What Must I Do to be Saved?
Hello, Beautiful Homemakers!
Today I am reading a 16 page booklet that changed the life of my family. I discovered it just a few months ago and got in touch with the author. V. Glenn McCoy and his wife and family gave me permission to read this booklet to you on YouTube.
During the last 5 minutes of the video, after I finish reading the booklet, I share these verses:
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Romans 6:2-7
and Galatians 3:22, and 3:26-27.
The background of WHY I chose to read this booklet to you
(Most of this is NOT in the video, but I know my loyal subscribers will appreciate the full story)
In mid-2024 my husband and I were still on our church search. He dragged me to many a service with rock concerts that, frankly, disgusted me. In one service, people in the audience bowed to a jesus idol and a fake prop-bible. We left this service half-way through at my insistence (because that breaks the 2nd Commandment). In the majority of churches we visited, people just weren't friendly, no matter the size of the congregation - from fairly small to mid-sized, to the mega churches. That was very disappointing to me. In some churches, I couldn't even get a person to look me in the eyes or smile, or greet me while washing my hands in the restroom.
I never close my eyes during the prayers when I visit a new church - I like to see what people are actually doing during prayer time (it tells you a lot about the overall spiritual condition of the church!). And I can tell you that, at too many of the churches I visited, few people "in charge" of the service were actually praying, and only about two-thirds of the people in most congregations appeared to be praying. Most of those not praying were on their phones, or poking someone, or yawning, or whispering, or looking at paperwork.
At another church the "pastor" compared Jesus to a bug-zapper. I won't give you the backstory so that you won't have this blasphemous mischaracterization of the Creator of the Universe in your mind. It was interesting that in this "worship" service, no person looked at one another, no one greeted another, and people literally ran out of the building after the meeting was over. (I was one of those who ran - couldn't get out fast enough!)
In June I picked up V. Glenn McCoy's booklet at a little church of Christ where I always attend a woman's VBS (vacation Bible school) event, but I didn't read it.
In August, with my mother and two friends, we attended a little church of Christ nearby, that I'd passed a million times, but the little brown building wasn't very eye-catching or memorable. That is, until we entered. The people and how they conducted their services was what was memorable! And everyone (except me!) bowed their heads and closed their eyes to pray - even the teenager walking down the side aisle stopped to pray instead of continuing to his seat. It was everything I was looking for in a church! We were h o m e . And so friendly! At least 40 members of the congregation greeted us before the service started, and after the service another 20 came over and introduced themselves, and then a very nice couple took the 4 of us out to Olive Garden to get to know us better (what a way to make people feel welcomed!).
It was shortly thereafter that I finally read V. Glenn McCoy's little booklet:
After reading it, I began praying for my son and husband to realize their need to be baptized.
Every morning I read the Bible with my son, and as we moved from the book of John to the book of Acts, I began listening to the World Video Bible School (WVBS.org) preacher teach on the Book of Acts so that I could point out what I learned to my son. I was literally one day ahead of him in reading the Book on any given day. And this preacher just made that Book live! It became so interesting! I had read Acts multiple times in my life, but all of the sudden I "GOT" IT. As I mention during the last five minutes of the video, I was also reading 2 Thessalonians, and as I read verses 1:7-8...
I began asking myself, "What exactly IS the Gospel?" I knew it meant "Good News" and I knew that the first 4 books (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are called The Gospels, but did the Bible itself have a "definition" of the Gospel? What do you think?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 with me:
If the Bible definition of the Gospel is "Christ was crucified (died) for our sins (vs 3), was buried, and was resurrected from the dead on the third day (vs 4), and that the Gospel saves you (vs 2)," how in the world does one OBEY that?
You see, you can read the Bible all of your life (or hear it read to you or preached at you), but it isn't until you study the book on your own and begin asking questions that you truly internalize it, and make the faith yours.
Suddenly, I've gone from "being" a Christian to wanting to tell everyone I know about Christ and how to obey the Gospel. My trepidation has been removed, because I "get" it now.
Paul, in the book of Romans, Chapter 6 verses 2-7, told me how to o b e y the Gospel:
"...How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin." [Emphasis mine.]
We actually need to get baptized! And that doesn't mean sprinkled. When you bury a body you don't sprinkle it with dirt! You bury it. We are to be immersed!
The WVBS.org (a free school open to all, online) preacher definitely helped. The book Muscle and a Shovel also helped. Attending my new church and asking questions of the couple who took us to lunch, and of the minister's wife, also greatly helped me to understand. I've come to realize that too many churches do not teach the need for repentance or baptism. When was the last time you heard a sermon on, or even a call to repentance and baptism at the end of a sermon?
I began beseeching God in weeping, constant prayer for my husband and son to see the need for baptism by the end of the year.
I began living in f e a r that they would die, lost in their sins. Every time my son got into a friend's car, or walked to the mall, or went to the movies, I feared he would die. I feared that my husband would never accept that he needed to be immersed, and not just sprinkled as when he had been a toddler.
The Bible tells us that we must HEAR the Word (Romans 10:17), BELIEVE the Word (John 3:16), REPENT (Luke 13:3,5), CONFESS that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, the Son of the Living God (Romans 10:10), Be BAPTIZED (Acts 2:38), and LIVE FAITHFULLY (Revelation 2:10).
Babies don't understand the Word when they hear it, they cannot believe it, they have nothing to repent of, they cannot confess Christ as Savior or the Son of God, and they cannot live faithfully to Him, so they are not candidates for baptism! In fact, Jesus tells US, that WE need to become like little children! (Matthew 18:3)
Since I was now living in fear of death, I realized that I had been happier when I didn't know the truth, when I was living in ignorance of what it meant to obey the Gospel. I was miserable. I knew nothing else really mattered. Life on earth is short. Eternity is forever!
Then one day in October I realized that I wasn't walking in faith, or walking with Christ, when I was imagining the worst possible outcome for my little family. So I got down on my knees and cried, telling God that I was sorry for taking all of the burden onto my own shoulders and that I wanted to put it back onto His.
That I wanted to live in faith, not fear, and that I wanted my son, and then my husband, to join me at my new church, where I was so happy and fulfilled, and for my husband and son to see their need to be baptized by the end of 2024, because how could I keep living a happy life not knowing if they were ever to be saved?
I also recognized the fact that this concern that I had for my husband and son was the concern I needed to have for the entire world. And I didn't. Not by a long shot. A few people here and there who were already open. Giving to missions. Speaking to extended family members. But to put myself out there and look like a fool for Christ? No, I rarely did that.
My son was now asking questions like, "Well, what about the thief on the cross? He wasn't baptized," (short answer: Christ had the ability to forgive sins, plus the "Christian church" didn't begin until the day of Pentecost Acts 2:38-47); or, "Baptism is only symbolic - an outward show of an inward change," (Yet those who had been baptized into John's baptism were re-baptized into Christ (Acts 19:4-5); why would they do that if it was only symbolic? Why wasn't Saul told to just accept Jesus into his heart and go on his merry way? Acts 22:16); "Faith alone saves you," (There is only one verse in the Bible that says 'faith alone' - and it has a 'not' in front of 'faith alone.' Read James 2:14-26 and what the Bible actually says about it).
I now take the verse from Mark 16:16 literally, where Jesus says, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." Almost every person I talk to about baptism puts another "not" into this verse. They are saying, "He that believes and is NOT baptized shall be saved..." It reminds me of the snake in the garden, "You shall not surely die!"
Their next objection is always, "The verse doesn't say he who believes and is not baptized will be condemned [or damned as the KJV says]. See, you can believe but not be baptized."
But Jesus told you in the first half of the sentence what a believer in Him does. A person who does not believe has no reason to get immersed into Him; has no reason to 'put Him on' in baptism!
Because I was halfway through the book of Acts with my son, and he was thinking deeply and asking such intelligent questions, I knew that he was getting close to being immersed. Maybe on Christmas Day! But my husband? No chance. I had discussed it with him several times and he didn't see the need. I even read him every baptism verse in the Bible (shall I do that with you, too, beautiful homemakers, in a video?).
Every night before bed I earnestly prayed and pleaded with God that my son and husband would fully give themselves to the Lord Jesus by being immersed in front of a crowd of people. I remembered that about 11 years prior my husband had said that he wanted to baptize our son when the time came, and I had said to him, "I want YOU to get baptized, and then turn around and baptize our son!" I began praying for this. I even had a dream where we were at a friend's pool and someone I didn't know baptized my husband, he baptized our son, and then our son baptized the woman who owned the pool. I woke up, went into the front room to pray and asked God to not let them be baptized at the friend's pool, but to one day come to church with me, and for my husband to get baptized, and then baptize my son, and for my son to baptize my friend. I wanted them involved with me in our local church!
And then, lo and behold, on December 22nd my son said he wanted to go to church with me! Needless to say, I was thrilled! Before leaving for church I told my husband to be dressed and ready to come to church if JR wanted to get baptized; that I would text him. The Sunday evening preacher gave the message that morning and it was wonderful! I was sure JR would respond and go forward! But, no, he didn't move. On the way home, though, he told me how much he enjoyed the message. Okay, there was always Wednesday night - Christmas Evening. We went. It was great. Then we went home.
Sunday morning. The regular preacher was back, and he delivered a great message....but still, no response. At home I said to him, "Did you know that if you want to get baptized, you are supposed to walk down the aisle to the preacher after his message, while everyone is singing?" No, he didn't know that! As a child, he'd always been in class, and had never seen anyone do that! Before when there was a baptism, the children were ushered from class to the front pews.
On Monday, December 30th, I told my son that the church was going to have a potluck on Wednesday evening, January 1, 2025, and then a devotional, and then games. Would he go? He would! Later that day I told him, "Are you aware that new water is put into the baptismal tank every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, and that you can be baptized any day of the week?" No, he did not know that.
Later that evening I e-mailed him that his dad was thinking of coming to the potluck. I told him that if he was thinking of being baptized, it would be great to have dad there when it happened, and what a perfect date to do it on, the first day of the year, but only if he was ready to make that lifelong commitment to Christ, and not to please me. And he e-mailed back, "You are right. I'll do it!"
YAY! Woo-hoo! I texted the minister's wife and everyone who had been praying. My son was going to get baptized!
My husband was on board with going and watching. That is, until the next morning, Tuesday, December 31, 2024. That's when all of his objections came out. He was reading all of his books regarding baptism. All of the different views about it. He read all of the rebuttals to the "What Must I Do to be Saved?" way of thinking. In answer, I just read him all of the scriptures about baptism.
At ten minutes to midnight I finally went to bed, disheartened. Not only were we never going to agree about baptism, but he might not even be there to see his son baptized. But then, knowing his father's heart, I knew he would show up just for that moment.
At five minutes to midnight my husband went outside to pray, as is his nightly custom. He came in ten minutes later saying, "I've changed my mind."
"About what?"
"I'm going to be baptized!"
"Yeah, right. Ha ha."
"No, I'm serious. You forced me to read all of my books about baptism, and the rebuttals simply don't hold up under the Scriptures. A minute before midnight [right before all the literal fireworks began going off], I realized that I was being disobedient to the Word, and that I needed to be baptized; to not do so was me standing on pride and tradition, not the Scriptures."
[Wow, that was similar to what the famous prayer-warrior and orphan-home builder George Muller said in the 1800s when two little old ladies challenged his view of baptism after he'd been preaching for 20 years!]
And so, without ever having attended this church before, on January 1, 2025, the congregation welcomed my husband and he was baptized into Christ by the preacher, and then my husband stayed in the water while our son entered the baptistry, and my husband baptized our son into Christ!
Shortened version:
Unedited version::
Are you saved? Nothing else truly matters! If you have Christ, you have e v e r y t h i n g !
Please, "put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27), by being immersed into His death, as Romans 6 tells us to do, and then live faithfully to the Word.
Love,
Janine
PS: Please pray for my friend (with the pool) to accept Christ.
PPS: PLEASE click onto my video and "LIKE" it, because I know I'm going to get push-back on it.
Excellent! It is so wonderful to have the plan of salvation laid out in a simple and succinct way. Do you know if it still possible to get that booklet?
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