Now here is final chapter to whole saga. After Satan is permanently taken out for good, old earth and old heaven will pass away and a new heaven and new earth will be given to God's people. Here is verse.

"AND I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, for first heaven and first earth had passed away. Then I, John, saw holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for former things have passed away. Then He who sat on throne said, "Behold, I will make all things new."

And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." And He said to me, "It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End. I will give fountain of water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son. But cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars shall have their part in lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is second death." (Revelations 21:1-8)

"But I saw no temple in it, for Lord God Almighty and Lamb are its temple. And city had no need of sun or of moon to shine on it, for glory of God illuminated it, and Lamb its light. And nations of those who are saved shall walk in light, and kings of earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (and there shall be no night there). And they shall bring glory and honor of nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in Lamb's Book of Life." (Revelations 21:22-27)

"And there shall be no more curse, but throne of God and of Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads; and there shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of sun, for Lord God gives light. And they shall reign forever and ever." (Revelations 22:3-5)

The above verse also tells us that both Jesus and God Father will dwell and live with us in this paradise and we will all have direct access to both of Them! We will no longer have need of a Jewish Temple because God and Jesus will now be temple. We will be able to worship Them direct.

The Jailor: "And he took them same hour of night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized." (Acts 16:33)

Corinthians: "Then Crispus, ruler of synagogue, believed on Lord with all his household. And many of Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized." (Acts 18:8)

Again we say, how much clearer must it be for us all to agree that baptism is a necessary part of salvation? There are those who say that faith is all that is necessary. Then why does book of acts show us that in every case recorded for us to learn from, baptism was practiced?

Who is baptism for? I have a dear friend who is in a brotherhood that teaches and practices infant baptism. Is baptism for infants? Or is baptism only for those who know significance of act and what it represents?

Let's consider those things which Scriptures teach that must precede baptism. First, person must believe. This is emphasized strongly by Jesus, read again Mark 16:16. Can an infant have faith that Jesus is Christ, Son of living God? Do you remember what you "believed" when you were just a few months old? How significant are those "beliefs" to you today? Can an infant be taught about God? Can an infant respond to that teaching? We all know answer to these questions: Of course not! Another act which must precede baptism is repentance. Can an infant repent? Again, answer is no. And for what sins would infant be repenting for? Confession of one's faith that Jesus is Son of God is another act which must precede baptism. It is equally clear that an infant cannot confess to have a faith that they are incapable of having.

So, who should (must) be baptized? If you still don't know answer to this question, then you should read again eight accounts of people being converted in book of Acts. This time read full accounts. They are found in following chapters of Acts: two, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, sixteen, and eighteen. However, answer is one who believes that Jesus is Christ, Son of living God; one who has repented for all sins he/she has committed and strives to sin no more; and one who is willing to and has confessed his/her faith in Jesus as Son of God. Only for these people is baptism appropriate, and a meaningful act. Remember, you can fool man most of time, but you can never fool God!

The form of baptism is also subject of much false teaching. Here again, Bible is quite clear as to form. The Greek word we translate as baptism is "baptizo." It means to dip, immerse or plunge. There is no one who is a serious student of Word that can deny this fact. If Jesus had intended for disciples to pour as a method of baptism, He would have used word "ekcheo." But He didn't! If He had meant for disciples to sprinkle He would have used word "rantizo." But He didn't! And if He had intended for method of baptism to be any and all of these He would have used words interchangeably. But He didn't! God's word tells us method of baptism: immersion, and that's all.

What does baptism do? Well, first of all it is a picture of death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us this in a beautiful way: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from dead by glory of Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:3,4) It is also a picture of birth, for Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter kingdom of God." (John 3:5)

Baptism is necessary for remission of sins. In Acts chapter 2 three thousand that responded to gospel on that day had said, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37b) "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins; and you shall receive gift of Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

Brothers and sisters, don't accept false teachings. Go to God's word for yourself and learn what It says about these and other subjects which are important to your salvation. May God be with you in your studies.

All scriptures quoted are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Stephen Kingery is an author, preacher, teacher and founder of Be Ye Doers Of The Word.

Visit our site at http://www.james1-22.org