STUDENT DECISION

Yes, by John the Baptist. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.” Matthew 3:13

To be obedient to all that God commanded. “Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Matthew 3:15

Yes. According to Acts 2:38, everyone who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and become a Christian should then be baptized. Baptism is something that happens after we become Christians. “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38

It is a picture of what Jesus has done for us and that we have accepted His forgiveness and sacrifice. Jesus died on a cross, was placed in a grave, and then three days later rose again. Baptism is a picture of this – when we go into the water it is a symbol of Him being placed in the grave, when we come out of the water it is a symbol of Jesus being resurrected from the grave. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:3-4

Those who have repented of their sin and have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

No, Jesus saved you when He died on the cross and rose from the grave. You accepted this salvation when you prayed to receive Christ. Water may wash your dirt away but it can not wash your sin away. Baptism is simply an outward symbol of an inward decision. “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

No. The Bible says we are lost if we do not repent of our sins and we fail to accept Jesus’s forgiveness. No where does the Bible say we are lost if we are not baptized.

You can’t get saved more than once…

Once you meet a stranger, you are no longer a stranger. You never need to be reintroduced because you have already met. A relationship with Jesus is the same way! When you get saved you meet Jesus for the first time. Therefore you never need to get saved again because you have already met Jesus.

You can’t lose your salvation…

Salvation is a gift. It comes from God. You can never be good enough to earn your salvation, it’s God’s gift to you. In the same way you can never be bad enough to lose your salvation.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” Joshua 1:5

Dealing with doubt…

God is in control of Heaven and Hell. Because His Word, the Bible, is true, we can be certain of our home in Heaven and forgiveness of our sin.

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:13

We all have things in our lives that we know were wrong. Often God shows us the sin in our lives so that we are reminded of our need for Him. In those moments He may be asking us to repent or turn away from sin. But turning away from or giving up one specific sin is not a substitute for having total forgiveness of our sins through Jesus. If your not sure you are truly a Christian, stop and get that settled before going forward.

I’ve messed up, now what…

Jesus never said that just because you are a Christian that life would be easy. Sometimes we mess up and that’s why God gives us repentance.

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.  For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.” 2 Corinthians 7:9-11

There are 3 steps to Biblical repentance:

1. Grief over sin

The Bible calls this “Godly grief.” It’s not feeling bad that we have been caught or that someone might find out, but truly being grieved over our sin because it offends God. This type of grief “produces a repentance” (verse 9).

2. Restitution

When real repentance is happening in your life there is a desire to fix the damage done from sin. See what verse 11 says, “what eagerness to clear yourselves.” No matter what you’ve done you can experience God’s grace and forgiveness, But you won’t be right with God if you don’t want to be right with people you have hurt or injured.

3. Revival towards God

When we repent there is a renewing of our joy in the Lord. Verse 11 says that once they had repentened the people had, “fear.” Before they didn’t care what God thought of their sin, but now they have changed.

Moving forward:

Here’s the last part – moving forward. Looking back and wishing you could change something – that’s normal. But it is also a symptom that you have not truly repented. True godly repentance always leads to a new joy in your relationship with God and that

means we can move forward without looking back. Verse 10 says, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.