What I Was - Part #1

Before Anything

Think of this for a moment, what if God wants to start working in your life and mold you to the shape that you ought to be. Put you into a place that is best for you. Fill your Emptiness, Shower you with Blessings, Spend time with you in Eternity?

Result of OUR SINFULNESS!

Did you know? However huge your riches can be, whatever good works you've said you did, to whomever your righteousness you have shown, how wise or genius you are because of what you attain... ALL OF THESE THINGS CAN NEVER BE WORTHY ENOUGH for GOD to save us from our SINS. In Romans 3:23, the scriptures says we all come short of the Glory of God!

Isaiah 64:6 says, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away".

This what had happened to Israel when they forsake God and serve other gods(idolatry!) and continue in their iniquity. Same with us today... ignorance or out of ignorance of True Salvation from God's Grace won't save us. It's our CHOICE to believe and receive it or just ignore it!

"We all NEED SALVATION from GOD".. and that's only through Faith in Jesus Christ. If you want to accept Jesus Christ in your life.. please read "How to Accept Jesus Christ" post, so you will understand how Gracious and Merciful God really WAS/IS!.

What I was...

What I was means? I'm actually referring to "What I believed before" that I think was TRUE and RIGHT.


I'm sharing my story not for offensive or defensive purposes. It's for you to decide whether it match what are you today or either we live in different path as I was. What I'm sharing is the Grace of Salvation of God. Not mine...

I created this series of POSTS(cut them into pieces), because I know it'll take me a super long post for you to read.. so to make it more organized and easy to read, I cut them in parts.

So here's some few things that I believed before was RIGHT:

Wrong Belief #1: I believed "Baptism" can Save Me.

When I was an infant, my parent had me baptized to a Roman Catholic(as they were) church. And what it taught me was, that baptism will cleanse me from the original sin and if I die as an infant, then I will be in heaven., I was also taught about "purgatory"(which now I knew a man made doctrine)!

And so, when I got married, I and my wife did the same too for our Son. Following the footsteps of our parents and what Catholic church teaches us to do. We had our son baptized, with the same belief that he can be cleanse from his original sin through baptism!

Now, tell me if I'm wrong.. do you have the same belief as I was? Or you didn't understand the entirety of what "infant baptism" after all? Are you just following the footsteps of what your parents or the Catholic priest and other religious leaders asked you to do? Then you need to read the Bible.

One reason why "PEOPLE" can easily "DECEIVED" and even "HARDENED" to stay on what they believe is RIGHT(their own eyes and feelings) is because of their(as I Was) NOT "Reading the Bible" and Understanding of it. If you are a SAVED person, you are given by God the power to understand His Words. Faithfully ask Him to let you understand His Holy Word and He will surely grant that for you!


How can we divide the "TRUTH" from Lies without the knowledge in the Bible? How can we know the thing we follow is of God or is of Satan?

Searching the Scriptures is the only way we can set ourselves FREE from LIES of Deceiving ways of "satan" (John 5:39, John 8:32)

What SCRIPTURE SAYS ABOUT BAPTISM?

Let's start with the WORD "BAPTISM".

BAPTISM was to mean "IMMERSED" not "SPRINKLING". It is a picture that symbolized the "Death & Resurrection" of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:4)

I've drawn an image(sorry if it's not good lookin', I'm not good at drawings :p) to help you illustrate and show you what it portrays.

Click to Enlarge

There are couple of things you must know about WATER BAPTISM:

• It is the FIRST ACT of OBEDIENCE. If you truly ACCEPT Jesus Christ as your Lord and SAVIOR, then you understand that you are to be BAPTIZED with WATER.
  
• It is for Illustration or Symbolism that Jesus Christ Died and was RAISED from the DEAD.
  
• It's a PUBLIC declaration of your FAITH on Jesus Christ.
  
• It illustrates that your and my SINS was buried on His death and the NEW "us" was RAISED through His Resurrection.
  
• It is for those who BELIEVED & ACCEPT Jesus Christ(not an infant who do not have the ability of believing)
  
• It means to IMMERSE not SPRINKLING.
  
• It CANNOT SAVE or can be ADDED on Your SALVATION(Jesus SAVED You!).
  
• It DOESN'T CLEANSED(What cleanses you was the Shed Blood of Jesus Christ).

Scripture References of "BAPTIZING all the HOUSEHOLDS"

Catholics refer many passages on the Scriptures to accept "infant baptism" In Act 18:8 , Acts 2: 37-38,Acts 16: 15,Acts 16: 33, these passages mentioned "and all the household" and they conclude including infants and children(Yes and possibly TRUE). 

But the the question is? How did anyone come to Jesus? Catholics answer was: "It was through baptism". There was passages from the scripture at Mark 10:13-16, Matthew 19:13-15; Luke 18:15-17 that used by Catholics as defense to which "Infant Baptism" was held. But never did I read in those passages that Jesus was doing any water BAPTISM in this EVENT. 

In Luke 18:15-17, the scripture says that infants was to touch by Jesus(not BAPTIZED, 'coz Jesus didn't often(John 3:22) Baptized Water but John & His Disciples - John 4:2)

But what Jesus just told on these passages?? Please read Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14 & Luke 18:16. Jesus told not to "HINDER" them but most PARENTS do! They hinder their children to learn the Word of God. 

Their reasons? Here are just few:

• They have a lot of "WORK"(helpmate) that they want their children to do instead of attending "Saturday and Sunday" School classes!
• They were told by their "religious" leaders to not let their children "GO" because their child might become a member of another religious group and it's ugly to see by others.
• Afraid of "Kidnapping" and that their child might get lost.
• And many other reasons.

It's not the "PARENTS" fault., it's just what they we're also taught by. And the problem was., most of those parents that hinder their children were those "NONE" going to church busy pops and moms!

WHAT JESUS REALLY PORTRAYS!

Jesus Christ have said in Matthew 18:3(please read)., that "IF" really man wants to "GO" to HEAVEN, we should "HUMBLE" ourselves as such LIKE a little children. 

It means, we can't do anything for ourselves that can SAVE us. We can't give "ENOUGH" righteousness to the FATHER, we can't do "ENOUGH" good things, we can't do ENOUGH good WORKS for simple reasons that we don't know HOW Many and HOW long.


That is WHY Jesus was the TRUE lamb given offered as SACRIFICE(2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Corinthians 5:7) for our SINS to blot out ALL OUR SINS and that Jesus' RIGHTEOUSNESS was imputed into us by the FATHER(Romans 4:6).

BAPTISM is the FIRST ACT of OBEDIENCE "NOT" for SALVATION.

Again, it is NOT "BAPTISM" can SAVE us or can ADD's up unto our SALVATION. It is the FIRST ACT of Obedience of EVERY Christ believers(not for infants who cannot discern just yet). If you BELIEVED Jesus Christ as your LORD and SAVIOR, then be BAPTIZED with WATER Baptism that is following the SCRIPTURAL Baptism(IMMERSION and not "SPRINGLIKE"). Be baptized in a CHURCH that teaches the WORD of GOD, that HONORS the WORD of GOD(not making it lower than the other books they have) that you will GROW in your CHRISTIAN LIFE and become a blessing to OTHERS.


Now let me asked you? Are you Baptized with WATER when you were OLD or it was when you are INFANT? If you we're baptized when you were infant, then you were baptized not accepting JESUS Christ first as your Lord and SAVIOR. For just simple illustration, was it GOOD that the CARABAO goes FIRST than of the MAN? Isn't GOOD right? So if Baptism comes first before accepting Jesus Christ, then also it was wrong!


Now is the time for you to ACCEPT Jesus Christ and be BAPTIZED.

So that's it for this post... Hope this helps you compare yourself of what you are today, what kind of belief you have and how you deal with the Word of God!

God will bless you and will surely show you His Grace(if you haven't received it yet) if you continue and abide in His WORD.

See you on my other post What I was - Part #2.