One cannot get into the kingdom of God upon the principle of faith alone, or repentance alone, or receiving the Holy Ghost alone. He will have to be baptized, go down in the water, and come up out of the water, and have hands laid upon him for the gift of the Holy Ghost. That is the procedure that was followed by the apostles of Christ. That is the procedure of the Church today. It is the only way.
Rudger Clawson, Conference Reports, October 1932, p.9.
Well, I’d say there is nothing in the Bible to back up this statement. What about the thief on the cross - was he baptized or did he have hands laid on him? No. So what did Jesus say? “Sorry pal, you are hell-bound because you didn’t get baptized.” Um, no. Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
What did Paul say was the requirement for salvation? According to Clawson, as an apostle he would have to follow the procedure Clawson spelled out. However, Paul said that, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9) Where is the mention of baptism or laying on of hands?
There are multitudes of passages in the Bible which say that the only requirement for salvation is faith in Christ and His atonement. Even the fact that Jesus said that his followers will “inherit” eternal life demonstrates that there is nothing we can do to qualify; an inheritance is always a gift, and no one works for a gift.
Mormons teach that there are works to be done in order to be saved. This is in direct contradiction to the Bible. This means that the LDS is a false belief system.
10 comments:
On the contrary, there are also passages in Scripture which describe eternal life as a REWARD.
Anonymous,
Yes, a "reward" for accepting Christ as our sacrifice for our sins. Not a "reward" for works.
Nice try, but no cigar.
James 2:24
You've been refuted.
Anonymous,
Nope. James is telling that if you are really saved you will do the works, not that you are saved by your works. Notices vs 23 says Abraham believed and that belief was credited as righteousness, not his works. You really need to read the whole chapter for context. But then, Mormons are famous for taking passages out of context.
Try again.
James 2:26 makes your terrible eisegesis fall apart.
Try Matthew 25:31-46
You've been refuted.
That's a terrible argument to use. BELIEVING is OBEYING.
Anonymous Troll,
Seems you have no clue about the context of that passage; you just throw out passages like confetti.
How about addressing the article? You know, that baptism is supposedly required for salvation? One is forced to ask why Christ never baptized anyone, and why Paul baptized only a few, if baptism was required for salvation? Faith in Christ alone is what saves us from sin (John 3:16, 36; John 5:24; John 6:47; John 20:31; Acts 16:31; Rom. 1:16; Rom. 3:22,25; Rom. 10:9; Tit. 3:5; Eph. 2:8-9, 16; et al). Baptism is only a symbol of that salvation accepted.
Oh, and yes, believing is obeying, but believing is the ONLY requirement for salvation.
So you call everybody who disagrees with you a troll? How sad.
I am interacting with your post. Now address my proof-texts.
Matthew 7:21
You've been refuted.
Anonymous,
First, you're a troll because of your cowardly anonymity.
Second, you're a troll because you don't address the topic of the post, rather you want to go off on to different topics. The pose is about whether or not baptism is necessary for salvation and you have yet to provide BIBLICAL proof of this claim.
I addressed every single one of your "proof texts." Matthew 7:21 again has nothing to do with baptism nor works for salvation.
You are finished here; I don't pander to trolls.
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