baptism

Romans 4:1-12

Visiting with my Brother Mark on the phone this morning, he reminded me of the importance of meditating on the Scriptures throughout the day.  I have got to implement a practical strategy of enjoying the Lord through His Word throughout the day.  It is the enjoyment of the Lord that is the practical salvation from the temptations of this world.

In response to those who insist that a Believer must be baptized in order to be saved, it seems to me that this paragraph explains that it is faith alone:

⁹Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ¹¹ He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹²and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

I'm certainly not trying to argue that you should not be baptized, but I do think that baptism is not required for justification (if you can actually separate justification from sanctification).

Heavenly Father, thank you for your forgiveness.  Please help me see how bad my sin is so that I can appreciate how amazing your love and mercy are.  Lord, please help me walk with you and enjoy you throughout the day, and deliver me from the stress of trying to be good enough for everyone else.  I only need to see myself as you see me - made in your image, and redeemed by the blood of Christ.  I love you, Lord, and I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.