Welcome to Austinville Church of Christ!
2833 Danville Road SW- Decatur,Alabama 35603
Ph 256-353-4256 fax 256-350-8148
Service Times
Sunday morning Worship 10:30 AM / Sunday evening Worship 5:00 PM
Sunday morning Bible Study 9:30 AM / Wednesday Bible Study 7:00 PM
Searching the Scriptures
QUESTION: The thief on the cross was saved without being baptized. WHY then do you teach the necessity of baptism for salvation?
ANSWER: When Jesus said to the thief, “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43), the eternal salvation of that man was settled then and there! The difference between the salvation of the thief and people today is the difference between living under the Old Covenant and living under the New Covenant (Gal. 3:19; Col. 2:14). Paul wrote, "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2). Christ has a law (1 Cor. 9:21). Moses gave the Ten Commandment law to Israel (Deut. 5). They had to obey Moses (Deut. 18:18,19; Acts 3:22,23). Those same passages point to a greater prophet, Jesus, and declare: "Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear THAT prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people." The phrase, "he shall say unto you" constitutes Jesus’ law. The thief had to obey the laws of the Old Covenant while today we are responsible to the New covenant of Christ (Acts 4:12). The New Covenant was not in force until AFTER Jesus’ death (Heb. 9:15-17). It was not until His resurrection that baptism for salvation was commanded in the name of Christ (Mk. 16:15-16; Acts 2:38). The thief NEVER lived under Christ’s New Covenant command to be baptized for the remission of sins. The thief was honest & courageous by rebuking the other robber. He appeared to fear God, acknowledged his guilt, accepted his deserved punishment, showed respect for Jesus, defended Jesus’ innocence, and had some knowledge of Jesus’ kingdom (Lk. 23: 40-42). HOWEVER, he lived under the Mosaic Law, NOT Christ’s law. Today, the penitent sinner needs to be baptized just as immediately and for the same reason as those people did in the book of Acts (Acts 16:30-34; 2:38, 41).
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If there is a question you want answered, please send to the address below. If you would like to study the Bible, please send for a free Bible correspondence course.
Austinville Church of Christ
Minister
