Tag Archives: Baptism

Does It Matter What Church We Attend?

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Does It Matter What Church We Attend? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 12:43pm QUESTION: Is it a sin to attend a church that is not a Restoration Movement church? E.g., Baptist, Presbyterian, inter-denominational? ANSWER: A couple of years ago (September 2009) I wrote a note explaining the difference between the visible church and the invisible church (just published in the August 2011 Restoration Herald). The invisible church is the universal body of Christ, the total number of those who have obeyed the gospel and are thus in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. All who … Continue reading →

THE “PIOUS UNIMMERSED”

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THE “PIOUS UNIMMERSED” by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 12:23pm QUESTION:  What is the salvation status of the “Pious Unimmersed”?   ANSWER:  The question of the salvation status of the pious unimmersed has been a mind-boggling and heart-wrenching issue in the Restoration Movement since its beginning.  The reason this question arose was that most of Protestantism since the days of the Reformation had abandoned the Biblical view of baptism as a salvation event and had adopted Huldreich Zwingli’s newly-minted concept of baptism as a visible sign of a salvation status already received.  The early Restoration leaders, … Continue reading →

CHURCH UNITY: WHO ARE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST?

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CHURCH UNITY: WHO ARE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 12:21pm QUESTION: What can we say about the unity of the church as a whole? Can we call Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Roman Catholics, etc., our brothers and sisters in Christ? ANSWER: Everyone who is presently in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ is my brother or sister in Christ. Everyone who has obeyed the gospel has entered into this saving relationship with Christ and is thus my brother or sister in Christ. Obedience to the gospel consists of FAITH (believing … Continue reading →

BAPTISM FOR SALVATION: ITS BIBLICAL BASIS

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BAPTISM FOR SALVATION: ITS BIBLICAL BASIS by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 9:16am QUESTION: Not long ago I had your course on “The Doctrine of Grace,” in which you discuss the issue of baptism. Personally, I accepted Christ as my Savior as an adult, but was not immersed until some years later. What was my spiritual status during that interim between my acceptance of Christ and my immersion? ANSWER: The subject of baptism comes up in several places in my course on grace, but in that course I do not attempt to “set forth the Biblical … Continue reading →

IS BAPTISM A NEW CONDITION FOR SALVATION?

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IS BAPTISM A NEW CONDITION FOR SALVATION? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 3:45pm QUESTION: In your book, Set Free! What the Bible Says About Grace (pages 216-217), you say that baptism is a “new condition” for salvation. Was there any custom of baptism among the Jews, or any other people, prior to its introduction by John the Baptist? I know that the Jews practiced purification rites where they immersed themselves in water. Was this a shadow of salvation baptism to come? ANSWER: Lots of water ceremonies and baptism-like ceremonies existed around the time of the … Continue reading →

Baptism and Original Sin

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Baptism and Original Sin by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, September 3, 2010 at 2:29pm QUESTION: How does baptism relate to original sin? ANSWER: To answer this question we must first begin with the fact that the NT teaches that baptism is a salvation event. I.e., it teaches that baptism is the point of time when God bestows the double cure for the problem of sin. In that moment God takes away the GUILT of sin by uniting us with Jesus Christ’s atoning death. This is called “baptism for the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38). Also in that moment God … Continue reading →

“Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?” Questioning the Question.

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“Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?” Questioning the Question. by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Friday, August 20, 2010 at 3:50pm “Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?” QUESTION: A brother has written expressing his dismay upon discovering that his church’s preacher and many of its elders do not see baptism as related to salvation, appealing, e.g., to the thief on the cross and to the hypothetical new believer lost in the desert. One elder is quoted as saying, “You will never get me to believe you have to be baptized to get to heaven.” Another elder cited a quote from Hicks and Taylor’s … Continue reading →

BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD (2)

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BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD (2) by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 3:01pm BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD (2) QUERY: First Corinthians 15:29 says, “Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?” What is Paul saying here? It does not seem to fit with everything else the Bible teaches about personal salvation. ANSWER: What does not seem to “fit” here is the supposed implication that an individual’s personal choices during this lifetime are not necessarily the measure of whether or … Continue reading →

Is Baptism an Act of Obedience to a Command?

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Is Baptism an Act of Obedience to a Command? by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 12:58pm QUESTION: In your book “Baptism: A Biblical Study” you say, “The Bible never treats baptism as a work of law or as a simple act of obedience in response to a command” (p. 139, 2006 ed.). Did not Christ command His disciples to go and make disciples, baptizing them (Matt. 28:19)? When the Jews asked Peter on the day of Pentecost, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37), did he not command them to “be baptized” (2:38)? Was not their baptism … Continue reading →

The Age of Accountability and Baptism

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The Age of Accountability and Baptism by Jack Cottrell (Notes) on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 2:24pm QUESTION: Have you written anything that particularly addresses the age of accountability and the baptizing of children? I have heard many discussions lately concerning: “Is the child not accountable one moment and then accountable the next? Must the child reach the state in which he is lost, for whatever length of time, before he can be baptized? Must he go out of the kingdom in order to come back into it again?” What do you think? REPLY: On the age of accountability as … Continue reading →