1 Corinthians 11:26-34 states: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come."
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1 Peter 3:18-21 states: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us-baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him."
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Jesus Christ desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). Only two events would cause the non-Christian's response to be too late:
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Does Romans 15:11 teach that the New Testament church is authorized to clap as a form of acceptable worship to God? Does the word "laud" in this verse mean "to applaud or clap"? Merriam-Webster's English dictionary defines "laud" as "praise or acclaim", but gives a possible synonym as "applaud." Just as is the case for defining the action of "baptism", so also is the case for defining the action of "laud": we must first consult the context of the Scriptures (not uninspired, English dictionaries) for God's meaning of a word and secondly the original languages of the Bible, especially the Koine ("common") Greek - realizing we will be judged only by the New Testament in the last day (Matthew 28:18; John 12:48; Colossians 3:17; 1 Peter 4:11).
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The answer is no. They apply to both Christians and non-Christians. For example, one of the reasons Paul gives for a female not to teach or have authority over the man is because "Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression" (1 Timothy 2:12-14). The roles of male and female have been a universal law applying to believers as well as non-believers ever since the Garden of Eden (as have murder, deceiving, disobeying God, etc.). This is true also under the New Testament as is indicated by these passages: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 14:34,35; 1 Timothy 2:8-15; 1 Peter 3:1-7.
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Problem: Skeptics believe they have found a contradiction. The Bible teaches that the kingdom of Jesus would not come to an end (Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:33), whereas in other passages it is stated that the kingdom will come to an end (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
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This miraculous gift was used by an apostle (2 Corinthians 12:12; Acts 5:1-11 - Peter was able to discern by the Holy Spirit that Ananias and Sapphira were lying; Acts 8:20-23 - Peter could look into the motives of Simon the Sorcerer). It was imparted to other 1st century Christians by the laying on of the apostles' hands (Acts 8:14-18; 2 Timothy 1:6) to help the infant church mature in the faith (Ephesians 4:7-16) since the 1st century church did not have the fully revealed New Testament in its written form disseminated among all the congregations (as we have it today).
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2 Timothy 2:10 states that salvation is found "in Christ." The question needs to be answered: "How does an alien sinner get in Christ where salvation is found?"
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Galatians 5:22,23 states: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." [NOTE: The translators capitalized the letter "S" in the word "Spirit" because they thought it was referring to the Holy Spirit.]
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The answer is no. A common argument used against the essentiality of water immersion in its connection to salvation is the case of Cornelius and his household from Acts 10 and 11. This argument is not sound in the least, yet the argument may be constructed as follows:
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In 1 Timothy 5:17, 18, the Bible states: "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages."
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Yes, there are several passages of Scripture that bear this out.
1 Corinthians 9:8-14 states: "Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes?
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There are several reasons from the Scriptures as to why we can know that those persons who were baptized under the baptism of John prior to the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 did not need to be rebaptized:
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There are several reasons as to why we can know that Cornelius and his household were not baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is discussed in Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, Acts 1:4-5, and 11:16. It is the same gift equivalent to the gift of apostleship that was given to thirteen apostles in Acts 2:1-4 and by implication upon Paul in Acts 9.
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No. Some denominations take the position that the "water" of John 3:5 is referring to the physical birth of a child (the "water" birth representing the embryonic fluid inside a mother's womb). They go on to teach that a person who receives Christ as Savior is "born again" (the "Spirit" birth of John 3:5 being defined as a birth from the Holy Spirit). This is not true for several reasons.
Several denominations (such as the Mormons) claim in order to have a true church there must be living apostles and prophets today. They try to justify their position by twisting Ephesians 2:19-22. Their flawed argumentation is as follows: the foundation of the Lord's church is the apostles and prophets and if they are removed, then we remove and destroy the foundation upon which the Lord's church was built. It is true that the Lord's church is built upon the work and teachings of the Lord's original apostles and prophets, but to be built upon new and living apostles and prophets is simply not true! This passage is referencing the original apostles and prophets that the Lord had chosen in the 1st century A.D.
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Problem: Some assert there is a discrepancy between the Gospel writers on the hour in which Jesus was crucified. Mark states in Mark 15:25 that it was the third hour while in John 19:14,15, it was the sixth hour.
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John the Immerser taught the people that they must repent of their sins - one of the conditions of receiving the remission of sins (Matthew 3:1,2; Luke 3:7-14). In Matthew 3:7-9, John the Immerser refused to immerse some people. Why?
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In the great resurrection chapter (1 Corinthians 15), Paul states on the subject something that is very perplexing and confusing to a lot of people who study the Scriptures in 1 Corinthians 15:29: "Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?" The Latter-Day Saints will take this verse out of its context and apply it to a present-day religious practice (proxy baptism - a living person is baptized on behalf of a person who has already died so that they can receive salvation) that God never intended.
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