Jesus is the pattern Son and our goal in this life is to be conformed into his image. Jesus as the prototype of our journey 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 chapter 6 verse 1 thru 2. 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 baptisms in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 2 you can see that it’s in a plural form which means more than one. Over the years through my studies I’ve discovered 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 its important to understand the doctrine of baptisms because understanding baptisms 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 three-fold cord of covenant which is the blood, the water and the spirit in I John chapter 5 verse 6 thru 8. The doctrine of baptism into water 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 baptism into water.
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. Baptism refers to our identification with Christ through his death, burial, resurrection, ascension and our union with Him. 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 as a means of Israel to worship the God of heaven and earth. It was to be a declaration of who God was and that Israel was his special covenant people set apart out of all the nations of the earth to worship Him alone. In Exodus chapter 19 verse 5 thru 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.
Jesus in John chapter 14 verse 6 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. In the last lesson I clearly showed you that Jesus is the New Temple and we are members of that new temple. I showed you that the Brazen Altar where the blood sacrifice was made is symbolic of where we are covered or baptized into his blood and body which is the entrance into the pattern of worship as a new covenant priest dedicated to God.
If you dig into the roots of our ancient faith you will see the redemptive story from Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to David and finally to Christ the lamb of God who was slain before the foundations of the world is all about blood covenant. If you will peer deeply into the wisdom and power of the cross then all of your Biblical misunderstanding will find meaning. You can’t understand the law, the psalms, the prophets, the teachings of Christ or the apostolic writings establishing the new covenant without understanding the redemptive story of covenant.
The pattern of worship given to the children of Israel was holistic encompassing not just ritual cleansing, but living their whole lives in alignment with the God of covenant. The rituals of temple worship were first about cleansing the priest, setting them apart to be holy to perform their service to God and then the priest performing sacrifices for the people. However, the worship mandate goes back to the mandate given to man in the garden.
In Genesis chapter 2 verse 15 God commanded Adam to cultivate and keep the garden. The Hebrew word for cultivate is abad, and the Hebrew word for keep is shamar. These same Hebrew words are used to describe how the priest cared for the tabernacle of Moses. The tabernacle was a precursor to the temple of Solomon. The priests were to cultivate and keep the tabernacle. In addition, we are told that God walked in the garden during the cool of the day communing with the man. God also walked in the midst of the temple.
The meaning is clear. The garden was a temple for God. Like the temple, the garden was the joining together of God’s space and mans’ space - the intersection of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. Adam was a priest who walked with God, bore his image, was clothed in his glory and demonstrated servant leadership in the garden.
I am going to show you in Section II of this school how as new covenant priests we are to cultivate and keep our daily fellowship with God through spiritual disciplines so that we can maintain a deep, intimate fellowship with Him and display the Spirit through our daily lives as priests walking through this present evil age. The covenant law given by Moses taught us our faith is about choices, sacrifice and the giving of our lives. Covenant is about a life restrained to God’s way because it’s the way we were created to function which is a life in union with Him.
If you are one who studies history you will quickly discover that it’s only by God’s hand that the Jewish people have survived over the centuries.
If you study the Bible along with history you will discover it’s because God made a covenant with Abraham and his children. I know just like the doctrine of baptisms a lot of controversies and confusion surround the Jewish land and its people. People have hidden prejudices and misunderstanding because the ‘god of this age’ has muddy the waters on the Jewish peoples purpose since it’s part of God’s plan for this earth.
As I teach I’m neither going to be antisemitic or overly emphasize the Jewish state and people which I’ve seen can end up in idolatrous affection for Jewishness and legalism. I’m not going to get into all the side tracks of Jewish nationalism, conspiracies or all the confusion that you see in media headlines and dark corners of the internet. The enemy has purposely created a lot of extreme views and side tracks around the Jewish people. I’m going to focus on the main thing which is living the cruciform life centered on Christ where both Jew and gentile have been redeemed through the same eternal covenant.
The tension in the early church was trying to unpack the traditions that had developed around the land, the temple, sacrifice system and covenant law of Israel. You can see that debate and discussion in the gospels with the Messiah and the religious leaders of his day. It continues after his resurrection in the book of Acts and the writings of the apostles in their epistles. What you saw the apostles form were some basic traditions and guidelines for the new Temple or New Testament covenant community to follow. The complicated system of the law of Moses was replaced by a few simple practices which have been handed down to us through the apostolic traditions of the New Testament.
What I am hoping to help you do through this school is to find some simple core traditions that are not new, but ancient practices that the covenant people of faith have always practiced. It’s core principles that I’ve discovered over the last 30 years that have helped to keep me centered, stable and grounded in a world that seems to be upside down.
The end of this present age prior to the return of Christ to this earth is going to be boiled down to one simple truth which is who are you going to worship. We are to be a part of the royal priesthood born of the risen Christ demonstrating, displaying and showing forth the life of the coming king. God has made us to cultivate and keep our lives centered on Christ which is living from a place of rest in His finished work, walking in the rhythm of the peace of God. It’s why the first doctrine laid down in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 1 thru 2 is repentance from dead works. It’s turning away from our own works under the curse and turning to the sacrifice of the cross where we find peace, reconciliation and the sabbath rest in Christ.
Every community has traditions or customs that they practice and it identifies members as part of that community.
Partaking of the Lord’s table is one of those traditions that we need to regularly practice. It’s about the community of the faithful fellowshipping together around the body and blood of Christ sacrifice and serving one another. It’s when we become untethered from the cross and fellowship with the community of the faithful that 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. Covenant is not about rules and regulations, but it's about a horizontal relationship with God and a vertical relationship with his body.
Baptism into water is not about identifying with a religious system, a specific church, a political party or a social club, but it's about identifying with an endless life proceeding from the eternal throne of the lamb.
I want to help you focus on a few simple practices or traditions laid down by Jesus and the apostles. Now baptism into water, like the Lord's Supper, is central to the mandate Jesus handed down to us. It is one of those simple apostolic traditions, that we must practice, as a part of the community of the faithful and is part of our worship as a priest. The book of Matthew ends by Jesus saying, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Baptism into water was never intended to be a ritual or a means of salvation. It was meant to be a proclamation and public demonstration of leaving a corrupt sinful idolatrous world behind. Just as the children of Israel left Egypt and entered into a new life of covenant faithfulness, to commune with a living God and becoming a part of the community of the faithful. Baptism into water is not just about a cleansing, but it’s also about being set apart for the calling of God and fulfilling the will of God for our lives. Let’s first look at Jesus who is our prototype. We’ve talked about the blood, water and Spirit. We’ve talked about being the Temple of God with Jesus as our head and being a part of his royal priesthood. In this light, let’s look at the whole context of the story of Jesus's baptism into water.
In Matthew chapter 3 verse 13 thru 17 it says Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
So we see the Lamb of God representing the blood. Then we see the lamb of God went under the waters of baptism. Then we see when the lamb of God went up from the waters of baptism the heavens then opened with the Spirit of God descending and resting upon him. We see the blood, the water and the Spirit which is the threefold cord of covenant displayed. Let me show you something from the book of Exodus concerning the priesthood and the temple that will give you some real insight into what God is trying to help us understand through the practice of water baptism because Jesus is the lamb of God, the great High Priest and the cornerstone of the new Temple..
If you read Exodus 25 through Exodus 28 it talks about the constructing of God’s temple, the furniture in the temple for sacrifice and ceremony along with the clothing for the priests to perform their service in the temple. Exodus 29 tells us about the consecration of the priests so they could serve in the temple. The first thing done to consecrate the priest was blood sacrifice at the Brazen Altar as explained in Exodus chapter 29 verse 1 thru 3. Then in verse 4 it says you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water in the Bronze Laver. Verse 7 says once they were fully washed then they were clothed with all the priestly garments and anointing oil was poured over their heads which is symbolic of the Spirit.
The Bronze Laver was placed right outside of the door into the entrance of the tabernacle of Moses and later Temple of Solomon. The Brazen Laver was basically a large bathtub full of water for cleansing. Just like the priest in the Old Covenant and just like Jesus our prototype baptism into water is about being set apart from this world so that we can serve God. It’s a declaration to this world that we are no longer our own, but as we go down into the waters we die to this present corrupt age and as we come up out of the water we declare that our lives are dedicated as a priest to serve God. It’s a picture of our vertical new life with God and our horizontal new life serving others .
Baptism into water is a declaration of our death with Christ and the new life we have received, by receiving the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.
Our immersion in water is meant to symbolize our commitment to make our total commitment to Jesus a reality, that we will no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who has been raised from the dead. The Bible shows us that baptism into water is a full submersion underneath water if you look at Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 8:38, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5. In all of these examples we see in the book of Acts, they were baptized after they made a confession of faith that Jesus Christ was their Lord. You are baptized into the body of Christ when you accept his body and blood making a covenant commitment to Him. However, it is through baptism into water that you are making a public declaration that you are a part of the community of the faithful.
Let me tell you a little story because in other parts of the world baptism into water is taken very seriously because it can actually be a life and death experience. I have a friend who served in India as a missionary. He was doing a series of meetings in northern India where there are many Muslims. A young man came to one of his meetings and committed his life to the cross of Christ and wanted to be baptized into water. He was baptized into water and they found the young man killed by his own family in the bottom of a well a few days later.
The vast majority of American Christians really have no idea what persecution means due to identifying as a member of the body of Christ. Baptism into water symbolizes our death and our union with Christ. It speaks of our identification with his death, burial and resurrection from the dead. To be baptized into water is to declare that our lives are now dedicated to the purpose of His death, which is no longer living life for ourselves, but for Him.
Let me address one false doctrine that is pretty prevalent out there in religious circles and needs to be addressed. It’s the teaching that baptism into water is the means of salvation. The teaching is quite varied in the way that it is used, but it is one of those main doctrines that groups use to build walls of division to keep people out of their groups and to shut people up within the walls of their group.
Its basic teaching is that baptism gives you salvation and you have to be water baptized by a certain formula or that baptism is the means of being a part of there ‘in’ saved group and actually salvation itself.
The main scriptures used to teach that baptism into water is our means of salvation are Mark chapter 16 verse 16, John chapter 3 verse 5 and I Peter chapter 3 verse 21. I want to quickly address each of these scriptures.
Let’s first look at Mark chapter 16 verse 15 thru 16 which says: go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. The Greek scholar Spiros Zohadiates says this text should be translated as ‘He who believed which is past tense and who was baptized shall be saved. So we see two acts which are first personal faith and then submitting oneself to baptism.
Personal faith in Christ is the means of salvation and baptism into water follows which is the public demonstration of that faith.
The next text is John chapter 3 verse 5 where Jesus told Nicodemus you must be born of water and the spirit to enter the kingdom of God. I already address this text in Lesson 3: The Seed of the Woman. In looking at the entire context of this discussion I conclude that Jesus is talking about natural childbirth which is the breaking of the woman’s water or being born into this world of flesh and spiritual new birth being born of the spirit of God. It is not teaching us that water baptism is the means of salvation.
Now let's take a look at I Peter chapter 3 verse 21 which says when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clean conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Peter in vs 20 is speaking about the eight souls who believed Noah, entered the ark and were saved through the water. They were not saved by the water, but they were saved through the water as a result of having entered the ark. It was a result of being in the ark, by which they were able to pass safely through the waters. The Ark being symbolic of Christ, our salvation. Christ covered them and the water separated them from an evil world under the wrath of God. Baptism into water has to do with separating us from an evil world and is part of the preparation for our worship and service to God.
Reflect for a moment on the Passover story of when God delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh and the Egyptian armies. 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 chapter 12 verse 11 that 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. As they journeyed forward God then parted the Red Sea and the children of Israel went below the waters on the path that God made for them.
Hebrews chapter 11 verse 29 says by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
Salvation is leaving the old behind by identifying with Christ death and entering into the new by identifying with Christ resurrection. Just like in Noah’s day, the water was freedom from your enemies and judgment on your former manner of life.
Romans chapter 6 verses 3 thru 12 says, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again, death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Peter, like Paul, uses almost the exact same language just after talking about the example of Noah and water baptism.
1 Peter chapter 4 verse 1 thru 5 says Christ has suffered physically, taking the same attitude that he had. A person who has suffered physically no longer sins. That way you won’t be guided by sinful human desires as you live the rest of your lives on earth. Instead, you will be guided by what God wants you to do. You spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers like to do. You were promiscuous, had sinful desires, got drunk, went to wild parties, and took part in the forbidden worship of false gods. Unbelievers insult you now because they are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of wild living. They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
Baptism into water has to do with leaving our old life centered on eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It's also a public declaration that we are completely identified with Christ. In closing this lesson up I want to show you that Baptism into water is first about our vertical worship and dedication to the cross. Then secondly, it has to do with our commissioning to perform horizontal works of service and the calling of God upon our lives. I want to take us back to the Temple and the laver where the priest during their daily service was commanded to daily wash at the Bronze Laver.
Peter describes believers as a holy priesthood. At the age of 30 the priests were completely washed at the laver before they were commissioned into the priesthood to perform their priestly duties. In like manner Jesus at the age of 30 was baptized into water as the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Following in the footsteps of our master, baptism into water, is a commissioning for the believer. It sets us apart to be a member of the community of the faithful, so that each one of us can fulfill the will of God which is our priestly duty.
Baptism into water is a one time event, but just like the priest performed their daily sacrificial duties they also had to daily wash to remain clean, sanctified and separated for service to God.
It’s this concept of priestly service and sacrifice that Paul was referring to in Romans chapter 12 verse 1 thru 2 when he said I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God which is the blood of the cross, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. The evil age that we live in is continually trying to apply pressure to conform us to its ethical, social and moral corruption.
The heart of spiritual warfare is daily taking up our cross. Daily allowing the word of God to cleanse us, build us up and set us apart for our service to God so that we have a clean conscience. It’s what I talked about in previous lessons where the Bronze laver is the place that we wash the interface of our phones off daily and where our soul gets repaired so it can display the glory of God.
The primary means of spiritual warfare is against our minds with disinformation. The world, the flesh and spiritual darkness works together to misinform, deceive, mislead and misrepresent information to us. It’s why daily washing with the word of God is so important. It’s slowing down to ponder, contemplate and confess the word of God which is meditating on the word daily. We are pilgrims on a journey in this corrupt age so we are going to get dirty and its why we must daily wash in the water flowing from the throne of the lamb.
The author of Hebrews tell us this same concept in Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 thru 22 when he says therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let me remind you about what James the apostle wrote in his epistle when he told us to put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
As a priest we have to daily look into the water of the word, letting it clean our souls, wash our minds and be implanted in our hearts.
Baptism into water also speaks us being brought into an intimate relationship with God in the same way that a man and woman are made one flesh. If you have ever witnessed a marriage, what you witnessed was two hearts that had already been united together, making a public declaration of their commitment to one another. To no longer live for themselves, but are now united in one flesh.
Just like marriage, baptism into water is a symbolic act, which declares our union with Christ, before public witnesses. The wedding ceremony is not the actual marriage, but rather a ceremonial commitment to marriage.
Baptism into water is a public declaration of our commitment to union with the Lord in His death, that day by day commitment to take up our crosses, to lay down our own lives and self-interests for the sake of the gospel.
The early church immediately baptized into water those who received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They took baptism into water seriously.
The Bible from Genesis to the book of Revelation is about a love affair that God has with man and his desire to be in an intimate union with him. Ephesians chapter 5 talks about marriage and the union between the husband and wife. Paul references Genesis chapter 2 verse 24, in Ephesians chapter 5, tying those two texts together. Paul was showing the union between husband and wife is symbolic of our union with Christ.
At the same time he was showing us that the cleansing the priest daily experienced in the tabernacle at the Brazen Laver before going into the Tent of meeting was necessary for our continued union with God. Baptism into water is part of that process of sanctification. Daily washing is about learning to change our views in order to walk with God in vertical worship and walk horizontal with him in holy service. It’s daily walking in the cruciform life of faith working through love. Daily washing is about sanctification, surrender and faithfulness so that we can fulfill the will of God for our lives.
I’m going to end this lesson teaching you a new word called syncretism. The word syncretism comes from a Greek word first used to describe rival Greek armies who joined together to fight a common enemy. The word is now used in religious circles as combining several different religions together to get a new one. The world council of churches might come to mind or some other organization trying to unite world religions around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In the Old Testament the Israelites never completely denied the God of Abraham instead they fused and merged the idols of the Canaanites, Egyptians or Babylonians gods into the worship of Yahweh.
It was a mixture, compromise and unfaithfulness, which God called it adultery. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel that’s in Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 20. As I said in the last lesson some people want their cake and eat it too. Israel was told not to make covenants with the inhabitants of the land by Moses in Exodus chapter 34. Moses said take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their idols for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Syncretism is a violation of the very first commandment: You shall have no other gods before me as stated in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 7. In other words, faith in God cannot be syncretized, diluted or mixed.
The original tabernacle of Moses and later temple of Solomon was established through blood covenant by God as a means of Israel to worship the God of heaven and earth. It was to be a declaration of who God was and that Israel was his special covenant people set apart out of all the nations of the earth to worship Him alone. The end of this present age is going to be boiled down to the simplicity of worship and the heart. Who are you going to worship is going to be the question because it’s always been the question. Have you dedicated your life to the God of covenant who has been personified in the lamb of God or a god made in your image, to your liking and you living in the lower nature fulfilling your evil desires under the wrath of God.
Women many times in the Bible represent intimacy, spiritual union and covenant.
The book of Proverbs contrasts two women. One is a virtuous woman and the other is an insolent rebellious harlot. They are both presented as crying out for our attention.
The harlot tries to gain our attention by appealing to our fleshly desires and arrogant motives of power. At the same time, the virtuous woman is gently persuading us to walk in the fear of the Lord. The harlot finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Babylon referred to in Revelation 14, 17 and 18.
The other is the virtuous woman, the bride of Christ finding its ultimate fulfillment in Revelation 19 at the marriage supper of the Lamb. One is a covenant breaker the other is a covenant keeper and it all boils down to who are we going to worship.
James the apostle talked about this exact same issue when he said: What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people!
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
In Deuteronomy chapter 4, Moses warned the children of Israel to take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Paul spoke in very similar language in II Corinthians chapter 11 verse 2 when he said I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. It’s why you will always hear me repeating the phrase over and over. We must keep the main things the main things. The question everyone will have to answer for themselves is to whom are we going to dedicate and submit our lives to? Baptism into water is about publicly submitting to the cruciform life of Christ. It’s about sanctification and separating from the spirit of this age.
The spirit of this age is continually trying to pull us back and it’s why we need daily cleansing, daily renewal and taking up our crosses daily living the cruciform life.
Paul warned us using Israel as an example in 1 Corinthians chapter 10:1–14. He said I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
Do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
I want to end this lesson with Colossians chapter 3:5 which tells us to put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Baptism into water is about a daily reminder to come to him and be washed, set apart, dedicated and commissioned to the cruciform life. It’s about being a part of the royal priesthood vertically worshiping God and horizontally serving others fulfilling the will of God through faith working through love.
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Next Lesson: Lesson 15 - Baptism into the Holy Spirit
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