"NO outward forms can make you clean, The Leprosy lies deep within."

" I do beseech you to remember that you must have a new heart and a right spirit, and baptism cannot give you these. You must turn from your sins and follow after Christ; you must have such a faith as shall make your life holy and your speech devout, or else you have not the faith of God’s elect, and into God’s kingdom you shall never come. I pray you never rest upon this wretched and rotten foundation, this deceitful invention of antichrist. O, may God save you from it, and bring you to seek the true rock of refuge for weary souls."
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"I come with much brevity, and I hope with much earnestness, in the second place, to say that FAITH IS THE INDISPENSABLE REQUISITE TO SALVATION. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.” Faith is the one indispensable requisite for salvation. This faith is the gift of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Some men believe not on Jesus; they believe not because they are not of Christ’s sheep, as he himself said unto them; but his sheep hear his voice: he knows them and they follow him: he gives to them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of his hand. What is this believing? Believing consists in two things; first there is an accrediting of the testimony of God concerning his Son. God tells you that his Son came into the world and was made flesh, that he lived upon earth for men’s sake, that after having spent his life in holiness he was offered up a propitiation for sin, that upon the cross he there and then made expiation — so made expiation for the sins of the world that “Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you would be saved, you must accredit this testimony which God gives concerning his own Son. Having received this testimony, the next thing is to confide in it — indeed here lies, I think, the essence of saving faith, to rest yourself for eternal salvation upon the atonement and the righteousness of Jesus Christ, to have done once for all with all reliance upon feelings or upon doings, and to trust in Jesus Christ and in what he did for your salvation.
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This is faith, receiving of the truth of Christ: first knowing it to be true, and then acting upon that belief. Such a faith as this — such real faith as this makes the man henceforth hate sin. How can he love the thing which made t he Saviour bleed? It makes him live in holiness. How can he but seek to honour that God who has loved him so much as to give his Son to die for him. This faith is spiritual in its nature and effects; it operates upon the entire man; it changes his heart, enlightens his judgment, and subdues his will; it subjects him to God’s supremacy, and makes him receive God’s Word as a little child, willing to receive the truth upon the ipse dixit of the divine One; it sanctifies his intellect, and makes him willing to be taught God’s Word; it cleanses within; it makes clean the inside of the cup and platter, and it beautifies without; it makes clean the exterior conduct and the inner motive, so that the man, if his faith be true and real, becomes henceforth another man to what he ever was before.
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Now that such a faith as this should save the soul, is, I believe, reasonable; yea, more, it is certain, for we have seen men saved by it in this very house of prayer. We have seen the harlot lifted out of the Stygian ditch of her sin, and made an honest woman; we have seen the thief reclaimed; we have known the drunkard in hundreds of instances to be sobered; we have observed faith to work such a change, that all the neighbours who have seen it have gazed and admired, even though they hated it; we have seen faith deliver men in the hour of temptation, and help them to consecrate themselves and their substance to God; we have seen, and hope still to see yet more widely, deeds of heroic consecration to God and displays of witness-bearing against the common current of the times, which have proved to us that faith does affect the man, does save the soul. My hearers, if you would be saved, you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me urge you with all my heart to look nowhere but to Christ crucified for your salvation. Oh! If you rest upon any ceremony, though it be not baptism — if you rest upon any other than Jesus Christ, you must perish, as surely as this Book is true. I pray you believe not every spirit, but though I, or an angel from heaven, preach any other doctrine than this, let him be accursed, for this, and this alone, is the soul-saving truth which shall regenerate the world, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Away from all the tag-rags, wax candles, and millinery of Puseyism! Away from all the gorgeous pomp of Popery! Away from the fonts of Church-of-Englandism! We bid you turn your eyes to that naked cross, where hangs as a bleeding man the Son of God."
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-Charles H. Spurgeon
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I have just got through the famous sermon that was preached by Charles Spurgeon on Baptismal Regeneration on Sunday morning, June 5th,1864. You see above a portion taken from this sermon. if you have the opprotunity please read the complete work of Spurgeon's sermon. What an amazing work of truth on this subject; that many today still struggle with. I find it really interesting to see that in 1864 our brother Spurgeon was fighting a battle that today is still afloat. I should not be surprised however I am, although I praise God for His sovereignty in all of this.
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Again we cannot be surprised. We have churches today that openly say without regret that baptism saves; for instance the Catholic church has and still teaches that infant baptism is what saves the soul.
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The New Catholic Catechism, 1994, # 1263,1257,1265,1267
1263:By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin.
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1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. ... The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism...
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1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature," member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.
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Spurgeons response to this complete honesty of belief in Baptismal Regeneration he states is a blessing.
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"God forbid that we should censure those who believe that baptism saves the soul, because the adhere to a church which teaches the same doctrine. So far they are most honest men; and in England, where else, let them never lack a full toleration. Let us oppose their teaching by all Scriptural and intelligent means, but let us respect the courage in plainly giving us their views. I hate their doctrine, but I love their honesty; and as they speak but what they believe to be true, let them speak it out, and the more clearly the better. Out with it, sirs, be it what it may, but do let us know that what you mean. For my part, I love to stand foot to foot with and honest foeman."
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Today my brothers and sisters we might be fighting the obvious Catholic or Mormon that is not afraid to stand for the false doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, but now we are even fighting our "own" with this silly teaching called decisional regeneration which says just ask Jesus into your heart heart and He will come in. It is no different; I know that you have heard it. It is because people who call themself's Christians appear not to have a biblical understanding of the Gospel (the Good News of Jesus Christ). Like Rick Warren (Author of The Purose Driven Life). He teaches a typical decisional regeneration that will surely lead many to believe they have made commitments to Christ when they have not. In His famous book among "Christians" The Purpose Driven Life he leads unbelievers in a short prayer which he says will usher them into God's family. Prior to this he has made no clear presentation of the Gospel. He has not spoken about how our sin has separated us from God and condemned us to a real place called Hell. He has not spoken about the necessity of Christ sacrifice and His substitutionary death for us on the Cross. Yet he leads people to say "Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you"(page 58) and then follows with the astonishing words "Welcome to the family of God" How can people believe in One they do not know? A decision no more makes us part of the family of God than does baptism. We become part of God's family when God regenerates us and adopts us into His family. This may take place at the moment of decision, but a decision does not cause it to happen. By declaring that anyone who said those words and meant them is a believer, he is giving false hope and shows a misunderstanding of conversion and the Gospel.
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Oh how I pray for men who think that they have such an authority to welcome a man into the Family of God would have the fear of God put in them. Brothers and sisters it is no different as saying that baptism saves you. Both teachings put a man's faith in a time of decision and or on baptism and takes away from the sovereign grace of the Lord Jesus Christ's work on that Cross on Calvary. The Bible does NOT teach that baptism saves you, and for those who have put their trust in either their baptism or decision please Repent and believe in the only thing that can save you! Faith and Faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ Mark 16:15-16 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Only when God chooses us and grants us repentance are we truly regenerated.
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Acts 8:22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
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HERE IS THE lINK TO THE COMPLETE SERMON BY SPURGEON :
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Doctrines/Baptismal%20Regeneration/baptismal_regeneration_exposed.htm