Why Be Baptized
By Carrol R. Sutton

If you BELIEVE with all you heart that Jesus is the son of God, (Jn. 20:30-31; Acts 8:35-39) you should REPENT of your sins, (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30), CONFESS your faith in Christ (Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 8:37) and BE BAPTIZED for the following reasons:

1. Because God commands it (Acts 10:48).

2. To fulfill all righteousness (Matt. 3:15).

3. To be a friend of Christ (Jn. 15:14).

4. Because you love God (1 Jn. 5:3; Jn. 14:15).

5. Lest you reject the council of God against yourself (Lk. 7:30).

6. To be born again (Jn. 3:3-5).

7. To enter the kingdom (Jn. 3:5).

8. For remission of sins (Acts 2:38).

9. To receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38).

10. In order to be saved (Mk. 16:16).

11. To wash away your sins (Acts 22:16).

12. To get into the death of Jesus where blood was shed (Rom. 6:3).

13. To be buried with Christ (Rom. 6:4).

14. To be raised with Christ (Rom. 6:4; Col. 3:1; 2:12).

15. To rise to walk in the newness of life (Rom. 6:4).

16. To be a child of God by faith (Gal. 3:26-27).

17. To get into the body, which is the Church (1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 1:18).

18. To have a good conscience (1 Pet. 3:21).

19. To get INTO Christ (Gal. 3:27).

20. Because “baptism doth also now save us.” (1 Pet. 3:21).

I have given twenty scriptural reasons why a penitent believer should be baptized. Can you think of ONE REASON why he should not be baptized? Ask your preacher if he preaches that people should be baptized for these twenty reasons. If he doesn’t, he is a false teacher. Insist that he preach the truth about baptism, because his soul and the souls of those he teaches are at stake (1 Tim. 4:16). Preachers might make fun of baptism, but God’s Word will continue to stand. (1 Pet. 1:22-25). – East Albertville church Of Christ, July 1, 2017. 

Why You Should Repent
By Jesse Flowers

Before we discuss why you should repent, let’s first briefly explain what it means for someone to repent. Repentance means “to think differently; reconsider; a reversal of one’s direction.” Repent simply means to “turn away from evil and do good” (1 Pet. 3:11). Now here are six good reasons why you should repent.

1) Because you have sinned. I have sinned. All have sinned against God in transgressing His law (Rom. 3:23; 1 Jn. 3:4). Sin brings death (Rom. 6:23), thus our need for repentance.

2) Because of God’s goodness. “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom 2:4). How good has God been to each one of us? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).

3) Because God commands it. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). We will obey God’s command to repent if we love Him (1 Jn. 5:3).

4) Because it is necessary for salvation. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19; cf. 2:38).

5) Because of the Day of Judgment. “…but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness” by Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30-31; cf. 2 Cor. 5:10).

6) Because those who refuse to will perish. Jesus warned, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:3, 5). The apostle Peter reminds us that, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

The command to repent is probably God’s most difficult command. Why? Because repentance requires change in a person’s life and so many refuse to change. Repentance demands that the sinner turn from his evil and then do what is good (Ezek. 14:6; 18:30; Acts 26:18, 20).

Repentance will occur when a person humbles themselves, possesses godly sorrow, and confesses their sins to God (Psa. 51:16-17; 2 Cor. 7:10; 1 Jn. 1:9). Repent to be saved, and to spend eternity in heaven! – Biblework.com, Pruett & Lobit Street church of Christ, August 16, 2013. 

DO NOT READ THIS
By Mo Hafley

Sometimes to tell someone not to do something creates in them a desire to do that very thing. Are you that way? Hopefully that doesn’t apply with Bible commands.

While driving on the Interstate one day I saw a bumper sticker that read, “Do not read this sign.” Later I saw a billboard that read “Can’t read? Call 1-800-…” They were serious. It has been said that our nation is “a nation of viewers and not readers.” Believe it or not I’ve known and heard of some high school and college athletes that can’t read. How does that happen? This inability to read or lack of reading has also spiraled down to members of the Lord’s church. Shame on us! How many of our children see their parents read, let alone study, God’s holy word?

A FOND MEMORY

My dear mother, with a third-grade education, taught herself to read by reading the Bible. You see, her childhood was a mess. My father, a totally disabled veteran, could not work so my mother had to. She woke at 4:30 every morning to work on the bacon line at Armour Star, an inglorious, dangerous job. She got home around 3:30 in the afternoon to do washing, ironing, house cleaning, and on and on before we boys were old enough to help her. There was no dishwasher. We had a ringer-type washing machine. There was a clothesline outside on which to dry our clothes. There was no microwave. There was no wash-N-wear clothing. Everything had to be ironed. Seldom was the day that her Bible wasn’t open on the kitchen table. I never thought much about it then, but now it is a precious memory.

MORMON ELDERS AND JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

So much did she read and study her Bible that whenever the Mormon Elders or Jehovah’s Witness came by they left our house with a loving earful of scripture and questions they couldn’t answer. Eventually that stopped as they had marked our house and gave us the “Passover” when they were in our neighborhood. Mom also read any article she could get her hands on. I don’t know how many weekly bulletins we received, but they were all read.

Read to your children, you too dad, just a few minutes a day, before they are able to read. Try reading the Bible to them and not Mother Goose or some other children’s books. Let them look back on that fond memory.