Salvation and Baptism

A lot of folks will agree with a lot of truth, or at least they think they do; until it comes to speaking in tongues being THE sign of the new birth experience. But the truth is, if you don't believe that, you really don't agree with any truth at all. The reason is because without acknowledging God's chosen sign for the new covenant, you are saying that someone can be born again without being born again. You are saying that someone can have the remission of their sins, which is really what the new birth is; without actually having the remission of their sins. What it really comes down to is that you're saying that you can know your own heart, or that you can know someone else's heart the way God does; which is contrary to everything in the Bible. The scriptures are replete with the truth that God alone knows the hearts of men (I Sam. 16:6,7; I Kin. 8:39; Acts 1:24; etc.). That is why God has chosen a sign to mark evidence of every covenant that he has established with men (Gen. 9:9-15; Gen. 17:10,11; The old covenant established at Mt. Sinai through Moses was with Abraham's seed, and so circumcision continued as the sign of that covenant as well). So do you really believe that God, who alone knows the hearts of men, has left this covenant, which came at the cost of his only begotten Son's life, WITHOUT a sign of his choosing; to mark evidence of every soul's repentance and faith that he accepts? If so my friend, then you are dreaming. And that dream is a nightmare, because you are calling God a liar. Hard words? You bet they are, but let's allow the scriptures to confirm these hard words: "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son" (I Jn. 5:9,10). It is evident that "the witness" that John was referring to is the Spirit of God, which is received by ALL who truly believe on Jesus, or at least that is what Jesus said (I Jn. 5:6; Jn. 7:38,39). But that only brings us back to square one, because ANYBODY can SAY that they have received the Spirit. And that is where the sign comes back into the mix. Listen to what Peter said about God knowing the hearts of men, and about God thereby bearing witness HIMSELF of the faith of men in his Son Jesus: "And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:7-9). Now let's look at exactly what Peter was talking about, and see just what he meant by God bearing witness himself to these Gentile's faith, and thereby "purifying their hearts:" "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 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 magnify God" (Acts 10:44-46). Okay, so these first Gentiles received the holy Ghost right there on the spot while Peter was preaching about Jesus. Also Peter and the Jewish brethren who accompanied him were "astonished" that God gave the same holy Ghost to these Gentiles as he had given to them. But the key here is HOW DID Peter and the brethren KNOW that these Gentiles had indeed received the Spirit? "FOR [because] they HEARD them SPEAK WITH TONGUES, and magnify God." It's right there, plain as the nose on your face, as it were. They did NOT receive testimony from THESE PEOPLE that they had received the Spirit, and they did NOT decide in and of THEMSELVES [Peter, etc.] that these Gentiles received the Spirit. Nobody declared ANYTHING abut ANYONE receiving the holy Ghost, except for the glaring fact that GOD did indeed "bear witness" of these people's faith and repentance by pouring out his Spirit, which Spirit moved through them to "speak with other tongues AS THE SPIRIT GAVE them utterance" (Acts 2:4).

That is the way the body of Christ began, and by this time Peter, along with everyone else who was IN the body of Christ, recognized very clearly that EVERY TIME someone received the Spirit of God, they spoke with other tongues, like they did in the beginning. It really is that simple. That is what is plainly there. Peter did not think himself to be on the level of God, knowing when the hearts of men are fully yielded to God. And he certainly did not believe that anyone else was able to judge that about themselves, or about anyone else. He knew, as all these men knew, what John wrote: "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater." And according to Peter, the witness that God gave of accepting the faith of these Gentiles, was the same sign of speaking in tongues that accompanied the same experience in the beginning at Pentecost. I have to tell you friend, all of this stuff about "you know that you know that you know that you are forgiven of your sins," is as scriptural as Daffy Duck. And then we have the, "Oh you go by the fruits of their lives to know whether someone has been born again." Well we have two major problems with that school of thought. One is what Jesus said about the leaders of God's people when he was here: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly APPEAR RIGHTEOUS UNTO MEN, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" (Mat. 23:27,28). And that takes us right back to the reality that God alone knows the hearts, and the fruits, of men. Men can be fooled about men. They always have been, and they always will be. The other roadblock to that mindset is the obvious fact that Peter and his brethren did not have to wait to watch the fruit of those Gentile's lives to know whether they had received the Spirit. They knew it right there on the spot because they KNEW AND UNDERSTOOD the reality of GOD'S WITNESS! And this is what the scripture says about how JESUS felt about those professing faith in him when he was here: "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man" (Jn. 2:23-25). Do you actually believe that he has CHANGED since he suffered, died, and rose again to establish a new birth experience for mankind? No friend, the truth is, if we do not acknowledge God's sign and witness of this covenant, we are saying that both God and the scriptures are lying. We would have to say that God changed his practice of choosing a sign to accompany every covenant that he has established with man, and that at the far greater cost to himself and his Son, that this covenant was established by. And we would have to say that he changed the one experience that the scriptures clearly say and show is how anyone becomes a member of the one body of Christ (Acts 1:4,5; Acts 2:4; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4,5). Yes my friend, if we don't want to accept God's witness of the new birth experience, then we have to say that God is no longer the only one who knows the hearts of men. But consider these powerful statements of truth before you choose to go there: "O Lord, I know that the way of man is NOT in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. 10:23). And, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: WHO CAN know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings" (Jer. 17:9,10). And finally; "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered" (Prov. 28:26). I am fully persuaded by the scriptures, by the holy Ghost, and by the fear of God; that "walking wisely" in this matter is trusting God's witness, and not our own heart. And please my friends, before anyone leaves a comment, be sure to really study the scripture references that are listed here, but not quoted. And read the article again also, very slowly and honestly; after which there should be no need for any comment other than - Amen. God bless.