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I know this is a massive article I’m sharing, lol, but I’ve agreed with anything I’ve read from this website (and everything I’ve seen/read at the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter). This article explains why they believe the earth was created in six literal 24-hour days.
And to answer the question, I am also a young-earth creationist.
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
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wow… nobody’s talked on this in a long time heh.
What is your denomination?
I don’t subscribe to any one denomination. I’m just a bible-believing disciple of Christ.
“Christianity came to Greece and became a philosophy. It came to Italy and became an institution. It came to Europe and became a culture. It came to America and became a business.”
Did you grow up with this denomination? Are you still growing up with it? Or did you convert to it yourself?
My theology and understanding of God has changed a lot over the years. So different from what they were when I started Kingdom Pen. I’ve attended many different churches and denominations over the years, and even worked at a Presbyterian church for a couple of years.
How many books are in your bible? And if you wish, what are those books?
66
How many people in your family are that denomination? (If any are a separate denomination, or religion)
Everyone in my immediate family believe the same.
How many sacraments do you have? (If any…again, I am not sure if there is a denomination with zero sacraments)
Every one that’s in the Bible.
Who is the head of your denomination? (i.e. The pope for Catholics.)
Jesus.
Who is your favorite hero from the Bible? (Can’t be Jesus. But he should be all of ours.)
Probably David.
And finally, what is your favorite tradition from your religion? (It could be a family christian tradition, or a church tradition Example: Whenever my family hears a siren we pray a Hail Mary.)
Christmas.
My Music:
YouTube: @andromedacoastmusic
Learn Music production: https://www.orpheusuniversity.com/[quote quote=201797] @theducktator Mark 16:16 — Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 1 Peter 3:21 — 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, Romans 6:4-5 — We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.[/quote]
Really good verses. I didn’t understand the purpose of baptism for a really long time. Didn’t really get it until a few years ago. I thought it was just a symbol and not important.
The Bible is very clear on how to be saved. In Acts 2:38, the crowd asks Peter what they must do to be saved. He says: “Repent AND be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The book of Acts is the ONLY book in the Bible where we see people getting saved. Everyone who gets “saved”, or rather born again, are immediately baptized. Also, anytime the word “baptized” is used, it’s talking about a water baptism. Not something spiritual.
Jesus does talk to Nicodemus about needing to be born again of “water and spirit”, that’s talking water baptism, and receiving the Holy Spirit.
The thief on the cross happened before Christ’s death and resurrection, so he was still under the old covenant and baptism didn’t exist yet, so that’s not really relevant here. Christ defeating sin and death and rising from the dead changed everything. We moved from the Law into Grace.
There were even people who believed in God, but hadn’t been baptized or received the Holy Spirit (Cornelius for example in Acts 10), which shows that just having a faith in God is an incomplete faith. I think Cornelius would likely have still gone to heaven, but he was incomplete.
Christ’s primary ministry wasn’t really about getting people into heaven when they died. It was about getting people into heaven BEFORE they died. He taught on “The Kingdom of Heaven”, which includes so much more than just heaven the physical place.
Paul goes on to explain WHY baptism is important in Romans 6. Baptism is both a bath and a burial.
In order to receive the blood of Christ, we have to share in Christ’s death and resurrection, and we do that through water baptism (Peter backs this up as well). It’s also where your old man is put to death and you become free from sin, so you no longer have to be a slave to sin.
Baptism is not supposed to be an outward sign of following God, or a good work. That’s nowhere found in the Bible. It’s how we share in Christ’s death and resurrection and die to sin. This is why Peter compares it to Noah’s flood. The Flood is a picture of salvation through the water. Paul says the same thing and points out that the Israelites passing through the Red Sea was also foreshadowing water baptism. It’s where their old life/the old man (Egypt) was put to death and they became a new creation.
“How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.”
Don’t get me wrong. I believe salvation is through faith in Christ alone. But the understanding of “faith” that the Jews had is different from our more “Greek” understanding today. Faith didn’t just mean mental assent, but a belief that actually impacted and shaped your actions.
Grace is not opposed to effort, it’s opposed to earning. We can’t earn salvation through good works, but there are some steps we have to take to be born again. Even if you only believed in “The Sinner’s Prayer” to be saved, that is still a “work” or effort on your part that you would have to do.
But I also believe Christianity was never meant to be turned into a religion in the first place. In the first century after Jesus ascended into heaven, following Jesus’ teachings was referred to as “The Way”. It wasn’t a religion at all. It was life transformation. It was a different lifestyle. So while I do believe there are absolutely spiritual laws that are unbending, just like physical laws, I would also say there can be exceptions to the rule or the way God set things up to work (like with the unborn or young children).
My wife has a really powerful baptism story that you can watch here if you want (viewer discretion is advised as there are a lot of dark and graphic subjects discussed). There’s even a clip of her getting baptized in this video.
She grew up in an extremely abusive religious cult and was dealing with all the trauma from that. When she was baptized, all of that washed away, and she was even healed of Lyme disease which she battled for years.
Baptism doesn’t just wash away your sin, but also all the sin that has been done to you. God is SO good. 🙂
My Music:
YouTube: @andromedacoastmusic
Learn Music production: https://www.orpheusuniversity.com/Hello! This is a very interesting Q & A. I like the idea! Thanks for posting it. Here are my answers to the questions:
1. Okay, so this is a complicated one. My family is part of a nondenominational church, but we largely agree with the Evangelical Free church my mom was raised in (At least the doctrines they taught when she was there in the 2000’s. I don’t know if they have changed since then.) However, I attend a Southern Baptist youth group on Wednesdays.
2. I grew up nondenominational and am still in it, though I was the one who instigated going to a different youth group than the one in my home church.
3. There are 66 books in my Bible. They include (takes a deep breath): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ester, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Isiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniela, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation.
4. My immediate family all follows the same denomination. Several on my dad’s side are Presbyterians. My aunt and uncle on my mom’s side are Baptist (Southern, I think.) There are many more Christians in my extended family, but I’m not sure what denominations they are.
5. We do baptism and communion, but I don’t think we’d usually call them sacraments in my church. We’d probably refer to them more as a declaration of our faith.
6. We don’t really have a denominational head. We’re more like a true American style church (lol), with one Elder Board that rotates elders every few years, a Pastoral team, and one head Pastor.
7. My favorite in the Bible has to be Paul. He did so many things, wasn’t afraid of death, and most of all he remained humble even in spite of all the great things he truly did do for God.
8. I love Christmas. When we’re at my mom’s side of the family for Christmas, we always act out the nativity story with a little wooden nativity set my grandparents have while my grandpa reads the story aloud. It’s always been one of my favorite traditions that helps me focus back on God in rough times, and when there are presents waiting under the tree.
There once was a snail who was depressed and would do anything for his girlfriend. Didn't end well.
WOW.
I love when people know the Word and use the Word to explain the Word. I agree in so many areas!
SO! 😁😁😁 I actually was doing some study yesterday on baptism, from a section I don’t believe you mentioned, and I thought was cool!!!
Colossians 2:11-12. When we strip away the prepositional phrases, we can see how the main verb and the (participle?) interact.
“In him also you were circumcised. . . having been buried with him in baptism”
This “circumcision”, isn’t like the circumcision given to Abraham, but is “made without hands” (God does it) and is the “putting off the body of the flesh“, (“uncircumcised flesh” that we are “dead in“)
Romans 8:13 ESV – “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
It makes sense that death of the old fleshly man and burial would be together.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 ESV — “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
I thing you could also go somewhere with circumcision beimg a sign of the covenant relationship between Abraham and God (Gen 17:11)
So, yeah! Hopefully you don’t mind my geeking out! 😁
Also, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
It’s a separate wonderful, glorious, and empowering part of the relationship!
Exactly! Love geeking out over the Bible! Baptism is the new circumcision. There are so many other passages and example of baptism all throughout scripture that are all consistent and point to this reality.
Passover for example. The Israelites had to be covered by the blood of the lamb by spreading the blood on their doorposts. We now receive the blood of the lamb through baptism.
Also, yes! Receiving the Holy Spirit is a separate event. I didn’t realize that for a long time and thought I just automatically received the Holy Spirit when I said the sinner’s prayer.
But it’s very clear when you read Acts that it is a separate event and it’s usually also very visible when someone receives.
My Music:
YouTube: @andromedacoastmusic
Learn Music production: https://www.orpheusuniversity.com/My family started out going to an Evangelical Free church as well, I used to work at a Presbyterian church, and I’ve a southern baptist church before too, so a little familiar with all of that. My views on God and the Bible have changed pretty radically since I was a kid though.
But definitely agree with the EF belief in “unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials, and charity in all things”.
Christmas is also our favorite time of the year too. Definitely miss the snow though living in Florida now.
My Music:
YouTube: @andromedacoastmusic
Learn Music production: https://www.orpheusuniversity.com/
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