Hi Neal. Here is my last response to the questions that you raised. This is concerning your reference to exclusivity or superiority. First of all, ALL people are of equal importance to God. That fact is clearly expressed in the bible, from beginning to end. We are all equal in sin also. Man may want to “categorize” sin, but God says that ALL sin is equally as bad. It doesn’t matter if we’re a murderer, or just a liar. Either one causes us to be just as lost. God even equates hatred in our hearts, to being a murderer. (1 John 3:15) God says; “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) If we as Christians, harbor any other feelings, other than the ones God has expressed, then we’re not acting like Christians, and we’re guilty before God.

But what about being saved? Does being saved make one “superior” to someone who has not been saved? The answer of course is NO! A saved person, is no “better” than an unsaved person. They’ve simply been forgiven of their sins, because they have chosen to believe in God, and in Jesus Christ, and to OBEY God and Jesus. We’re told in Luke 17:10; “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded, you say; We are still unworthy slaves, we have done only that which we ought to have done.” So therefore, a Christian, is no better than a non-Christian. A Christian has simply been saved, and the non-Christian, hasn’t.

Exclusivity however, is a slightly different story. All saved persons, are somewhat exclusive, from unsaved persons, not because of anything they have done, but by what GOD has done. This is how God views Christians.. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness, into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9. God puts it this way, in Colossians 1:13; “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” What both of these verses are saying, is that God has added Christians to HIS congregation of the saved.

After the apostle Peter had preached to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, and told them to “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, into the forgiveness of your sins..”, many of the people obeyed Peter’s words. And verse 41 says; “So then those who had received his words, were baptized, and there were added that day, about 3,000 souls.” Those 3,000 souls were added to the congregation of God’s saved. Many bible translations refer to this as “the church”. Acts 2:47 says; ‘..And the Lord added to the congregation, daily, whose who were being saved.” So then you can see, there is an “exclusivity” to the congregation of God. God Himself takes every person that He saves, and He adds them to His assembly, commonly called the church. That is how ALL Christians are somewhat “exclusive” from non-Christians. But are they any better? NO. Are they “superior” in any way? NO. Again, if a Christian harbors any such feelings or attitude, then they stand condemned before God. Thanks again Neal. If you have any other questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to let me know. May God bless you and your family.

Please allow me to comment on your statement concerning the idea that there are several places in the scriptures where believing is the only requirement for salvation. One such verse would of course be John 3:16, where it says; “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Another verse would be Acts 16:31, which says; “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” I realize that many people conclude from verses such as these, that belief is the ONLY requirement for salvation. But that conclusion is unwarranted because of a vast number of other verses, that contradict that conclusion.

For instance; Acts 2:38 says; “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Now, the “gift of the Holy Spirit”, is the promise of eternal life, which equates to salvation. Therefore, this verse is saying that if you repent and are baptized, you’ll receive salvation. But it is not a proper conclusion, to assume that repentance and baptism are the ONLY requirements for salvation. All the verses that specify belief as a requirement for salvation, go to prove that just repentance and baptism aren’t the only things required.

But how about verses like Mark 13:13, which says; “..But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.” That verse doesn’t say anything about faith or believing, or repenting, or being baptized or anything. So then do we simply have to endure all the trials of this life, and then we’ll be saved? That wouldn’t be logical to come to that conclusion, given all the verses that specify things like faith and repentance and baptism and confession, as being requirements for salvation.

Jesus said in Mark 16:16; “He who believes and is baptized, shall be saved.” There we have two requirements specified; Believing and being baptized. And as I said, Acts 2:38 specifies two requirements, but believing is NOT one of them. “Repent and be baptized” are the requirements. Acts 10:10 specifies two requirements, and they are believing and confessing. Romans 8:24 says; “In hope we have been saved..” So if we take just that one verse, without considering all the other verses that speak about salvation, we could conclude that all we have to do to be saved, is to just hope for salvation. But that’s not logical, because we’d be ignoring all the verses that specify other things that God specifies as “requirements” for salvation.

So what’s the answer? Are we all free to choose which of the many verses that speak of salvation, that we will believe, to the exclusion of all the others? That’s not logical either, is it? No, the only logical conclusion that we could possibly reach, is that EVERYTHING that God specifies, in every verse that speaks about salvation, MUST be included as a requirement for salvation. We do not have the right to pick and choose, which ONE of God’s specified actions, we will accept as a requirement. If God says it, then it’s required!

If God says we must believe, then we must believe. If God says we must repent, then we must repent. If God say we must be baptized, then we must be baptized. If God says we must confess Him before men (Mat 10:32), then we must do it. If God says that we must endure to the end, then endure we must! God does NOT teach us everything we need to know about salvation, in just ONE verse! We must be willing to study His word, and believe EVERYTHING He tells us.

In one verse, God tells us to believe and be baptized. In another verse He tells us to repent and be baptized. In another verse He tells us to confess Him, or be denied. And in another He tells us to endure. How many of God’s commands must we obey? We must obey them ALL!

Here’s another very important fact to remember. When God speaks of faith, or believing, He equates it with obedience. A perfect example of this is in John 3:36, which says; “He who believes in the Son, has eternal life. But he who does NOT obey the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” He who believes, is contrasted with he who does NOT obey. In other words, believing is equated with obeying. (in God’s eyes) Another example of this is in Hebrews 3:18 & 19, which says; “And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient. And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” So then, in these verses, unbelief is equated with disobedience, and in the verse from John, believing is equated with obeying.

That makes it very easy to see, that when God’s word says that we will be saved if we believe, He is equating our belief with obeying ALL of His commands related to salvation. If we truly believe, then we will be willing to repent, and confess, and be baptized, and to remain faithful, enduring to the end. But if our faith dies, then we will also stop obeying, which will lead to our being lost.

I truly hope that this helps you to understand what the bible teaches concerning what is required for salvation. May God bless you in your study of His word.

Hi Neal. Let’s study the questions you’ve posed concerning John 3:3. (also John 3:5) In John 3:3, Jesus states a fact, and a truth, to Nicodemus. Jesus said; “Truly, truly, I say to you; Unless one is born again (or born “from above”), he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The word translated “again”, also means “from above”. Nicodemus obviously fails to consider the “from above” connotation, as we can see from his response. Verse 4 says; “Nicodemus said to Him; How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” So Nicodemus obviously was focusing on another physical birth, which as he suggests, would be impossible.

But Jesus said nothing about a physical birth. What Jesus specifically said, was that unless one is born “again, from above”, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus explains further in verse 5; “..Unless one is born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” You might notice too, that Nicodemus never brings up again, the suggestion of a physical birth after Jesus tells him that one must be born of water and the Spirit.

Now Jesus goes on to explain further, and He makes a contrast between the physical and the spiritual. He says; “That which is born of flesh, is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you; You must be born again, from above.”
Nicodemus simply answers by asking; “How can these things be?” In other words, Nicodemus doesn’t understand what Jesus means by this. And Jesus is somewhat surprised, that Nicodemus, a supposed “teacher of Israel” doesn’t understand these spiritual things. (V-10)

So, Jesus has made it perfectly clear, that He is NOT talking about a physical birth, but rather a spiritual birth, which is “from above”. I think there is little or no misunderstanding concerning the fact that we are “born of the Spirit”. 1 Peter 1:23 says; “For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable. That is, the living and abiding word of God.” A Christian, is “born” of the word of God, which is imperishable. And Jesus says that His words are “Spirit”, in John 6:63. (“The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life”)

So then, that’s pretty clear to everyone I think. But what about being “born of water’. There’s where the questions arise. However it is illustrated perfectly in Romans 6:4; “Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism.. (in other words, our old sinful self is “put to death, and buried, in baptism) ..in order that as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father, so we too, might walk in newness of life.” Just like Jesus said; “..I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more..” (Rev 1:18). So too, the Christian, who was dead in sin, has been “baptized into His death” (Rom 6:3) so that just like Christ was “raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father”, we too area raised from the water of baptism, “to walk in newness of life”. That “newness of life”, is our rebirth! We are “Born again”, out of the water of baptism, to “walk in newness of life”. Thus Jesus was correct to say; Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

You can easily see how consistent the scriptures are, in presenting, and describing, the new birth. It’s also worth noting, that not only are we baptized “into” the forgiveness of our sins (see my response to the question concerning baptism “for” the forgiveness of sins) but we are also baptized “into” the kingdom of God. Acts 2:41 verifies this, when it says; “So then those who had received his word, were baptized, and there were added that day, about 3,000 souls.” Those souls were added, by God Himself, to His kingdom, the church. Acts 2:47 says; “..And the LORD was adding to the church, daily, those who were being saved.” It’s really all very clear and easy to understand if we consider all these verses together. We just have to BELIEVE what it says. Thank you again, for studying these things with me.

Hello Neal. Thanks for your comments and questions. Let’s address your question concerning how we can be sure that “for” is a correct translation of the original Greek word “eis”. Let me give you the exact definition of “eis”, from three different sources. First; “Strong’s Concordance” of new testament words says; “Eis” can mean any of the following.. “into, in, unto to, upon, towards, for, among”.
Strong’s says the word is a primary preposition
The definition is as follows;
To or into (indicating the point reached or entered, of place, time, fig. purpose, result)

Second; “Helps Word Studies”, gives this definition; 1519 eis (a preposition) – properly, into (unto) – literally, “motion into which” implying penetration (“unto,” “union”) to a particular purpose or result.

Third; Thayer’s Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 1519: εἰς..
εἰς, a preposition governing the accusative, and denoting entrance into, or direction and limit: into, to, toward, for, among. It is used to describe the place entered into, as related to a specific verb. (in the case of baptism “eis” the forgiveness of your sins, “eis” describes what the action of baptism, causes us to enter into, namely, the forgiveness of sins)

Notice how all of these definitions are clear on the fact that the word “eis”, indicates “motion or direction”. From one point or place or condition, INTO another point, place or condition. Pertaining to the verse in question, Acts 2:38; Baptism brings one INTO the point of the forgivness of their sins. “Repent and let each one of you be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ “EIS” (or INTO) the forgiveness of your sins..” In other words, the baptism is “for the purpose” of entering a state of forgiveness, for your sins. It’s really quite clear when you understand the meaning of the word “eis”.

Please consider the subject from this angle. The scripture plainly states that baptism is “eis” the forgiveness of your sins. And since the word “eis” indicates movement, or direction, from one point, to another, it is clear that baptism PRECEEDS the forgiveness of sins. In other words, baptism is what “moves you” to the point, or to the position, of having your sins forgiven. Many people will argue that baptism comes AFTER you are forgiven of your sins. But that belief stands in stark contradiction to the very meaning of the word “eis”! Baptism MUST come BEFORE the forgiveness of sins, because Acts 2:38 says that baptism, is what brings us INTO (eis) the forgiveness of sins.

There is simply no doubt about the meaning of the word “eis”. It’s simply a matter of believing what it says. Everything that we do, in obeying the commands of God, is FOR the forgiveness of our sins. Our sins are what separate us from God. (Isaiah 59:2). We believe, so that we can be forgiven of our sins. We are commanded to repent, so that we can be forgiven. We are commanded to be baptized, so that we can be forgiven. We are commanded to be willing to confess our faith in Jesus, so that w can be forgiven. And we are commanded to “continue faithful unto death” (Rev 2:10) so that we can be forgiven of our sins. There’s really no m ore that can be said about the word “eis”, and about the fact that baptism is FOR the forgiveness of sins. Thanks so much for studying this subject with me.

Hello Bonto. Thank you for your visit here and for your comments and question. I have two articles here on the website specifically about baptism. I wish that you would read them. One is “What is Baptism?” and the other is “What is baptism for?” But to answer your question, YES, if you were not actually “baptized” then you definitely need to be baptized, otherwise you are still in sin. You see since “baptize” does mean to immerse, then anything short of immersion, is not baptism. Jesus commands us to be baptized, not to be sprinkled with water or to have water poured on our heads. God’s word says to be “immersed”. It’s as simple as that. Also, the baptism of infants is not a scriptural practice in the first place. You see, baptism is not the ONLY thing that we need to do to have our sins forgiven. We also need to believe and repent of our sins, before we are baptized. An infant can’t believe or repent. Then we need to be willing to confess our faith in Jesus. An infant can’t do that either. The fact of the matter is, that an infant is not guilty of any sin! Sin is a transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4 tells us, “Whoever commits sin, transgresses the law. For sin is the transgression of the law.” Now an infant cannot transgress the law, because an infant doesn’t have the capability of even knowing what a law is. Baptism is for believers in Christ, who are of sufficient age to realize their sins, and are willing to confess their sins and their faith, who repent of their sins, and are willing to have those sins washed away by being baptized for the forgiveness of those sins. Acts 2:38, and Acts 22:16, and 1 Peter 3:21.

Please let me know how I can further help you. I can help you get in contact with brethren who can assist you in being baptized or in any other way that you need. Thanks so much, and may God bless you.