Church! Doers of the Word

 

We need to not only hear the word of God but do it. 

At Mount Sinai, Israel said, “We will do.” Their willingness to obey God’s commandments brought them into covenant relationship with Him. 

"And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD." - Exodus 19:8

Jesus said, 

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." - John 14:15 

He then told his disciples after his death burial and resurrection that it is not good enough to simply believe the gospel, we must obey the gospel. He that believeth AND is baptized shall be saved. 

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." - Mark 16:15-16

Peter also said we need to be baptized to be saved. 

"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" - 1 Peter 3:21

Jesus said,

"Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." - Luke 24:46-47 

Obeying the command of Jesus, Peter preached the gospel - the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He then obeyed Jesus and preached how to obey the gospel - repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and receiving the promised gift of the Holy Ghost. 

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38

When the people believed Peter preaching the gospel on the Day of Pentecost, they asked,

"Men and brethren, what shall we do?" - Acts 2:37 KJV 

They were not hearers only; they were doers of the word. The same day there were added to the church about three thousand souls. 

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." - Acts 2:41-42

The Keys to the Kingdom

 

When Peter realized that Jesus is God in a human body – “the Christ, the Son of the living God” – Jesus told him He would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven and authority.

"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." - Matthew 16:19 

Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of the kingdom of God. (“The kingdom of heaven” is interchanged with “the kingdom of God” i.e. Mark 10:14, Matt. 19:14)

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." - John 3:5 

While Jesus made it clear we must be born of water and of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God, he did not give specifics. Jesus gave Peter the keys as to how exactly we are born again. Peter revealed this on the Day of Pentecost after he received the Holy Ghost.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." - Acts 2:1, 4 

When the people asked, “What meaneth this?” Peter preached the gospel, letting them know they had crucified their Messiah, the One they had been waiting for.

Then the people asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38 

Peter made it perfectly clear what Jesus meant when Jesus said a man must be born of water and of the Spirit. The keys to the kingdom of heaven are to repent, to be baptized by immersion in water in the name of Jesus Christ, and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

We now understand what we must do.

The Bible Way

 

Paul prophetically warned the church of a tradition that would take the name of Jesus out of baptism and repace the NAME of JESUS with His TITLES Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (a trinity instead of One God). This happened in 325 AD with Constantine and the Council of Nicaea. It is BY THE NAME OF JESUS that sins are remitted (removed)! No wonder the Dark Ages soon followed.

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" - Colossians 2:8-10 KJV

The BIBLE way:

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission ["forgiveness"] of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." - Acts 2:38-39 KJV

What is the Gospel?

 

What is the gospel?

Many say it is simply the good news.

What does the Bible say about the gospel?

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that he preached unto them the gospel, they received the gospel and they stand in the gospel. 

Paul wrote to them that they are saved by the gospel if they keep in memory what he preached on to them, unless they believed in vain. 

In vain means "without success or effect."  

When we believe the gospel there needs to be some action on our part or it is in vain

Paul then describes how he delivered to

them that which he also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Simply put, the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

What action is required on our part to be saved by the gospel?

Paul wrote to the church at Rome saying that our action requires becoming dead to sin, burial with him by baptism, and raised up by the glory of the Father to walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-23).

Peter made it very clear what we must do when he preached on the day of Pentecost.

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."  (Acts 2:38).

Just as Jesus said, we must be born of water and of the Spirit. (John 3:5).

Jesus makes it very clear that it is not enough to believe the gospel. There must also be action on our part. We must obey the gospel. We must be baptized - born of water and of the Spirit. 

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." 

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." - Mark 16:15-16  KJV

Here are some verses speaking about obeying the gospel: Romans 10:9-16, 1 Peter 4:17, 2Thessalonians 1:3-10.

The Original Plan of Salvation

 

Buried with Him in Baptism

*Photo from Exploring God's Word Bible study

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

 

It is interesting that the Hebrew word for “atonement” (Strong’s H3722) is the same Hebrew word that is translated as “pitch.” 

"Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch [H3722] it within and without with pitch." - Genesis 6:14 KJV

The word “atonement” means “to cover, to cover over,” “to cover sins, i.e. to pardon.” (Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon).

The interesting thing is that Apostle Peter spoke of Noah’s ark being a type and shadow of baptism. 

"By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" - 1 Peter 3:19-21 KJV

We find that in water baptism in the name of Jesus that our sins are covered; we are pardoned; there is atonement.

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [forgiveness] of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38 KJV

"And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD." - Exodus 30:10 KJV

"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect... But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." - Hebrews 10:1, 3-4 KJV

"But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come…neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." - Hebrews 9:11-12 KJV