1 Peter 3: Baptism Now Saves You

Today’s reading is 1 Peter 3.

It happened 31 years ago, but it comes to my mind often, even still. I was in college, working a part-time job at a furniture store. My job was to move furniture around and deliver it. Certainly, there were busy times which left no room for chit chat. But, on the other hand, there were slow times. No deliveries to be made. Everything in the store was right where it needed to be. It was all dusted and cleaned. And no customers in sight. In those moments, various discussions came up.

One day, a conversation occurred with one of the sales people about baptism and whether or not it was necessary for salvation. We went back and forth. I brought up Acts 2:38 and Acts 22:16. We talked about Mark 16. Then my friend said, “Edwin, you’d think if baptism saved you, the Bible would say that at least once.” Before I could respond, a customer walked in. The conversation was over. We had no more time to talk the rest of the day. At the end of the day, we were both about to leave. Before my co-worker walked out the door, I handed her a piece of paper. On it I had simply written, “1 Peter 3:21-22.” I said, “You made a good point earlier. Can you look up this passage tonight and then we can talk some more tomorrow.” She unfolded the paper, looked at it, folded it up, handed it back to me and said, “I’m good.” And that was it. We didn’t talk about it anymore.

Here’s what those verses say:

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him (ESV).

There it is. “Baptism…now saves you.” Granted, it’s not that baptismal waters are mystical and powerful. The resurrection of Christ is what saves us in those baptismal waters. We die in that baptism and are raised to walk with Jesus in the newness of life (see Romans 6:1-4). But baptism now saves you. We are not saved by our work of baptism but by God’s working in and through baptism (see Colossians 2:11-12). But baptism now saves you. We do not earn salvation by getting baptized. We are saved by God’s grace (see Ephesians 2:8-10) But baptism now saves you.

Baptism apart from Christ won’t save you. Baptism apart from faith won’t save you. Baptism apart from repentance won’t save you. But biblical baptism as a response to Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection as a means of giving your allegiance to King Jesus saves you.

Can we help you confess your faith in Jesus and give your allegiance to Him by following in His footsteps of death, burial, and resurrection in water baptism? If we can, let us know in the comments below.

Next week’s reading is 1 Peter 4.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share with others from 1 Peter 3?

Mark 13: Jesus’s Word Will Not Pass Away

Today’s reading is Mark 13.

In Mark 13:30, Jesus explained He was talking about a judgment which would come in the lifetime of the generation listening to Him. But then He makes an interesting statement:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
–Mark 13:31, ESV

Heaven and earth did not pass away within that generation. Does that mean Jesus lied? Does that mean Jesus was mistaken?

No.

Jesus was not saying before that generation passed away heaven and earth would pass away. He was saying His Word is more stable than even heaven and earth. He was essentially saying heaven and earth will pass away before His words pass away. In fact, in this passage, He doesn’t even actually mean heaven and earth will pass away (though other passages do say that will happen at some point, see 2 Peter 3:10-13). He means as solid and stable as the heavens and earth are, His Word is more solid and stable. We can count on His words still being true tomorrow more than we can count on the heavens and the earth still being here tomorrow. We can trust His words more than we can trust the ground beneath our feet.

Of course, Jesus made this statement in a particular context. His point was judgment would come on Jerusalem and Judea. That word would take place. Of course, it did. In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in it for a second time. However, we can apply the point about Jesus’s words to everything He said.

Jesus’s words never pass away. All His teaching is true. Everything He says about how to live and how to have eternal life are all true. They won’t change. His teaching about a life worthy of His calling and salvation from sin, will always be valid. If Jesus said it, we can bank on it. When Jesus said Jerusalem would be judged and destroyed, it was going to happen. When He said the poor in spirit inherit the kingdom, we know it will happen. When He said if we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness God will supply our needs, we can take it to the bank. When He says if we don’t repent, we will all likewise perish, we know it will happen.

Jesus’s words will not pass away. We will. But if we have based our lives on His stable and steadfast word, even when we pass away, we will live.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Mark 13.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Mark 13 prompt or improve your hope in God?

John 16: Don’t Fall Away

Today’s reading is John 16.

Because we are reading one chapter per week, we may miss the interlocking nature of what we find in our Bibles as John 15 and John 16. In John 15:18-25, Jesus spoke of persecution. In John 15:26-27, He spoke of the coming help of the Holy Spirit. In John 16:1-4, He speaks again of persecution. In John 16:5-15, He speaks again of the help of the Holy Spirit.

Smack in the middle of this, Jesus provides the reason for the back and forth repetition of these teachings:

I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.

John 16:1 (ESV)

Let’s think about that for a minute. Jesus believed the apostles were in danger of falling away. Folks can bicker about what this word means in order to try to protect their pet doctrines, but it is the same word Jesus used in Matthew 13:21 to describe the outcome of the seed sown on rocky soil. Jesus used it in Matthew 24:10 to describe what many disciples would do when tribulation and persecution occurred. It is the same word Jesus used in Matthew 26:31 to describe what all the apostles would do when Jesus was arrested. And it is the same word Peter used to describe what he would never do in Matthew 26:33 (but, of course, he did).

However, notice this: Jesus is not talking about what would happen at His arrest or in the three days of His burial. He is talking about what would happen after His resurrection and after the apostles start proclaiming the gospel. Jesus goes on in John 16:2-3 to discuss the events that would occur in Acts. And, I repeat, Jesus believed the apostles were in danger of falling away.

At the same time, Jesus believed falling away was avoidable. He provided for them what they needed to avoid it. He prepared them for the potential. He warned them of the events which might tempt them. He told them of the help they could have and the source of strength they could rely upon. He taught them truths to counter the falsehoods the enemy would use. They could fall away, but if they took Jesus’s way of preparation, they wouldn’t.

What does this mean for you and me? First, let none of us think God has so saved us that we cannot abandon Him. We can. Further, let none of us think we are so strong we can’t possibly surrender to the enemy. Some do. Second, let none of us think God has so chosen, predestined, predetermined that any of us must of necessity be lost and condemned. Further, let none of us think our God is so weak that we cannot but help fall prey to the enemy. We can fall away. That doesn’t mean we will.

Finally, and here is the truly important part of this. God doesn’t want us to fall away, so He has provided all we need in order to stand firm and overcome the enemy. We must choose to avail ourselves of the truth, strength, and help God provides. But He has given it. We don’t have to fear God has left us hanging out to dry. Ask God for strength. Seek God’s righteousness. Knock on the gates of God’s kingdom. All who ask receive; those who seek find; and those who knock will have it opened to them. God wants you healed, whole, and heading for heaven. Be honest with yourself, with God, with others, and with the Word. Reach out to God and rely on Him, His Spirit, His Word, His people. And refuse to fall away no matter what happens. Hold on to Jesus no matter what.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 16.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does John 16 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Crippled in the Kingdom

Today’s reading is Matthew 18.

Jesus makes a surprising shift as we read into Matthew 18:8. In vss. 6-7, He was warning the disciples against causing someone else to stumble. In vs. 8, He warns about our own stumbling. In fact, He is so concerned about our own stumbling, He provides some of the most shocking teaching in all of the New Testament.

If your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut them off and throw them away. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better to enter the kingdom crippled than to keep your body whole and miss the kingdom.

On the one hand, we learn we are so valuable to God, He wants us to be in the kingdom no matter what it costs. We need to see our own eternal life as valuably as God does. Even our hands, feet, and eyes are not as important as the life God would give us in His kingdom. On the other hand, we must not simply take these statements out of the context in which Jesus said them. The specific sin we are in danger of committing in this context is being a stumbling block. Is there something that we value in our own lives more than we value the little ones who have turned to Jesus? Even if it is our own hand, we should cut it off and throw it away. Anything that would make us sin, that would make us a stumbling block needs to go. We should receive and welcome these little ones, but despise all temptations and stumbling blocks no matter how important they are to us.

The arrogant and prideful demand to keep their hands, feet, and eyes, despising these little ones. The humble become like children and care so much about others, they despise and cut off whatever will get in the way of the salvation of these little ones no matter how personally important to them. This is a tall order. But remember, all things are possible with God.

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 18.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. Why is it hard to picture being crippled in the kingdom of heaven?
3. Why is it difficult to value the salvation of other people over our rights, possessions, opportunity, time, etc.?
4. What advice would you give to help us value other people above our “hands, feet, and eyes”?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?