BAPTISM: DECLARATION #10

BAPTISM: DECLARATION OF FAITH # 10

                Baptism is what one might call a meat and potatoes doctrine. It is common across a wide spectrum of Christianity and it is certainly described in the Bible just as it is written here:

                “We Believe: In water baptism by immersion and all who repent should be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”

                This, of course, is the Gospel commission given by Jesus Himself saying: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Mt. 28:18-20

                There is a great deal said in this Gospel Commission to which we must pay close attention because the church is in many way weak and living far below its potential as the Body of Christ. This happens when living truth becomes dead tradition and the Holy Spirit and fire no longer animates the believers but only the remaining motions of religion.

                There is a great dynamic enfolded within the gospel commission that is lost to many believers and in fact, as I have pointed out, there is a large section of those who call themselves Christians that are now preparing to “Wonder after the Beast of Revelation 13. So, let’s list the important points.

1.       First of all, it is not the act of baptism itself that saves us, but what that baptism represents. Paul explains it in Romans 6:1-13. Paul asks the question: “Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase, May it never be! Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

                This stands in bold relief against the brand of false grace that is being widely promoted in the falling away church. Grace is not tolerance of sin. Grace is the power of God unto righteousness. Baptism indicates that we die to self and the world, or as Paul puts it is verse 6: “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin. Romans 6:6

                The New Birth is not just joining a church. It is not based upon accepting a list of doctrines. The New Birth represents a complete end to all that we were in the flesh and a new beginning as new creatures that are now animated and empowered by the resurrection power of Christ… and this resurrection power is brought to us by the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent to be our new life.

2.       All authority has been given to Jesus Christ both in heaven and on the earth. In other words, as truly God, He is both Creator of all that exists and Savior and Redeemer of all who will come to Him. As a Man, He is legally able to buy back all that man lost in the fall. He had to become like us in all aspects even as Hebrews chapter 2 explains it saying: Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil.” Heb.  2:14, but the entire chapter is so powerful and in fact the book of Hebrews goes into great detail on who Jesus Christ really is and that He has become our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

                If only Christians would study their Bibles and believe what it says and live by what it says as empowered by the Holy Spirit which Jesus Christ sent to us the church, we would be the most powerful thing going in this world and a whole lot of religions with their special interests and hand- picked doctrines would go away. Instead we tend to pick out the texts that fit our beliefs while ignoring everything that doesn’t fit… and then we give ourselves a brand name and require people to see it our way if they want to be one of us. So the Body of Christ has been divided into many groups, each one limited to the understanding of their founder.

                But the bible does not picture this kind of religion at all. The bible describes a vital connection with Jesus through His Holy Spirit in which we are being transformed into His image from glory to glory. WE have been adopted into Jesus’ royal family and we are His brothers and sisters and joint heirs with Him of the throne of the universe and we have been put on this planet as a training ground for our destiny… so why do we get all bound up with dead religion and traditions when we can be living by the very Spirit of Christ? Without vision the people perish… and it is the prophetic word that stirs up new life into dying churches and nations.

                If we actually lived life as though All authority has been given to Jesus Christ both in heaven and on earth, then we would seek no other authority to be over us. We tend to place men, popes, priests, clergy, organizations and humanly contrived doctrines as our Authority rather than Jesus Christ Himself and His Word and His Holy Spirit in their entirety. We must all become Spirit filled, Bible believing disciples of Jesus and that brings up our next point.

3.       Making disciples of all nations: We tend to make members as if by embracing our brand of doctrine, our list of priorities they will become Christians. So we add members rather than making disciples. And these members may go around touting the list and winning others to the list, but they have not actually entered into Christ’s death or been born again by His resurrection power to live by His Spirit rather than by our flesh.

                So there are two kinds of churches in the world, those who make members and those that make disciples and the disciple churches are the rarer of the two.

                It is well known that David and Saul represent two kinds of churches. Saul represents those churches that are weighed down with manmade armor and manmade weapons and sitting in the trenches, whereas David came armed only with “the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have taunted.” 1 Sam. 17:45

                Friends, we live in a day and age that directly parallels this story of David and Saul.  We are about to face Goliath. He is building his global kingdom in readiness for the coming global leader to be enthroned in the temple and there are two kinds of churches that are about to face Satan himself in this final battle. One, represented by Saul, is weighed down with traditions and institutional hierarchies and manmade armor, while another group, represented by David, has become lean and mean by the Spirit of God. They have been learning how to use the weapons of our warfare as spoken of in 2 Cor. 10:3. They are learning how to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. They have put away the things of this world and they are living by the whole Word of God and not just the parts that please the flesh and the intellect.

                But there is an extremely sad (or happy) final statement about these two (David and Saul) churches also represented by Philadelphia and Laodicea. It says: “And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.” And in the next sentence it says. “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.” 1 Sam. 16:13, 14.

                Now mark my words; the Saul church from which the Holy Spirit has departed as they fall away from the living faith, will indeed chase the Davids down and persecute them and they will end up hiding in caves, even though it is they who have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. But Saul hates David, whether because of jealousy, or a rejection of God’s Holy Spirit, he (they) take on a different spirit, the spirit of antichrist and they will no longer have a tolerance for those who live by the Spirit of God and the Word of God, without a whole lot of brand name baggage weighing them down.

4.       “Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” Jesus said in John 15:10 10-12: “If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My father’s commandments and abide in His love.” Many stop right there and presume that He is talking about the Law of Moses, but Jesus goes on to say. “This is My commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. John 14: 12 and in John 13:34, 35 He said. “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34, 35.

                Now if we remember what Jesus said, that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth, then we will take very seriously what HE has said about the New Commandment that he has given us. This is because as Paul taught us, the Law of Moses could make no one righteous. By the works of the Law shall no flesh can be justified and the Law is not of faith. So if we come to understand Paul’s theological teaching on the Law, combined with what Jesus said about giving us a new commandment and we add to that the biblical teaching that love is the fulfillment of the Law, we will come to the conclusion that Paul arrived at in Romans 8:1-4. The Law is fulfilled in those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

                So in very real terms we have a choice today between the dead Saul church from which the Spirit has departed and the living David church that comes at Goliath in the name of the Lord of hosts.

5.       Now there is one final ingredient given in the Gospel commission. It is a promise from Jesus saying: “And lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Mt. 28:20. But how is Jesus to be with us if He has gone back to heaven? He tells us in John 14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

                In other words, Jesus is with us by His Holy Spirit and He has promised to be with us until the end. So when dead religious people tell you that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ended with the first apostles, they do so in open defiance of the very words of Jesus. The Christian life is one of living by the Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

                We, as Christians desperately need to get back into that vital connection with Jesus through His Holy Spirit… not just a doctrine about the Holy Spirit, but the very life of the Holy Spirit being lived out in these earthen vessels. So we need to embrace the entire Word of God as made alive by the Spirit of God… in a sense, moving beyond all of the special interest groups and the armor of Saul, to operate by the very Spirit and power of God in these last days.

                In many ways we have allowed men and organizations to become our mediator between us and God. We begin to embrace a second hand religion meted out to us as dead doctrines and traditions rather than living by the Spirit and the Word. But the times we live in demand intimacy and a vital connection with our Lord, for we are His Bride and we are waiting His return for the wedding.

                As one final note, there are people in even dead churches that are alive, because like David who lived in the Old Covenant, they have New Covenant hearts. They see beyond their present circumstances. They hunger for more than what mere men can dish out. They have begun to feed on the body and blood of Jesus as made alive by the Spirit of Jesus and so they are finding the key of David and a door that no man can shut. So carry on pilgrims. Your faith will make you whole.