“INTO CHRIST”
1) This lesson is about the power of three small, but very powerful words.
2) Word # 1 is “into.” After we discuss “into” we will comment on two more words: “out of.”
3) Our first text comes from Mt. 2; Jesus was being visited by the “wise-men.”
a) Mt. 2:11 says these men came “into” the house.
b) The wisemen did not pass by this house. Neither did they walk around the house.
c) They did not stand at the door, look in the windows, and then finally leave.
d) “Into” means they “entered the residence. They went inside.”
4) Jesus’ earthly family was not able to stay in this house for very long – verse 13.
5) When Joseph took his family “into” Egypt, he left the land of Israel.
6) Later, when he left Egypt, he went back “into” the land of Israel.
7) “Into” describes a definite change in location. Mt. 3:10 is next – READ. Mt. 3:12 – READ.
a) “Into” plus the word “barn” leaves no doubt about what is to be done.
b) It would be wrong to take the hay outside the barn, or in front of the barn. Into means “into.”
8) From Mt. 2:11 to Rev. 22:14 I find 604 occurrences of “into” in the ASV.
9) Into is repeatedly used to describe either a location or some type of relationship.
10) Let’s leave “into” and move on to our next two words (“out of”). Mt. 2:15 – READ.
11) Verse 14 has Jesus, Mary and Joseph going “into” Egypt.
12) We learn from verse 15 that Jesus and His family finally came “out of” that land.
a) Just as “into” describes a location or relationship, so “out of” describes the same things.
b) In Mt. 3:17 we have a voice coming “out of” the heavens. Mt. 8:28 – “out of the tombs.”
c) A person speaks “out of” what is in their heart, Mt. 12:34. We speak what was put “into” us.
13) Mt. 13:41 says that at the end of time angels will gather evil people “out of the kingdom.”
14) We cannot be taken “out of the kingdom” unless were once entered “into” the kingdom.
a) Three words have a terrific amount of significance when it comes to salvation.
b) If the words “out of” are not part of our lives, we are not right with God.
15) Gal. 1:4 says the word is “evil.” Paul speaks of being delivered “out of” this evil world.
16) How do we get out of the evil world and receive deliverance from our sins?
17) Col. 1:13 continues with this subject and develops it in a little more detail.
a) Paul said the world is a place of “darkness.” Notice two key words: “out of.”
b) We need to get “out of the power of darkness.” Do we also not see the preposition “into”?
c) OUT OF one place and INTO another place. This other place is the kingdom.
18) How do we get out of evil, sin, condemnation and “into” the kingdom?
19) In the next chapter we are told how this process does NOT work. Col. 2:14, 23.
20) Heb. 3:16 – Israel did come “out of Egypt,” but it was “by Moses.”
21) There was only one plan to make it out of Egypt and all Israel had to obey that single plan.
22) Had this one plan not been obeyed, the people would not have been delivered.
23) Today all accountable people are guilty of sin and need to “come out” of the condemnation they deserve.
24) How they are going to do that? Gal. 3:27 says a person is “baptized into Christ.”
25) Rom. 6:3 says a person is baptized “into Christ Jesus.”
26) Saying a prayer will not take us “out of sin and put us into Christ.”
27) Confessing Jesus as savior will not take us “out of sin and put us into Christ.”
28) Faith alone will not take us “out of sin and put us into Christ.”
29) Faith plus repentance will not take us “out of sin and put us into Christ.”
Faith plus repentance plus confession will not take us “out of sin and put us into Christ.”
30) Baptism is the final step required to put us “into Christ.”
31) How odd it is for a religious group to say a person is saved and then can be baptized later.
32) If a person is saved without baptism, what does baptism then do at a later time?
33) If a person is saved without it, what does baptism take them from and put them into?
34) There is no meaningful answer to that question.
35) OUT OF and INTO show the essentially of baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
36) Have we come out of sin, darkness, eternity without God and into the kingdom by baptism?
Find the truth about God and become a New Testament Christian. Find out more about New Testament Christianity by running some Internet searches for “church of Christ” and “churches of Christ.” You may also want to visit http://www.abiblecommentary.com for Bible study information.
Remember, in order to be saved and enjoy all God’s blessings (not the least of which is salvation), a person must have faith (Jn. 8:24), be willing to repent (Lk. 13:3), and after confessing Christ as Lord, the final step is water baptism (Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Pet. 3:20-21). Bible baptism is by immersion only (“burial,” Rom. 6:4), and once it is done, heaven puts that person “into Christ” (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3). After proper baptism a person has their sins forgiven (Acts 2:38).