DJT_47
Well-Known Member
It is 100% true and 100% scriptural.That is just not true. The repentant thief on the cross beside Jesus was not baptized, yet he was saved. Sinners are saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of the jailer at Philippi. He asked the apostles how he could be saved. They told him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he would be saved. It was only after that we read that he and his family, having believed, were baptized:
“And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.” (Ac 16:33-34 NKJV)
Similarly with the Ethiopian whom Philip baptised. When he requested baptism, Philip said:
“If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."” (Ac 8:37 NKJV)
So he believed, then he was baptized.
And you lack understanding of the thief on the cross issue. In simple terms, Jesus was still alive when he forgave the thief on the cross, no different than his forgiving others during his earthly ministry. His being alive means that the OT was still in effect, not the NT. Baptism into Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and the NT, was not yet in effect until the death of Christ. Read Hebrews 9 below. The thief wasn't baptized nor did he have to be.
15And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.