CHURCHES OF CHRIST CONTRIBUTION'S TO CONVERSION

Wanganui Chronicle, 19 September 1946, Page 9

CHURCHES OF CHRIST CONTRIBUTION'S TO CONVERSION

"For Churches of Christ conversion or the beginning of a new life in Christ is a major matter. To this end the Gospel is preached and an appeal is made. In this respect they differ from other Churches in that their membership is composed entirely of those to whom this has become a vital matter and have passed through Believers’ Baptism," declared Mr., L. R. H. Beaumont in a sermon on the contributiqns of the Churches of Christ to conversion-

"Whilst respecting the many Christians in other Churches—and hoping some day for the union of all—their contribution to the religious world on this vital subject is that the New Testament clearly indicates the way men and women may be saved, and that the response must be personal, based on the simile statement of His Divinitv and Saviourship," he staled. Dr. Robinson, principal of Overdale College, England, has made this statement: "I feel the greatest contribution Churches of Christ have nvtde to religious thought is in their doctrine of conversion, bount up as it is with the doctrine of baptism.” The first man to make this contribution was Walter Scott, a Presbyterian minister, who made the Bible his only authority and guide in religion. From a study of its pages and concluding that infant baptism was without warrant and that baptism was a personal and relative duty, he was immersed. He was a very sincere man and a very able speaker. Early in his life he became possessed of the great thought that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. and that here is the starting point of conversion. Matthew 16: 16, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” became a basic scriptural reference for him. He felt, as Churches of Christ have ever felt since, that all that can be asked of a person coming to Christ and desiring to follow Him is just simply this very question. Once a public confession has been made of the Divinitv of Christ and the recognition of Him as one's own personal Saviour, the candidate becomes a candidate for Believers' Baptism. There is no need for any other creed than Christ. The creed of Christianity he declared in 1827 was shown in Peter's confession in Matthew 16: 16.

Closely linked with this passage is Acts, chapter two, and especially Acts 2: 38-39. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptised every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ve shall receive the gift of the Holy _ Ghost (Spirit). For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord God shall call.” Scott restored the ordinance of Christian Baptism to its rightful place and position as one of the conditions of pardon, and arranged these conditions of pardon in their scriptural order: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Remission of Sins, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit. His great contribution was the insistence of the personal element in conversion and that baptism is “the consummating act of the sinner’s return to God-” He emphasised that the promises Io baptised believers are the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the hope of eternal life. These steps he found in the New Testament in the passage cited, and he preached them, leading many thousands of people to decision. Conversion is a living personal expel ience that a person must face up to himself, and none other can act on any person’s behalf. Actually one cannot be born into the Church. There is the necessity to feel the need of Christ, and the power of Christ, and respond in faith and obedience and then to live by the guidance of the Bible and prayer. Alexander Campbell accepted the same teaching, and he and Walter Scott united their efforts in calling men and women back to the New Testament. For them and for the Church of Christ baptism is for the remission of sins, and faith and repentance are necessary prerequisites to baptism (immersion). Conversion has to do with the whole man, with the intellect, with the emotions and with the will, and the result of the appeal to these is faith, repentance and baptism. With conversion not only does a man respond, but the help a man needs is given, remission of sins and the help and promised presence of the indwelling Spirit.