Jesus is the pattern son and our goal in this life is to be conformed into his image. Our purpose in this life as a follower of Christ is to learn how to allow Him to live his life through us. Christ himself told us that our main mission is to first love God with all of our hearts and souls. Then out of that love we are to lay down our lives for others walking with them and helping whomever we can along our journey. Jesus is the prototype of our journey. He was baptized into water as the lamb of God in the Jordan river, then He was baptized by the Spirit, and we are to follow in the footsteps of our master.
In this school of discipleship, we have been covering in the last few lessons the foundational doctrines of our faith as laid out in Hebrews 6:1-2:
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Hebrews 6:1-2 (ESV)
We have covered repentance from dead works and faith towards God. Let us now look at what is called the doctrine of baptisms. Now if you take a look at the word baptism you can see that it’s in a plural form which means more than one. The doctrine of baptisms has been a very controversial subject in the body of Christ over the years and even so today. I’m under no illusion that I am going to fix the problem, but what I do hope to do for those of you who are following this school of discipleship is bring you some clarity on this subject so you can put into practice the life changing understanding of the doctrine of baptisms.
Over the years, through my studies, I’ve found what I consider to be the three main baptisms that can be found in the scriptures. You will find the word baptism mentioned other times in the scriptures, but I conclude that you can bring those instances under the category of one of the main three baptisms. To me simplicity is the key to transformation and it’s important to understand the doctrine of baptisms because understanding baptism is transformative and foundational to our walk of faith. The three main baptisms I see in scripture are baptism into the body, baptism into water and baptism into the Holy Spirit.
John the apostle talked about the 3-fold cord of covenant which is the blood, the water and the Spirit I John 5:6-8. In lesson one of this course, I taught you about the Trinity. Although the Bible never uses the exact word Trinity it is a term that the church uses to understand God. It simply means threefold or three in one. In the 19th century the author Dr. Dale said, “From eternity to eternity GOD is FATHER, SON and HOLY SPIRIT...There is but ONE GOD but in the GODHEAD, there are THREE PERSONS.” There are not three Gods, but in the life and being of the one God, there are three centers of consciousness and activity, and these are known to us as THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Let’s look at a few illustrations in nature that demonstrate the Godhead. Take the example of water. The one substance of water can be in the form of Ice, Steam and Liquid. In all of these forms they never cease to be water. They may come in different forms with different functions, but they are still H20. Let’s look at man who is made in the image of God. Man is one united or whole person. However, man is a threefold being made up of spirit, soul and body: I Thessalonians 5:23. So just like God there are three parts of the one man. The Bible is full of this threefold understanding.
In Proverbs 22:20 it says that God has written to us in 'excellent things.' The Hebrew word for 'excellent things' in this scripture is shalosh and means a triple, a triangle, a threefold measure. Here are some examples of this threefold understanding in scripture. In Exodus 23:14-16 it tells us about the three Jewish Feast which are the Feast of Passover, The Feast of Pentecost and The Feast of Tabernacles.
If you look at the Jewish Tabernacle of Moses or later the temple of Solomon which was the center of Jewish worship, you have 3 different sections. You have the Outer Court where you have the Brazen Altar for sacrifices, then you have the inner court or Holy Place where the Table of Shewbread, Golden Lamp Stand and Altar of Incense was and then you have the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the covenant was placed. So, you have the Outer Court, Inner Court and Holy of Holies.
Then if you look at I John 2:12-14 we see that John speaks of children, young men and fathers. In this age the word of the cross is the embodiment of all of God’s activity. Paul in speaking about the will of God in Romans 12 says you have the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. It’s not three separate wills of God, but it’s talking about growth in the same way that wheat grows from the blade, to the head until it ripens to maturity. Jesus himself used this analogy when talking about spiritual growth.
Discipleship is about learning to live the cruciform life which is a life that is patterned by the word of the cross.
The word of the cross is the message of Christ’s life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and return to this earth. It is the word of the cross that is to be the soul shaping core of the believer’s existence. As the word of the cross captures your focus then your life takes on the pattern of the cross. You live the vertical life of loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength then you begin to live the horizontal life of laying down your life and loving your neighbor as yourself.
The cruciform life is taking up your cross and following in the footsteps of the Master. The Bible shows the pathway to have fellowship with God is the pathway of covenant which is the pathway off the cross. It is a day-in-day-out lifestyle of being crucified with Him and living our lives by faith working through love in union with the blood, water and Spirit.
In the context of covenant and the word of the cross I am going to use this as a guide to show you how the blood is speaking of baptism into the body, water is speaking of baptism into water and the Spirit is speaking of our baptism into the Holy Spirit.
The word 'baptism' in the Greek is baptizo and simply means the process of immersion, submersion and emergence. It means to dip, to plunge, to cover completely. An example of that would be that of dying a garment. A garment of one color is baptized into the dye of a different color. The garment must be completely immersed, or submerged, into the new color in order for it to be totally changed. The baptism into the dye is literally changing the garment into a totally new garment. It’s a transformation into something brand new or as Paul coined the term new creation. This total immersion is Biblical baptism.
Baptism is a New Testament practice, and the word is only used in the New Testament and when used it refers to our union and identification with Christ.
Baptism into the body is what I consider the initial baptism and the doorway into participating with the body of Christ through the sacrifice of his body and blood. Let's look and see how we are changed as a result of being baptized into the one body of Christ. I Corinthians 12:13 tells us we have been baptized into one body. Ephesians 4:5 says there is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one lord, one faith and one baptism.
To understand being baptized into Christ's body there are several questions that we must answer:
When were we baptized into one body?
How does being baptized into one body change us?
How does being baptized into one body affect us?
What we are looking into right now is what I consider the initial baptism, which is being baptized into one body, or you might say being baptized into Christ. When were we baptized into Christ or into his body? Baptism into the body is about sacrifice and covenant. It’s about the pathway into fellowship with the one true God and fellowship with those who identify with the body and blood of Christ.
Baptism into the body of Christ is about identification with the covenant and it goes back to the garden when God clothed man with the freshly sacrificed animal garments of skin.
Modern man is repulsed by blood and sacrifice, but our ancient faith and the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before understood that the blood sacrifice of innocence, was the pathway into life. I am going to show you that baptism into the body is about our identification with the blood and body of Christ. Our submersion into his sacrificial atonement on our behalf, is a part of the word of the cross and it’s our initial entrance into our covenant relationship with Him.
Jesus said in John 14:6 that I am the way, and the truth and the life. In section 2 of this school of discipleship, Created Unto Good Works, we are going to get into a deep study of the tabernacle of Moses. I am going to show you how the worship pattern given to him on Mt Sinai relates to us as believers in Christ and is actually a pattern of worship.
Our faith begins in the soil of the Hebrew nation, out of the loins of the father of our faith Abraham and it’s the roots of our faith.
God has always been the God of covenant and the cruciform journey of a life lived out through the cross is the pathway along the redemptive story of the covenant.
Yes, we call it an Old Covenant instituted by Moses and a New Covenant instituted by Jesus Christ the Messiah, but in reality it's one covenant that has been realized in the last Adam Christ Jesus, who was the lamb of God slain before the foundations of the world. Look at the whole context of what Jesus was saying in John chapter 14. Jesus was telling his apostles about his soon departure from this earth. About how he was going to prepare a place for them and that he would come again and be with them.
Jesus's first coming was sacrificial. It was about mercy, atonement and paying the price for our sins as the Suffering Servant. It was 'the mystery' that the Pharisees could not understand, , which is, the Messiah first had to die for our sins as the perfect sinless sacrifice. However, his second coming to the earth will be judicial as a conquering ruling king. His first coming was about sacrifice and giving his life as a ransom for the forgiveness of sins. As our representative, Christ has now ascended into the heavenly temple, representing us as the mediator of the new covenant inaugurated through his blood. Christ’s return at the end of this age to this earth, will be as a ruling king, like David restoring the creation, fulfilling the restoration of all things and judging the nations.
Jesus, when he walked this earth, declared himself to be the temple of God as he said in John 2:19.
The context of Jesus making this statement was just after his first miracle of making water into wine at the wedding feast in Capernaum. Just after this Jesus went up to Jerusalem during the feast of Passover and it was at this time that the well-known story of him cleansing His father’s temple was done.
In John 2:14–17 it says, in the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the moneychangers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away, do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.
The religious leaders of Jesus day had turned the temple into a means of personal wealth creation by making profit on the sale of sacrificial animals, money changing and other merchandising activities.
To do this was utterly irreconcilable with the very meaning of the temple which was to be a holy place dedicated to worshiping God. The corruption of financial gain and powerful men using the temple for their own political power was diametrically opposed to the pattern of worship instituted by Moses. The culture of Jesus day had corrupted the temple's intended purpose. In a similar manner the casual observer can see large portions of the American church have been corrupted by the surrounding cultural rot that’s been happening in America.
Americans outside of the church look at the church far too much of the time and say ‘what’s the difference?’
Listen, I’m not pointing the finger at others. I’m looking in the mirror and saying Lord change me, transform me more, more into the image of Christ so that I reflect your nature of merciful sacrifice and holiness unto the Lord. I’m 53 and I’m calling out to the next generation to hear the voice of the Lord. To prepare, focus and concentrate on the coming of the Lord. Leave behind the desires of celebrity, popularity and pursuits of grandeur. Don’t try to take power so you can rule, but lay down your life. Embrace the roots of our ancient faith. Refuse to let the surrounding culture dictate what it means to be a follower of Christ.
The cross is our foundation lived out through faith and love which is a journey of the cruciform life of Christ in us. The original tabernacle of Moses and later temple of Solomon was established through blood covenant by God. It was a reminder to Israel, that the God of heaven and earth chose them to be his people and that they were his special possession set apart out of all the nations of the earth. Exodus 19:5-6 Moses instructed the children of Israel that if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
It was in this context of Jesus cleansing the temple of corruption that He declares himself to be the new temple.
The old was about to be replaced by something new and greater. A new and living way was about to be inaugurated through the veil of his flesh or broken body and blood opening up a door into the heavenly temple which the earthly one was a mere pattern, type and shadow.
Jesus was not speaking against the Temple, the Jewish nation or its covenants he was pointing them to Himself the very embodiment of all that the Hebrew nation hoped for in the redemption of Israel. Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 12:6 that something greater than the Temple is here. He was the incarnation where the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through the sacrifice of his flesh he was going to reconcile all things to himself, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross Colossians 1:19-20. Jesus was declaring that he was going to be the central figure of Israel's worship, after his resurrection and the new temple where God’s glory would rest.
He was speaking of a new temple established through his body, blood and resurrection from the dead.
Jesus spoke of himself as the way, and the truth and the life. The people of his day would have understood what he was talking about because he was talking about the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Rabbinical tradition refers to the entrance of the outer court of the temple as The Way, where the Bronze Altar is located.
At the entrance of the tabernacle of Moses and later the temple of Solomon located in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah was the Bronze Altar.
The Bronze Altar, which was at the entrance into the temple courtyard, was where blood sacrifice was made, and it was believed to be the place where Abraham offered up the sacrificial lamb in place of his son Isaac. It was the place where David worshiped and purchased the place of land for Solomon to build the Temple. It’s where the Temple Mount is still located today.
The altar of sacrifice was made of bronze and bronze in the Bible typifies judgment upon sin. The pathway to approach God has always been by way of sacrifice. It’s to acknowledge that you have fallen short of the glory of God and that you are a sinner who deserves death.
The Bronze Altar was shaped like a cross which was prophetically speaking of the redemptive message of the cross.
The Brazen Altar is where the covenant was enacted through the shedding of blood, and it was the only way that the priest could enter into the temple and fulfill the nation of Israel's worship. It was about sacrifice, death, blood and the giving of life. It was the way of the cross and I’ll show you that it’s how you are baptized, submerged and grafted into the body or temple of Christ which is through being joined to his death in exchange being joined to his life.
John the Baptist preached a message of repentance and a turning away from the corruption of this age. Jesus preached a message of repentance telling us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and to lay down your lives. Repentance is what the apostles preached. After that first message of the newly birthed church when Peter preached under the power of the Spirit it says those who heard were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repentance is a conviction of sin and a rending of the heart. It means a change of heart and an action to respond. It’s more than just a parrot repeating facts, but it’s a transformation of the heart.
The American Mc Gospel is about a salvation that is fast, easy and you get it your way.
The problem is just like in the Temple during Jesus day too many leaders like money, power and acceptance by the world. It’s what happened to Aaron when Moses lingered in the presence of God on Mt. Sinai getting the pattern of worship for Israel to follow.
The people wanted a quick fix and Aaron gave in to their carnal cravings, making an easy idol for corrupt human desires. Today the same thing happens because we are human beings just like they were, and human nature wants the easy quick fix without sacrifice.
In America we use a figure of speech that says: you can't have your cake and eat it too.
It means there are two options, but you can’t have both because the options conflict with each other, so you have to pick one or the other. Let me put it into the context of a new position at work. You are offered a new position that pays you $20,000 more a year, but you will have to work weekends. You can have the position, but you have to follow the requirements of the position.
Today people are taught God is love and accepts you just like you are. Yes, that’s true, but the God of love is the God of covenant, and it means sacrifice, change and obedience. He is merciful and holy. Covenant is about obedience to the one true God and yes that means it changes our lifestyle from the inside out to reflect his holiness.
Once the children of Israel were redeemed by the blood sacrifice and ate the Passover meal they were then instructed to get up and 'leave behind the gods of Egypt'. It says in Exodus 12:11 in this manner you shall eat it with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat in haste.
Salvation is leaving the old and entering into the new. It’s about a change of heart from the inside out.
Jesus told Nicodemus, one of the leaders of Israel that you must be born again. New birth into the kingdom of God is bloody and messy just like the natural birthing process. Ask any woman about the life changing experience of having a baby naturally. It’s about abandoning our former manner of life and identifying with the cross.
The theme of covenant runs from Genesis 3:15 with Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to king David: finding its ultimate fulfillment in the bloody sacrifice of the lamb of God, slain before the foundations of the world. It’s the 'mystery of Christ' and that mystery rests upon sacrificial realities. We talked about these words in lesson 8 which are redemption, propitiation, justification and reconciliation, all terms that are used to describe the word of the cross. The vast majority of people that read the Bible, don’t really understand the significance of these terms and what they really mean. I want to clarify each of these words. As I do, it will give you a fuller understanding of the work that was accomplished, when the lamb of God was offered up as a sacrifice and our identification with Him through covenant.
Redemption is a term denoting being paid for and bought. It can mean taking possession of what was bought or releasing and making free what was bought. It can also mean deliverance or being set free due to a ransom being paid. Paul says, there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom or redemption for us all which can be found 1 Tim. 2: 5–6.
The message of the cross is not just Christ's death, but his burial, resurrection, ascension to the right hand of the father along with his return to this earth as judge. Christ's second coming is the wrapping up of our redemptive story within this corrupt fallen world. It is the final curtain dropping event, the great finale of this age when he splits the sky from East to the West and puts down all of his enemies as the conquering king. It is our blessed hope. Our faith is built on this hope, and we wait for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession Titus 2:13–14.
It is the cry of all of humanity, both Jew and Gentile to be free from the curse of sin and death.
Propitiation is one of those words that we just don’t use anymore so most people have no idea what it means. In the Old Testament the word was used mainly in Leviticus and Exodus, and it always had to do with the blood sacrifice and its cleansing power to cover sins appeasing the wrath of God. Judgment implies a separation. Separating the clean from the unclean, the forgiven from the sinner, those under the wrath of God from those given freedom. The blood applied which delivered the children of Israel during the Passover saved them from the wrath of God, yet the Egyptians who did not believe and did not apply the blood to the door of their homes were brought under the wrath of God.
The term propitiation inside and outside the scriptures, simply means an appeasement of anger.
God created man in his image and gave him dominion over the earth. Man forfeited that dominion and gave it to the god of this age as a result man and the creation became subject to corruption, sin, death and judgment. God stepped in with sacrifice to have mercy and the redemptive story began. It’s the story of God stepping into this age of corruption to redeem, restore and bring man and the created order back to himself. The decisive victory along that redemptive story is the word of the cross and covenant.
The language of propitiation assumes the reality of divine wrath, an idea that offends the modern mind as being unjust. However, God is not like fallen angry humans. He is not some brutal dictator who lashes out because he is threatened, but he is holy in his anger, which is driven by love for us whom he created and whom he longs to protect like a just king.
Propitiation would best be described as God’s deep love for the sinner, with his uncompromising reaction against sin, that is actually destroying the sinner’s life. It is God loving the sinner and hating the sin. He hates the sin because the sin that is dominating our lives is keeping us from having fellowship with him and the cross is all about restoring, redeeming and giving us right standing with Him for the sole purpose of relationship.
Propitiation is the delivering power of blood sacrifice, crushing the unseen powers of darkness, displaying the mercy and judgment of God.
The people of God have always been a people of blood covenant. The cross is where mercy and judgment meet together. To reject covenant: is to reject the God who established covenant, as the means of being in a relationship with Him. The righteous and the wicked have always been divided by the cross.
In our covenant understanding of the Lord’s table, Paul reminded us that the Lord Jesus on the night, when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Jesus told us to make the main thing the main thing keeping our focus on his death, burial, resurrection, ascension and return to this earth.
The practices of the New Testament church were focused around the cruciform message of the cross. It was a simple life focused on repentance, faith, baptisms, fellowship and sharing the redemptive story of covenant, in a world full of 'false gods'. The word of the cross is the gospel, but you can’t separate the good news of redemption from the bad news. If you reject the redemption of the cross, the only alternative is judgment.
Go read Hebrews 10:26-31 because the author is giving us a stern warning. You put yourself under the wrath of God by rejecting his blood covenant. Go read the first chapter of Romans. Paul talks about this same thing, when discussing the Lord’s supper, in I Corinthians chapter 10 saying therefore, whoever 'eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord', in an unworthy manner will be guilty, concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. I am going to get into a full detailed lesson concerning the understanding, importance and practice of the Lord's Supper in section 3 of this school.
Forgiveness from sins is by being identified with Christ's death. Eating the flesh and drinking the blood is total identification with the sacrifice of Christ and being baptized into his body. When we become untethered from the cross that’s when we begin to drift into sin, corruption, idolatry and false doctrine.
Tethered describes something that is tied up and restricted. The cross brings liberty from sin and brings restriction to the fleshly desires of the lower nature at the same time. Mercy, judgment and holiness meet at the cross.
Justification or its synonymous term righteousness has to do with moral standing before God, the result of forgiveness, which assumes the shedding of blood. Israel’s history and theology developed around the promised land, the covenant, the temple and its sacrifice system. The sacrifice system was established for the purpose of cleansing sin and making worshipers morally acceptable in the sight of God.
This redemption was accomplished by the transference of sin from the worshiper to the animal, while the innocence of the animal that shed its blood was credited to the worshiper (Lev. 5:6 and 7: 18). The animal was accepted on his behalf.
Guilt and innocence, forgiveness, and righteousness were inextricably bound to sacrifice. In such a light, the death of the Messiah was understood sacrificially in the New Testament as a sin offering and those who put their faith in him as a sacrifice will be justified, declared righteous in God’s sight.
Paul in Philippians chapter 3: 8-9 stated his wholehearted desire to be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
Such crediting of righteousness or justification derives directly from the sacrificial system, which was the commonly understood framework for the death of the Messiah.
It is on this clear understanding that we see the righteousness of God was simply the revelation of God’s sacrificial offering of the Messiah which established the innocence and forgiveness of the worshiper. Justification simply means that we have been acquitted. We are all lawbreakers, and we all deserve punishment, but Christ took our place. He justified us or acquitted us of all of our crimes so when the Father looks upon you, he sees the blood covenant and in Christ you are made right, cleansed, forgiven and given freedom from sin, but not the freedom to sin.
The barrier between God and man has been removed due to the sacrifice of Christ.
At the same time the barrier between Jew and Gentiles has been removed due to the sacrifice of Christ. The temple veil was torn from top to the bottom, when Jesus died, signifying that the propitiation of Christ sacrifice, has forever removed the barrier separating God and man through the body and blood of Christ. The martyr Stephen told us in Acts 7:48-49 that the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me says the Lord? It’s always been God’s intent to dwell within the heart of man which is to be a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Reconciliation is the result of redemption, propitiation and justification which paid for our sins through the sacrifice of Christ acquitting us of all guilt and bringing us back into union with the Father making us his children. We’ve been made part of the family of God by legal birthright both Jew and Gentile as a result of being born from above through the blood of Christ.
The message of the cross is first of all about blood sacrifice, a blood covering and completely identifying with or being baptized into the one body of Christ.
We are going to look at water baptism in the next lesson, but a principle applies throughout scripture which is that the Holy Spirit can only rest where the sacrifice of blood has been made. God is holy and he only rests his Spirit on holy things and it’s why cleansing through blood sacrifice must be done to receive the Spirit.
Jesus was God manifested in human flesh born of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist the last Old Testament prophet proclaimed, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He then went under the waters of baptism and when he arose the Spirit descended upon him. So, we see the blood which is the lamb of God and then the water because Jesus went down under the water and then the Spirit engulfed him when he rose from the waters of baptism.
Let’s answer the second question that I posed at the beginning of this lesson. How does being baptized into the body change us? When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord, we were 'baptized into Christ's body' through his blood.
To be baptized into the body of Christ is not a physical change nor a physical act. It’s a result of accepting, identifying and applying the blood of Christ to our lives resulting in the Holy Spirit transforming our hearts.
The lamb of God removes our sins by his sacrifice. He redeems us, covers us and justifies us by his blood. It can happen differently for different people, so I don’t want to define the experience because we are all individuals who experience things in different ways. I will tell you that it does not happen without a change of heart. Salvation is about change, transformation and a new beginning.
Repentance means changing and bearing fruit which can only be done by the power of the blood, water and Spirit of the cross. The cross offers no middle ground.
Baptism into the body, is a total identification with the cross of Christ. It’s turning away from the god's of wealth and power, turning away from the god of politics, turning away from the god of sex, drugs, celebrity worship and idolatry in all its forms.
It’s not identifying with a particular church. Baptism into the body is not being submerged into a group identity like joining the Masons, or the Lions club. It’s not identifying with a denomination or a political organization. It’s not following your favorite preacher or the politician that you think is going to save you. It’s about identifying with the word of the cross and being completely submerged into Christ, our new identity. It’s about being a follower of Christ.
Ephesians 1: 13 says that "when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit" (N.L.T.). The apostle John calls this being 'born from above'. Paul in II Cor. 5:17 says we become 'new creations' in Titus 3:5 he calls it the 'washing of regeneration' in Ephesians 4:24 it is called the 'new man', and then in Galatians 3:27 he uses the term 'baptized into Christ'.
All of these terms and there are some others, basically mean the same thing. The basic meaning is that by the Holy Spirit, Christ takes up residence in our hearts and seals us as his own. To be 'baptized into Christ's body' means that Christ now lives in us (Colossians 1:9) and we find our identity in him.
Jesus is the head of the new temple of God, and we are members of that new temple. The very same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, now dwells within our hearts. It’s why Peter told us in I Peter 2:1-3 to put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation. He talked about a salvation that changes us from the inside out and that we grow in stages more and more conformed into the image of the son of God. We are growing by tasting and partaking of the powers of the age to come.
As you continue to read I Peter 2: 4 he says, as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious. Peter was talking about the cross, in the same way that Paul, talked about the cross in I Corinthians chapter one, where he said: the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the wisdom and power of God. Vs 5 in I Peter 2 goes on to say that you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Our faith is an ancient faith, and the cross is our pathway. In section 2 we are going to explore in depth what it means to be God’s spiritual house, a holy priesthood who offers spiritual sacrifices because man was created to worship, serve and work .
Now let’s answer the third question I posed at the start of this lesson. How does being 'BAPTIZED INTO THE BODY' affect us? Understanding being baptized into the body affects us in two main ways: In our relationship with God and in our relationship with others in the 'one body' of Christ. It’s the cruciform of our horizontal relationship of loving God and the vertical relationship in loving our neighbor as ourselves.
In our relationship with God Paul says in II Cor. 6:17 that "we are the temple of the living God. As God said: 'I will live in them and walk among them, I will be their God, and they will be my people" (N.L.T.).
As we begin to comprehend that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, our relationship with God takes on new meaning (I Corinthians 6:20). Paul in Romans 8:15-17 encourages us to not be like cowering, fearful slaves. Instead, we should behave like God's very own children, adopted into His family - calling Him 'Father, dear Father'. For His Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children. And since we are His children, we will share His treasures - for everything God gives to His Son, Christ, is ours. The Spirit of Christ has clothed our inner man with Himself. When the Father sees us, He sees Christ in us. Romans 12:5 tells us that we are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
The church is the instrument of Jesus' life on this earth. Paul describes Christians in his writings as the 'body of Christ' in which the resurrected Christ is the head.
Paul in his dialogue with king Agrippa in Acts 26:13–20 tells us some very enlightening words that Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus. In reflecting on his conversion experience, he says O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Jesus told Paul that he was connected to his body the temple of God and to persecute his people was to actually be persecuting him.
All who have come to Christ have been covered by the same blood, washed by the water, filled with the same Spirit, given the same name and built on the same foundation. Our new identity as a people is under the banner of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are no longer our own, but we are now His and since we are all His, then we also belong to one another.
It is impossible to say we have been baptized into Christ without also saying we are members of Christ's body on this earth, the church.
To be baptized into one body is to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 13:14). Being clothed in Christ is to live by our new identity as children of God. Baptism into the body is a total identification with the body and blood of Christ along with all who make this same identification. It’s why fellowship with one another is to be one of our main practices as the people of God. I’m not talking about going to a church building somewhere necessarily, I’m talking about being the church.
I am going to get into some very practical applications of what it means to be a part of his body of Christ and fulfill your individual function within his body in later lessons. The church is one multifaceted body. It is unity in plurality. Our unity is found in the message of the cross which makes us a part of his body through the entrance of his blood. Our plurality is found in our individual calling as a member of his body. The redeemed people of God are spoken of in a variety of ways.
The church is the body of Christ, the household of God, the family of the Father, the bride of the son, the branches of the vine and other references describing this union. The most repeated phrase describing the church is being called the temple of God or the Temple of the Spirit.
Peter uses this same terminology in his first epistle which we have already read. Peter’s apostolic teaching refers to believers as a temple made of individual living stones. He then says that we offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So, we are each to be a priest who worships, serves and works as a part of the temple of God. In verse 9 he says you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. It is almost exactly the same terminology that Moses used in Exodus 19:5-6 describing the nation of Israel.
Jesus is the head of the new temple made up of Jews and Gentiles, redeemed by the blood, water and Spirit of the covenant of Christ making up his many membered body.
It is what Jesus himself taught and the clear apostolic message. We have one faith, one Lord and one baptism. The greatest division in the Bible was the division between Jews and Gentiles. Being identified with the blood covenant baptizes us into Christ body and breaks down the greatest dividing wall that humanity has ever known. The Jews were a covenant people, had a promised land given to them through the Abrahamic covenant, a temple, a covenant law and a pattern of worship which separated them from all nations.
When the temple veil was torn from top to bottom at that earth stopping moment when Christ breathed his last breath the wall that separated Jews and Gentiles was abolished through the body of Christ.
Ephesians 2:11–22 is exhorting the Gentiles to remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off Gentiles and peace to those who were near Jews. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The physical temple in Israel was replaced by the temple of Christ’s body, his church which is made up of both Jews and Gentiles from all the nations of the earth.
What I am talking about is not replacement theology. God is not done with the land given to Abraham, he is not done with Jerusalem the great city of the king, he is not done with the Israelites with whom belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. Read Romans chapter 9 through chapter 11 where Paul ends his dialogue saying a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles or nations has been redeemed by the blood and in this way all Israel will be saved when Christ returns upon this earth for the restoration of all things.
The message of the cross is subjecting ourselves to the risen Christ who is the mediator of the new covenant making us the temple of God that is not made by human hands. The defining feature of this new temple is spiritual union with Christ. It is through the blood sacrifice that Jews and Gentiles are brought into reconciliation with God. The Jews may have been nearer by virtue of their birthright of covenant and calling, but they needed the atoning work of the cross to be made for them too. It’s no different today salvation is through the cross for Jews and all nations it’s called the gospel.
The new temple is one in which a cultural meltdown has taken place and forged what Paul called the one new man made up of both Jew and Gentiles which would now be the dwelling place of the Spirit in this earth until Christ physically returns to this earth.
Galatians 3:26–28 says in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. The dividing wall of sin, ethnicity and social class hierarchy has been broken down. We are all standing on the level ground of Christ the foundation.
The Gentiles do not have to become Jews and the Jews do not have to become Gentiles, but they do have to be found in the blood sacrifice of Christ to be a part of the body. The temple is made up of living stones redeemed by the blood of the lamb from all nations in the earth. As we are ending this lesson, let’s get to some practicalities because many of you are probably thinking well this all sounds good, but have you driven to my town where there are many different churches and there are walls of division all over town. Yes, I have, so let’s get to where the rubber meets the road and try to navigate through this maze that we call the body of Christ so that we can properly relate with others.
The cruciform life is first vertical looking at the atoning work of the blood reconciling us to God. It is also a horizontal look at the blood of Christ reconciling us to one another and bringing peace. It gets complicated to implement or put into practice because you’re dealing with other clay jars that have their own ideas, emotions and determined wills involved.
Paul used the prophetic imagery of marriage of our current union with Christ and our union at his return at the marriage supper of the lamb. The return of our king and coinciding resurrection of the dead transforming the bride of Christ into our ultimate union with Him. Marriage is about two becoming one and to accomplish that by necessity we have to learn to listen, communicate, understand, serve, give preference to others and change so that we can align our hearts together for the fulfilling of the will of God. We are going to get into more detail in later lessons on the process of what Paul called sanctification, cleansing, washing through the water of the word, so that Christ might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Baptism into the body is not identifying with a particular church, denomination or ministry network. It’s not a political organization or joining a club like the Lion’s club or fraternal organization like the Masons. It’s not following your favorite preacher or politician. As a missionary I was taught to look at the macro picture which is preaching the gospel to all nations or ethnic groups which is a message about the universal body of Christ.
The church is made up of all tribes, tongues and different people groups throughout the nations who have been redeemed by the cross.
On a micro level the church is made up of families, communities, regions and that’s where the rubber meets the road for unity. It’s where we have to learn to live out the cruciform life on a day-to-day basis. Paul wrote the book of I Corinthians to address divisions in the local church of Corinth because they were dividing themselves around certain personalities.
In I Corinthians 1:10–15 Paul appeals to them to work together so that there would be no divisions among them, but that they would be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? The answer to all of those questions is no and he goes on to show them that their unity is found in the message of the cross not the personality of any one man.
Jesus told John to write the book of Revelation to the 7 churches of Asia and in chapters 2 and 3, he directly addresses each one specifically, giving them encouragement and correction. The scriptures could not be more clear that we have been established on one foundation so that means we treat one another as part of the same body, and we should not allow personalities, ethnicity, social class or politics to divide us. It’s the same reason Paul wrote to the church in the province of Galatia because the Judaizers were dividing the church over legalism. In lesson 10 I talked to you about the works of the flesh which is eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
If we live by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of living the cruciform life eating from the tree of life, then we can actually rebuild the walls that Christ has broken down.
Let’s look at the two most polarizing factors in American culture and the church today which are ethnicity and politics. Let me cut right through the center of this by saying: as far as ethnicity, Jesus was not white, he was not black. If you choose to get hung up on outward appearances, then you are hung up on the wrong thing. Jesus wasn’t a European and he wasn’t an African. I’ve lived on 3 continents and in 5 different nations. I’ve discovered that humanity is humanity no matter where you go. We have all descended from Adam and we are all pretty much the same with variations, which is one many membered human race.
Paul summed up what our focus should be as believers born of the Spirit and it’s what I choose to focus upon. In 2 Corinthians 5:14–21 he tells us to let the love of Christ control us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As far as Jesus’s ethnicity as a human, he was of the line of Adam, Abraham and David part of the tribe of Judah. He is returning to this earth as the son of David from the tribe of Judah, to rule the nations from Jerusalem.
Ethnicity should not be something we allow to divide the body of Christ and if you are allowing your race to divide you from the body of Christ then your race has become an idol.
I’m asking you to live the cruciform life and allow the Spirit to help you, be the change, in America on this divisive issue. In like manner politics has become a place of great divide in American culture and the church in America. Jesus is not a republican and he is not a democrat. I am not saying we should not vote or be involved with politics, but I am saying that if you are more focused on politics than the word of the cross and letting it create divisions among the body of Christ, then your politics have become Idolatry.
In Mark 8:15 Jesus warned us to beware of the leaven of Herod. The leaven of Herod had to do with politics and power structures. The ideas of the Herodians were about using and exerting power through politics.
During the first 300 years of the church the followers of Jesus saw themselves as what the book of Hebrews explained, and Peter described them as pilgrims and temporary residents in this corrupt present age, living from the powers of the age to come. It was small groups of believers worshiping together, sharing together, demonstrating the wisdom and power of the cross.
The church was known as the way because they followed the ways of Christ. The church of this time grew, not by Christians fighting for their political views and rights because much of the time they were looked at as outsiders. The church grew because believers demonstrated the cruciform life of loving God and others in the face of rejection, persecution and at times death. It was during this time that the word martyr, which originally meant witness, came to mean one who dies for their faith.
It was in AD 312 that the understanding of the cross took on new meaning when according to legend the Roman emperor Constantine the night before he went into an important battle saw a cross of light in the sky, along with a message that said in this sign conquer. The emperor marked the Christian symbol of the cross on the shields of his soldiers and won the battle. As a result of his conquest through the cross on the shields of his soldiers the Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in AD 313 and within seventy years it was proclaimed the official religion of the Roman Empire.
It was the beginning of what has come to be known as the Holy Roman Empire where politics and religion ruled by the sword in the name of the cross and dominion theology was born.
It has also come to be known as the Dark Ages where Christianity became an extension of politics and, in the name of the cross, they killed the infidel unbelievers. In short order, the militant church under the banner of the cross extended its power through crusades bankrolled by the church conquering lands and peoples throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa compelling them to become baptized Christians or die. It was the doctrine of Herod on steroids.
If your politics or ethnicity have become more important to you than the body and blood of Christ, then you’re walking in what Paul called the works of the lower nature. You have become an enemy of the cross of Christ. Paul, in teaching us about how we are to partake of the Lord’s supper, was telling us that if we are allowing anything to keep us, from producing the fruit of love and the fruit of the Spirit, then we need to examine yourselves. Our worship to God is first vertical, loving him with all of our hearts, souls and strength. However, our worship also has everything to do with how we treat others which is our horizontal love for one another.
Unity in the body of Christ can only be accomplished by each of us walking in humility and living the cruciform life.
If I’ve discovered one thing over my 50 years in and outside of the body of Christ is that you can’t change others. You can open up your heart and let God change you from the inside out. I’m asking you to focus on you and not think in your head ‘oh this church needs to do this, or this person needs to change this.
Paul in I Corinthians 11:27-32 as he laid down an understanding of baptism into the body through partaking of the Lord’s supper said, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.
The word of the lord here is not telling us to be self-critical, but it is telling us if we veer off the road and miss the mark we need to go back to the beginning.
If you’ve left your original purpose of focusing on the redemptive work of the cross and the power of being transformed through being baptized into Christ body, go back to the altar of the cross and start over. Humility is about letting God change you. It’s a lifestyle of repentance turning back so that the main thing is always the main thing. As I started this lesson out saying I’m under no illusion that I am going to fix the problems of the church or unite what is for the most part a very divided church in America. What I do hope to do for those of you who are following this school of discipleship is bring you some clarity on this subject and help you navigate your way so that you can live the cruciform life in a culture of excessive carnality.
I take this attitude that if you will stand on the foundation of Christ with me then we should have some common agreement. If we will just make the main things the main things, we can work together to reach a world that desperately needs the love of God.
Let us strive to live by the words that Paul exhorted us to live by in Philippians 2:1–8 if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
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Next Lesson: Lesson 14 - Baptism into Water
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