I Don’t Have to be Baptized – Lies of the Enemy #15– Purity 1027
Purity 1027 04/26/2023 Purity 1027 Podcast
Purity 1027 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of Kinderhook Creek from the vantage
point of the Hudson Avenue Bridge comes to us from yours truly as I looked back
in my photo archives to “share something!” and came across this scene that I captured
back on August 22, 2020 while I was visiting nearby Stuyvesant Falls Park. During those days I had not only dreamed the
impossible dream of getting a new home for my children and I, I had followed
the Lord’s guidance and accomplished it! Although I was basking in the glory of
a new chapter of my life, I was still working two jobs and was intentional to
use what little leisure time that I had to “do something” and spent that summer
exploring the parks and nature trails near my new home before having to go into
work.
Well, Its” hump day, and even though no mountain is
pictured today, I thought this photo from the “middle” of the Hudson Avenue
Bridge was good enough to serve as a visual representation of our arrival at mid-week,
may be not, but oh well here it is. Yeah,
maybe its not perfect but I guess I share it intentionally to demonstrate that
our walk of faith is not about perfection, it’s about progress and our ability
to find peace and joy in “what is” rather than lamenting over what we don’t
have and how we “haven’t arrive yet”.
This past weekend I was reminded by my wife that
sometimes there can be peace found in the journey but if we are traveling with
someone whose expectations are to “get somewhere” we may discover that our
efforts to “stop and smell the roses” can cause contention. Just because we both know where we are going
doesn’t mean we fully are in agreement with how we get there or share the same “spirit”.
My photo reminds me of this because in those days my
time was limited and while I could have spent time driving around “enjoying the
countryside” before going to these little slices of appreciation, if I did that
there would be even less time to enjoy them. These solo trips were constrained by time but
I was free to go and see what I wanted to see and to abruptly leave the moment
I felt that “time was up” or I had “enough”.
But when we are traveling with someone else, they don’t necessarily know
what we are thinking and may not realize that our expectations are not the same.
Similarly in our walk of faith, there are varying
opinions about following the Lord and what is expected of us. One of those expectations – a sacrament – is
baptism. And while this may ruffle some
denominational or doctrinal feathers it is the topic for today’s Lie of the enemy.
Our current series is an examination of some of the
common lies, sometimes sneakily whispered into our minds as “first person”
statements, that enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace,
cause division, or influence us to not follow the Lord with the way we live our
lives. So today’s big lie is:
Lie #15: “I Don’t Have to be Baptized!”
Whether you were infant baptized or not baptized at
all, baptism is commonly taught to be an outward expression of an inward decision
to make Jesus our Lord and Savior and to surrender our lives to following Him. It
should be a beautiful moment in a believer’s life where they have “decided to follow
Jesus” in newness of life as the baptismal waters represent our death and
resurrection with Christ.
This is reflected in:
Romans
6:3-4 (NKJV) which tells us:
3 Or do you not know that as
many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him
through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Baptism
can be a definitive moment in our walk of faith that marks our death to our old
life and our decision to live the new life in Christ. Being baptized in public or telling the
testimony of our baptism should be a sign that we are Christians and we are
going live like a Christian.
Of
course, just “getting wet” doesn’t make you a disciple of Christ anymore than hanging
out in a garage makes you a car, but for those who follow the Lord in spirit
and in truth, baptism is a right of passage to walking in the Spirit – applying
God’s wisdom and ways to the way we live.
Personally, I don’t care if you were baptized or not.
Rather than looking atyour ‘splash down”, I’ll watch what happens afterwards in
your life to see if the fruit of the spirit grows from that “watering” or
not.
But the enemy loves to tempt “believers” with
noncompliance to this basic ordinance of our faith by proclaiming “I don’t have
to be baptized!” because of infant baptism ( I was baptized – I even have my white
baby baptismal gown!) or because it isn’t specifically required (What about the
thief on the cross?).
Granted, we are “baptized” into God’s kingdom by
faith. The testimony of the thief on the cross is an extreme example of someone
who put their faith Jesus, wasn’t baptized (because he died), and was still
welcomed into the paradise of God’s kingdom.
However, I am
sharing a link to Open Bible.info’s “100 verses about baptism” for those who
want to get a quick look at what scripture has to say about it. (https://www.openbible.info/topics/baptism). I give you the warning that verse may convict
you to be baptized and provide some of
the verses from that list that will indicate that (unless you die before you
can) we are commanded to be baptized.
Mark
16:16 (NKJV) – Jesus’ words say:
16 He
who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned.
In
Matthew 28:19-20 (NKJV) Jesus tells us
to:
19 Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
The implication is that if you are a disciple you
would be baptized. And for those who
would stand on baptism as “by faith alone”, Jesus said:
John
3:5 (NKJV)
5 … "Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God.
Oh and Jesus Himself was water baptized:
Matthew
3:13-17 (NKJV) tells us
13 Then Jesus came from
Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
14 And John tried to
prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to
me?" 15
But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit
it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized,
Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened
to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon
Him.
17 And suddenly a voice came
from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased."
Sounds
like God the Father was pleased by Jesus’ baptism, so I have to believe He would
be pleased by our baptism too.
So
rather than standing on your liberty, I invite those who have not taken the
plunge of water baptism to consider making it your next step of faith to
demonstrate to God and all the world that you Christian whose heart is set on following
Jesus.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
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Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verses :
Romans
8:35-37 (NLT2)
35 Can anything ever separate
us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or
calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or
threatened with death?
36 (As the Scriptures say,
“For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
37 No, despite all these
things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
Today’s verses encourage
us that nothing can separate those who put their faith in Jesus from the love of
God. Except for not being baptized –
just kidding or may be I’m not kidding. Me? I got baptized on the day of Boston
bombings in 2013 – April 15th while on work in New York City at
Hillsong Church NYC. They just happen to be doing baptism that day and I had
signed up the Sunday before because even though I was born again in 2010 – I stubbornly
refused it – until the Lord put it on my heart to do it. That day NYC was a veritable police state because
of the terrorist attack and as I traveled by subway to the midtown hotel pool
where I would take the plunge I got a real sense that I was officially leaving
the world behind as I was going to commit my life fully and publicly to following
Jesus. It was a positively wonder and
electric experience as I was awestruck and filled with joy in the community of saints
and left the hotel into the evening air still wet and a wash in the bright
light of time square knowing that I had entered into a new dimension of my
faith. And that declaration, and experience
of faith, was just another piece of evidence that the Lord did indeed save me
and the words of Romans 8:35-37 really were true about me.
I was His, I am God’s
child – baptized and adopted in His family by water and the Spirit and there is nothing that can separate me from
His love.
This is true for all of us
who put our faith in Christ – so believe it – rejoice over it – and endeavor to
share that love with others.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By
ARTHUR W. PINK
APPENDIX III
THE MEANING OF “KOSMOS” (“WORLD”) IN JOHN 3:16 concludes
5.
“Kosmos” is used of humanity minus
believers: John 15:18; Rom. 3:6: “If the
world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.” Believers do
not “hate” Christ, so that “the world” here must signify the world of unbelievers in contrast from believers
who love Christ. “God forbid: for then shall God judge the the world.” Here is another passage where “the world” cannot mean “you, me, and everybody,”
for believers will not be “judged” by
God, see John 5:24. So that here, too, it must be the world of unbelievers which is in view.
6.
“Kosmos” is used of Gentiles in contrast from Jews: Rom 11:12 etc.: “Now if the
fall of them (Israel) be the riches of
the world, and the diminishing of them (Israel) the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their (Israel’s)
fulness.” Note how the first clause in italics is defined by the latter clause in italics. Here, again, “the world” cannot signify all humanity for it excludes Israel!
7.
“Kosmos” is used of believers only: John 1:29; 3:16, 17; 6:33; 12:47; 1 Cor.
4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19. We leave our readers to turn to these passages, asking them
to note, carefully, exactly what is said
and predicated of “the world” in each
place.
Thus it will be seen that “kosmos” has at
least seven clearly defined different
meanings in the New Testament. It may be asked, Has then God used a word
thus to confuse and confound those who read the Scriptures? We answer, No! nor
has He written His Word for lazy
people who are too dilitary, or too busy with the things of this world, or,
like Martha, so much occupied with “serving,” they have no time and no heart to
“search” and “study” Holy Writ! Should it be asked further, But how is a
searcher of the Scriptures to know which
of the above meanings the term “world” has in any given passage? The answer is:
This may be ascertained by careful study of the context, by diligently noting what is predicated of “the world” in
each passage, and by prayerfully consulting other parallel passages to the one
being studied.
The principal subject
of John 3:16 is Christ as the Gift of God.
The first clause tells us what moved
God to “give” His only begotten Son,
and that was His great “love”; the second clause informs us for whom God “gave” His Son, and that is
for, “whosoever (or, better, ‘everyone’) believeth”; while the last clause
makes known why God “gave” His Son
(His purpose), and that is, that everyone that believeth “should not perish but
have everlasting life.”
That “the world” in
John 3:16 refers to the world of
believers (God’s elect), in contradistinction from “the world of the ungodly” (2 Pet. 2:5), is established,
unequivocally established, by a comparison of the other passages which speaks of God’s “love.” “God commendeth His love toward
US”—the saints, Rom. 5:8. “Whom
the Lord loveth He chasteneth”—every
son, Heb. 12:6. “We love Him, because He first loved US”—believers, 1 John 4:19. The wicked, God “pities” (see Matt.
18:33). Unto the unthankful and evil God is “kind” (See Luke 6:35). The vessels
of wrath He endures “with much long-suffering” (see Rom. 9:22.) But “His own”
God “loves”!![1]
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