Baptism and Church Membership
275
transgressors of His law. From the lowliest subject to the highest in
positions of trust, they are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation.—
Manuscript 56, 1900
.
Dedicated to God—Henceforth the believer is to bear in mind that
he is dedicated to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. He is to make
all worldly considerations secondary to this new relation. Publicly he
has declared that he will no longer live in pride and self-indulgence.
He is no longer to live a careless, indifferent life. He has made a
covenant with God. He has died to the world. He is to live to the Lord,
to use for Him all his entrusted capabilities, never losing the realization
that he bears God’s signature, that he is a subject of Christ’s kingdom,
a partaker of the divine nature. He is to surrender to God all that he is
and all that he has, employing all his gifts to His name’s glory.
The obligations in the spiritual agreement entered into at baptism
are mutual. As human beings act their part with whole-hearted obe-
dience, they have a right to pray, “Let it be known, Lord, that Thou
art God in Israel.” The fact that you have been baptized in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is an assurance that if you
will claim their help, these powers will help you in every emergency.
The Lord will hear and answer the prayers of His sincere followers
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who wear Christ’s yoke and learn in His school His meekness and
lowliness.—
Testimonies For The Church 6:98, 99
(1900).
The Church’s Responsibility for New Converts—Faithful
Christian men and women should have an intense interest to bring
the convicted soul to a correct knowledge of righteousness in Christ
Jesus. If any have allowed the desire for selfish indulgence to become
supreme in their life, the faithful believers should watch for these souls
as they that must give an account. They must not neglect the faithful,
tender, loving instruction so essential to the young converts that there
may be no halfhearted work. The very first experience should be right.
Satan does not want anyone to see the necessity of an entire sur-
render to God. When the soul fails to make this surrender, sin is not
forsaken; the appetites and passions are striving for the mastery; temp-
tations confuse the conscience, so that true conversion does not take
place. If all had a sense of the conflict which each soul must wage
with satanic agencies that are seeking to ensnare, entice, and deceive,
there would be much more diligent labor for those who are young in
the faith.