Monday, May 10, 2021

God’s Use Of Water In Salvation

By Joe Slater

    You body is about 60% water. For me, that’s around sixteen gallons! Water covers over 70% of Earth’s surface. The U.S. Geological Survey says all the water in the atmosphere, on the surface, and under the ground totals over 332 million cubic miles! Obviously, water plays a huge role in our lives.
    God has chosen to use water numerous times to bring salvation to people. For example, He used water to save a Syrian leper from his terminal disease (see 2 Kings 5:1-14). H2O has no inherent healing properties, but God chose to use water to cleanse Naaman when he obeyed by dipping himself seven times in the Jordan.
    Peter wrote that Noah & his family “were saved through water” (1 Peter 3:20). We usually think of the ark as the instrument that kept them from drowning, but that wasn’t Peter’s point. God used water to save them from the corrupt world all around them. The New American Standard and English Standard versions totally miss this vital point in their erroneous paraphrase, “brought safely through the water.” The text says “saved by (i.e. by means of) water”!
    Peter went on to say that just as Noah was saved by means of water, “there is also an antitype which now saves us – baptism” (1 Peter 3:21). Again, the chemical element H2O has no power to wash away sin. But God has chosen to use water in His plan to save sinners.
And now why are you waiting? Arise and be
baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name
of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com


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