lets start the chapter from Romans chapter 10 verses 8 through to 14
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent .......
so the word is near you that if you confess with your heart and you believe in your heart you will be saved....However to understand the importance of baptism to salvation we must go to verse 14....How then shall they call in whom thay have not believed....and suppose you just wake up and mutter these words spoken in verse 9 and somehow you believe in your heart, the person whois aking asks how will you you believe whom youve not heard....now here is the sieve...."and how shall they hear without a preacher? you must hear this word from somebody before you say these words and belive in your heart and finally how shall they preach unless they are sent?....this is the most crucial part....and this brings us back to Mark16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned....so a preacher will tell you the tenets of salvation and what it entails and after you hear the message and you believe it you must be baptized because this is what christ commanded......why are we emphasizing baptism and not just confessing alonee with the mouth and believeing in the heart.....
Acts 9:3-6
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. [
a]It
is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
Then the Lord
said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”....
now Paul had every right to say you know i heard Jesus and now I confess with my mouth and belive in my heart and from today i am a christian....But this is what the Lord tells him...go into the city and you will be told what to do....so the preachng part was mandatory....he had to be told what to do....and what was he told to do.....
Acts 9:17-18 "And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord [
d]Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes
something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized."
so someone has to preach the gospel which also entails baptism...without these you cannot claim to be a christian....
another good example Acts 8:26-39
Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is [
e]desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “
Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is [
e]desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer
is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”
34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See,
here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 [
f]Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 4
” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer
is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”
34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See,
here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 [
f]Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 4
so the ethiopian eunuch was reading the book of Isaiah and wasnt understanding now even if he wanted to belief this message he couldnt, why? because he was not understanding and thats why he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" so unless you are guided saying the words and confessing wont mean a thing however the one who guided the eunuch did this Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him....so if he preached Jesus to him preaching him about baptism was in th sermon to the eunuch such that the moment the eunuch so water he said what prevents me from being baptized? He had believed everything he had been told about Jesus including the great commision....
Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him....
so he belived with all his heart and confessed that Jesus is Lord after which he was baptized just as the Lord had commanded....so this brings us back how will you believe unless youve heard, how will you hear without a preacher telling you about Jesus and everything he had commanded including baptism but they had to be sent...Matthew 28 the great commision.....so baptism is very importantas you say those words.....Ill proceed with this gospel tommorow if God will it....Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
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