The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1919-02-13
Fundamentals Of Christianity
Continued from Page Six

/ Opeuience. very harsh treatment
you may say, that God should slav
man who had done nothing very
wrong except to disobey this inconse-
quontial command But none of
God S commands are inconsequential.
We are not qualified to judge of their
relative importance, A soldier is ex-
pected to obey the commands of his
luR.ltsr o-icc;. Tic soldier NAV
think he is as intelligent, and is as
well qualified to determine what
cught to be done, as is the superior
officer. Nevertheless it is the sol
dieF's business to do just exactly
what he is told to do. If thru the
an the Jewish people
could have learnt the lesson of
obedience his death was we'll worth
wh'ia Obedience is better than
sacrifice"
I ,esua said "If yc love me We will
I keep my commandments. There is
tendency -Jday among some very
good people to disregard one of the
commands of Jesus Christ because it
is said to be inconsequential, or
merely formal act. Who of us is
qualified to so judge. Surely it is
better to obey than to risk incurring
the Lords displeasure When giving
His apostles the commission to
preach the gospel Jesus said He
that believeth and is baptised shall
be saved" Nix. 1916. But some
people say today, ito believe is
enough you need not be baptized
unless you want 10 be-" To whose
voice shall we listen? Jesus gave us
the example by being himself bap-
tized, Nix 1:1-11 The converts on
the day of Pentecost obeyed this
command, so did the Ethiopian
eunuch, SO did Cornelius, so did Paul,
so did the Samaritans, so did Lydia,
so did the Jailor, so did Cristus, so
lid the Corinthians. Indeed in every
case Of conversion recorded in the
New Testament this command is
obeyed 1t is not necessary that we
should understand why the Lord re-
Quires it. 1t is our business to obey.
1t is the first step in Christian
obedience, 1t commits us to life
of obedience to follow.
While it is not necessary for US to
understand the why of baptism it is
necessary for us to understand the
how of baptism. We cannot obey
unless we know how. The command
of Jesus Christ was not vague COM
mand which could be obeyed by
doing any one of three or four differ
ent things. 1t was particular
specific act and was so understood
by the apostles. Christian baptism
is properly defined as THE INNER
sion of a penitent believer in water"
That immersion in water is baptism
is. admitted by the leaders and
scholars of all denominations, as the
following quotations show: Luther,
Baptism, in the first place, in the
Greek language is called baptismos,
and in the Latin tongue mersio; as
when a person dips something into
water until the water closes over it. "
John Calvin, The word baptize
signifies to immerse." John Wesley,
Comment on Rom. GA Buried
with Him, alluding to the ancient
practice of baptizing by immersion, :
Adam Clark, Methodist, They re-
ceived baptism as an emblem of
death in voluntarily goi1eg under the
water" Phillip Doddridge, Congre
gationalist commenting on Rom.
GA 1T seems part of candor to con-
fess that here Is an allusion to the
ancient manner CT baptizing by i'm
mersion." Phillip Schaff, Presbyter-
ian, "The usual form of the act was
immersion, as is plain from the
original meaning of the Greek
Archbishop Francis p kendrick, Ro-
man Catholic, THE primary mean
ing of the term baptize is acknow-
lodged to be dip or plunge" Bishop
Episcopalian, In bap-
tism while our bodies are under the
water, we may be said to be buried
with Him." Such quotations can be
Why should there be
over this. Search the
scriptures.
Finally there must be perseverance
in Christian living and service.
Work out your own salvation by
living the right kind OF life. Study |
to show thyself approved unto God.
None of the means OF salvation may |
be safely neglected, All other means
are of no avail if the life is not such
as to harmonic with faith in Jesus
Christ and with the example of His