Boldly Crossing The Line

 

We live in a world vastly different from what our ancestor’s experienced. Medicine, science, transportation, communication, education, business, etc., even empathy and morality, all have changed dramatically over the past 100 years, yes, even in my lifetime. It seems that mankind throughout the world is constantly pushing the line between right and wrong by changing the meaning of what that is. In 1973 all regards of life in the womb were thrown out the window with the Supreme Court Decision, Roe v. Wade, resulting in an average of 1,000,000 fetal abortions per year, every year since. Little Ana Rosa Rodriguez was born into a world gone mad. In 1991, her mother, then 7.5 months pregnant, decided to have an abortion. Dr. Abu Hayat, a reputed New York abortionist, agreed to perform the abortion. However, Dr. Hayat failed. A few days late, Ana was born missing her right arm. It had been severed during the botched abortion. The doctor was then dubbed “The Butcher” by reporters and the state convicted him on assault charges. Dr. Hayat would have been heralded, along with hundreds of other abortion doctors, as a champion of a “woman’s right to choose.” A line has been clearly drawn in the sand by the courts daring you and I to cross it with outrage over their decision.

Two brothers shared a room growing up. This arrangement was often met with some resistance. On one occasion they decided to divide the room in half, each claiming half the room. One chose the side with the most toys, and the other took the side nearest the door of the room. They agreed neither one was to cross the dividing line. The agreement worked well until suppertime. The one brother laughed as he exited the room. The other stood there for a moment contemplating the situation. He was hungry; thus, he crossed the line of demarcation so as to enjoy the blessings of a home-cooked meal. Needless to say, the brothers never divided their room again.

[James 1:12-15] God draws lines, and He often uses water as a sort of dividing line between sin-bondage and salvation-freedom. Noah’s flood was a dividing line separating the old world from the new (Genesis 6:12, 13, 17). The Jordon River stood as a line of demarcation between Namaan’s leprosy and a Divine cure (2 Kings 5:1-15). The Pool of Siloam stood between the blind man and the reception of his sight (John 9:1-7). The Red Sea served as a dividing line between Israel’s slavery and her salvation (Exodus 14:13-31). Any failure on the part of each of the above listed people to cross that line of demarcation would have demonstrated a lack of faith and would have resulted in no salvation. So it is with water baptism. Just as the employment of water was used as a test of faith and a means of salvation in the before-mentioned passages of Scripture, so too is its purpose today. Baptism stands between the sinner and one’s freedom. If the sinner is not baptized for the remission of sins, one can never be saved (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38). 

Do you want to be saved and enjoy the blessings found only in Christ? Or will you allow the world to tear away at your God-given ideals of wanting His love in your life (Romans 2:12-16). Are you hungry enough to cross the line of doubt? Then cross that dividing line and free yourself from the bondage of sin. As Saul witnesses to his religious conversion from Jewish Law to following Christ, he speaks of a man named Ananias who spoke to him about Jesus and His sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. He told Saul of being chosen to be a witness to all men on behalf of the Savior as to what he had seen and heard. Then Ananias said: And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:16). Have you crossed the line to be saved?