The Necessity of Grace (youtube.com)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.. (Ephesians 2:8).How tragic that Confessional Lutheran Daniel Long has missed the very essence of the gospel. Long continues in the heresy that "other things" are salvific apart from grace through faith. This heresy is just as lethal as the false doctrines he exposes on LongforTruth1. In this video, Long continues to promote this diabolical doctrine by quoting parts of Franz Pieper's Christian Dogmatics.
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| Franz Pieper's Christian Dogmatics. |
Pieper: "When describing the way of salvation, Scripture indeed mentions other things besides the grace of God in Christ. It declares, for example, that the gospel and baptism save.."
It is a grievous error to depend upon "other things" besides the grace of God in Christ for salvation. Any interpretation that adds water baptism, the Lord's Supper, or "Holy Absolution" as salvific has compromised the very gospel itself!
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:18-21)..
Baptism corresponds to i.e. it is an antitype of the flood waters which physically saved Noah and his family. Prior to the flood, Noah is described as - a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9). Baptism is - an appeal to God for a good conscience.
Long: "We have to distinguish between how we receive God's grace, and how God delivers his grace to us, how He gets his grace to us. God delivers his grace to us through means. We always receive God's grace by faith.. God has multiple ways.. the main way is the preached word, but baptism is also a way that God delivers his grace to us the Lord's Supper is another way God delivers his grace to us and Holy Absolution is another way God delivers his grace to us.. 16:30 mark..
The New Testament clearly and repeatedly states that salvation comes only through faith in Christ by God's grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9). The act of baptism is an expression of faith and obedience, it is not a means of salvation. There is no instance in the New Testament of an unbeliever receiving salvation through water baptism! Those who teach the lethal doctrine of baptismal regeneration violate the scriptures and are either woefully confused or willfully ignorant. (2 Timothy 2:15). The consequences for self-appointed teachers like Daniel Long and Steve Kozar, who mislead the body of Christ will be severe! ( 1 Timothy 4:1; James 3:1;).
Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. (Acts 10:47-48).
One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well.. (Acts 16:14-15).
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43).
..he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household. (Acts 11:14).
since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; (1 Peter 1:23).
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13).
So the same if you go through the rite or the ritual of water baptism and it hasn't happened in your heart; it's only a witness against you. It doesn't save you. So I do not believe in what is called baptismal regeneration. I do not believe that if a person is not baptized, then they are not saved. I can't believe that; you're saved by believing in Jesus Christ. Now because I believe in Jesus Christ, I want to obey Him and thus I am baptized as a sign of what has transpired already within my heart. But should I never get around to being baptized by some unfortunate accident or circumstances of some kind, I will still be saved. I have every confidence of that. "It isn't the putting away of the filth of the flesh," but it's that work of the Spirit within my heart, "the good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" 1
..if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3).
See also Matthew 28:19-20; 18:42,24:47; Galatians 3:23-27; Romans 6:3-5,10:17 etc.
Smith's Bible Commentary: But if it has not happened in my heart, it cannot happen by the ritual. The ritual itself cannot save me. Now you may be baptized by sprinkling, by dunking, by full immersion, and still not be saved. You know, they could hold you down until you drown and it still won't save you. The rite of baptism doesn't save. It symbolizes that which has already transpired in my heart. If it hasn't transpired in my heart, then baptism is meaningless. In fact, it's worse than that; it is --it's almost condemning to me.
Such as communion is condemning to the person who doesn't believe. The partaking of the bread and the cup, if you --if you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you're actually partaking your own damnation. You're witnessing against yourself. And "he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to his own soul, not discerning the Lord's body" ( 1 Corinthians 11:29 ).So the same if you go through the rite or the ritual of water baptism and it hasn't happened in your heart; it's only a witness against you. It doesn't save you. So I do not believe in what is called baptismal regeneration. I do not believe that if a person is not baptized, then they are not saved. I can't believe that; you're saved by believing in Jesus Christ. Now because I believe in Jesus Christ, I want to obey Him and thus I am baptized as a sign of what has transpired already within my heart. But should I never get around to being baptized by some unfortunate accident or circumstances of some kind, I will still be saved. I have every confidence of that. "It isn't the putting away of the filth of the flesh," but it's that work of the Spirit within my heart, "the good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" 1
..if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3).
1. 1 Peter 3:21 - Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary - StudyLight.org
Hi Treena,
ReplyDeleteVery good refutation of this heresy which I believe infiltrated the church via the so-called Church Fathers well before Augustine and the Roman Church formalised it as doctrine. It is as grievous as adding circumcision to salvation, which Paul warned nullifies the benefits of Christ as it is a DIFFERENT gospel.
The sad fact is that many like Long and Kozar fall into the errors of modified Catholicism when thry depart from the overt mysticism of Pentecostalism. Although the latter can and does lead the deceived to ANOTHER Christ and spirit, it at least gets water baptism right. I had been christened as an infant in the C of E, but after hearing the genuine gospel from charismatics and being born again, I was fully immersed as an act of faith and obedience. Although I was misled by MUCH error as a charismatic, when I asked the Lord to expose doctrinal error in my life, He was able to do so for underneath all of the Montanism /WOF garbage, I was a sincerely saved believer. I am not convinced though that ALL charismatics are saved and those who are are at risk due to the delusions they are involved with.
I have heard Kozar state that he used to NOT believe in baptismal regeneration, but that Chris Rosebrough "helped him to understand it". You are right. People such as this and the many Calvinists in discernment ministries, sincere though thry may be, are indoctrinating people who look to them for help when departing from Pentecostalism to just one more psuedo-Catholic false gospel. My best to you as always, Mike
As you say Mike.. they have gone from one error to another, even more so since baptismal regeneration touches the very doctrine of salvation itself. Chris Rosebrough is very persuasive, but there are major problems with his Lutheran beliefs. Long and Kozar were taken in by him and should have known better. We need to follow the scriptures rather than the doctrines of men. God bless.
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