of the story is this. You must know the foundational truths of baptism. Baptism is important. It's a command. We need to understand it. We need to preach it. We need to believe it. And if you're here today and you're saved but you've not been baptized after you got saved. Now you say, well, I was baptized when I was 12 but I got saved a year ago or a week ago or a month ago. You know, you need to get baptized after you've been saved. You're in that Acts chapter 19 category. You need to get baptized in order to start a life of following Christ. The first step is to be baptized. And the Bible commands it and we baptize people at this church if they believe. That's it. And we're ready to baptize people at any time because we don't make you take a class or anything. So if you're here today, I want you to see me after the service. You've not been baptized after you got saved so that you can get baptized right away. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the Bible and for your word. We thank you that it's not a book of contradictions. It's not a book of lies or false teaching to God. There are some liars who perverted and twisted into a lie. But Father, we know that every word of God is pure. And we thank you so much for our salvation through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We thank you for all these pictures of salvation that you give us throughout the Bible, including baptism. Help us to put off the old man every single day. And God, I pray that if there's anyone here who's saved but has not been baptized, that they would today decide to bury that old man. Get baptized and walk in newness of life. Help us who've been saved for years and years to walk in newness of life. And we love you and thank you for everything that you've done for our church, dear God. And we thank you for blessing us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.