ntseer's Blog

Where Did He Go?

This “Easter” season, like all of them in my memory, is largely celebrated in society as Easter Bunnies, eggs, and dyed biddies (maybe that last one dates me a little). How do those rabbits get up into the trees, to lay colored eggs, and tie them on tree limbs?

That is why I prefer to refer to Easter Day, as “Resurrection Day.” As many say at Christmas time, “Jesus is the (only) reason for the season.” Now, as then, Satan has produced counterfeits to turn minds from thinking about what really happened on these special days.

The day, itself, is no holier than any other day. But the event we attribute to it is a marvelous and wonderful thing.

Our Lord is not simply “alive,” as we say and sing. “He is risen!” He is “alive again.” He died on Calvary and three days later came forth “Out from among” the dead (Ephesians 1:20 is one of many references). The wording signifies that He came out in a fashion different from all before Him, who had been raised from the dead. To say only that “Christ lives,” could be hijacked as support for their doctrine, by those who believe He only “swooned,” and then revived in the cool of the tomb. No! Christ is risen “out from among” the dead, and lives forevermore. All who died before Him, died a second time. Christ was raised by God the Father, by the Holy Spirit, and by His own power, from the dead, to die no more!

Our Lord Jesus died on the cross. That is, He experienced separation, for that is the signification of the word “death.”

He was first of all, separated from His Father, in like fashion as Adam. The First Adam sinned, and his disobedience separated Him from his Creator God. His relationship was broken, and his fellowship ended. Only in the gracious work of God was it restored. The blood sacrifice, offered by God Himself, in Genesis 3:21, was sufficient to cover Adam’s sin, and provide for God to be able to protect, and commune with Adam. This sufficiency would last, through the coming plan and provisions of God, until the Last (also, the Second) Adam would come, who would provide permanent and eternal redemption and reconciliation. Adam died spiritually—spiritually separated from God.

He also died physically. His soul was separated from his body. That death was not immediately complete, but the process set in, and was consummated almost a millennium later.

So did our Lord. On the cross, He spoke of “God forsaking” Him. God, as it were, reached down into the cesspool of the sin of this world, scooped it up, and laid it on His darling Son, Who had never sinned. Christ escaped the sin nature of Adam, through the virgin birth. He made a deliberate choice not to sin, in the Temptation. And He lived all His life on earth without sinning. But, with my sin (and yours!) laid upon Him, God imputed to Him the guilt of my sin, and judged Him for my sin. He suffered the same judgment as the First Adam. He suffered the same judgment as all of Adam’s family deserves. He suffered for us. He suffered, and died…spiritually…for me, and for you.

Then, He died physically. His soul was separated from His body. Christ said to the one thief that he would be with Him, that day, in paradise. That cannot be the grave, as the repentant thief was assured that he would go to a different place, first, from the one where he had been headed, and two, from the place to which the unrepentant thief was going. The respective body of each of them was headed to the grave. The grave cannot be that to which our Lord referred, when he made that promise to the repentant thief—the promise of paradise.

There was certainly a concept, in the Old Testament, of souls dwelling apart from the body—disembodied spirits. I Samuel 28…whatever ones interpretation of it…is certainly one such example. Korah, and his family are said to have gone down alive, into the pit. The witnesses saw fire come out of that pit. No mere “six-feet-under” grave for that crowd. Then Christ (yes, this is still Old Testament), in Luke 16, relates the account of two individuals who went, respectively, to paradise (Abraham’s Bosom, as it is called), and hell proper.

Paul utters profoundly, in Philippians, words enlightening us to the hope of New Testament Saints, who die physically: “…to depart, and to be with Christ….” The context conclusively shows him to be speaking of physical death. He calls dying: “gain.” May I suggest that an interpretive reading of that phrase would be: “…To live is Christ, and to die is “more Christ.” No sleeping in a grave could be the import of these words.

Christ died on the cross. They laid His body in a tomb. But His soul went to the paradise side of the “place of departed spirits,” in the heart of the earth. (The place overall is called Hell, as the “Place of departed spirits.” The punishment side is called, Hell, proper, as in its current state, it is such in totality.) There, He preached to the occupants (I Peter 3:19, 4:6), and waited out the appointed time, until His resurrection.

Paradise, following the resurrection of Christ, as moved to Heaven above. Paul said so, in II Corinthians 12:1-4, “…Caught up to the third heaven…caught up into paradise.”

It is hard to imagine that God slept, in the grave, for three days and three nights. Thankfully, the Bible does not tell us such.

Neighbor, you must examine yourself to see if you are “in the faith.” Are you saved? If  not, and you die in that state, you will experience the third kind of death: Eternal death. If you leave this life without Christ, you will go immediately to a burning hell. There, you will suffer until the Day of Judgment, when you will be cast into the Lake of Fire, forever, to be eternally “separated” from God and all that is good. This is called “The Second Death” (Revelation 20:14).

Repent of your sins, and call upon God today to save you…not because of some baptism you received, or ritual you performed, or catechism you learned, or some church you joined. Believe the gospel (I Corinthians 15:3, 4)—that is the full gospel. Call upon the Lord and be saved.

Believer, rejoice on this Resurrection Day, that because Christ has risen, so shall you someday. Because He lives, so shall you. Because He will never die, neither shall you (your body may, but not you!).

Jesus never said to be born of a bunny. He did say you “Must be born again.”

Happy Resurrection Day!

IS BAPTISM NECESSARY FOR SALVATION?

By

Dr. O. Wilburn Swaim Th.D

The seemingly endless battle rages, as to whether one has to be water baptized in order to be saved. One side claims Acts 16:31, versus the opposing view’s citing of Acts 2:38. The matter seems unsolvable. Surely, some scripture must be discernable that would settle the matter.

Good news! There is. If the reader will agree with one principle, the truth can be established. It is this:

             There is only one way to be saved in this present age. No individual can be saved by

             any method different from that by which all others get saved.

 If you agree, then please continue reading.

In Acts, Chapter Ten, we read the story of the conversion of one, Cornelius. (Please read the account in the Bible, the King James Version.) Pay particular attention to verses 45-48.

Cornelius was a religious man (v.2), seeking God according to his knowledge of the Old Testament way, but had not yet been truly born again (Acts 11:14).[i] While Peter is preaching, the Holy Spirit abruptly interrupts his sermon (v.44), and baptizes that Gentile household (on an individual basis, of course), into the Body of Christ, after the manner of that which occurred on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 11:15-17). That event was followed by a manifestation of speaking in tongues. Such acts only occurred, in the Bible record, to people who were already saved.

Now, we have Gentiles, unsaved, receiving salvation, Holy Spirit baptism, and empowered to speak in tongues—but not yet water baptized! Water baptism follows their conversion and related graces. Cornelius (and his household), was not baptized until after salvation had come.

My friend, remember the principle upon which we earlier agreed: Everybody, in this age, gets saved the same way. If one person can be saved apart from water baptism, then can all.

Cornelius and his household did get water baptized (Acts 10:47,48), but it was a baptism of confession (i.e. to that which had already occurred), and not a baptism of salvation (i.e. leading to salvation).[ii]

To illustrate the absurdity of the idea of baptismal regeneration, consider this:[iii] Picture an airliner, flying at 39,000 feet, on which is a born again Christian, and a lost person, seated side-by-side. Through the witness of the believer, the lost person comes under conviction, truly repents, and genuinely receives Christ as Lord and Saviour. Through further instruction, the new convert declares his, or her, intention to seek out a good local church, and be baptized. Suddenly, however, a terrorist’s bomb explodes, killing all on board. Church of Christ friend, Pentecostal believer, Protestant church member, Roman Catholic devotee—to all of you, can you honestly say that you believe this person who just called upon the Lord to save them, died and went to Hell, for the lack of water baptism? That is what your church’s doctrine would require.

Please hear the Truth of the Word of God. Water baptism does not save, but rather, is a physical means of testifying to spiritual reality. In the true mode of baptism, immersion, a new believer testifies to his, or her, identification with Jesus Christ, in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is also the means of entrance into the membership of a local church, just as Holy Spirit baptism places one into the spiritual, unseen Body of Christ.

The scriptures declare that “…the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7). Why, then, would you want to trust in water? It is better to believe the simple gospel message, as found in Acts 10:43—

To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins, and,

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20:31).

Friend, trust in the Lord today, and receive His gift of eternal life, based solely upon what He did for you on Calvary’s cross.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:9,10,13).

It is inward faith that saves the sinner, not outward ritual.

Dr. O. Wilburn Swaim Th.D

Walnut Cove NC

docswaim@hotmail.com

www.angelfire.com/nc/exhortationplace

[i] The reader might want to refer to the author’s work, entitled Dispensational Distinctives That Make A Difference, for more insight into this doctrinal position.

[ii] There is, of course, no baptism of salvation taught anywhere in the Bible. The author’s study on the subject of baptism, seeks to demonstrate that Acts 2:38, specifically, is not such. Therein is also considered the difference in John’s Baptism (which is also that of our Lord, and His disciples), and New Testament Church Baptism.

[iii] The author well understands, doctrine is not established by illustrations and human reasoning. But illustrations that concur with scripture, are windows through which passes much light for understanding.

The late Dr. Charles Stevens use to tell a story that illustrates the blindness of so many:

Two fellows met on the street one day. One told the other, "I'll give you five dollars if you can show me a penny in the next five seconds."

The other took the challenge and quickly pulled a penny out of his pocket and held it up. But when he looked at his challenger friend, he had his eyes shut tight.

So it is with too many people concerning the Word of God. Their mind is made up, and they refuse to see what God has said. Peter spoke about it, in his Second Epistle, Chapter Three and Verse Five: "For this they willingly are ignorant of...".

Two things have a lot of effect on one's ability to learn God's Truth: One, putting aside all preconceived ideas, and listening to what God says. The second one, is a willingness to be taught, rather than approaching God's Word as a teacher. We don't look in God's Word to prove what we already believe to be true, but rather, to learn from God what He has to say.

You can't show anything to anyone who refuses to see.

It is interesting to see how many folks take others to task, in this forum, using only their opinions as their basis of argument.

Suppose a friend…we’ll call him…Joe, and I, go out in the yard and each pick up a stick of some length. I hold up my stick and declare it to be a yard stick (no pun intended—I speak of it being 36 inches in length). Joe displays his stick and likewise declares it to be a yard long. We hold them side by side, and one stick it longer than the other.

Now, we know two things: Firstly, they both are not yard sticks. Secondly, while one may actually be 36 six inches long, it is possible that neither is that precise length. One of us is wrong, for sure, and we both may be.

I might become vehement and argue intensely and emotionally that my stick is a yard long. I might even resort to calling Joe names for being so obstinate, as to insist that he has the yard stick.

How might we settle our conflict? We could go down to the local furniture store and get one of their advertisement imprinted yard sticks. We could then compare our sticks to it. But, can we be certain that their stick is accurate? There may be three sticks, now, that are wrong.

You see, in arguing religion (i.e. debating, in the good sense), my opinion is not worth the effort it takes to form and utter it. Neither is yours, friend.

We could go to a local religious organization and ask them. But, who knows if they are right? They don’t even agree among themselves about very many things. Their “yard sticks” of doctrine are all at variance.

What we need is a standard. It must be an accurately manufactured and preserved yard stick. We could then lay each of our three sticks beside it, and determine if any one of them is genuine. Our government has such, and declares a yard stick to be 36 inches. Their yard stick is accurate, simply because our government has so decreed it to be. They even determine and maintain the definition and accuracy of an inch, foot, yard, etc.

So it is, my friend, in matters pertaining to God. We must have a standard by which to judge our beliefs and our conduct. There is only one; The Bible, the Word of God. You may reject that, but if you do, you have no consistent standard by which to judge your opinions and conclusions, to determine if they are accurate.

If the Bible is not God’s Word, and, it is not preserved by Him, then we are lost souls floundering and drowning in a sea of ignorance, confusion, and conflict, without hope for whatever future life there may be.

You can reject this premise, and take your chances with death and eternity. Or, you can submit to Him, believe His Word, and find the peace that you have not found in your system of religion, or philosophy.

You may reject His Word, and hold it to be but fables, fairytales, stories and dissertations changed by men. If so, you have never experienced its power to change a life, and deliver from the burden of sin.

You may not believe its message of salvation, and warnings of hell to come. But…what if it is true after all? Where will you be a million years from now?

“Sanctify them through thy truth: they word is truth” (Jesus, John 17:17).

“…Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice” (Jesus, John 18:37).

There is good news coming out of Iraq.

It is not my intent to argue for our presence in Iraq, nor against it. I do not infer that the end justifies the means—the terrible price our nation has paid-- or, that it does not. I am simply stating facts as I have been told them—and it is good news, indeed!

As a result of the fledgling democracy in Iraq—the new freedom of that land—good things are happening. You’ll likely not read this in the liberal media, as they shrink from reporting anything positive about our presence there. Neither are conservative talk show hosts, or other media pundits likely to announce it, as most of them are Catholic, and don’t consider anything outside that religion to be noteworthy.

But, from a trusted source—an Iraqi, laboring in the gospel of Christ, in Iraq and the Middle East—comes wonderful reports:

There is freedom to preach the gospel in Iraq.

 Christian radio is now broadcasting the gospel, covering a large part of the city of Baghdad, in lieu of the poison of the late Saddam Hussein, which formerly permeated the air waves.

 Iraqis are turning to Christ and getting saved—military and government personnel included.

 Five local, independent Baptist churches have been planted in Iraq, and are operating in complete freedom.

Even the wife of a major Middle East Potentate has personally received a gospel witness from this same Christian family.

Bibles are being widely distributed. Iraqi citizens are receiving them eagerly, and begging for more. More will be given away, as funds are provided.

I think this is wonderful, and I am glad to have a part in it. I give thanks unto my Lord Jesus Christ, and all glory is to Him. 

The State of Massachusetts now officially recognizes so-called gay marriages.

Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New jersey (I trust my memory is serving me well), do not, but now do officially recognize gay unions.

Would someone explain in what way a "union" is not equivalent to a "marriage?"

I'm reminded of a lesson, by a former Winston-Salem Pastor, Rev. Dan Carr, given to an assembly of Pastors and Educators. He queried, "If you call a dogs tail, a leg, how many legs would  a dog have?" The question was rhetorical, so he gave the answer: "Four!" "Calling a dog's leg, a tail, doesn't make it one."

These five states have legalized marriage between homosexuals, no matter what they might call it.  

Much is made today by left wing liberals about the "constitutional requirement" of the separation of church and state.

There is no such animal! Nowhere does the United States Constitution state it, or require it. It is a passing statement made by a founding father, Thomas Jefferson. He certainly did not have the intent that is so widely touted today by the anti-God crowd.

I would encourage you to visit a web site that is rich in information and exhortations that will provide great insight and understanding concerning like issues. It is www.newt.org.

Within that site, Ed Meese appears in a video, and provides this great insight into the extant issue of the alleged separation of church and state. He utters what I think to be a good definition for that phrase. He says: "Government should not interfere with religion; at the same time, government should not be hostile to religion."

It is worth considering, also, the confusion inherent in the liberal's application of Jefferson's statement. To them, and all religionists, the Church is equivalent to saying God, for both Catholic and Protestant denominations believe the God is resident in the church building. They believe the building is the Church. So, what they mean, is, "Separation between God and State, i.e. that the government should have nothing to do with any thing that pertains to God, the Church (by their definition), or religion.

However, Bible believers know that the local church is not a building, but people--God's people who meet together in a building. With the proper definition of "church," in mind, I can agree with the alleged separation. That is, the government should stay out of local church affairs. On the other hand, the government should listen to the local church's proclamations of the Word of God, as might pertain to God ordained government.

Woe unto the government that shuts God out of its existence and governmental processes. Our nation was founded by men who recognized God's existence, and His right to demand godliness and righteousness of human government. Abundant references to Him, and to this fact, permeate founding documents and landmarks.

As a fact, a democratic republic can only succeed as it has godly men and women as its operatives. Now you know why our government is so corrupt. Now you know why, though we pay for, and fight for, democracy in foreign, non-Christian lands, they will never succeed.