Michael Hatcher
Prior to answering these questions, please be aware that these are my answers and mine only based upon my study of God’s Word. Since the churches of Christ have no central organization and no creed books (except the Bible), I cannot speak for (nor do I try to speak for) the churches of Christ in general. Instead of studying the churches of Christ, I would suggest you study the Bible. The Bible (not the churches of Christ) is our standard of judgment. Simply because a group of people use the expression church of Christ on the door does not mean they are the Lord’s church (the church of Christ). Only those who follow the Bible and the Bible alone are the church of Christ (i.e., the church one reads about in the Bible, the only one our Lord built, died for, and will save on the last day). Thus, I would encourage you to study the Bible and follow it as your guideline.
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How many types of sinners are there?
If there is more than one type of sinner where does The Bible make this distinction? Sin is sin, and it separates one from God. However, there are different types of sin. There are sins of omission (where we fail to do something God has commanded), and there are sins of commission (where we do something God has commanded us not to do). Also there are two different classes (or types) of people in the world. There are those who are lost and those who are saved (many other terms could be used for these). When one becomes a Christian, he becomes a child of God. Does one who is not a child of God sin? Yes. Can one who has become a child of God sin? Again the answer is yes (Rom. 3:23), which was written to those who were Christians (1 John 1:7-10). Simon, for example, became a child of God but sinned afterward (Acts 8:13, 18-23). The real intent of your question, I believe, concerns how we deal with sin. One who has never obeyed the gospel and becomes a child of God must obey what God says to become such. Upon hearing God’s Word (John 6:45) he must have faith (Heb. 11:6) and upon that faith he must repent of his sins (Luke 13:3), confess his faith in Christ as God’s Son (Rom. 10:10), and be baptized for the remission of his sins (Acts 2:38). One who is a child of God and commits sin must do what Simon was told to do (repent and pray—Acts 8:22, 24), which is consistent with what John wrote in 1 John 1:9 (confess your sins).
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Can you find the complete plan of salvation in any one verse in The Bible? If not why?
No, one cannot find the complete plan of salvation in one verse in the Bible. I would ask you the same question: Can you find the complete plan of salvation in any one verse in the Bible? The reason you nor I cannot is that the Bible is not written in that way. A basic rule of Bible study is that one must take everything the Bible says on a given subject and draw a conclusion that is in harmony with everything the Bible says on it. By doing this we can learn what the plan of salvation is.
If we could take only one verse and ignore the others, then I could take what Jesus said in John 3:16 and say that only belief saves a person; nothing else is needed (including God’s grace, love, repentance, baptism, etc.). Another person could go to what Peter wrote by inspiration in 1 Peter 3:21 and say that it is baptism which saves a person; nothing else is needed (including God’s grace, love, belief, repentance, etc.). In that case we would certainly have a contradiction within the Bible. However, when you put both of these together(along with other passages) and draw a conclusion which is in harmony with both (all passages), you then learn the truth.
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Mark 16:16 says “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Is it possible to believe without being baptized? What damns a person?
To avoid the fallacy of equivocation (using the same word in different ways) this answer must be lengthy and with some background material necessary. Belief (and its different forms) can be used in different ways (determined by the context). It can be used as simply an acknowledgment of certain facts (I call this faith specific, specific in regard to one step in salvation). The passage you mention is one where Jesus is using believe in a specific way. Some other passages where it is used in this way would be: Acts 18:8; 19:18. This is a type of faith which a person can possess and not be baptized and thus not be saved. This is the faith of the demons (Jam. 2:19; Mat. 8:29). This is the faith many of the chief rulers possessed (John 12:42-43), but it would not save them (even as it will not save the demons), because they would not confess Him (see Mat. 10:32-33). Thus, it is possible to believe (specific faith) and not be baptized.
However, faith is also used in another way to include all of man’s response to God (I call this faith generic). A couple of the many passages which show this would be 1 Peter 1:9 where the end of your faith is eternal salvation; thus faith here is representing all of man’s response to God (2 Cor. 5:7). Ephesians 2:8 is another example where verse 10 shows that the good works God has ordained are included in faith. Additionally, when one views their conversion, it did include baptism (Acts 19:5). A couple of passages where faith includes baptism would be Acts 2:44 where believers are together, but the believers are those who had repented and been baptized (vv. 38-41). Another example of such is the Philippian jailor in Acts 16. In verse 31 Paul told him he needed to believe, in verse 32 Paul preached God’s Word to him, in verse 33 we observe hisrepentance (in washing their stripes) and his baptism; then in verse 34 he is then called a believer. The belief in verse 34 includes his repentance and baptism. In this type of faith (generic) one cannot believe without being baptized.
What damns a person? Very simply, sin is the basic answer. Sin is that which separates us from God (Isa. 59:1-2) or causesspiritual death (Rom. 6:23; Jam. 1:14- 15). Since we are saved by God’s grace, which is available to all men (Tit. 2:11), through faith (man’s obedient response to God; Eph. 2:8), it would be incorrect to say that we are damned because God’s grace was not sufficient (in that it did not save someone). However, if we do not have faith (we do not respond obediently to God’s grace, which teaches us—Tit. 2:12), we will be damned. In Mark 16:16, since faith (specific) is the first step of that salvation process, if a person does not have faith, he will be damned. If your real question involves why Jesus did not add “and is not baptized” to this part of the statement, there is simply no need to add such a statement (in fact, it would be foolish to add such). One who does not have faith (specific faith is being used in Mark 16:16) cannot be baptized scripturally. Thus, without faith (specific) a person will be damned. (Allow me to use an illustration: “Aperson who eats and digests food will live, a person who does not eat will die.” There is no need to add anything about digesting food in the later part of the sentence because a person who does not eat cannot digest food.) The question though is, will specific faith save a person? Jesus has already answered that it takes both specific faith and baptism to be saved. I might ask you the question as to which is right: (1) belief plus baptism equals salvation, or (2) belief minus baptism equals salvation?
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Explain the difference between water baptism and Holy Spirit Baptism.
Holy Spirit baptism was a promise (Acts 1:4-5), while water baptism is a command (Acts 10:48). Holy Spirit baptism was never promised to all Christians (Acts 1:4-5), while water baptism is for all men (Mark 16:15-16). Holy Spirit baptism was administered by Jesus (Mat. 3:11), while water baptism is administered by man (Mat. 28:19-20). Miracles were associated with Holy Spirit baptism (those who received it always displayed miraculous power such as, speaking in tongues; Acts 2, 10), while salvation is associated with water baptism (Acts 2:38). Holy Spirit baptism was limited as to time, as evidenced that Jesus was the Administer of it (cf., Eph. 4:5), while water baptism is till the end of the world. Water baptism is into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mat. 28:19), while Holy Spirit baptism is not. Water baptism is a visible representation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Rom. 6:3-4), but this is not the case with Holy Spirit baptism. The purpose of Holy Spirit baptism (see John 14:25-26; 16:12-13) is basically fourfold: (1) to teach the apostles all things, (2) bring all things that Jesus said to their remembrance, (3) guide them into all truth, and (4) show them things to come. These four things are miraculous in nature, and man does not possess them today. Water baptism’s purpose is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
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When does one receive the Holy Spirit? When is a person baptized by the Holy Spirit?
First, no one today receives Holy Spirit baptism. Holy Spirit baptism was limited to the apostles (see Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4). See comments above as to Jesus being the administrator of it, its purpose, etc. When one receives the Holy Spirit is again dependent upon what you mean by your statement. If you are talking about the reception of miraculous gifts or miraculous powers, then no one today receives that aspect of the Holy Spirit. Miracles ended when the revelation of God’s Word was completed (1 Cor. 13:8- 13; Eph. 4:11-16). The Scriptures do affirm that the Spirit dwells in the Christian. The Scriptures also affirm that the Father and Son dwell in the Christian. Thus, when a person becomes a Christian, he receives the Spirit (but not for the purpose of receiving miraculous powers).
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Is baptism a birth or a burial? Explain.
It is both, depending on the figure you are using. Jesus uses the figure of a new birth (which is found in the act of baptism) in John 3:1-21. Paul uses this figure in Titus 3:5 (washing of regeneration— see the NIV “washing of rebirth,”or the NRSV “water of rebirth”). It is a birth in the sense that one is being born into the family of God. Paul uses the figure of baptism being a death, burial, and resurrection in Romans 6:3-4 and Colossians 2:12. This figure is showing a death to the old man of sin (Gal. 2:20) and a coming up out of the water of baptism to walk in newness of life (resurrection).
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What washes away a person sins, the blood of Jesus or the waters of baptism?
What does the Bible say? Jesus said that He shed his blood for the remission of sins (Mat. 26:28). We have redemption through His blood even the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14); the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Then, Revelation 1:5 says that the blood of Christ washes away our sins. To deny that the blood of Christ washes away sin is to deny what the Bible clearly teaches. What does the Bible say? Peter, by inspiration,said that baptism is for the remission (or forgiveness) of our sins (Acts 2:38). Ananias told Saul (who later became the apostle Paul and recounted by Paul) to arise and be baptized and wash away your sins(Acts 22:16).To deny that the baptism washes away sin is to deny what the Bible clearly teaches. How do we harmonize this apparent conflict? We find that the blood of Christ was shed for every man (Heb. 2:9). Yet, Jesus teaches us that the majority of men will be lost (Mat. 7:13-14). If the blood of Christ washes away sin and it was shed for every man, then why is not every man saved? The answer is because they have not applied that blood to their sins. How do you teach that one applies the blood of Jesus to his sins? Do you teach that one must physically get some of the blood of Jesus and wash in His physical blood? (Yes I am being facetious). The way one applies the blood of Christ which washes away our sins is in the act of baptism. That is why the Scriptures speak of the blood of Christ washing away sins and baptism washing away sin. In baptism God applies the blood of Christ to our sins, and thus those sins are washed away. Baptism is in reality nothing more than the proper response of an active faith to God (as mentioned earlier under question three). Thus, I could ask you the same question regarding belief. Which washes away a person’s sin: the blood of Christ or faith?
