Dale Ridge church of Christ

          My wife Ruth has a body scrub that she makes from sea salt, olive or grapeseed oil, and lavender or peppermint essential oil.  Each one of these ingredients serves a purpose – the sea salt helps to remove dead skin cells; the olive/grapeseed oil helps to moisturize the skin; and the lavender and peppermint essential oil help soothe the skin as well as give a pleasing scent to the scrub.  Without one of these ingredients, the body scrub would not work as well – it would not be complete. 

            We are reminded how in Acts 18:24-26, Apollos was preaching boldly in the synagogue concerning the things of the Lord; yet, he knew only about the baptism of John, and Aquila and Priscilla had to “expound unto him the way of God more perfectly.”  Although Apollos was very sincere in what he was saying and was speaking of the things regarding the Lord, he was only aware of the baptism of John and had to be taught further. 

            Along these same lines, we read in Acts 19:1-5 how Paul found certain disciples in Ephesus who had been baptized with the baptism of John; although they had been baptized, Paul baptized them again, this time with the baptism of the Lord Jesus.  The fact that those Ephesian disciples had not been baptized according to our Lord’s baptism made a difference in their salvation, and Paul knew that theirs was not complete.

            Today, we need to make sure that we do everything God has commanded for us to be saved.  We are told to hear the Gospel (Romans 10:17), believe it (John 8:24), repent of your sins (Luke 13:3), confess that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 8:37; Phil. 2:11), and be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).  If we leave any of these steps out, our salvation will not be complete.

            In consideration of Ruth’s body scrub, just as if one ingredient is left out of it, it will not probably serve its purpose, so too will our salvation be for naught if we leave out one of the steps that God has commanded.

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Filed under: Doctrine, Michael Carter on January 15th, 2009