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- #21
Let's do one at a time, please.Your post #3 you are only making an assumption that the thief was water baptized as the ministry of John the Baptist covered all the Jewish region, but nowhere in scripture does it state that he was water baptized. In Luke 23:39-43 this thief rebuked the other thief and knew this condemnation against them was justly. He turned to Jesus knowing He was the Lord and asked that he would be remembered when Jesus came into His kingdom. This was an admission of a guilty conscience repenting of his sins as it was only while hanging on the cross seeing what Jesus went through that the theif then believed.
Concerning Mark 16:14-16 the disciples were water baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River before Jesus called them to be His disciples. But, yet their unblief in the risen Christ and the hardness of their heart caused them to not believe the report of others who had seen the risen Christ. It would not be until in the upper room on the day of pentecost that Jesus appeared to them and then they were indwelled with the Holy Spirit (two different baptisms) and sent out to preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
There is nothing wrong with immersion in water as this is an outward appearance to others that you have received Gods Salvation and the Holy Spirit. When the Disciples where in the upper room they all received the Holy Spirit, not by immersion of water, but by Gods Spirit falling on them. What about those people who can not be immersed in water that are incapacitated. Peter did not say that it was through water that we receive the Holy Spirit in Acts 10:47, 48 he was saying that others should not forbid a Gentile who wants to be immersed in water, but repentance must come first. After repentance and the Spiritual rebirth, John 3:5-7, we are then baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire through that of Christ baptism according to Acts 2:38, 39, Matthew 3:11.
Ephesians 2:8-10 It's not water that saves us or trying to work towards God's salvation by doing good things as it's by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. It's faith that is Christ Jesus that we first believe in that is God's free gift to us. Faith comes by hearing the word preached to us, Romans 10:17, and our obedience comes by being Spiritually born again, John 3:5-7 as we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works that we are ordained to walk in them.
God did not predestine the man (which individuals would be saved or lost), He predestined the plan (how men would be saved) - read again Acts 10:34-35; Eph. 1:3-12; Rom. 8:28-30; 10:9-17.
I stand by what I said in post #18 as we can not add words to scripture to make it say what we want it to. God causing the flood only saved Noah and his family from being destroyed like all the others as he was the only one who already had great faith and believed in God just as the same with Noah and the Israelites when God parted the Red Sea and then once they safely reached Canaan God closed up the waters and those who had no faith or belief in God drowned in the river. 1 Peter 3:21 can be compared to the thief on the cross as a guilty conscience leads one to repentance as it is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we believe, just as the disciples did on the day of Pentecost and were baptized in the Holy Spirit, not water and were saved.
Let's start with the Thief on the cross:
Who told him that Jesus was the Lord?
Who told him that Jesus had done nothing wrong?
Who told him that Jesus was a King?
Who told him that Jesus would come into His Kingdom, even after death?
John did, John and his disciples, for the Law and the Prophets were until John, and from John onward the Kingdom of my Master is preached!
John preached the Kingdom of Heaven, He was the first to do so, and only those who believed John's preaching would imagine that Christ could not be contained by death, but would indeed enter into His Kingdom, and would also return for all who obey Him.
Sister, my assumption is reasonable, because I can demonstrate it by the scriptures.
Your assumption concerning the thief, renders contradictory conclusions, which, if they were true, would falsify the bible.
Please consider it further. The thief knew the gospel, because John did his job. That is the simplest answer, and it does not create internal contradictions.
I simply believe the bible, Luke 3:2-3; Matthew 3:5-6; Mark 1:5; Acts 13:24, John preached to everyone in the region, and baptized everyone in the region, except for the lawyers and religious leaders, Luke 7:29-30.
Why not just simply believe the bible?