“I’m not baptized. Am I lost?”

Steve Brown:
“I’m not baptized. Am I lost?” The answer to that and other questions on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you think laughter isn’t spiritual, or that faithfulness to God means conformity to Christian stereotypes, then this program probably isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for honest Biblical answers to hard questions, then welcome to Key Life. Here’s our host, author and seminary professor, Steve Brown along with Pete Alwinson from ForgeTruth.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. Hi Pete.

Pete Alwinson:
Hey Steve. How you doing?

Steve Brown:
I’m doing really good, as a matter of fact.

Pete Alwinson:
You seem like your voice is as strong as ever, right?

Steve Brown:
You know, I’m an old guy, and I shouldn’t be this healthy.

Pete Alwinson:
But you’re not that old.

Steve Brown:
I really shouldn’t. Oh, yeah, I am. I’m old as dirt, but I’m healthy as a tree.

Pete Alwinson:
Amen.

Steve Brown:
Now, that could change tomorrow. In fact, Pete and I both, when we were talking before we sat down to do this broadcast. We have a close pastor friend who is younger than we are and who died this morning and we are more than sad. But also glad that he’s home and then he doesn’t have to fight it anymore. That’s a good thing. Well, that’s Pete Alwinson and I tell you all the time, and I’m going to keep doing it. Go to ForgeTruth.com dynamite podcast there, so much good video and audio teaching, especially if you’re a guy and if you’re not, if you’re female, you can learn a lot by going there too. It’s ForgeTruth.com as you know, Pete comes in on Fridays and we, for years have been answering questions. And we love your questions. You can ask your question by going to 1-800-KEY-LIFE, 24 7, following directions, and record your question. Sometimes we put your voice on the air. Or you can send your question to

Key Life Network
P.O. Box 5000
Maitland, Florida 32794

in Canada, it’s

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8

or you can e-mail your question to [email protected] and if you can, when you ask your question, but you don’t have to, help us financially. Pray about it. And if you can, I promise we’ll squeeze every dime for the glory of God. If you can’t, as I said, we understand. Hey Pete, pray for us and then we’ll get to these questions.

Pete Alwinson:
All right, let’s pray together. Our Father, we thank you as we come into your presence today that we come before the God who is and who was and who is to come. We honor you, we glorify you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Lord, it’s been a long week and a lot happens in our lives each week. We just come to you now asking that you would prepare our hearts for worship, to hear you, Lord, to rest in you and to rest again in the work of Christ. Lord, you know us, you know every one of us, you know our needs and you know what we need to hear from you. So we pray along with Jesus, give us ears to hear what you’re saying to us. And we pray that you’d be with our leaders. Oh Father, fill our pastors and teachers, our worship leaders, fill them with the Spirit of grace to teach us your word. May we hear it. May your church be healthy and may it expand. Be honored and glorified. Thanks for this time of Q&A now. We commit it to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Steve Brown:
Hey Pete, this is an e-mail. How can I wait on the Lord and not push ahead on my own steam?

Pete Alwinson:
Oh man, that is such a good, that’s a good point because our tendency is to try to get God to baptize all of our stuff.

Steve Brown:
We do it and then say, Lord. And when it fails, we say, Lord, how could you fail me?

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
And God says, I didn’t tell you to do it. I told you to wait.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah.

Steve Brown:
That’s the first thing that Jesus told his disciples. He didn’t tell him to go into all the world. He said, sit still and wait for the promised Holy Spirit.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. One, that’s exactly right. And one of the Psalms that I read almost every morning is Psalm 27.

That we’re called to wait.

Steve Brown:
Yeah.

Pete Alwinson:
Called the weight and it’s powerful.

Steve Brown:
How do you learn that, you don’t have to worry about it. God’s going to fix it. You just hit the wall a number of times and pretty soon you think, unless I’m stupid, I’m not doing this anymore.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. It really is. You know, Psalm 32:8 says.

I will lead you and guide you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

So, spend time in the word, pray, get godly counsel. But take the time to let God work things out in his time.

Steve Brown:
That’s true. And Satan says, do it now. God says, wait. And godly counsel is important. Knowing good teaching from your church. Having brothers and sisters who stand with you, is really important. Sometimes, go ahead, see if God’s in it. If he isn’t, then stop.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah. Yeah. And develop that ability to look for signs that he’s opening doors and working.

Steve Brown:
Yeah, that’s true. He works in circumstances.

Pete Alwinson:
He does. It’s powerful.

Steve Brown:
Okay. Let’s go to our phone lines.

Caller 1:
I’m a Christian, but I’ve never been baptized. Will I lose my salvation?

Steve Brown:
Good question. First, go get baptized, just in case you could, but you can’t. But you know, Jesus said we ought to do this. And so, look, if you’re following Jesus, do what he says. Doesn’t have a thing to do with your salvation. That happened when you were dead and there was nothing you could do about it. Nothing you can add to it, no religious stuff you could do to be saved. It just is. And that will never change.

Pete Alwinson:
Right.

Steve Brown:
You ought to show whose side you’re on, and baptism does that.

Pete Alwinson:
Perfect. I mean, that’s a great explanation. You put it theologically balanced and do it. So, it’s an act of obedience, but in the first century church, particularly in Israel. It had even greater implications because they baptize for repentance all the time. This repentance in the name of Jesus, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that really sets you apart.

Steve Brown:
It really does.

Pete Alwinson:
And it still has that effect. We did a baptism, I was witnessing a baptism the other day of a young man who came to Christ. And it’s, there he is, being baptized, his family, his friends watching. It’s powerful.

Steve Brown:
Now, there are those Christians who teach baptismal regeneration.

Pete Alwinson:
It’s true.

Steve Brown:
When you hear that, that’s from our perspective, and we think it’s pretty clear. Baptism is a sign, not a cause.

Pete Alwinson:
Right.

Steve Brown:
And if you confuse that, and there are a couple of Scriptures those folks use that are misinterpreted. But it’s a sign of something that God’s going to do or has done in your life. Nobody was ever saved by water.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. That’s right. It’s a sign, not a cause. Boy, catch that. It’s a sign and seal of the covenant of grace.

Steve Brown:
Yeah, it really is. Okay, enough on that. What does the Bible teach about gambling? How does one know if it has become an addiction and if so, what can you do about it?

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah, well, you have a lot to say about gambling because you did some reading and thinking about that. How do you know if it’s an addiction if you can’t stop it?

Steve Brown:
That’s true. I tell people that say, you know, how do I know if I’m an alcoholic? Well, stop for a couple of days, and if you can’t, you’re an alcoholic, you need to go to AA.

Pete Alwinson:
Where does your mind go, and where does your body want you to go?

Steve Brown:
That’s true. And incidentally, the Bible has very little to say about gambling. And for those who are in the stock market, but think that playing poker is wrong, you’re a hypocrite. You know, that’s gambling too. So there’s very, it’s investment also, and we’ve got to reckon, and I reckon I’m kidding around. But the truth is, the Bible doesn’t address that very much.

Pete Alwinson:
It really doesn’t.

Steve Brown:
But it does address the results of it, if you’re not very careful.

Pete Alwinson:
And you know, it is true that gambling goes all the way back through history. I mean, they gambled for Jesus’ clothes.

Steve Brown:
That’s true.

Pete Alwinson:
So, we know it’s there. What we do see is that principle, all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. And so, you know, I mean, if you get a bunch of guys together and you’re doing a low level poker game. I was raised thinking that was a sin, but I don’t think it is. But I mean, what if you’re dependent upon that for income or if you’re playing for a couple of bucks and you lose, it’s no big deal. But it could get really bad.

Steve Brown:
And one of the things, and maybe focus, maybe this is central. Gambling suggests you can get something for nothing.

Pete Alwinson:
It does.

Steve Brown:
I mean, it really does. You don’t have to work for it, you don’t have to be responsible, you don’t have to do anything. Just deal the stupid cards and let me see if I’m going to get something for nothing. And that is an unbiblical attitude.

Pete Alwinson:
That is. And what is addressed often is this idea of getting rich quick and getting something for nothing that skirts honest work, that is roundly dealt with in the Book of Proverbs over and over and over again. And so, you know, we ought to work hard. We should not want to get rich quick. Some people do, but that’s not, should not be our goal.

Steve Brown:
We have a cultural shift going on in this country and you guys in Canada too, this message didn’t even need to be spoken two generations ago. But right now, work is seen as a curse, not a blessing. And that’s dangerous. Because it has to do with this whole attitude going back to gambling. You deserve it first, and you don’t. And secondly, you can get something for nothing.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. That’s right. And you are right in that we see a macro shift and it’s getting down into the micro level of people not wanting to work, but still expecting somebody to take care of them, i.e. the government.

Steve Brown:
And the Scripture is pretty clear about that. Paul said, you don’t work, you don’t eat.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. That’s right.

Steve Brown:
I mean, that’s pretty harsh.

Pete Alwinson:
So, my thought about this, and then we’ve got to go on, is this idea that if Christians will understand what God says about work and get out there and do it, even these young men, young women getting into the workplace, they will be successful, they will be able to make money and provide for their needs and provide for the mission of the church, because there’s a lot of people who don’t want to work. Get out there.

Steve Brown:
And you’ll shine because you’ll be one of those who do shine by working.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
Hey, you know, if they gave us the power, we could fix all these problems.

Pete Alwinson:
They don’t listen to us enough.

Steve Brown:
That’s true. So, maybe we ought to write books, do you think?

Pete Alwinson:
Maybe.

Steve Brown:
Hey, we’ve got to go. But first, Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.