December 16, 2007

• Doctrine of Baptisms

  Pastor Don is going over the elementary principles of Christ during our Friday Bible studies, and the main text is:

  Hebrews 6:1-3  Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

  Notice that the word “baptisms” is plural and that means that there is more than one baptism. God would not have several baptisms serve the same function, so it is logical to think that each baptism serves a different function. In the Church many battles are fought over the doctrine of baptisms. The baptisms come with different anointings, and do different things. The baptisms are different in nature and function.

  Pastor Don said that if you have a cookbook you do not cook the recipe for rice pudding and expect that a chocolate cake will come out of the oven. You cannot drive a standard shift car like an automatic car. If you receive an invitation to a black tie affair, it is inappropriate to wear a t-shirt and jeans. It follows that a baptism of repentance would not do the same thing as a baptism of the Holy Spirit.

  So we started looking at the different baptisms. The first place we went to get some background is:

  John 1:6-9 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

  The Gospel of Jesus is nondiscriminating, it shines on everyone. Some people, when they see the light of the Gospel put on sunglasses, and hide from the sun, some take off their glasses, but this light shines on EVERY MAN.

  John 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

  We should not be surprised that people do not know Jesus.

  John 1:11  He came to His own, and His own did not receive him.

  This is a prophesy that John gave – the light came and His own people (the Jews) did not accept Him.

  John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

  The light shone on ALL, but not all chose to receive the light. The word “right” in Greek is EXOUSIA, and it means authority. It gives us the right to become children of God. To those who believe in His Name. This is important to the next verse – it is the power to have the power of authority, to have faith is a choice. If the light shines we have a choice to receive it or not. To believe is a choice. To feel rejected is a choice. To feel love is a choice. To feel hate is a choice. Choices are based upon who you let yourself become.

  You respond to the light according to what you have. You are responsible for what you do for yourself. If you have experienced rape and abuse you can either survive or crumble. The one who wins thinks he can and keeps getting up until he wins. If he feels he can’t will, he will fail. If you look for excuses for your brokenness, you may not heal, if you reject the light and can’t trust Jesus.

  Pastor Don pointed out that if you have been hurt in the past at times it is tough to accept Jesus as a man, to accept God as Father. Pastor Don pointed out that at times his role as spiritual father helps people to begin to trust him, and then ultimately to take that trust and turn it over to trusting God and Jesus. (Heather’s note, that is what happened in my life, Pastor Don was so reliable and loving that I began to see that that kind of behavior was possible, and ultimately began to be able to accept God as Father.)

  When the Light of Truth comes, if you are hiding anything, you can’t lie, for it will be exposed. If you lie you can’t receive the light and come into exousia, the first baptism.

  John 1:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

  To get to this you have to believe in His name, which is our free will, our free choice to decide.

  It does not come from BLOOD – so we can’t get this baptism from a relative.
  It does not come from the WILL OF THE FLESH – it is not a decision of emotions from our flesh, it has to be deeper.
  It does not come from the WILL OF MAN – we cannot will to receive the light so our flesh will lose darkness.
  It comes through the WILL AND POWER, BUT OF GOD – We would not have the choice to make unless God put that choice in us. God provides us with the choice.

  Pastor Don then talked about how sometimes as a parent he will give his children choices, but the choices are geared to get a right response. God will do the same thing to us, giving us choices that give us the opportunity for a right response.

  An example is if his kids ask to go to McDonalds, he may say, we can do that after you eat your green beans and carrots. The kids may choose to eat those vegetables for the perk of McDonalds.

  But an even better idea is to give them the choice of eating their green beans or eating their carrots. The end result is that a vegetable is eaten, but the kids feel empowered because they have the choice of which one to eat.

  When a kid exercises their choice, and the options are both good, it becomes a win/win situation.

  Pastor Don then talked about deferred self gratification. He told us that God is a master of deferred self gratification. God requires respect and obedience. If we can’t be faithful in the little things, we can’t be trusted in the big things. Our talents can take us where our character can’t sustain us.

  It is very hard for us to tell ourselves the truth, but we must tell ourselves the truth. If we aren’t good with finances, we need to face that truth. If we can’t save a nickel, God isn’t going to give us a dime to waste.

  In our flesh dwells no good thing. The will of man cannot be led by the flesh, to get what we want when we want it. God will show us, this is the way to walk, walk ye in it.

  John 1:14 (word=logos) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

  The logos is the essence of the true oneness with God.

  John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

  This is a mystery, the Person of God – many debate the concept of trinity. The Bible never says “trinity,” but as we get to know the Person, we begin to know the things that describe Him. Pastor Don is pastor, husband, and father. Each of these has different roles and functions. Each one describes a different person, but all contained within Pastor Don. Pastor Don is all of these things, and yet if he is in the role of father, he is not speaking as a minister.

  God has the ability and the nature as Spirit to not be limited in the finite nature, he does not have to be in one place and one time. God is Spirit, God is the Word. God who calls things which be not as though they are, God speaks into existence. We too can speak things into existence. In Genesis, The Spirit hovered over the waters, and God spoke everything into existence. In Genesis 1:1-16, “God said” The Logos is the Person who speaks God’s Words.

  When we go to court as a defendant, we do not speak. The lawyer who represents us speaks. So when God wanted the earth to be created He told his Son, Son take care of this, and the Son spoke the Logos, He spoke what God conceived. Jesus Christ the man was not on the scene – the Logos was, but He (Logos) spoke that at some point in eternity, Jesus Christ would be born, for there would need to have something done on earth to fix what man did. It is an awesome mystery.

  Philippians 2:5-7 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

   Jesus, the Word, the Logos became Jesus the man. Jesus did not exist until the Word became Him. Jesus the man is not technically God until God came to dwell in Jesus the Man. When Jesus was on earth, he was FULLY HUMAN, dwelled in an earth suit that we call “Jesus”, and faced the same limitations that we as men face. Jesus, is also the Son of God, the Logos. But Jesus the man has a body, the name Immanuel which means God with us. God comes to dwell in the physical body, whose appearance is as a man. He left Logos in Heaven with the Father

  We do see part of the Logos on the Mount of Transfiguration when the Logos came visible to the apostles, Peter, James and John. They got a glimpse of God’s glory. Also after the resurrection, the logos was fully embodied in Jesus. Prior to these times, the Logos was not visible.

  The rich young ruler came to ask Jesus a question. Jesus told this young man to not call Him perfect. The Logos is perfect, but at the time the ruler came to Jesus, Jesus was in a corruptible human body, and as such was not perfect. Only the Father is perfect (but Jesus as part of the trinity is perfect).

  As a MAN, Jesus can do nothing but what the Father tells him to do. Unless the Father of God comes, man can do nothing, cannot do mighty works. In the presence of God, the fullness of Joy, we can do what we cannot do without God’s presence. The presence of God can cause us to doubt what appears to be in the environment, and permits a miracle.

  Philippians 2:8-11 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  It says that at the name of Jesus every knee SHOULD bow – people misread this to think that EVERY knee will bow, but that is not what this is saying. It says every knee SHOULD bow, not everyone is saved, and not everyone will bow. Even demons know and tremble but that does not mean that they serve Him.

  At some point people will acknowledge that the gospel is true, but that does not mean that they will serve Him. It feels good to praise God, but if you are praising God in rebelion, rebelion is still rebelion.

  Pastor Don told us that once his father shared that when his father got in trouble, his mom screamed at him to SIT DOWN. His father said, “I’m going to sit down, but I am still standing up on the inside.”

  We can worship God in our head, but not our hearts. Most church splits begin at the altar when someone wants to pull the pastor down and they spread lies. We are to protect the altar, for the altar is all about God, not about the desire to dominate the pulpit. The sin of pride is so destructive. If it gets into the root of worship it can pull apart a church.  There needs to be a sense of proper order.

  Notice it says “shall” which means in the future. It is decreed to be obeyed. The Father knows there is rebelion on earth. God is wanting us to come to obedience, to come to the truth that Jesus is LORD. Some of us come to God in outward reverence but we are still standing up on the inside. The antichrist and those who follow him will bow, but they will be standing up on the inside. Romans 14:11 For it is written:  “ As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

  Souls and spirits that don’t want God, who won’t repent and call on God, will get their desire of not being with God. They make their choice.

  John 1:15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”

  Remember, John was born six months before Jesus, and yet John had the revelation that the Logos existed before John. 

  John 1:16  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

  Grace for Grace.

  John 1:26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.

  This is a WATER BAPTISM FOR REPENTANCE. John was commanding people to repent, to get prepared for the Lord to come.

  So the first Baptism is a water BAPTISM  FOR REPENTANCE or remission of sins.

  Luke 3:2-3 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,

  Pastor Don pointed out that our sins are remitted when we get around to repenting. There is no remission of sin without repentance. The criminals on the cross, one repented his sins, the other did not. Repentance is necessary and required for the remission of sin. Unless you are ready to repent, there is no forgiveness.

  There are some pastors who are teaching that there is no heaven or hell, and there is no penalty for sins if you don’t repent. That is a lie from the pit of hell, and a thoroughly dangerous teaching.

  1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

  Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

  This refers to those who are very close to God, who have freely operated in signs and wonders, and know the Lord. This does not refer to a beginner in faith, or someone who is still learning their walk or a backslider. This passage would apply to a pastor akin to someone like Kenneth Hagin or Billy Graham who KNOWS God, and then chooses to turn their back on His salvation. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,

  Hebrews 6:7-8 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

  This is an eternal fire of punishment, not a fire of purging.

  Hebrews 6:9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.

  If we don’t repent, there is no call to salvation.

  Hebrews 6:10-12 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

  Pastor Don said faith and patience helps us to inherit the promises.

  What is implied in this passage is that there will be those who do not inherit the promise. There is no way those who are teaching untruth cannot see that the Bible says that there will be those who cannot be brought to repentance, and if they don’t repent, they will be cursed and rejected. This does not apply to Christians who are backslidden, but to those who deliberately turn away.

  There is a power of repentance. All salvation pivots on repentance. Jesus knew Judas was the son of Perdition. Judas was a disciple close to Jesus, did the signs and wonders the same as the other disciples, learned Jesus’ teachings, and spent lots of time with Jesus, but he fell away from the faith and renounced God – sold Jesus out. If one of the 12 disciples who was very close to Jesus falls away, it is also possible for someone saved, who has a close walk with Jesus to fall away.

  I will continue with the baptisms tomorrow.

  Praying you have a blessed day.

  Heather

  • 10:24 pm
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