Questions & Answers about Primitive Baptists
by Elder Tim McCool
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Does this mean I must "accept Christ"?
The words "accept/accepted/accepting" occur 12 times in the New Testament in reference to salvation. Not ONCE does it mention that you are to "accept Christ", which is a phrase that was coined around 100 years ago. However, as one already born again, the Bible declares that "in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, IS ACCEPTED with him" (Acts 10:35). Like the "sinner's prayer" and other terms not found in the Bible, the idea of "accepting Christ" arose through years of distortions and mis-teaching of the fact that God's children "receive" the Spirit into their hearts by volition of the Holy Ghost (Jn. 1:12, 3:27; Rom. 8:15; 1 Cor. 2:12; 2 Cor. 11:4; Gal.3:2; Col. 2:6). But you can accept the gospel (2 Cor 11:4), the good news of your salvation, which declares the truth that CHRIST has MADE US ACCEPTED (Eph. 1:6), which involved no work of our own! If you have received the Lord's gift, then you are required to repent and be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38).
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