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Listed below are some of the questions our visitors have asked us and our response to them.



* How many types of sinners are there? If there is more than one type of sinner where does The Bible make this distinction?
The Bible says all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23; 5:12). It is possible for some to have a more accurate knowledge of the gospel (Acts 24:22; Mark 12:34), but unless one in faith obeys the gospel and is baptized for remission of sins (Acts 2:38), the blood of Christ cannot cleanse one from sin. Any sin that is not forgiven by God through Christ will condemn us. Of course, once we obey the gospel, it is possible to sin again (1 John 1:9), but we can find God’s forgiveness again in Christ.

* Can you find the complete plan of salvation in any one verse in The Bible? If not why?
The Bible contains different types of literature, so God in His wisdom didn’t compose it as a textbook per se. When you look in the book of Acts, for example, we find the plan of salvation, but not laid out in one verse. As each case of conversion presented encounters different needs on the part of those individuals who were preached the gospel, so what they are told is based on those needs. The Philippian jailer (Acts 16) hadn’t heard of Christ, so the beginning point with him is faith. The multitude on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) were convicted in their hearts that Jesus was the Christ, so their need was to repent. In every case, however, baptism is mentioned, as it is something everyone must do to be saved. When we put these together, along with other passages from the New Testament, we understand by faith we must repent, confess, and be baptized. It is the complete teaching of Scripture that offers this conclusion, not just taking isolated cases without comparing them to the whole teaching of Scripture.

* 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?
The Bible records those who believed but did not act on that faith. John 12:42-43 is one example. Of course, if we truly believe that Jesus is Lord, that faith should motivate one to do what He as Lord has said. Which is why Jesus states one must be baptized. If one doesn’t believe, it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). To reject Christ is to reject the only means available God provides for salvation and life in Him (John 14:6). Condemnation comes when Christ and His will is rejected, as one remains in his or her sins, without the means of having those sins forgiven.

* Explain the difference between water baptism and Holy Spirit Baptism.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is recorded only twice in Scripture. Once in regard to the Jews in Acts 2, and once in regard to the Gentiles in Acts 10. It wasn’t promised to all believers, as was the command to go and baptize in the name of Jesus was (Matthew 28:19-20), but to Jesus’ disciples (Acts 1:4-5), specifically the 11 plus Matthias (Acts 1:26; 2:1). The purpose of this was for them to confirm the word of God they were inspired to proclaim (Hebrews 2:3-4). For the Gentiles in Acts 10, it was to assure Peter that Gentiles were worthy recipients of the gospel and that the gospel was meant for Gentiles too (Acts 10:47). Both events were special and not repeated. Water baptism, for the remission of sin, however, is commanded and practiced throughout the pages of Scripture. If being baptized in water is essential for forgiveness of sin, then it is an ongoing command, as Scripture indicates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised, but not commanded as a continuing part of the church. The confirmation of Scripture fulfills the purpose of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, revealing God’s will to us.

* When does one receive the Holy Spirit? When is a person baptized by the Holy Spirit?
Peter said one receives the Holy Spirit when one is baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38). The Spirit serves as an earnest of our salvation, a guarantee that God will fulfill and bring to completion what He has promised in Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14). Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as per question 4, was only for a specific purpose recorded twice in Scripture, and is found only twice in Scripture. It’s purpose was fulfilled and is not an ongoing process today.

* Is baptism a birth or a burial? Explain.
Baptism is both a burial and a birth, as Scripture uses both to illustrate what happens when one is baptized into Christ. In John 3:3-5, the water Jesus speaks of is naturally understood as baptism. Paul uses this same language in Titus 3:5. In Romans 6:3-4, Paul uses it there to describe our being buried into the death of Christ. There is no contradiction in using the same act, baptism, to illustrate two truths of that it accomplishes, enabling one to be born again in Christ because one has died with Him to the old man of sin. Both are essentials elements of what happens when we are baptized into Christ.

* What washes away a person’s sins, the blood of Jesus or the waters of baptism?
Of course, the blood of Christ washes away our sin (Ephesians 2:13). The question is where do we come in contact with His blood? Where is the blood of Christ applied to us? When we, in faith, obey God’s will, and are baptized into Christ, the blood of Christ cleanses our sins (Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3-6). The power is in the blood of Christ, not the water itself. It’s an obedient faith that brings us to Christ, in repenting of our sins, confessing Jesus as Lord, and being immersed. Each of these are an essential part in finding forgiveness through the blood of Christ. Baptism is where the blood is applied, so to speak, but baptism without faith, without repentance, without confession, is ineffective. All are part of our response to the will of God. They all are essential in receiving forgiveness. For the one, though, who in faith repents and confesses, baptism is where we come in contact with the blood of Christ by the power of God.

* What significance if any did Alexander Campbell play in the “Lord’s Church?” If he restored the church were there any people saved during the period before the church was restored?
Alexander Campbell played a part in helping restore New Testament Christianity here in the United States in the 19th century. This is not to say there were not congregations of the Lord’s church before the days of Alexander Campbell. The word of God is the seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11), and anytime it is planted in good and honest hearts, when one obeys the truth of the gospel from the heart, God adds Him to His church (Acts 2:47). From the perspective of history, after the apostasy foretold in the New Testament, and before the Reformation and Restoration movements, as they’re called, I have no doubt there were true congregations of the Lord’s church in existence, however small they may be. Evidence of this is slowly forthcoming. However, it would a minority group among a society where Catholicism was considered orthodoxy. It wouldn’t receive the “press” that the Catholic church would, nor would it desire to, considering the persecution it would likely face. These movements in history to restore New Testament Christianity are significant large movements on the scene of history, thus noteworthy. Who truly knows how many small pockets of congregations might have existed in society before that time, known not so much to us through history, but certainly to God?

* Do belief, repentance, and confession go together? If you do one aren’t you doing them all?
While belief, repentance, and confession are all part of God’s plan of salvation, they are not the same. Jesus spoke of those in Matthew 7:21-23 who believed Jesus as Lord, and would confess such, but lived a life of “lawlessness.” They obviously hadn’t repented. Again, a genuine faith in Christ should lead to repentance and confession, but there are those who acknowledge His reality without submitting their life to Him.

* Will God hear the prayer of a sinner?
Of course, the blind man who was healed in John 9 makes this statement (9:31), that God doesn’t hear sinners. And yet, in Acts 10, God tells Cornelius his prayers had come up for a memorial before Him (10:4), a person who Peter would preach to so he could be baptized. So Cornelius was a sinner, in that he needed to be baptized for the forgiveness of his sins. Is there a contradiction between the two? No. There are two possibilities. The blind man could just have been repeating what the Pharisees had previously said to him (John 9:24) in making his argument about Jesus. However, there seems to be a difference between the one who is hardened against God, and the one seeking God. Both may be sinners, yet one cares nothing for God, while the other is trying to find the right way to God. In that God wants all to be saved, I believe he will help a sincere seeker of truth to find one who will help him understand so as to respond in faith and find forgiveness. Prayer of a sinner, however, who is not seeking to be right with God, deceived by sin, is not the same. One shouldn’t expect God to answer one’s prayer if using Him from wrong motives, from a sinful lifestyle that will be persisted in (James 4:1-3).

* In Acts 9:15 Jesus refers to Paul as a chosen vessel, how can he be a chosen vessel if he was not saved on the road to Damascus?
In God’s foreknowledge, He knew Paul’s heart, and how Paul would respond to Ananias’ preaching of the gospel. Paul freely chose to obey, and preach the gospel (1 Timothy 2:7). We are called by the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), and those who obey it are part of God’s chosen (Ephesians 1:4-5), and could be spoken of as such by God long before Christ offered himself as a sacrifice for sins. It’s God’s omniscience that enables Him to so speak.

* In Acts 10:47 Peter says “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” The verse says that they have the Holy Ghost but they have not been baptized, how can an unsaved person have the Holy Ghost?
The imparting of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius in Acts 10 had to do with the miraculous ability to speak in tongues, which Peter specifically refers to (Acts 10:47), looking back to what happened to the apostles on the day of Pentecost. It was to convince Peter, and the Jews in general, that Gentiles were worthy of hearing and obeying the gospel, that it wasn’t a privilege for Jews only. This miraculous impartation was not the promise of the Holy Spirit Peter promised in Acts 2:38 for those baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, as that had yet to be done. Refer back to question 4 for the difference in the two baptisms.

* What role does the Holy Spirit play in salvation? Does the Holy Spirit have a direct role in salvation?
The Holy Spirit works through the agency of the word, Scripture, in convicting and convincing men of sin, of pointing them to the will of God, and bringing them to obedience of the gospel. Note again 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14.

* In I Peter 3:21 Peter says “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.” How can baptism was away my sins when Peter makes it clear that it does not put away the filth of the flesh? How can baptism save me if it is the answer of a good conscience toward God because just having a good conscience toward God will not save me?
The filth of the flesh and the forgiveness of sins are two unrelated items. Peter is emphasizing baptism works spiritually, not physically. Being saved isn’t getting clean as in a bath; the power isn’t in the water washing away dirt, but it’s what is done on the inner person. Being baptized is a response in faith to the will of God. The word answer can also be translated appeal, or demand. In other words, one submits to baptism in order to have forgiveness and in knowing one’s sins are forgiven, a clear conscience. Obedience in faith is our appeal to God, in which God responds by forgiving sins and offering a cleansed conscience. Again, this is done by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:14), and baptism is where Christ’s blood is contacted. The cleansing, therefore, is spiritual.

* How often are we to take The Lord’s Supper? The Bible says the disciples broke bread on the first day of the week but it doesn’t say they did it every week. The only commandment given by Jesus concerning this was “This do in remembrance of me.”
In 1 Corinthians 16:2, we learn the church at Corinth was meeting on the first day of the week (the Greek text is clear that it’s the first day of every week, so most translations include the term every, where few do not). In 1 Corinthians 11:20ff, Paul writes one of the things they did when they met was to take the Lord’s Supper (although there were problems that needed correcting). So, we can understand in this the church at Corinth met every first day of the week, and in these meetings they partook of the Lord’s Supper. That is was being taken every first day is seen in Paul’s knowing he could wait until the first day of the week at Troas (Acts 20:7) to assemble with the brethren and partake of it with them (breaking of the bread, in the original, indicates it was not just an ordinary meal). This was the practice of the early church as well, in their understand of the word of God. Another helpful analogy might be with the teaching of the law of Moses on the Sabbath day. They were to remember it, keep it, although the Old Testament doesn’t read “every” Sabbath day. “Remember the Sabbath” meant, if there was a Sabbath, observe God’s will for it. As the Lord’s Supper is connected with the first day of the week, as often as there is a first day of the week, we should remember the Lord’s death in the Lord’s Supper.

* Should there be special emphasis place on The New Testament? Explain.
The New Testament is our only source of doctrine, so we place emphasis on it for understanding what we must do to obey God today. The Old Testament was written for our encouragement (Romans 15:4), and we can learn much from it about those who lived before under God’s covenant then, about obedience or a lack of it and the consequences of either. We can learn about faith, and other timeless principles. But it is no longer binding doctrinally (Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 10:10), so when it comes to knowing how to obey God and what His will is for worship and living today, we give emphasis to the New Testament. This doesn’t deny, however, the importance of the Old Testament, our need to understand it to understand better how God has worked everything out in Christ, etc.

* Can we lose our salvation? Jesus says in John 10:28-29 that no man can pluck us out of his hand or his father’s hand. Wouldn’t no man include us as well? If I can lose my salvation can I lose my baptism as well?
Yes, we can forfeit our salvation. The passage you refer to, John 10:28-29, is incomplete without looking at verse 27; “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” As long as we follow Christ, we can in Him, and no one can make God stop loving us or offer us forgiveness in Christ (Romans 8:38-39). But if we choose to stop following Christ, then we remove ourselves from His grace and mercy which is only in Christ. Scripture offers several examples of those who have done this very thing. Note Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 6:4-6; 2 Peter 2:20-22. Here the inspired writers are directing their words to people who were Christians, who had obeyed the gospel, but then turned away from it and the consequences that brings. However, one can repent and find forgiveness again by returning to Christ. 1 John 1:9; 2:1 are examples. Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8 shows how this is possible. He believed and was baptized (8:13), but allowed sin to gain control (8:18-20). Peter didn’t tell him to be baptized again, but to repent and pray to God for forgiveness (8:22).

* Is there a difference in fellowship with God and a relationship with God? Can I be out of fellowship with God but still have my relationship with God? If I quit speaking with my dad the fellowship has been broken, but that doesn’t change the fact that I am his son and he is my dad because we are still related no matter what thus a relationship is always there whether or not I choose to fellowship with him.
We have a relationship with God by being in fellowship with Him through His Son, Jesus (1 John 1:6-7). If that fellowship is broken due to sin, we are still children of God, but erring children in need of forgiveness. The relationship is not what it should be, not that which will result in eternal life because our sins have separated us once more. We need to repent and pray for forgiveness to have fellowship and a right relationship restored. Yes, I’m always a child of my earthly father, no matter how disobedient I become. However, even though I’m his child, he can still disinherit me. A child of God removed from God’s grace because of sin faces judgment (Hebrews 10:26-31).

* Was the thief on the cross saved?
From all indications, from what we are told in Scripture, I would conclude the thief on the cross was saved, as Jesus said, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). However, the thief lived under the Old Covenant, not the new, which was established only after Christ died and was raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). We are under the New Covenant, and must obey what the gospel reveals to us. The thief on the cross is not a model for how one is saved today.

* How was Abraham saved because The Law was not established until Moses’ time?
Abraham lived under what has been called the “patriarchal age,” the time when God revealed Himself to the patriarchs separately, before a unifying covenant binding on the children of Israel was given. He was justified by faith based on His obedience to God’s revealed will to Him (James 2:21-24). This is how Abel’s sacrifice was able to be acceptable to God, and why Cain’s was not (Hebrews 11:4; Romans 10:17). Of course, the blood of Christ forgives the faithful of all ages, whether in the times of the patriarchs, those under the Law of Moses, or from the day of Pentecost until His return (Hebrews 11:40; 10:14).

* Did people who were baptized by John The Baptist need to baptized again to receive the remission of sins? Explain.
There is no record in Scripture of anyone having been baptized by John the Immerser (Baptist) being “rebaptized” after the day of Pentecost. Mark writes, “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4). In Acts 18:24—19:7, Paul properly baptized 12 individuals who had been baptized by John’s baptism, but apparently by Apollos previously. These were baptized into Christ because John’s baptism wasn’t valid after the day of Pentecost, and they had been baptized into John’s baptism long after Christ had died and the church established. One must be baptized into Christ then, not looking forward in anticipation to His coming.

* Is baptism part of The Gospel? Romans 1:16 says “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” In I Corinthians 1:17 Paul says “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.” Here Paul makes a distinction between The Gospel and baptism, Paul says Christ sent him not to baptize so how could he preach The Gospel without baptism?
Baptism is part of the gospel, as Jesus told the apostles they were to baptize (Matthew 28:18-20). It was part of the first gospel sermon (Acts 2:38), and was part of everyone’s response to the preaching of the gospel in the book of Acts who came to Christ. Paul isn’t saying baptism is unimportant or nonessential. He is talking about the physical act itself, and how he let others do that. Paul was baptized, and he emphasized one is in Christ by being baptized (Galatians 3:27), so it is a necessity. In the context of 1 Corinthians 1:17, Paul is addressing divisions in the church at Corinth. They were forming “parties” around different preachers; “Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1:12-13). It’s this statement about being baptized in the name of Paul that prompts his next remark about being glad he personally baptized only a few. Did everyone need to be baptized to be cleansed in the blood of Christ? Yes. Did Paul have to do it for it to be effective? No. In light of how some where claiming some preachers were better than others, was he glad he hadn’t baptized many himself, so they could claim, “Well, Paul actually baptized me?” No doubt. He didn’t want that to add fuel to the divisions already present. They all had been baptized into Christ, no matter who the human agent was doing the baptizing. Paul didn’t have to do it himself for their baptism to be valid. This is similar to a statement about Jesus, “Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John [2] (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples)” (John 4:1-2). Jesus wasn’t actually literally baptizing these people, but doing it through His disciples. Think of what some would say if Christ had actually, with His own hands, had baptized them!

* Are the new Bible translations the inspired word of God as well as the King James Version? Is there anything wrong with using one of the new Bible translations? Explain.
The translation issue has caused much confusion and discord. Every copy of the Bible in English is a translation, that is, taking the original Hebrew and Greek texts and bringing them into another language, in our case, English. Are all translations as good as the next? No, but we must keep in mind every translation has its own strengths and weaknesses. The King James, New King James, and American Standard Version are known for being literal translations, trying to convey exactly what is in the original texts. Newer translations have followed a more “loose” method of translation, trying to convey what the translators think the text means, what its thought and intent is. This becomes more interpretive than translation. It can be more of a commentary than the actual words found in the original manuscripts. So, how do you judge the value of a translation? I would only use one of the newer ones only as a study aid. Compare it to one of the word-for-word, more literal translations, as in those three mentioned above. The New King James Version, for example, is a modern English translation that is faithful to the original texts. If you read something in a newer translation that deviates from it, or suggests a doctrine different from that found in a literal translation, it is suspect at best, and dangerous at worst, if it leads away from what Scripture really says. Always compare a translation you are unfamiliar with to one you can know and trust, which has been proven by both use and time to be faithful to the Hebrew and Greek.




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