One late night while reading
Colossians 1:15-20 God finally got through and revealed to me just who Jesus of
Nazareth was - both God and man! Not just a great teacher in the grave I
presumed, but a Jesus who died for mankind and overcame death through His resurrection.
I had heard this preached and I had previously studied intently the passages that related to this
resurrection but I never connected the dots nor did I want to until I believe
God called me at just the right time. While traveling with a friend around
midnight on the way to his in-laws home, I was reading the Colossians scripture
below. After I read it I finally realized the truth of who Jesus Christ is! It
all came together in a precious moment of less than a minute on that dark
highway. What was the one truth that tipped me at this pivotal moment in
time? His “pre-existence” all the way back to Genesis 1:26, thousands of years
ago. It said:
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all
things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the
fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him,
whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the
blood of His cross."
I finally met Jesus - He did resurrect from the dead! Within
3-4 days I had no choice but to believe in faith Jesus died on the cross to
bear the punishment for my sins, rising from the dead on the third day as the scriptures testify, offering me salvation through His loving
grace. His spilled blood on that cross I now realized was the agent God used to
satisfy His desire to save me. I could no longer run from Him. I also realized
I needed to repent and change my mind in how I lived and sinned and that I
needed to confess Christ as the Son of God who willingly shed His blood on the
cross just for puny me. For a lifelong atheist this was all quite daunting and
very scary, but through much prayer alone and with Christians, I trusted and
believed without any doubt now in my deep desire to go to heaven. The facts and
the case for Jesus being the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament were
inescapable.
Then during this period of
days being completely humbled and broken I realized I needed to become
completely obedient to my new found Lord Jesus and soon die to myself letting
Him cleanse all of my past sins through His shed blood, and that this
incredible gift needed to be appropriated and made real by being baptized
(immersed in water) into Christ, calling on His name (Acts 22:16). I realized
there was more to Gods plan for
me to be added to His church. Unless I submitted to His command to be baptized
for remission of my personal sins (Acts 2:38 and more), He would not see me
white as snow and acceptable in His sight. And I would not have or be sealed
with “the Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13) He promised to gift me that I so desperately
needed. I needed to finally allow another person to baptize me by
immersion in water because back to Jesus own words, He said,
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not
believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)
And more compelling and
descriptive, Gods Word revealed to me in Colossians 2:11-12 (there was
something about Colossians) that those brethren were spiritually circumcised
(cleansed before God) by Christ Himself doing the work during the passive act
of being buried (dying) in baptism as they by faith trusted the “working of
God.” I also realized this very important point: It wasn’t the water that cleanses sins (1 Pet 3:21),.But
only Jesus shed blood on the cross that is appropriated to my soul through Gods work of water baptism that He set in place even before the creation of the universe! You can read about this in Acts 2:14-39 from the very first gospel
sermon by Apostle Peter. I knew God required me with faith in Christ to take
this next and final step to be saved and be put "into Christ" and His
church (Galatians 3:26-27). I also knew to bypass this command would be
disobedience that would keep my soul right where it was, actually in a worse
state than before I knew the truth. So, since December 2, 1985 at 9:25 pm
having already believed and confessed Christ as Gods only Son who died for my
sins, repenting of my prior sinful ways of life, I gladly obeyed the gospel of
Jesus Christ having faith in Him to deliver what He promised - Salvation and my
name in the Book of Life! I proclaimed Jesus Christ as my Savior in front of
witnesses and I was then immediately baptized for the remission of my sins and
the gifting of the Holy Spirit, my new helper. I have been sanctified and justified
a citizen of the kingdom, Jesus’ church ever since with no looking back. He
kept His promise never letting me go.
I have been asked, "How do you know?" I will kindly reply, "Look, I was there, He's changed my life."
I have been asked, "How do you know?" I will kindly reply, "Look, I was there, He's changed my life."
That’s how this atheist was saved from doom by Jesus Christ and how most atheists are saved having to come out of a life with absolutely no bible or church affiliation in their lifetime. I and they must know who Jesus Christ was then, and is today in a very in your face way unfortunately. An atheist must meet Christ one on one no matter how hard and scary this meeting is. To be honest, that first month leading up to me opening the bible for the first time in my life as an adult almost killed me at the crossroads. Then it was sheer terror for the first few days of reading. Thankfully and by Gods grace I was instructed to read the loving words in the gospel of John first.
There is a back story as an
atheist I needed to wrap my head around during the conversion process. In
short, important worldview subjects such as, creation, evolution, science,
geography of bible lands, concept of Gods love for me, understanding physical
matter and all ingrained in my mind. Things most people who grew up around
church cannot understand. In retrospect this period was full of spiritual
battles pulling and pushing me at times to the brink. And though not a Christian
yet, I knew for the first time in my sinful life it was a real battle between
good and evil I can hardly share with lifetime church people and you be able to
comprehend its reality. Jesus no doubt in my mind literally threw me an anchor
in some sort of providential way back then in my early pre-christian readings.
I was chosen and finally called to obey in faith and love the gospel of Jesus
Himself. To my atheist friends, I hope and pray you do as well when He calls
you... He will never let you go...
To God be the Glory!
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Some personal Notes:
Psalm 119:160 says, "The
sum of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is
everlasting." The emphasis is on totality. Everything God says is right.
Every one of His ordinances is binding. And the truth about any subject is
determined by adding up and harmonizing all He says about it.
We are not saved by one thing
to the exclusion of all others, for there are many factors that work out our
salvation. God saves us, Christ saves us, the Holy Spirit saves, Grace saves,
Faith saves, Repentance saves, Confession saves, and Baptism saves. Rather than
focus on just one passage that speaks of our being saved, we must learn the
truth of what Jesus said: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Anything which
God declares is necessary to salvation in certain passages of Scripture must be
implied in all other passages which speak of salvation.
Conclusion:
No serious Bible student
affirms that there is any inherent power in the literal water of baptism.
Certainly the sinner is washed in the Lamb’s blood (but not even that —
literally speaking). Instead, it is the application of the Savior’s blood to
the sinner’s soul — in the mind of God — that supplies the efficacy. Baptism is
not a work whereby one earns his salvation. When a person goes forward to be
baptized, he does not state that he is already saved through his own perfect
obedience. Rather, such a man openly acknowledges that he is a sinner doomed to
hell on the basis of his own works, just like the Jews upon hearing Peter’s
first gospel sermon in Acts 2. In faith he then confesses that he believes that
Jesus died on the cross to bear the punishment for his sins and to offer
salvation for all men. He believes in Jesus, repents of his sins, confesses
Christ as the Son of God who willingly shed His blood on the cross for him, and
desires to be baptized into Christ in order that his sins be washed away, to be
added to His church, and to receive the Holy Spirit. By this he acknowledges
that salvation is God's gift of grace to him based on the Workings of God.
Hence, baptism is most definitely not a work whereby man earns his salvation.
It is part of the sum total of God’s word of truth…
“So likewise you, when you
have done all things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable
servants. We have done what was our duty to do.” (Luke 17:10)
“Jesus answered them and said,
“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will,
he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I
speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but
He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness
is in Him.” (John 7:16-18)
“Then those who gladly received his word were
baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. And they continued
steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine, and fellowship, and the breaking of
bread, and in prayer.” (Acts 2:41-42)
o·be·di·ence
əˈbēdēəns,ōˈbēdēəns/
Noun - Compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority
