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THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.  And this will we do, if God permit” (Hebrews 6:1-3).   You will notice that Paul uses the plural “baptisms” rather than just “baptism;” but in Ephesians 4:5 he states that there is but “one baptism.”   This is because while there is truly just one baptism, that one baptism has a number of different aspects to it which make it easy to think of them as separate when, in fact, they are all part of the whole.   These aspects include water baptism (the one John the Baptist introduced, and also what Jesus and His apostles practiced), the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and the baptism of fire.   There is also a baptism that Jesus mentioned when He told the apostles, “But I have a...
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FAITH TOWARD GOD

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.  And this will we do, if God permit” (Hebrews 6:1-3).   Once we have understood the need to repent from our dead works, it is necessary for us to learn to exercise faith toward God.  There must be something to fill the void that remains when we leave our dead works behind.  After all, we have come to understand that we mustn’t function in exactly the same way that we have been accustomed to functioning prior to accepting Christ.  We cannot rely on the same natural inclinations that have motivated us in the past, nor can we trust in the wisdom of the world that has previously been our guide.  We need something to replace the old methods of operation – something th...
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REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS

Foundation Principles Series - Part I “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.  And this will we do, if God permit” (Hebrews 6:1-3) .                                    In the beginning of chapter 6 of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, we find what Paul refers to as “the principles of the doctrine of Christ,” and, in chapter 5:12, he calls them, “the first principles of the oracles of God.”   He makes it pretty clear by what he says at the end of chapter 5 that, until we can understand this “milk of the word,” we will find it difficult to advance to deeper truths, or “strong meat.”   So, in an effort to do just that, and...
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