Baptism
To be Bible people, we must practice Biblical truth. The Biblical form of baptism is immersion. A study of New Testament baptism will reveal that the Greek word for baptism is “baptizo”. It means to dip, plunge, put underneath in water. There are two other words used in the Greek related to baptism today. They are: “rantizo”, and “cheo”. The former is translated “sprinkling” while the latter is translated “pouring”. A thorough study of the New Testament will reveal that of the three Greek words used, only the word “baptizo” is used when people are converted to Christ. To begin a thorough study one must begin after the ascension of Christ in Acts 1.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The following scriptures describe and tell us the work of the Holy Spirit and who He is:
- He is the Third Person of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19)
- He is a Personality who thinks intelligently – not an it (Genesis 1:26)
- He must live within the Believer showing the Believer belongs to Christ (Romans 8:9)
- He gives the Believer the ability to show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)
- He becomes a permanent resident in the life of the Believer when they repent of their sins and are baptized (Acts 2:38, 1Corinthians 3:16)
- He operated through the Word of God to convert the unsaved (1Peter 1:23)
- He can be grieved, rejected or resisted (Ephesians 4:30)
- He provides the Believer with special gifts to be used within the Body of Christ (the Church) (Romans 12:6-8; 1Corinthians 12:7-10, 13-25, 27-28; Ephesians 4:11)
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper is served to each Believer who desires to partake. It is the Lord’s Supper.
The purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to remember Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He demonstrated on Calvary’s Cross. It is a time of self examination and re-dedication of ourselves to Him and His cause (1Corinthians 11:23-29). Our church is a part of the Restoration Movement. We are striving to “restore” the practices of the 1st Century Church. According to Acts 20:7, the church met on the 1st day of the week to “break bread”. This phrase has a two pronged meaning:
So our practice at River Oaks Christian Church is to “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19)
THE LOAF AND THE CUP ARE CONSIDERED TO BE SYMBOLIC OF HIS FLESH & THE BLOOD THAT WAS SACRIFICED FOR US ON CALVARY.
Plan of Salvation
The Plan of Salvation comes from God’s Word. We cannot expect to enter into the riches of Glory, if we have not been obedient to all that God says for us to do. Scripture has clearly laid out the process we must go through in order to be saved. Below are listed the 11 components to complete the process.
- GRACE: Denotes the origin of the plan of salvation (Eph 2:5-8; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24)
- WORD OF GOD IMPLANTED: The instrument through which faith comes (James 1:21; John 20:31)
- CHRIST’S LIFE: Refers to the complete work of Christ (Romans 5:10)
- BLOOD OF CHRIST: The means by which atonement was/is made (1Peter 1:18-19)
- THE GOSPEL: Good news of the Kingdom without which none could be saved (Romans 1:16-17)
- REPENTANCE: A change of mind that demonstrates itself in a change of life (Acts 2:38; 2 Peter 3:9)
- CONFESSION OF FAITH: Verbal acknowledgement of the truth believed (Romans 10:9-10)
- HOPE: The confident expectation that God will do all He has promised (Romans 8:24)
- CALLING OF THE NAME OF THE LORD: Acknowledgement of Jesus as the Messiah and “boss”(Romans 10:13)
- FAITH: Correct attitude toward facts of Gospel. Trust in the One revealed by the facts (Romans 10:9)
- IMMERSION INTO CHRIST: (Acts 2:38, 22:16; Romans 6:1-11; 1Peter 3:21; Galatians 3:27)