"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the Power of God unto salvation." (Rom. 1:16). One is either saved by the gospel or he is not saved at all! There is no other possibility! One is not saved by the gospel plus the Hiscox Standard Manual for____Churches.
Note what the "Standard Manual" states: "It is most likely that in the Apostolic age when there was but 'one Lord, one faith, and one baptism' and no differing denominations existed, the baptism of a convert by that very act constituted him a member of the church, and at once endowed him with all the rights and privileges of full membership. In that sense, 'baptism was the door into the church.' Now it is different...." To say that there were "no differing denominations," implies that the church that our Lord died for was a denomination, and of course that is not true. But it is true that there were no denominations. In Eph. 4:4-6, we read: "There is one body [church], and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all...." One can study the New Testament from Matt. 1:1 to Rev. 22:21, and he will nowhere find where that changed!!! But man comes along and writes a book called the "Standard Manual," and says: "Now it is different." Why is it different? Upon what grounds is it different? Jesus said: "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). No man has a God given right to change His word to suit himself. Man says there is only one Lord, but many faiths. Paul said there are just as many faiths as there are Lords.
Mr. Hiscox in the "Standard Manual" states: "What idea could the apostle have had as to the nature of baptism, when in two of his epistles he alludes to it as a burial except that it was a dipping or burial in water? To the Romans he says: 'Therefore we are buried with him, by baptism, into death' (Rom.6:4). To the Colossians, in nearly the same language, 'buried with him in baptism'(Col.2:12). No one can misunderstand the meaning of these words." I agree completely with that statement. That is so plain even a child can understand it, just as in Mark 16:16: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Even a child can understand that one must both believe and be baptized in order to be saved. "Baptism doth also now save us" (I Pet. 3:21). Who can misunderstand that?
The "Standard Manual" says that, "baptism was the door into the church." In Eph. 1:22-23 and Col. 1:18, we read that the church is the body of Christ. To be "in Christ" therefore is to be in His church. Note in the context of Rom. 6:4, which was used to prove that baptism is a burial, that verse three states how one gets into Christ. "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death"? How did they get into Christ? They were baptized "into" Christ. That is the only means provided for one to get into Christ. The Bible nowhere teaches that one believes into Christ. To be in Christ is to be in the church. So we read in Acts 2:41,47, where "They that gladly received the word were baptized...And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." All the saved are in the church. Therefore, there are no saved outside of the church.
Jesus said, "I am the door...He that entereth not by the door...the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1,7). The door that Jesus provided for entrance into the church is baptism (Gal.3:27). When man tries to enter, in a way Christ has not provided, such as the "Standard Manual," Jesus said he is "a thief and a robber."
"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God" (I Pet. 4:11).
Don H. Noblin
For questions or comments about this article, email Don H. Noblin If you decide to email me, please include the title of the article. Thank you.