Question: Is baptism important? You said that it was not. You said that the thief on the cross would be in heaven that same day when Jesus Christ died on the cross.

That is right, but was Jesus Christ dead yet? Did he give up the ghost yet? Was there still life in Jesus Christ? Was the blood and water shed yet?

The answer to these four questions is NO! According to the word of God, there is only one way to be baptized. Jesus said, in MY name you have everlasting life. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost before all the nations that were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. He told them how they had crucified the Lord Jesus. You have to remember what the mob said to Pilate just about 50 days before. They said, "Crucify him, crucify him and let the blood be on our heads and on our children." So, remembering this, the people of Israel asked, "How can we get this blood off our heads?" Peter said, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19 says, "in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." It does not reflect on repentance. Jesus said to be born of the water and of the spirit. Read John 3, Acts 1-2, 8, 10, 18, 19.

To be a Christian is to be Christ-like! To be born again is to be dead to sin, to live as an example of Jesus Christ, a person to reflect Jesus Christ. Jesus does not live in an unclean temple, so if you are smoking, if you are a woman and wear pants and if you are a man and wear shorts that show your (male or female) nakedness, but you say you are a Christian, woe unto you. What are we to do? Jesus said, "Pick up your cross and follow me."

After all this – my question is: Does it make a difference if I smoke or wear a bikini at the beach? Is my name in the book of life?

Eugen

Answer: Dear Eugen,

I did not, and have not ever said that baptism was unimportant. My comment regarded whether it is salvific – whether the act of baptism imparts salvation.

According to the Bible, to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are not saved because of what we do. Salvation does not consist of a series of meritorious actions that we perform, and has nothing to do with whether a woman wears trousers or a man wears shorts that bare his legs. Such issues are culturally imposed upon the Bible by humans. But nothing in the Bible speaks to such issues (if you are tempted to quote the statement given in the book of the law, the Torah, to the Hebrews who were under the old covenant and somehow conclude that Christian men and women should not wear "that which pertains" to the opposite sex – I suggest you do some research. The passage does not apply to women wearing bluejeans or men wearing golfing shorts. The prohibition had nothing to do with the attire we know of today, worn in a specific way and time for a specific reason – which, if you research the passage, you will discover). God tells us to rightly divide and interpret and teach the Bible.

My question to you is this: What if you meet someone in God’s kingdom of heaven you once saw on the beach, smoking and wearing a bikini? God is ultimately in charge of who he admits into his kingdom and what criteria he uses. The New Testament tells us that the primary principle is grace and that not of ourselves, lest any human should boast.

May God bless you.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht