Baptism according to......

What do you think of when you see or hear the word baptism? I'm not a betting man but if I were, I would wager most people think of a wet event in a church setting with someone being dunked in a tub of water either in the front or back of the church with a guy in waist high rubber boots performing the ceremony. Churches have split over the details of whether you should be dunked forward or backward, dunked once or three times, should it be in the name of Jesus or in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, even whether it is immersion in water or just a little dab will do ya mentality pertaining to sprinkling. As a Mid Acts Pauline right divider of the authorized King James Bible I can say without any fear of contradiction that every church that practices water baptism in this present dispensation of the grace of God is wrong, sorely wrong, even to the point of making the cross of Christ of none effect. Let's take a brief look at what the four disseminators of doctrine have to say about "baptism" beginning with Moses.



MOSES:

• Exodus 40:12 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.


• Leviticus 16:24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.


• Numbers 8:7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.


• Numbers 19:20 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

The use of water in an assembly did not begin when the first Baptist church opened it's doors. Water was an essential element in the priestly ministry from the beginning of the priestly ministry of Israel for purification, cleansing and also note as a separation. If one was not sprinkled with this holy water they would remain unclean. Sounds familiar doesn't it when you consider denominations that emphasize water baptism as an element of your salvation such as the Church of Christ. The amazing part is they are correct, they are just two thousand years behind the learning curve which demonstrates the error of their theology. Let's proceed with information given on baptism by our Lord Jesus Christ.

JESUS:

• Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:


• Matthew 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.


• Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.


• Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.


• John 3:22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.


• John 3:23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.


• John 3:24 For John was not yet cast into prison.


• John 3:25 Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.

Mathew 3:11 demonstrates that baptism does not always refer to water or the use thereof. Note the baptism with the Holy Ghost, is the Holy Ghost water? and also with fire, that cannot be water either, in fact, the baptism with fire is not as the Pentecostals maintain as some sort of zeal or speaking in gibberish but rather it refers to Hell as set forth in verse 12 of the same chapter. The next time you hear someone declare they received the baptism with fire try not to laugh at their ignorance, instead, patiently show them the verses.

Mathew 20:22 , Jesus is speaking concerning His death as a baptism as He also did similarly in Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! Ask your Christian friends how many times Jesus was baptized and then show them how Christ spoke of His death as a baptism. You have just taught them baptism does not mean water.

Mathew 16:16 demonstrates the absolute necessity for water baptism in order to be saved, no way around it, the Bible spin doctors are wrong making it something else, the verse says "and" which ties it directly as an essential element for Israel to become believing Israel in their Messiah.

Lastly, note what John was preaching in Mark 1:4....baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Is that the same as preaching the cross? wherein Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose the third day which constitutes the gospel of the grace of God? You know it isn't the same, in fact, while they were preaching this baptism ,none of the disciples had a clue Christ was going to die for any one's sins, especially us dirty no good Gentile dogs.

PETER:

• Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Does Acts 2:38 sound like Mark 1:4? It does, but with the addition of the receiving of the Holy Ghost. Now go back to the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost showed up, who do you think was receiving the Holy Ghost? It was the people who had already been water baptized previously and were now receiving the promise from Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Obviously, Peter is just getting the people he was speaking to up to speed from Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

PAUL:

• Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Did Jesus drown? Being baptized into His death means to be "immersed into His death" for the sake of identification with the death, burial and ressurection of Christ.

• Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Notice the statement "by the glory of the Father". This signifies it is the operation of God and not some dude wearing waders in a Jacuzzi . If a pastor or preacher thinks that when they pull you up out of the water is a representation of the resurrection, as the night follows the day, the preacher thinks he is the Father in the scripture. Also note there is no mention of H2O, only Christ's death. Romans 6:3-4 concords with Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

• 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Is John the baptizer? Is Jesus the baptizer? No, the Holy Spirit is the baptizer. Does the Holy Spirit baptize us into water? Isn't it alot easier to understand as well as know the truth when you allow the scriptures to say what they so plainly say. The Holy spirit baptizes us into one body, the body of Christ. Just for fun, if this is a water baptism shouldn't we be drinking the water as the verse concludes? Yuck! Who knows what has been in that nasty pool.

• Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There it is again, baptized into Christ is not baptized with water for the remission of sins. The words are different with different meanings and different functions. If it is a water baptism, shouldn't you not dry off with a towel because you would be removing Christ? Silly to think about isn't it how the "ignorant brethren" who will deny what the scriptures so plainly declare in order to maintain a tradition or ritual handed down by former "ignorant brethren"?

• Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

In a former post concerning Baptisms, I demonstrated there are at least twelve different baptisms in the Bible. Paul says in Ephesians 4:5 there is but one. What Paul is saying there is but one that has a function in this dispensation of the grace of God wherein we reside. In fact, in another scripture, Paul declares the operation of a water baptism in this dispensing of the grace of God is counter productive even as much as making the cross of none effect.

• 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

If Christ sent Paul NOT to baptize, and if Paul is our pattern, why in the world are folks so bent on clinging to this water ceremony which we as the body of Christ are warned against, are instructed to avoid, and have no association with? It is easy, they have neglected to heed to Paul's clear statement in 2nd Timothy 2:15 wherein we are told to "rightly divide the word of truth".

• 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

We are surrounded by shameful workmanship in this present day, dumbing down the audience with dumbed down Bibles, teaching Israel's covenant doctrine as if it is in effect for us today, singing from the Psalms which are solely Israel's message, dancing like David danced in 2nd Samuel 6 which was never ordained by God just as moving the Ark of the covenant in a cart was, Asking Jesus in their hearts, confessing their sins, asking for forgiveness, and the list goes on with the confussion, and did I mention getting wet and thinking they are doing God's will? If it wasn't so serious it would be hoot worthy. Next post I will cover the topic of the "Gospel" and see the difference as the scriptures progress with the different audiences in view. Until then, Grace and Peace!