The Conscience As A Witness

A person can run from many things, but one thing that cannot be run from is one’s own conscience. Wherever a person goes, their conscience follows as closely as their shadow. It is a constant companion. It is an individual’s witness to himself and to God of his character as it relates to his willingness or unwillingness to abide in what he considers to be that which is right and good.

The conscience cannot be a person’s perfect guide, for it, like our intellect, must be properly trained to be useful. Throughout history men have committed atrocities in all good conscience against others. Men have burned other men at the stake, slit the throats of others, sacrificed their children as burnt offerings, committed genocide, all in good conscience because the conscience was misinformed and untaught in righteousness.

Just because one has been taught from childhood a thing is right, and has accepted it as fact, does not mean there is truth in the doctrine one was taught and came to believe. A conscience can be trained in error just as easily as in righteousness, for the conscience itself is unable to determine truth from error. It acts like a computer in the sense that it can do no more nor less than what it has been programmed to do. It judges based on its training.

Sometimes consciences need to be reprogrammed. If a person is in religious error, say, as an example, a militant Islamist who believes murder and terrorism are God’s will (I remember ISIS) his conscience needs to be retrained and educated in righteousness.

The only trustworthy guide man has to live by is not his conscience but God’s word. The Psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105 NKJV) Man is to walk in (live by) God’s word. Jeremiah, under inspiration, wrote, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jer. 10:23 NKJV) If it were in man to direct his own steps, then conscience might well be a suitable guide, but that is not what the scriptures teach.

Mankind’s guide needs to be what the word of God says, for only God knows what is perfect in goodness, holiness, and righteousness. Jesus said to the devil, but it is applicable to all, for it remains true, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV) This was originally written in Deut. 8:3, by Moses, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

If it be said men have used scripture to commit atrocities, it is not scripture that led them to that. For example, where in your New Testament do you read of a commandment to burn men at the stake for heresy as was done in the Middle Ages? Christianity, properly taught, teaches us to love your neighbor as yourself. It never condones mistreatment of another.

No, we cannot ignore our conscience. I do not argue that we can, for we cannot. I only argue that our conscience must be trained by the word of God as found in the New Testament, God’s law for man today, and that we may need to retrain our conscience to bring it into accord with that word.

Saul, who was to become the apostle Paul, had to be retrained when he met up with Jesus on the road to Damascus. His conversion experience (read about it in Acts 9, 22, and 26) immediately convinced him that the things he used to believe and by which his conscience had been guided were error, and so he turned from them. Many today need to turn from their religious error which their conscience condones because it has been improperly trained.

The key to such a change is to be fully persuaded. One can change, without violating his conscience, when fully persuaded, like Saul was. No one can advocate violating one’s conscience when not fully persuaded, for that in itself would be sin. “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23 NKJV) We need to read and study God’s word with an open mind and heart and be willing to accept whatever we find written there.

The conscience gives witness to the kind of heart we have, and God reads man’s heart (Acts 15:8, Jer. 17:10). It is only the pure in heart who will see God (Matt. 5:8). The conscience is a part of the heart (a part, not all). In John 8 we have Jesus confronted by those who have brought a woman to him caught in the act of adultery. They are trying Jesus, attempting to put him in a tight spot, but he turns the table on them and says to them that whoever is among you without sin cast the first stone at her (John 8:7). The Bible then says, “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one.” (John 8:9 NKJV) What was convicting them? Their conscience, yes, but the conscience was the heart. Their hearts were pricking them.

We find the same thing on the Day of Pentecost when Peter preached the first gospel sermon and the first converts under the Christian dispensation were made. Peter preached to them in a way to convince them that not only was Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, but that they were guilty of putting him to death (Acts 2:23,36). The Bible says when they heard this “they were cut to the heart.” (Acts 2:37 NKJV) Their conscience was made to feel the guilt of sin. Until a man’s conscience is greatly bothered by sin, and he must be made to feel sin’s guilt for that to happen, he will not and cannot repent and be saved.

A guilty conscience is a blessing if a man will allow it and will heed its call and repent. The conscience is a witness to a man about the state of his heart. Thank God if you have a conscience that is not so hardened by sin that it does not bother you when you do wrong. Thank God it still works and is not seared.

The Bible tells us that the conscience can become seared.  It speaks of those speaking lies in hypocrisy “having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Tim. 4:2 NKJV) If one continues to ignore his conscience, overriding its decision and doing what his conscience is telling him is wrong, eventually the conscience will cease to have any control over one’s self. Sinning becomes easier and easier.

I do not want to be misunderstood. It is never too late to repent and turn one’s life around even if one has been caught up in a sin that seems to have shackled him or her. What is being said is that it becomes easier and easier to continue in sin the more and the longer one continues to ignore and/or override a properly trained conscience. The ultimate end, if one continues on down that road, is no conscience at all. That is a scary, scary thought. As long as your conscience is bothering you there is hope of repentance. The great fear is that of coming to the point where the conscience no longer pricks one at all.

In Rom. 2:15 Paul speaks of the Gentiles who did not have the Law of Moses during that Old Testament dispensation of time and says in part of them, “who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.” (NKJV) So we learn the conscience is indeed a witness of the heart, and it will either accuse us or else excuse us. The conscience gives rise to those thoughts for good or ill depending on how we have reacted to what we deemed to be right, thus bringing either peace of mind or the burden of guilt.

I said the conscience is a witness of the heart, which perhaps I ought to explain. Our conscience tells us about the state of our heart. When I see myself in my heart (my conscience making that possible) going off in the wrong direction, I need to act on that and turn again to righteousness. Conscience talks to us and, if properly trained, prompts us to turn around and return to God.

In Rom. 9:1 Paul spoke of his conscience “bearing me witness,” meaning simply his conscience was perfectly clean and pure in the matter about which he spoke. When we live the truth and tell the truth, our conscience becomes a character witness on our behalf. Men may not be able to read our conscience, but God can, and we know our conscience and thus are given confidence by its approval.

In 2 Cor. 1:12 Paul speaks of the “testimony of our conscience,” thus the conscience bears testimony. When it bears to us good testimony, we have peace and confidence, hope and faith.

Finally, I want to close with one last verse, 1 Peter 2:19, “For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.” (NKJV) Our hearts ought to be so tender towards God that we are willing to endure all wrong in order to maintain a good witness of our conscience before God.

Not everything can be bought with money. Some things, in fact many things, are of more value than money, things like a good name, good character, a good hope, love, faith, forgiveness, and a good conscience toward God. You can take these things with you when you die. These are the things that matter.

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Though He Slay Me

The title for this article comes from the Old Testament book of Job, chapter 13, verse 15, where Job makes the statement, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (NKJV)

The story of Job as told in the Old Testament is one of pain, suffering, and sorrow, of the loss of loved ones (sons and daughters), of possessions, of health, and very nearly of hope. His state got to be such that his wife’s advice was, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9 NKJV) Death was seen as preferable to life as it was. While Job agreed that his death was preferable to life, yet the idea of cursing God was anathema to him (Job 2:10).

In the next chapter he expresses a sentiment I became very familiar with in my own father’s last days, when life became more of a burden and a trial for him than a treasure to be held onto. Job says, “Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, who long for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than hidden treasures; who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave?” (Job 3:20-22 NKJV)

There are questions we can ask that we will never have an answer to in this life; this is one of them. I have sometimes wondered if, in cases like my Dad’s, life was not prolonged for the testing and maturing of the caregivers, for our benefit, but who can say? None of us can. We only make wild speculations, but it is certain God has his reason.

God had a reason in the case of Job, and while the reason was never revealed to Job, we are given a glimpse, through the reading of the book, of what was going on behind the scenes and out of human sight. Who can say today what is going on behind the scenes and out of sight?

James talks about Job in James 5:11, where he says, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” (NKJV) We say, as I did, that James said this. So he did. However, these were truly the words of the Holy Spirit speaking through James about Job.

Many hundreds of years after the fact, God saw fit to use James as his mouthpiece and reveal more of the purpose behind suffering that seemed without reason or purpose, even unjust at the time. Job was to be an example for mankind (along with the prophets—James 5:10-11) of the kind of patience and endurance we are to have, and it is made known to us that the end result of all such godly endurance is to be blessings from God who is “very compassionate and merciful.”

I am reminded of Paul’s words in Rom. 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (NKJV) He is speaking to Christians.

Do you ever despair in your life? I know Paul did at least once. He said in 2 Cor. 1:8-9, speaking of the trouble he had in Asia, “we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” (NKJV) Paul speaks as though he was prepared to die at that point in time.

We can get to that point, to a point where we basically have given it all we can give, done all we can, and have come to the end of our rope. It can be in any area of life, not just concerning the matter of physical life.

Perhaps you have struggled financially, done all you can do, and have gotten nowhere, and now wonder what you will do, perhaps even reaching a point of desperation. You find no answers. In an article in a recent edition of the local area newspaper, I read of a woman who had been living in an alley with her two children, eating out of garbage dumps, until finally someone was made aware of her plight and came to her aid. Yes, we have desperate people living among us in despair, not knowing where to turn or what to do, who, like Paul, have nearly given up.

With others, it may be in family relationships. Every year, hundreds of families are deserted by a mother or dad, a husband or wife, through no fault of the innocent party (yes, there are some innocent parties). Desperation, fear, and despair set in. “How will we go on?” becomes the question.

One could list figuratively a thousand things that can happen in a person’s life where it looks like hope is gone and we have no options, and the point I want to make here is that there is no use in trying to smooth things over and say it does not get that bad, or it is just our imagination. Things can literally get that bad. Ask Paul (2 Cor. 1:8). Sometimes we just find ourselves in a situation where it is beyond any control or ability that we have to effect a positive change.

The question then becomes: what am I to do if I find myself in a situation that seems to be nearly unbearable and yet it is beyond my power to bring about change, as was the case with Job (and with Paul)? Paul said, trust in God (2 Cor. 1:9). Job said the same thing, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15 NKJV) We can trust in God no matter what comes, and we can pray.

I knew a lady once, a Christian woman, who said she prayed regularly, all of the time, and it did not do any good. I am convinced she prayed sincerely and was telling the truth about her supplications to God. Do we get to feeling the same way? Job did. He was praying fervently, and it did not seem God was listening to him.

One thing we can learn from Job’s experience is that while we may think God is not hearing our prayers, that is not the case. God is well aware of what is happening to us and what we are going through. He knew Job’s situation. We also learn that he will respond in his own time and in the way he sees best, and taking the long view of things, we can be assured his way is the best way for us, even though at the time it may not seem that way.

Things may well not get better for us as far as our earthly plight goes. Paul spoke of his thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him, that he prayed three times that it would be removed from him, and perhaps would have continued on praying indefinitely about the matter had not God spoken to him. God’s answer was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9 NKJV) This also may very well be the answer we must accept in our own lives.

In Hebrews 11, the Bible says, “Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” (Heb. 11:36-38 NKJV)

Do you wonder if any of these people ever prayed for a change in their life’s circumstances? Jesus did for his. We remember his prayer in Gethsemane, “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matt. 26:39 NKJV). Yes, I suspect many prayers were offered by those mentioned in Hebrews 11. God’s people are praying people by definition. Would you have prayed had you been in their shoes? You know you would have, and thus you know they did also.

James tells us, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NKJV) Here is good that can come from our suffering.

Although I consider the New Living Translation a paraphrase, if I think it accurately reflects the meaning of a passage to make it clearer, then I sometimes use it. This is one such case as found in 1 Peter 1:6-7:

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (NLT)

We can, if we are not careful, get to the point that we feel God does not care, but there is always a reason behind our suffering, even if unknown to us, as was pointed out earlier in reference to Job’s suffering.

We may have to suffer much in life, but if we remain steadfast through it, as Christians, then we will receive our reward, an inheritance eternally with Christ in heaven—life everlasting.

No, we do not understand. We know why Jesus had to die and what God’s purpose was behind that, but why did Stephen have to die so soon after the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of the church? Why did Paul have to suffer so much? Jesus had said he would: “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:16 NKJV) We have to believe God is being active behind the scenes and trust him, believe it will all work out in the end, even if we die getting to that end.

All of this brings us back to the beginning, to Job. What is going on? He did not know; he did not know why. He did know God had the power to intervene if he was willing. But it all came down to this in the end, “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15 NKJV)

So, how about me, how about you? What do we do when our world has fallen apart, and it seems as though God is not listening, and hope is almost a thing of the past? First, we remember we were not the first and only ones to be in that state. Others have been in the same boat as we, and many were not rescued other than by death itself. There is no guarantee that what we think is best is what will come to pass. We are in God’s hands. His will will be done, just as Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus’ prayer, in that respect, has to be our prayer, “not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39 NKJV)

Second, as Job said, even “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” To whom else can we turn? Who else can bring us out on the other side? We must be resigned to his will in our life, trust and obey, and believe that in the final settling of accounts, God will be merciful to those who love him, no matter what may come. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (Peter, John 6:68 NKJV)

I remind the reader that death is not an unmitigated evil. For the righteous, it is the end of suffering and the entrance way into glory. If that is the way God chooses to rescue us from our trial, so be it. He is taking us to a better place where there is no more sorrow or suffering. That is a pretty good answer to prayer, even if it is not what we were originally seeking when we first petitioned him about our trial.

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The Relationship Of The Blood Of Jesus And Baptism

All who claim to be Christians believe we are saved by the blood of Jesus. All believe that for the Bible clearly states it, “We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Eph. 1:7 NKJV) There are very few, however, who realize where God has placed that blood, spiritually speaking.

Christianity is a religion of the spirit. No man is saved by coming into physical contact with the blood of Christ. This is simply a truism accepted by all. We do not each get a microscopic drop of literal blood placed on our souls. So the question then becomes where has God placed the blood in a spiritual sense? It does matter; it is a matter of salvation.

In the Bible, blood stands for life. God, speaking to Noah and his sons after the flood, said unto them, “You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” (Gen. 9:4 NKJV) Again, God, speaking to Moses in Lev. 17:11, says to Moses, “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” (NKJV) And then again, in Lev. 17:14, “The life of all flesh is its blood.” (NKJV)

In the New Testament, Judas, when he had betrayed the Lord, felt remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying to them, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” (Matt. 27:4 NKJV) What did he mean by using the phrase “innocent blood”? He meant he had betrayed innocent life. Blood stood for life.

When Pilate washed his hands before the multitude who wanted Jesus put to death and made the statement, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person” (Matt. 27:24 NKJV), what did he mean? Was it not, “I am innocent of putting to death this innocent man”? Blood stood for life.

Jesus was God’s sacrificial lamb who, as John the Baptist said, takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) This required the shedding of his blood, the taking of his life. Jesus said, in instituting the Lord’s Supper, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:28 NKJV) We are justified by his blood (Rom. 5:9) and “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Eph. 1:7 NKJV)

When Jesus died on the cross his blood was shed in that his life was taken. Jesus had shed some blood prior to his death. There was the scourging he endured, the crown of thorns on his head, the nails driven through his hands; yet, all of that being true, he had not yet shed his blood in the Bible sense of the giving up of life itself. Surely no one believes we were saved by the literal blood of the scourging, thorns, or nails.

When Jesus uttered his last words on the cross and gave up the ghost, his blood was then shed in Bible parlance. John, in John 19:33-34, in speaking of what happened while Jesus was on the cross after his death, said, “But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” (John 19:33-34 NKJV)

This event, the piercing of his side, had symbolic importance, for the sacrifice of himself had already taken place, his life already given for ours. Remember Lev. 17:11? “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” With his side being pierced the life of Jesus was now gone for the whole world to see. His blood was shed in every sense of the word. Where was the soul-cleansing blood of Jesus shed? In his death, when he died on the cross, but now it was evident to all he was dead.

So, we know where Jesus shed his blood—in his death, at the moment he died. This then tells us all that if we are to come into contact with that blood we must enter into his death. For me to come into contact with that saving blood, spiritually speaking, I must get into Christ’s death. Paul was very clear on where and how you and I do this. He says in Rom. 6:3, “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (NKJV)

He goes on, “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.” (Rom. 6:4 NKJV) When is a person to walk in the newness of life? After baptism. Can one walk in newness of life unless the blood of Jesus has cleansed him? Newness of life comes to a man upon being raised from the waters of baptism. God placed the cleansing blood in the waters of baptism. In that act, when done from a heart of faith and having repented of one’s sins, the blood of Jesus cleanses a man or woman from all sin.

But objection is made by man, and it is said baptism is a little thing. Is the blood of Jesus a little thing? If one can be saved without baptism into the death of Christ then one can be saved without the blood of Jesus.

Paul, in 2 Cor. 5:17, makes this statement, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV) Bearing that in mind, what did Paul say to us in the passages just under consideration? Did he not say, “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus … ?” (Rom. 6:3 NKJV) Yes, he said we were baptized into Christ.

In Christ how? By being baptized into him. Where is one a “new creation”? In Christ. How can a man be a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) unless the blood of Christ has cleansed him? In Christ, I am cleansed, a new creation, but I am baptized into Christ. I get into Christ by baptism. The blood of cleansing then, spiritually speaking, is found in baptism.

In talking to Timothy, Paul says this is a faithful saying, “For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.” (2 Tim. 2:11 NKJV) We died with him by being baptized into his death. (Rom. 6:3) Paul says if we did that we shall live with him; thus the blood of Jesus must be contacted in the waters of baptism. It is only through his blood that we have life. But what if we did not die with Him in baptism? I will let the reader answer.

Then Paul says in Eph. 5:25-26, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” (Eph. 5:25-26 NKJV) Does anyone believe the church Jesus loved and gave himself for has not been cleansed by his blood? But the text says he cleansed the church with the “washing of water by the word.” Thus the blood was in the waters of baptism.

There is an interesting passage in Heb. 10:22 where the writer is admonishing those to whom he wrote. He says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (NKJV) Let us couple that with what Peter spoke of concerning baptism in 1 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.” (NKJV)

To have one’s heart sprinkled from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22) is the same as to have a good conscience toward God (1 Peter 3:21). Peter says this is accomplished in baptism while the Hebrew writer speaks of our bodies being washed with pure water. They are one and the same. The clean conscience is acquired through being baptized. Peter goes so far as to say baptism saves us. The blood of Christ must then be found in the waters of baptism. That is where the conscience is cleansed. The conscience cannot be cleansed from God’s standpoint without the blood of Jesus. It is cleansed in baptism. This is the only logical deduction one can make.

I realize an article like this is going to be very, very unpopular. People want no part of baptism being a salvation issue. Passage after passage teaches that it is (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, 1 Peter 3:21) plainly and clearly. In fact, when God’s word says “repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38 NKJV) one wonders how such a passage can be misunderstood by rational men.

A question that arises in my mind is this. Let us suppose for the sake of argument that God wanted to tell men that they must be baptized to have their sins forgiven and to be saved. Since the language he used is not adequate to satisfy the mass of mankind how would you, if you were him, phrase it to make it clear to all readers? What words would you use to convey the idea? Remember what he said as stated was not adequate to convince men. You would have to use other words. What words would you use?

People are not rational when it comes to religion. In religion, emotions generally rule. Men and women often cannot see the truth because as plain as it might be they are not willing to accept it because they do not want to see and know the truth. Perhaps truth condemns them or their family and maybe some of the family has already passed on while living in error. In other cases, truth may prohibit them from living the kind of life they would prefer to live. Add to those things, change can be very uncomfortable. It may be much easier to continue as you are versus changing with the unpleasantness that can bring in relationships. Whatever the cause, a refusal to accept truth gives them a comfort, temporary though it may be, that they cannot find in the truth itself.

I want to close with this. You and I might wish it was some other way. Some cannot bear the thought that they have family now gone who, if what I have written today is the truth, never accepted the truth and died in error. We worry about them and we are not willing to accept the truth because of where we think that would place them. My advice is to leave those matters with God, for he will do what is right. If they end up in the wrong place in the life to come, do you think you will bring them joy by meeting with them there? You would only add sorrow to sorrow, guilt to guilt.

But I have to ask you one other question, a momentous question. Are you going to pass error on to your children and grandchildren after you? If Mom and Dad died in error, they are now in God’s hands. Let him deal with the matter. As for you, you likely have children, grandchildren, a spouse to be concerned about, some or all of these. Will you lead them down the road of error because of the past? If so, you will likely get what you deserve. How could it be otherwise?

Did Jesus command baptism? If he did (you know he did), you know your duty.

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The Cleansing Of The Church At Ephesus

How was the church at Ephesus cleansed from sin? To be cleansed from sin is to be saved. Likely the most well-known Ephesian passage is found in chapter two, verses eight and nine, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (NAS) Many, many passages of the New Testament teach that salvation is a matter of God’s grace (Acts 15:11, Rom. 3:24, Gal. 2:21, 5:4, Eph. 1:7, 2:5, 2 Thess. 2:16, 2 Tim. 1:9, Titus 2:11, Titus 3:7, 1 Peter 1:10, 1 Peter 1:13). I have listed most of them here so the reader will know I am well aware of them.

I am thankful it is that way. If salvation were by works we would all come up short “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23 NKJV) That is what happened to the Jewish people under the Law of Moses. None were able to keep it. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” (Gal. 3:10 NKJV) I think we are all glad salvation is a matter of God’s grace, versus works, for works demanded perfection.

God’s grace, which gives us salvation, is granted to us as a result of faith we possess. “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.” (Rom. 5:1-2 NAS) “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” (Eph. 2:8 NAS) There are many other passages teaching that we are saved by faith. Here are quite a number of them: John 3:14-16, John 8:24, John 11:25-26, John 20:31, Acts 16:31, Rom. 10:9, 1 Cor. 1:21, Gal. 3:22, 1 Tim. 1:16, Heb. 11:6, 1 John 5:13, Rom. 3:26, 28, 30, 5:1, 11:20, Gal. 2:16, 3:24, 26, Eph. 2:8, Phil. 3:9, 1 Peter 1:9. These were again listed that the reader might know I am fully aware of them.

The question that arises, however, is what is this faith that justifies, that gives us God’s grace? I am not asking what the object of the faith is, for we know that. I am asking what the nature of this faith is. Many, perhaps most, are persuaded today (and have been since the Reformation) that it is merely a state of the mind regarding a belief one has in Jesus, who he is, and what he has accomplished for us. It is mental assent to the teachings of the scriptures about him. This is the faith that it is said saves. I certainly agree with that as far as it goes, but it stops short, too short.

One must not only believe what the scriptures teach about Jesus—who he is, what he accomplished—but faith also commits us to believe the man himself, believe what he said, and act on it. If faith does not lead to action, it is dead faith (James 2:17). James says it is “useless.” (James 2:20 NAS) Even in this world, as regards worldly matters, how can we say we have faith in a man when we will not take the man at his word?

The faith the Ephesians had that resulted in their cleansing from sin was the faith they had in what Jesus taught them through his inspired representatives. Paul was an inspired man, but the Holy Spirit, whether speaking through Paul or through any other apostle or first-century prophet, did not speak on his own initiative. “He will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak…he shall take of mine, and shall disclose it to you.” (John 16:13-14 NAS—the words of Jesus referring to the Holy Spirit) Thus, the Holy Spirit spoke the words of Jesus, and Jesus was thus their teacher.

Paul said later in the book of Ephesians that Jesus cleansed the church, “by the washing of water with the word.” (Eph. 5:26 NAS) “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” (Eph. 5:25-26 NAS)

Who was cleansed that way? Those who Paul said earlier in the book had been saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). The washing of water with the word is clearly a reference to baptism. What did Jesus teach about baptism? “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NAS) “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5 NAS)

John 3:5 and Eph. 5:26 teach the same thing. The Spirit gave the word. The Spirit working through the word works on our spirit, if we will allow it to do so, changing our thinking, our attitudes, our desires, and our will, bringing us to the point where we are ready to put the old man to death and be baptized to arise in “newness of life.” (Rom. 6:4 NAS) To be cleansed by the washing of water by the word (Eph. 5:26) is the same as to be born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5).

Furthermore, in scripture, the church (Eph. 5:25-26) and the kingdom (John 3:5), generally, not always but generally, are interchangeable terms. Peter was given the keys of the kingdom. When he used those keys, by preaching the gospel on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, and people believed and obeyed, they were added to the church, one and the same as the kingdom. They were saved.

Were the Ephesians saved by grace through faith “before” they were cleansed? What was the church, the church being the members, cleansed of, if not sin? Can you be saved without first being cleansed of sin? They were saved by grace through faith when cleansed of sin by the washing of water with the word. That washing was done by “the obedience of faith.” (Rom. 1:5 NAS) Paul said he had received grace and apostleship, “to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles.” (Rom. 1:5 NAS)

Paul himself, obviously a church member, was told at his own conversion, “Why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” (Acts 22:16 NAS) Paul had experienced the same washing and for the same reason the church had at Ephesus. No, water itself cannot wash away sins, but it can if God has made the decision that that is the time and place where he will act in response to a person’s faith. Some have said baptism is a test of faith. I do not argue with them.

Naaman, in the Old Testament, “became furious” (2 Kings 5:11 NKJV) when told he needed to go wash in the Jordan seven times to be healed of his leprosy. He did not want to do it that way. His faith had brought him thus far to Elisha, and he felt that should be good enough. Elisha should just come out and “stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.” (2 Kings 5:11 NKJV) Obedience of faith had no place in his thinking. One is reminded of today.

No, the water of the Jordan had no magical power to heal Naaman, but faith in what God told Naaman to do, a faith strong enough to get him to act simply because God said to do it, was the faith that made the difference. Naaman is an excellent example of a man who experienced two types of faith. The first failed him in obtaining his objective. Why? Because it was based on his preconceived ideas of how God should do things.

When told to go wash in the Jordan seven times, “Naaman became furious, and went away and said, ‘Indeed, I said to myself, “He (reference to Elisha, God’s prophet—DS) will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.”’” (2 Kings 5:11 NKJV) Naaman’s faith that failed was faith in his own idea of how God should act. Naaman admits as much when he says, “I said to myself.”

His later faith that brought Naaman healing was based not on Naaman’s personal thinking but on what God said—“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times.” (2 Kings 5:10 NKJV) This was the faith that brought healing when his faith became strong enough to become obedient to God’s word.

This illustrates man’s faith today in the spiritual realm with regard to baptism. There are two types of faith in what is commonly referred to as Christendom, as it relates to our salvation. The one says we will stop here at the point of faith (mental assent). We have gone far enough; God will do the rest. The other faith says God said to do it (be baptized) for this reason (the remission of sins—Acts 2:38); I believe him, and I will do what he says because I do believe. Both have what men generally call faith, but clearly, the faith is not the same.

There is also a question that needs to be asked. If Paul did not consider baptism to be salvation by works, why should we consider it to be so in our day? I have never heard a direct answer to that question. Paul tells the Ephesians they have been saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8) and then tells them at the same time they have been cleansed by the washing of water through the word (Eph. 5:26). He doesn’t miss a beat, doesn’t seem in the least to feel he has contradicted himself, so why should we feel that the two passages are contradictory? Why do we feel we have to try to devise a way to explain away the obvious meaning of the phrase “the washing of water”?

But there is much more in proof of the point I am making. In Eph. 1:7, Paul says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” (NAS) In him is a reference, obviously, to Jesus who shed his blood for us. How does one get into him, into Jesus Christ? Gal. 3:27 says we were “baptized into Christ” (NAS) and so does Rom. 6:3, “do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus.” (NAS) I know of no passage in the New Testament anywhere that tells one how to get into Christ other than through baptism.

If you were to start through the book of Ephesians and start marking every passage you come to that talks about different things that are found “in him,” “in Christ,” “in the Beloved,” here is some of what you would come up with: (1) every spiritual blessing—Eph. 1:3, (2) grace—Eph. 1:6, (3) redemption—Eph. 1:7, (4) an inheritance—Eph. 1:10-11, (5) sealed with the Holy Spirit—Eph. 1:13, (6) seated us in heavenly places—Eph. 2:6, (7) kindness toward us—Eph. 2:7, (8) his workmanship—Eph. 2:10, (9) brought near by the blood of Christ—Eph. 2:13, (10) partakers of the promise—Eph. 3:6. But one must note that all of these blessings are in, not outside of, but in Christ. “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Gal. 3:27 NAS) How does one enter Christ? By baptism. If one is clothed with Christ, he is in Christ.

Paul says elsewhere in the book of Ephesians, “we are members of his body.” (Eph. 5:30 NAS) But then Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 12:13 how we get into that body, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” (NAS) What is Christ the Savior of according to Paul in Ephesians? “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, he himself being the Savior of the body.” (Eph. 5:23 NAS) This is the same body we are baptized into, that is, if we are in it, for that is the only way the scriptures give of entering into it. The body of Christ, being the church (Eph. 1:22-23), is that which was cleansed “with the washing of water by the word.” (Eph. 5:26 NKJV)

Where is grace found? The Bible tells us, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 2:1 NAS) Paul tells the Ephesians that this grace is “bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Eph. 1:6 NAS) Again, how does one get into Christ, the Beloved, according to the scriptures? We have already answered that. When one is led by faith to believe Jesus and obey him in baptism for the remission of sins, he enters into Christ, into the realm of grace by which he is saved.

In the book of Acts, chapter 19, Paul comes to Ephesus and finds 12 men there who are disciples. He asks them this question: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2 NAS) They respond no, they had not even heard of the Holy Spirit. Paul then says, “Into what then were you baptized?” (Acts 19:3 NAS) Please note this one thing—Paul takes it for granted that if they were Christians, they had been baptized. He doesn’t ask them if they had been baptized. Why not? Paul doesn’t ask them because he knows what it takes to become a Christian and be saved. “Why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins.” (Acts 22:16 KJV, Ananias speaking to Saul, a believer, before Saul’s baptism)

One also ought to note the first thing Paul did with these 12 men, after learning their situation, was to have them “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 19:5 NAS) Yes, Paul taught baptism at Ephesus. Paul stayed in Ephesus at least two years (see Acts 19:10) after this event, so when Paul said later in Ephesians that the church was cleansed by the washing of water with the word, there is no doubt he knew from personal experience all about baptism at Ephesus. There is no such thing as an unbaptized Christian, for Jesus commanded in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19) that all disciples be baptized. Paul either baptized them personally or saw to it that they were baptized by one or more of those who helped with the work. Either that or he disobeyed Christ, for which disciple was it that Christ said need not be baptized?

Faith is not just something to be believed but also obeyed. One must obey the gospel to be saved (2 Thess. 1:7-8). In a sense, the gospel is the faith (Jude 3); it is that body of doctrine that is to be believed, but within that body of doctrine that constitutes the faith, there are things that must be obeyed as well as believed. In addition to mental assent to the truth about Jesus as revealed in the scripture, one must repent of sins (Acts 17:30), one must confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:9-10), and one must be baptized into Christ, baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38, Gal. 3:27). Faith, the faith that saves, is not a dead faith but an active one. It is by faith that a man does these things, by faith because he heard the words of God and believed them enough to take them to heart and obey them.

Do not allow yourself to be misled. A person does not believe Jesus who believes the doctrine that says, “he who has believed and has not been baptized shall be saved,” for that is not what Jesus said. Jesus said just the opposite.

I have asked this question before, but have never gotten an answer. If Jesus wanted man to know that baptism was essential to the remission of sins, the cleansing from sin, how would he say it in a way to get man to understand it? He could not say “repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38 KJV) for he already said that via the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter, and men will not accept it.

How would he say it to make it plain and simple enough so all could understand it? No one has yet answered that question. The truth is, Jesus has stated it as clearly as it can be stated by mere words alone. Men will either accept it or reject it and thereby be judged.

Have you been cleansed with the washing of water by the word? Will you be one with those saints in Ephesus Paul wrote to, or are you going to be another kind of Christian unknown to the church at Ephesus?

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