Wednesday, September 26, 2007

One Baptism

What does Baptism mean?
originally translated the word “Baptizo” means immersion yet other translators transliterated this word into Baptism so as not to embarrass paedo-baptist(infant Baptism) Churches.
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

What is Christian Baptism?

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

The Father
The Kingdom
Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 3:6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Mar 11:30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.
Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Act 13:24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
Act 20:20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,
Act 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
John was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. He was preparing the way for the king. Therefore, his Baptism was a way of repenting in order to become a citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom.
The Son
The church
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
To be baptized is to convert to Christianity “put on Christ” our church membership means more than our cultural histories.
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 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.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Baptism is done is such a way that we directly line ourselves up with Christ and identify ourselves with his death burial and resurrection. We are dead to our old life living a new spiritual life just we also will be buried and resurrected.

The Holy Spirit
The adoption into the family
Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Through the Holy Spirit we become part of a family, which is adopted of God. We no longer are estranged. We know that we have God as our Father.
Who can be Baptize?
They must be believers
Act 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Act 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
They must be taught
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

What is alien Baptism?
It could be…
a. Unorthodox in mode
Baptism means immersion.
908 baptisma {bap'-tis-mah} from 907; TDNT - 1:545,92; n n AV - baptism 22; 22 1) immersion, submersion [Strong’s Lexicon]
b. Unorthodox in doctrine of God
Act 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
c. Unorthodox in salvation
1Co 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.
Notice that Baptism is not part of the gospel. It may be part of our conversion and the Great Commission; Yet Baptism is not part of the gospel because it is not part of our salvation.
The Gospel tells us of our salvation brought by Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly teaches we receive the grace of salvation through faith.
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Baptism is the seal or sign that salvation has happened
Col 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Yet it is not the way of salvation and should never be confused as such
Act 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
Act 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Act 10:47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Act 10:48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
When people argue that Baptism is there way to salvation then they are no longer humbly depending on the grace of Christ, but instead attempting to use superstitious good works to justify themselves. This is not the Baptism of the New Testament which authenticates our faith, but a trap to enslave believers.

d. Unorthodox in doctrine of the church (sectarian)
1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Notice How I avoid denominational names? The reason is that if anyone follows Christ and the New Testament on the subject of Baptism and church membership regardless of the names their groups or preachers. We must follow the Bible alone and ignore personality. Groups that deny other groups who follow the Bible or rebaptized believers who went through New Testament Baptism are not Christ centered but man centered. If groups do this they are not orthodox but are causing division. Those improperly baptized should be baptized. Yet, if you were properly baptized once you should never be pushed into doing so again. Also, we must always be careful that we are never dependant on the teachings of one man for our faith. Whether they are correct or incorrect on a point we should focus our faith on Christ, focus on the scriptures and listen wide varieties of godly teachers to aide our understanding. Even though I think all my teachings are right to simply reading me without testing could prove idolatrous.




Are the alien Baptized, members of the New Testament church?
No.
Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
1Co 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.
1Co 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.
When we look at these passages many ecumenical Christians assume that when we think of unity we should simply connect to each other regardless of our differences. They think of “one” as monism where everything is connected.
For them being one, is being the same. But is this the understanding of the Bible? Is one God, simply an insignificant universal deity or is it the “unique” and only God?
Look at the passage. “One Lord” does that mean that Jesus Christ happens to be one lord of many? Is He one God of many? No, it is one Lord, to the exclusions of others, one God to the exclusion of others, and One Spirit to the exclusion of others.
So as the passage starts that there is one body. It is obvious that this is the church. This is one body exclusive of other bodies. Is this the invisible church? No. If it is the invisible church then the local church is not the body of Christ. However, the bible almost always uses the word church to describe local bodies. So what about the fact that there are many local bodies? They may be separate in number. Yet New Testament churches are not separate in type. Paul recognizes that they are separate in number, so then he must be describing one unified type of church.
This one type of church has been drawn together by one unique Holy Spirit, not the demons of paganism or any other type of religion. We our hoping for the one hope of Heaven where our God Jehovah dwells.
The body of Christ has one Lord, Jesus Christ.
Mar 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
The Body of Christ only has one faith. This strikes at the heart of the ecumenicist. We can have a group of people who argue to believe in Christ in different ways and still be unified? Then what faith shall we testify of?
These things have to be considered when we have one baptism. If these things are not included then we have different signs seals and promise to our faith which is supposed to be one. Finally we believe that this is the way of the one true God.
In 1 Corinthians we are reminded that we are all baptized in the Holy Spirit into one body. We must remember that salvation linked to Christian baptism because only saved people are truly baptized. So the truly saved are all brought into the one unique church body. A New Testament local church consists of people from all walks of life.
All these churches which divide people according to ethnic groups, age groups and subcultures are disobedient to the to the Head of the Church Jesus Christ. The New Testament brings people out of their worldliness and into the Kingdom of Godliness.
There are admittedly multitudes of Christians saved by grace through faith, yet they are not members of the New Testament church. They either join disobedient churches of Christians or they don’t join at all. Jesus loves them and will save their souls, yet they lose many rewards for not following all their Lord has to say. This is not to say that a New Testament church can not also be disobedient. All disobedient Christians lose rewards and as a result are to be considered “least in the Kingdom”. Yet thank God we are saved by his grace through faith.

Why should Christians with unorthodox baptisms be given New Testament Christian believers baptism?
A. For maturity and unity of faith
Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

False Baptism brings with it fundamental assumptions that destroy our understanding of God and ruin any chance for us to obtain a unity of faith. If you believe that your baptism is regardless of your personal faith, you may end up like the Pharisees who found there salvation in their heritage instead of their allegiance to God and forgiveness in Christ.

B. Privileges in the church
1Co 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
1Co 10:5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
1Co 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Now, if the Hebrews had not followed Moses in the baptism of the cloud as they walk through the Red Sea, would they have access to the manna, or the water from the rock?
So if we do not follow Christ in Baptism should we have the benefits of church membership? Ideally… no.
We should also notice that these benefits are not even guaranteed but in fact conditional. The vast majority of Hebrews eventually lost all their privileges.
Now if a person places faith in Christ they may receive the privileges of communion and worship. Yet not properly. If you ever saw the My Cousin Vinny, you will notice that Vinny goes to jail repeatedly for not following the procedures of the courtroom and not dressing properly and being a foul-mouth.
Like Vinny, we contradict our desires to make Jesus our Lord when we do not follow the New Covenant ordinance of Believer’s Baptism

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