One In Jesus

The Christian dispensation

Whether God makes exceptions is particularly significant when we consider the Christian dispensation, of course. It is undoubtedly true that the Epistles and the Gospels suggest that baptism is not only normative, but also essential. But Acts has several examples where baptism is either not mentioned as part of the salvation of a person or where a person was clearly saved without baptism.

The most obvious example is the apostles themselves. While all four of the Gospels record the baptism of Jesus, none record a baptism of the apostles. Indeed, they couldn’t have been baptized into Jesus until after his death, burial, and resurrection (consider Rom 6, for example), and yet the Gospels and Acts make no reference at all to their being baptized. Continue reading →

Recall that we’ve always taught that Bible history should be divided between the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, and the Christian dispensations, each dispensation having a distinctive covenant with God, that being a distinctive means of salvation.

In each dispensation, God has had a covenant under which sin was forgiven. And in each dispensation God has forgiven sin and has accepted people outside the terms of the stated covenant—even when the terms of the covenant were stated in terms indicating that the terms of the covenant were mandatory. Continue reading →

In the first lesson, I said — and I meant it — that the traditional exegesis of the baptism verses by the Churches of Christ is largely correct. In particular, I emphasized John 3:5, which clearly makes water baptism a necessity.

For many, the argument ends there. But it does not. Continue reading →

You’ll be surprised to see me say it, I’m sure. But I actually think that the traditional Church of Christ interpretation of the various baptism verses is correct. It’s not complete, but it’s correct. They really do say what we’ve always said they say. They do.

In fact, if anything, they say it more strongly that we’ve sometimes contended. I could write several posts on arguments in favor of the traditional view. In fact, I have. Continue reading →