Baptism
Paul told the Ephesians that there was just one baptism. So is it John the Baptist's water baptism that he was sent by God to perform or is it the holy Spirit baptism that John said that Jesus would perform.
Baptism is essential but you need to know what baptism it is that you need. Study these articles to understand why you need to be baptized by Jesus and to understand what happened to water baptism.
The New Birth CD Set
Was it before they received the baptism of the holy spirit? What did Jesus have to do to make the new birth available? This reasoned discussion of the bible's revelation will answer these questions and remove the confusion. Learn how the spirit of antichrist has confused God's people on this fundamental issue. This 3 CD set available at cost price from our eBay store
. Knowing who is, and who is not born again is perhaps the most important understanding that you can gain.
Baptism Articles
- Baptism
- Baptism
- Have Ye Received the holy Ghost Since Ye Believed?
- Are You Born Again?
- New Commandments
- Seven Lies #1 Christianity is the Family of God
- Seven Lies #3 The holy Ghost baptism is Not the New Birth
- Impossible to Return
- Questions on Why the Baptism of the Holy Ghost is The New Birth
- A Prophet Like Unto Me - Part One Washing
- A Prophet Like Unto Me - Part Two To Be Priests
- Jesus is Sufficient
- Appearances and Baptism
- New Testament Fundamentals #4 John's Baptism
- The First Thing to Seek
- The Receipt
- John 3:16
- Whatever It Is
- Getting Into Christ
Suggested Further Reading
Spiritual Light is the result of four visitations from the Lord over a period of 4 years. Starting with the 3rd commandment and then insight into Christ's sacrifice the book reveals desperately needed understanding that dispels the confusion about conversion, baptism, salvation and works.Related Topics
- Other subjects from the topical index related to the New Birth.
- Salvation & Conversion
- The New Birth
- Speaking in Tongues
- The Holy Spirit
- Ceremony
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Thought for Today
Mar. 27
THE RECEIPT
From a sermon at Grandma's farmhouse by Preacher Clark in mid-May, 1975.
John the Baptist's baptism did not wash away sins. Sin is a matter of the heart, and no physical substance such as water can ever cleanse the heart from sin. John's baptism (which the earliest Jews practiced) was a kind of "receipt" showing that the person baptized had "paid" for the baptism of the holy Ghost that Jesus would give. Repentance was the price that they had paid, and John's baptism was their receipt. Until God began baptizing Gentiles into His kingdom in Acts 10, no one ever received the holy Ghost baptism without having that receipt.
John would not give his receipt of baptism to any Gentile at all, and he would not give his receipt even to the Jews if they had not truly repented. John trusted God always to let him know who had truly repented and who had not, and John could not be fooled. He brutally rebuked hypocrites who came to be baptized of him just for show (e.g., Mt. 3:7-10).
What causes some people in our time to be confused concerning John's baptism in water is that the Bible refers to John's baptism as "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (e.g., Mk. 1:4). These confused individuals misinterpret that phrase to mean that John's water baptism remitted sins, but it did not. Water cannot do that, and that is not what the Bible means by that phrase. John's baptism was only a person's proof that he had truly repented and was prepared to receive the remission of sins that comes with Jesus' holy Ghost baptism.
What is often overlooked is the fact that John's receipt was only for the Jews. Paul's gospel for the Gentiles excluded any such symbolic receipt. In the Spirit, there are no symbols, just life. The proof of repentance and the remission of sins, according to Paul, is the same thing now: the baptism of the holy Ghost that Jesus gives to all who obey him. Referring to the Gentiles at Cornelius' house who first received the Spirit's baptism, Peter told the council in Jerusalem that "God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the holy Ghost, even as he did unto us" (Acts 15:8). Amen. What God does is sufficient. We don't need John's symbolic baptism using an earthly substance now. Jesus has taken over with his baptism of eternal life. Now, the holy Ghost is God's receipt for repentance.
It is still true today as it was when Peter went to Cornelius' house, as Peter himself earlier had said, that God gives the holy Ghost to all who obey Him (Acts 5:32). That is God's receipt for our repentance, and it is a far better receipt than the one John gave the Jews. Without that receipt, all we have is the need for it. We don't have eternal life, or even the hope of it.