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What Must I Do To Be Saved?

  

"Some Thoughts Concerning Popular Doctrines"

Jarrod Jacobs

"Anti-Christ"

How many times have we heard our friends or neighbors talk about the "end times" and about the "Anti-Christ" that is to come in the future? They talk of the "Anti-Christ" as if it is a physical person (perhaps a political leader, or otherwise). The truth of the matter is that this spirit of Anti-Christ ("opponent of the Messiah," Strong's Hebrew/Greek Lexicon) has been around since the first century!

John said, "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist." He continued his thought by saying, "whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (I John 4:3).

Therefore, to say that this "Anti-Christ" has not come, and we must be looking for it in the future is completely foreign to the Scriptures. The "Anti-Christ" has been around since the time of Christ. It is anything or anyone that opposes or contradicts Christ and His teachings!

Baptism Is Not Necessary

There are many that teach that in order to be saved, one must have faith that Jesus is the Son of God (Jn. 8:24). Many agree also that repentance and the confession of our faith in Christ is necessary just as the Bible says (Lk. 13:3; Mt. 10:32). However, when we talk about a person being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), these same people will deny that baptism is necessary for salvation.

In Acts 16:14-15, we read, "And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us." Notice that before Lydia was baptized, she "heard us." She heard the teaching of Christ that Paul taught everywhere (I Cor. 4:17). Her hearing produced faith, and she was baptized (Rom. 10:17; Mk. 16:16). Not only did she listen, but the words she heard opened her heart. She laid aside all preconceived ideas, and simply listened to God's word. As a result of the words she heard, and her open heart, she was baptized.

Therefore, when people declare that baptism is not necessary for salvation, they either have a hearing problem or a heart problem! It is just that simple!

Sins Affecting The Flesh, But Not The Soul

Those who believe in the "Once Saved, Always Saved" doctrine will sometimes say that even though a man may sin, this sin only affects the flesh and not the spirit (soul) of a man. Is this true?

Peter taught just the opposite in I Peter 2:11. He said, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." Here we see that those things of a fleshly nature are warring against the SOUL of a man. By the way, who is he writing to? Is he writing to the worldly? No, he is writing to Christians, to the "Elect" (I Pet. 1:2), to the "begotten" (I Pet. 2:3; Jn. 3:3-5).

Let us learn and learn well that "fleshly lusts" war against the souls of the righteous, and yes, there is a distinct possibility that a Christian can give in to temptation, sin, and fall from grace (Gal. 5:4; Heb. 3:12; I Tim. 4:1; Jas. 1:14-15).

"Another Testament of Jesus Christ"

Our Mormon friends are known for their advertising of "another testament" of Jesus Christ -- the Book of Mormon which supposedly reveals Christ coming to the U.S. and teaching the gospel to the Indians and others who lived in the Americas at the time.

Joseph Smith was the one who claimed he had translated this book with the help of angel Moroni who told him where it was hidden, and that "the fulness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it" (Origin).

Yet, Paul said, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an ANGEL FROM HEAVEN (might this not also include "Moroni"? -JJ), preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal 1:6-8). Who are we going to believe, the apostle Paul, or the one bringing a perverted gospel??

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