{"id":564,"date":"2009-10-11T16:40:22","date_gmt":"2009-10-11T21:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.185.166.32\/~davidfoster\/?p=564"},"modified":"2009-10-13T06:28:25","modified_gmt":"2009-10-13T11:28:25","slug":"today-the-gathering-its-time-to-take-a-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/today-the-gathering-its-time-to-take-a-stand\/","title":{"rendered":"Today @ The Gathering:  It&#8217;s Time to Take a Stand"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong> <\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thegatheringnashville.com\/baptism_signup\/\"> October 25<sup>th<\/sup><\/a> The Gathering will be having a baptism service.\u00a0 In preparation for that, I thought it was time for me to do a teaching on what baptism <em>is<\/em> and <em>isn\u2019t<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Before we can understand what baptism is, we need to identify <strong>the three errors<\/strong> that surround it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Error      number one says that baptism is essential to salvation.<\/strong> Nothing could be further from the truth.\u00a0 We are not related to God on the basis of our works,      religious or otherwise.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Error      number two: baptism is a means by which grace is dispensed or withheld<\/strong>.\u00a0      In other words, the grace of God is applied to our lives through      the physical act of baptism and then sustained through the physical act of      communion.\u00a0 Baptism is <em>not <\/em>the      means by which the grace of God is applied, or reapplied, or withheld from      our lives.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Error      number three: baptism is institutional property.<\/strong> There are large religious institutions that teach that when Jesus      died and was resurrected, He gave the power of the resurrection to redeem      as the spiritual and physical property of His church; and your      relationship with God is measured by your relationship to the      institution.\u00a0 No relationship      with the institutional church; no relationship to God.\u00a0 This is a lie that should be      rejected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On the other hand, there are <strong>three reasons <em>why<\/em><\/strong><strong> we should be baptized<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s      a matter of believe-ability.<\/strong> Once we believe, baptism is an      expression of that belief in outward form.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s      a matter of identity.<\/strong> It\u2019s putting on the jersey, taking      the stand, not being the fair weather fan or friend; but saying, \u201cMy whole      life, my future, my faith, the way life is defined for me both now and in      the future is always pushed through the matrix of Christ.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>It\u2019s      a matter of obedience.<\/strong> Christ was baptized and told us to      go be baptized as an act of submission to His lordship in our lives.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>We also talked about <strong><em>when<\/em><\/strong><strong> we should<\/strong> be baptized.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>First      comes <strong><em>belief<\/em><\/strong><strong>, which is an      inward reality.<\/strong> Conversion happens to the heart; not just to the head, or as an      outward sign of compliance.<\/li>\n<li>Second      comes <strong><em>repentance<\/em><\/strong><strong>, which      is an outward act.<\/strong> It means I change my mind, I turn course, things that I love I no      longer pursue and the things I didn\u2019t care for I now love.\u00a0 Things of God now fill my heart,      my hand, and my future.<\/li>\n<li>Third      comes <strong><em>baptism<\/em><\/strong><strong>, which is a      public statement.<\/strong> I\u2019m saying to my friends and the people around me that I am taking      a stand for Christ.\u00a0 I am a      follower of Jesus.\u00a0 This is      who I am and what I am becoming.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you know someone who is struggling with the meaning of baptism because they\u2019ve been raised in an environment that made baptism essential to salvation, this would be a great talk to get and listen to.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve not been baptized, <strong>join us on the 25<sup>th<\/sup><\/strong> @ <a href=\"http:\/\/g3church.com\">The Gathering<\/a>.\u00a0 It will be a joyful time.\u00a0 You can go to TheGatheringNashville.com and sign up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On October 25th The Gathering will be having a baptism service.\u00a0 In preparation for that, I thought it was time for me to do a teaching on what baptism is and isn\u2019t. Before we can understand what baptism is, we need to identify the three errors that surround it. Error number one says that baptism &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/today-the-gathering-its-time-to-take-a-stand\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Today @ The Gathering:  It&#8217;s Time to Take a Stand&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}