Membership
Salvation & Baptism
Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are or if you attend church, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die? Are you experiencing the fullness that God wants for you here on Earth?
God says in order to go to Heaven, you must be born again. In John 3:7, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.” In the Bible God gives us the plan of how to be born again which means to be saved.
First, we must realize Our Problem.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it isgood.For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” Romans 7:15-16, 18
When we try to change ourselves we experience confusion, frustration, and defeat.
The hope is in God’s Promise.
Jesus has already taken care of your sin problem!
“Jesus said, ‘And you shall know the truth, and truth shall make you free.” John 8:32
“For the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
“But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
The Prescription is grace through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior.
“…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:13
Salvation is a lifelong process of decisions to follow and obey Christ, but it starts with a decision to start following. If you feel like God is moving in your heart to accept Him as your Savior and begin a life of obedience, we urge you to confess this to God through prayer:
“Dear Jesus, thank you for making me and loving me, even when I’ve ignored you and gone my own way. I realize I need you in my life and I’m sorry for my sins. I ask you to forgive me. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Please help me to understand it more. As much as I know how, I want to follow you from now on. Please come into my life and make me a new person inside. I accept your gift of salvation. Please help me to grow now as a Christian.”
Why Baptism?
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” Matthew 28:19-20
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them.” Acts 2:41
Baptism is an important step of obedience for believers. If you’ve been saved through faith in Jesus Christ, baptism is your next step!
Scriptural baptism has a prerequisite: Salvation.
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them.” Acts 2:41
“But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.” Acts 8:12-13
At Mission Point, we wait until our children are old enough to believe and understand the true meaning of baptism before we baptize them.Some churches practice a ‘baptism of confirmation’ for children. This ceremony is intended to be a covenant between the parents and God on behalf of the child. The parents promise to raise their child in the faith until the child is old enough to make his own personal confession of Christ. This custom began about 300 years after the Bible was completed. This is different from the baptism talked about in the Bible, which was only for those old enough to believe. The purpose is to publicly confess your personal commitment to Christ.
Scriptural baptism also has a proper procedure: Immersion
1. Because Jesus was baptized that way.
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water.” Matthew 3:16
2. Every baptism in the Bible was by immersion.
“…Then both Philip and the man went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water…” Acts 8:38-39
3. The word ‘baptize’ means to immerse in or dip in water.
4. It symbolizes a burial and resurrection
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day according to the scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
“…buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12
“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4