THE FILTH OF THE FLESH
I Peter 3:21-22 The like figure¹ whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
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Originally Posted by handmaiden
It's not like we can line them up and force them to get saved, can we?
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Well you could probably force them to SAY they'd been saved. I'm reluctant to be crass in mentioning methods, electricity could be involved or certain tableaux enacted by way of demonstration, so I won't do that and yet in The Bible we read about the following events taking place around or after midnight (mostly after)
Acts 16:29-34 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house²
The yellow-highlighted phrase "and thy house" is Paul and Silas's opening gambit. At this stage no Gospel has been mentioned to anyone other than the trembling man. He asked
what must I do to be saved? At no time did Paul or Silas say they'd need to meet the household and peach to them, waiting to see who laughed, “Duuude, ya gotta be jokin’” or feigned interest while looking forward to the next temple orgy. Who agreed they were enmired in the filth of the flesh and needed baptism. One or two that may have been secret Christians already. Slaves, daughters. Later they did wake them up, let's say it was around 3 o'clock, but who's at their most receptive then? (Maybe if they'd just rolled in from a temple orgy they'd be "receptive" but not to The Good News.)
They all got the baptism, yes, and yet whether freedom of choice was involved is a moot point I'd say. The initial message of Salvation was that if the Master believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, he and his house would all be saved. This is not the only example³ nevertheless when dealing with mohammedans, to what extent would coercion be valid? They do have a concept of nations being converted to one religion or another in toto. Abu Bakar Bashir has sought conversion to his creed from Presidents and Prime Ministers for exactly this reason. If they take up the nonsense he espouses, it's reasoned, their nations will thereby be new emirates where head-chopping and general murder can flourish. His problem is that whereas Jesus can own people, presidents cannot. Not even in the world's largest islamic dystopia, otherwise why would he say:
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ABU BAKAR BASHIR⁴ (translated): We will continue our struggle until Indonesia is regulated by Sharia laws, because Indonesia belongs to Allah and not to Indonesia people or to mankind. That is my struggle for Sharia laws, America does not like this. America is afraid of Islam because Islam stands against American rule over all nations in the world. If Islam is upheld, this would be impossible.
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The question is whether this cult, now running Afghanistan, would accept Christ's Universal Invitation in the way they'd assume presidents or prime ministers could apply an equivalent entreaty to everyone as if they owned them? No prizes here. The filth of the flesh holds double standards as supreme.
1. A comparison is being drawn with Noah, who saved eight souls from out of the water.
2. "All his house" (i.e. the household of a prison governor) would include wives, children, staff, employees & slaves many of whom would be pagans.
3. Acts 18:5-8
4. https://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/co...4/s1063790.htm