In regards to studying scripture for doctrine, it is important to understand what Jesus spoke of as being under the old law and testament. Everything that Jesus spoke of He spoke as still being under the old law until he had been buried and rose again. So it’s important to spiritually discern when reading the New Testament what was being spoken of out of the old law compared to what he was speaking of future tense as being under the new covenant. Each statement that Jesus made was either made according to the old covenant or the new covenant and must be properly discerned why the statement was being made. This lack of understanding has brought great confusion to believers over the centuries and it has also caused great errors of beliefs and teachings in the church.
For example: many have tried to determine under the new covenant whether baptism is really important or commanded because the thief on the cross was saved without baptism. If we properly discern the timing of his salvation it was actually under the old covenant because this happened before Jesus actually died and rose again. So the thief on the cross was saved as an old covenant believer rather than a new covenant saint. Many were saved under the old covenant because they looked forward to the promise God made of giving his son for the sacrifice for all sin and they believed into salvation as if it had already happened. After Jesus death, burial and resurrection and after the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, we see through several scriptures that those who believed on Jesus were baptized the very same day (waiting weeks and months to be baptized as a new believer was unheard of in the early church) and many scriptures include baptism as an essential part of the salvation experience. This is why it is so important to not base our belief systems off of one particular scripture and that in error.
I can’t back this up with scripture but I understand God is merciful and somethings we don’t fully understand. If someone were to believe on Jesus and die a few minutes later without baptism I’m confident they would be with the Lord but having said that we cannot negate the scriptures that command baptism under the new covenant. Am I saying if you don’t get baptized you’re not saved? Of course not. But I am saying the Bible commands baptism and in the early church this was done immediately.
However my emphasis in this writing is not the subject of baptism but rather understanding whether or not Jesus teachings were spoken in regards to the old law or the new covenant.
Pastor Joe
