Members of the church of Christ believe certain steps must be taken in obedience to the commands of the New Testament. We believe that these steps bring about salvation and, at the same time, make one a member of the church.
These steps are four in number:
- Faith . . . Believe
- Repentance . . . Repent of Sins
- Confession . . . Confess Jesus Christ to be God’s Son
- Baptism . . . (Immersion in Water) for the remission of Sins
Faith . . . Believe
Faith and belief are derived from the same Greek word. Faith results from hearing the Word of God. Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Faith is essential to salvation. Mark 16:16 – “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” John 8:24 – “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” John 20:30-31 – “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” Hebrews 11:6 – “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Repentance . . . Repent of Sins
Repentance is a change of mind that causes one to turn away from sinful practices. Repentance is a command of God.
Acts 2:38 – “Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 3:19 – “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. It is commanded for everyone. Acts 17:30 – “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Confession . . . Confess Jesus Christ to be God’s Son
This is an outward confession of faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Matthew 10:32 – “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.” Acts 8:36-38 – “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.” Romans 10:9-10 – “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.
Baptism . . . (Immersion in Water) for the remission of Sins
Baptism is not taught by members of the church of Christ as a “church ordinance,” but as a command” of Christ. Baptism is by immersion (burial) in water for the remission of sins. The New Testament teaches baptism to be an act that is essential to salvation.
Mark 16:16 – “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Acts 2:38 – “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 22:16 – “And now, why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
Proper subjects for baptism are:
- Taught persons. Matthew 28:19
- Believing persons. Mark 16:16
- Penitent persons. Acts 2:38
- Persons who have confessed Christ. Acts 8
Scriptural baptism must be an immersion in water. The Greek word from which the word baptize comes means “to dip, to immerse, to submerge, to plunge.” The Scriptures always point to baptism as a burial. Romans 6:3-6 – “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 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. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” Colossians 2:12 – “ 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.”
Baptism is extremely important because the New Testament sets forth the following purposes for it:
It is to enter the kingdom. John 3:3-5 – “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” It is to contact Christ’s blood. Romans 6:3-4 It is to get into Christ. Galatians 3:27 – “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
It is for salvation.
Mark 16:16 – “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” I Peter 3:21 – “There is also an antitype which now saves us– baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” It is for the remission is sins. Acts 2:38 – “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” It is to wash away sins. Acts 22:16 – “And now, why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
It is for entrance into the church.
1 Corinthians 12:13 – “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body– whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free– and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” Ephesians 1:23 – “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Note that the church is the body and the body is the church. Acts 2:47 – “Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
Following obedience to these commands, we believe it is important that the Christian live faithfully, because the Bible teaches the possibility of falling from the grace of God.
The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27 – “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” In 1 Corinthians 10:12 he warned the Christians in Corinth, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” In Galatians 5:4 he told some of the Galatians they had “fallen from grace.” The Hebrews writer sounded this warning in Hebrews 3:12 – “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” In Hebrews 6:4-6, the same writer spoke of some who had fallen away and were crucifying the Son of God afresh. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” In 1 Peter 1:5-10, Peter urged Christians to constantly add to their lives Christian virtues in order to make their calling and election sure. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble. He also spoke of those who had known Christ Jesus, but who had reverted to their old ways. He said it would have been better for them never to have known the truth. 2 Peter 2:20-21 – “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.” Continued faithfulness is so important.
The work of the Church.
Christians are “to be ready for every good work” Titus 3:1
There are three major areas of work in which the church is to be involved. Evangelism – Preaching and teaching the gospel throughout the world. Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16 Edification – Building up the members of the body. I Thessalonians 5:11, Romans 14:19 Benevolence – Helping others. James 1:27, Galatians 6:10 These works are supported by the contributions that are made each Sunday.