Salvation & Baptism Lesson 1
Salvation   1. The only means of Salvation is by  accepting   Jesus   Christ .
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.  There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God.”   John 3:16-18   NLT
And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life.  I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.  1 John 5:11-13   NLT
Salvation   a. Jesus is the  Visible   image of the invisible God .
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.  He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.  He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.  Everything was created through him and for him.  Colossians 1:15-22 NLT
He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body.  He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead.  So he is first in everything.  For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself.  He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.  Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
Salvation   b. He is  eternal   and has always existed.
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”  So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 NLT
But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.  “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!  Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” Genesis 11:6-7 NLT
c. God exists as three divine persons in one God.  1.  Father 2.  Son  Jesus 3.  Holy Spirit
Salvation   d. Each is a  separate   entity, yet all three are  one God .
John 14:1-10 NLT   “ Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.  There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.  If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.  And you know the way to where I am going.  “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.  If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”
John 14:15-19 NLT  “ If you love me, obey my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.  No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.  Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.”
“ But to his Son he says, "Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.  Your royal power is expressed in righteousness.  You love what is right and hate what is wrong.  Therefore God, your God, has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else. Hebrews 1:8-12
And, "Lord, in the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  Even they will perish, but you remain forever.  They will wear out like old clothing.  You will roll them up like an old coat.  They will fade away like old clothing.  But you are always the same;  you will never grow old.”
e. God is three in one just as  water ,  ice , and  steam   are the same.
f. Through Jesus we are made  right  with God.
Colossians 1:19-22 NLT For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself.  He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God.
You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.  Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
2. Salvation requires  confession   sin   of and  faith   in Jesus as the answer.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Romans 10:9-10  NLT
3. Salvation is  eternal .
“ Because of God's special favor to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.  For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have--Jesus Christ.”   1 Corinthians 3:10-15   NLT
“ Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw.  But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value.”
“ If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward.  But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames.”    
4. We are saved by  grace   alone .
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-10 NLT
So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.  God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.     
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.    
5. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior we receive the  Holy   Spirit .
God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure.  And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God,  Ephesians 1:9-14 NLT
for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.  God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.  And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.
The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.    
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NLT
Salvation & Baptism Lesson 2
What do we believe about   Baptism   ? 1. It is an  ordinance  of Christ.
Matthew 28:19-20   NLT Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
2. Salvation  does   not  depend on it.   Romans 10:9-10 NLT “ For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.”
3. Only  Believers  should be baptized.   Colossians 2:11-12 NLT “ When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure--the cutting away of your sinful nature.  For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
It should always be a  conscious   decision  to be obedient.   Infants  cannot make that decision.
4. It is a  public   identification  with Christ and  is  symbolic  of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection
5. We baptize by full immersion and in the name of the  Father , the  Son  &  Holy   Spirit.   Matthew 28:19 NLT  “ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”