If God told you….
If God told you, “I am going
to give you the winning numbers to the next lottery pick. All you have to do is
pick the exact numbers I am about to give you. Pick them and I will guarantee you
will be the next lottery winner. Are you ready? Here they are---1,2,3,4,5,6.
And so you don’t forget I will write them in a book so you can look it up again
if you forget or if anyone else tells you any different.”
In this illustration, if you
haven’t already figured it out, winning the lottery represents inheriting
eternal life. Now who would pick any other numbers but 1,2,3,4,5 and 6? Yet
there is an abundance of people who would pick 1,2,3,4,6,7 or 1,2,3,4,6,8 or
2,3,4,5,6,7 etc. What do I mean? Well, God has given us a plan of salvation to
follow in the Scriptures. He has said, if we follow these instructions, we will
be saved. We will go to heaven, live with God and have eternal life. If we fail
to follow these instructions, everything
is at risk—we will be lost and go to hell. Either option is eternal--forever
and ever. So why try to out-argue God? You won’t win! With so much at stake,
would you take any risk? I doubt it.
So why do people do that with their souls? After all, it is very easy to follow
God’s plan. God made it easy to obey. He did not tell us we have to build a
rocket-ship to the moon to be saved.
Since the start of the
church in Acts 2 there have been many false teachers who have altered God’s
plan of salvation. If you doubt, do your homework and read what the first
Christians taught and believed about baptism. Baptism has always been one
essential element to God’s plan of salvation. Read Here
These days, most denominations do not teach you need to be immersed in water
for the forgiveness of your sins. They have thrown away what God has told them.
Some have picked “1,2,3,4,6,7”, others have picked “2,3,4,5,6,7” instead of
exactly what God said to pick--“1,2,3,4,5,6”.
Do you want to win the
lottery for certain or do you want to try to out-argue God Almighty? Do you
think you can persuade God that 5 out of 6 is “close enough”? Funny, but no
lottery commission on earth would grant you the winnings if you tried that
argument with them…
In order to go to heaven God
has told us if we follow this simple plan we will “win the lottery”:
To be
saved we must:
■ Hear the “good news” (i.e. the
gospel) of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:14)
■ Believe (Hebrews 11:6; Acts 8:37; Mark 16:16; John 8:24)
■ Repent of our sins (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30; Mark 10:15)
■ Confess faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 8:36-37; Romans 10:9) {Footnote}
■ Be
baptized (in water) for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:37-41; 1Peter 3:21; John 3:3-5; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3-8; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:26-27; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 8:34-39; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 4:5)
■ Remain
faithful for the rest of our lives and carry our cross daily (Revelation 2:10; Matthew 24:13; Luke 9:23) (What
about, “Once saved always saved”?)
In him
we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him[*] who works out everything in
conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first
to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were
included in Christ when you heard[1]
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed,[2,3]
you were marked in him with a seal, the promised
Holy Spirit,[5] who is a deposit guaranteeing
our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the
praise of his glory.
ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON ARGUMENTS AGAINST BAPTISM
This page added: Feb. 20, 2008