Foundation 4
The Fourth Foundation - "The EXPERIENCE of Baptism"
The Gospel of Baptism In Water.
The Essential Nature Of Baptism As it Relates To Eternity.
The Laws of Baptism And the Laws of The Kingdom.
The Fourth of The Seven Foundations For the Christian / Kingdom Life.
Leo Fenton
February 19, 2013
So much uncertainty has arisen over baptism and what part it plays in the Christian life that someone MUST take the time to sort out all this confusion and record what the Bible actually says.
This will require a document much larger than we usually write but since Baptism is such a watershed experience, it is extremely important to establish our understanding of baptism in water and how it stands within the divine order.
To speak about the Power released in Baptism will seem strange in most all churches.
However, when we apply ALL the Scriptures to this experience this is exactly what is supposed to happen.
Of course this is not a power to knock people down but a power to lift up the new man so he becomes relevant in the plan of God.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God."
John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
The "BAPTISMS" plural are given in Hebrews 6 as two of the required Foundations for the Christian / Kingdom Life.
How could baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit produce authentic Foundations for our life? They cannot unless genuine births take place.
Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
Many churches insist that their believers are "born again" but then ignore the next two births.
Many insist that born of water and born of the Spirit is a non-issue because all that is included in the "born again" experience.
However, if we just read the next six verses we should see how foolish that statement really is.
Born of the Spirit is set in juxtaposition with born of the flesh.
It should NOT be a stretch to acknowledge that these three (3) births are essential to the Christian / Kingdom life.
To accept one of these births and then reject the other two (2) births contained in the same verse seems ignorant!
John 3:8 "The wind {Pneuma - Spirit} blows {pneo-breathes} where it {He} wishes and you hear the sound {phone - voice} of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
The alternate translation for this verse could be; "The Spirit breathes where He wills and you hear the His voice, but do not know where He comes from and where He is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
To say that "born of the Spirit" is the same as "being born" again is ridiculous.
These are three (3) different "BIRTHS" into three (3) different dimensions of Christian / Kingdom Life.
The "Foundation" we are concerned about in this study is being "born of the Water."
Of course we always need to distinguish between the basic birth and the growth and the full maturity connected to each birth.
We are relating the "birth in the water" or at least the conception to water baptism.
These Births should be understood from the viewpoint of the three (3) stages of the harvest:
· the planting,
· the growth and
· the reaping or harvest.
Not everything happens at once.
Many feel that baptism does nothing toward our salvation.
Some even testify that nothing really happened when they were baptized.
In many cases, that is true.
There is a great difference between what the Scriptures says takes place in Baptism and what the "average believer" has actually experienced.
This is what we wish to speak into in order to establish what is designed to happen in Baptism.
These are the things that are supposed to happen when we are baptized but most of the time no change takes place!
Why is this disturbing? It is because we want to make our Baptism a Solid Foundation in Our Christian / Kingdom Life!
The actual reason for baptism should NEVER be confused because the Bible explains it very well.
Baptism is designed to restore the believer to the Divine Order of the Kingdom of God!
Luke 7:28 "I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he."
29 And when all the people and the tax-gatherers heard this, they acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.
In order to evaluate the many benefits of water baptism, it is essential that we clearly see how God evaluates baptism and forget what man has done to it in unbelief and ignorance.
It would be a very serious offence to cut ourselves off from the purpose of God by ignoring this essential and experiential Foundation!
It is also important to clearly understand what baptism is NOT! Why?
That is because so many strange things have been associated with baptism that are not scriptural.
· Baptism is NOT a testimony,
· it is NOT entrance into the church,
· it is NOT a metaphor,
· it is NOT a symbol,
· it is NOT a type,
· it is NOT optional,
· it is NOT an outward sign of an inward change [it is the change] and
· it is NOT a ritual to be observed.
Baptism is NOT a sacrament!
Like all experiences in God, it is necessary that we enter into each experience with a clear understanding of scriptural Truth in order to exercise faith.
This teaching about baptism is the responsibility of each "minister" and the minister has the responsibility to discern if the candidate has proper faith to be baptized. Why?
Baptism is not a ritual to be observed but a powerful Christian preparation for the Kingdom Life!
If we tell people baptism will do nothing for them, how will they exercise faith to receive anything when they get baptized.
Most "believers" who get "baptized" only get wet.
If we tell them baptism is just a public testimony and nothing more, how will they exercise faith and how will it benefit them in their pursuit of eternity if there is no actual experience or change connected to it?
Since faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God, our only method of building up the person's faith, for a genuine experience, is by carefully using the Scripture.
It is obvious that the "ministries" have failed miserably in this area concerning both baptisms in water and in the Holy Spirit.
The "ministries" have also failed to recognize their calling to reveal all the requirements by teaching ALL the essential Foundations for the Christian / Kingdom Life.
If we could assemble the Laws of the Kingdom Life and the Laws of Change along with the Laws of Eternity (and the many other Laws of the Christian Life) these Foundations would take on a very different appearance.
Of course there is much opposition to there being ANY Laws concerning the Christian.
Why? Because there seems to be a universal misconception that Calvary brought to a conclusion all Law, rather than just the Law of Moses.
The Kingdom is an active Government that has many Laws.
We could call this document the Law of Baptism.
It is popular to just read one or two Scriptures and then dismiss baptism as being unessential to "salvation."
While Baptism is essential to "salvation" from the Kingdom viewpoint, it is NOT essential to forgiveness of sins.
Baptism is a "washing away of the sins" that were forgiven.
However, we must use more than one or two Scriptures to explain these dimensions of baptism.
Why? It is because of the quantity of changes and the diversity of experiences that this obedience in Baptism brings into our Christian / Kingdom Life!
For that reason ALL the verses related to baptism MUST be used.
This practice of creating a doctrine of baptism from one or two Scriptures has done serious damage to the church.
It has adversely affected the eternal destiny of multitudes of serious believers. Why?
Because multitudes of old believers were sprinkled or got wet many years ago and thought they got baptized.
When they finally understand what Baptism was designed to accomplish in their life, they no longer wished to be baptized. Why? They were embarrassed!
This is especially true of old believers, the elders and pastors and "ministers" because they are considered to be the mature among us.
Since "baptism" is related to the beginning, they feel embarrassed to be baptized, AGAIN.
Some call it "to be re-baptized" but if the first baptism was not valid then this re-baptism is just the "first -baptism." My thesis is this:
BOTH faith and understanding are necessary
to experience all that God says baptism does.
Faith is generally connected to the NEW spirit and SPIRITUAL understanding is connected to the NEW MAN.
Most preaching in the visible church is toward the "old man." Why do we say that?
Because, without proper Baptism the "old man" is NOT dealt with through death and burial so he is busy trying to participate in the church.
Also, each person who will receive a valid Baptism must FIRST be born again.
Each person MUST have received the new spirit and it MUST be functioning before the person can exercise sufficient faith in his baptism. Why?
Because New Covenant faith rises out of the Sperma, the Living and Abiding Word of God!
Much of the teaching about faith has attributed all faith to the thoughts and the capacity of the natural mind.
This is why the first three (3) Foundations are necessary to prepare us for the Fourth (4th) Foundation of Baptism in Water.
Baptism before the born again experience is nothing because no faith can be exercised.
Then what really happens? Not much, except some people get wet.
While the "old man" can repent out of a genuine conviction, he cannot exercise the faith necessary for Baptism.
Faith Toward God then is the second (2nd) Foundation.
Baptism before there is any understanding of God's Word can produce very little because faith is based upon God's Word, not just upon a ritual of getting wet.
This is the error of baptizing babies and unbelievers.
It is also the error of baptizing believers that have had no proper preparation and in many cases no instruction at all.
One reason some people testify that even proper baptism does nothing is simply because the power released in baptism is not manifested immediately.
Baptism is a birth and the full benefit is only experienced in growth!
The maturity related to baptism takes time and experience.
True Baptism should eventually result in a full harvest of the benefits.
This is why all Seven (7) Foundations MUST be laid to make each Foundation operational and effective within our experience.
For continual growth, we must exercise continual faith.
Therefore, we must begin in a full assurance of faith in God's Word and then hold to that faith until the maturity {harvest} of our baptism is realized.
This continual faith is essential because too much "denial" regarding the Foundations is preached from the pulpits.
Paul says it this way: Reckon yourself dead (until your death with Christ is an actual reality by experience).
Does this really work out in practical experience BEFORE all the other Foundations are laid?
It doesn't appear to be that way! Why?
Because it seems there is a series of harvests (maturity) connected to these Foundations.
Some churches have taught a doctrine that salvation is complete when we accept Christ as personal Savior!
Then, when we "accept" Christ, we receive forgiveness of sins through the blood of Calvary and are born again and nothing more is needed. Why?
Because, according to their doctrine this IS full salvation because it reverses the fall of Genesis 3!
If this were true, baptism would be redundant and just another religious ritual.
If baptism, as just another religious ritual was true, maybe then, it really would be just a testimony and an outward sign of an inward change.
Some incorrectly teach that we baptize into the church.
This is just a concept created to build church membership but we find nothing like this in Scripture.
One of the errors of the liberal church is they have not understood that "the Blood of Calvary" is for forgiveness of sins, plural.
This "cleansing" must be received experientially by each believer by faith.
It is true that Jesus died for ALL but not all are saved. Why?
Because they haven't participated in His death by faith.
Therefore, to experience baptism we each MUST have a genuine forgiveness of our sins, personally, before baptism.
This continuous faith is the reason that each proper Foundation adds to the other Foundations so that ALL seven (7) Foundations grow and mature together.
"Repent and be baptized" leaves no room for it being an option.
One error of the evangelical church is they have only seen the personal application of the blood for forgiveness of sins, plural, but nothing more.
They have ignored the "SIN" singular problem.
The error of the fundamental church is they have declared baptism to be something less than what God's Word says it is.
Some Pentecostal churches have declared baptism to be some sort of testimony.
Some very orthodox churches feel if we place any emphasis upon water baptism, we are depreciating the Blood of Jesus Christ.
If we just understood that man needs much more than the basic forgiveness of his sins, it would put baptism in the proper perspective.
Our hope is that this outline will show that baptism is not an option, but is a very essential and very definitive experience upon which we build a Christian / Kingdom Life!
At the conclusion of this study we will list at least 20 spiritual and essential provisions the believer should receive in water baptism, when it is an actual birth.
If the real baptism is ignored there will be 20 hindrances to the Christian / Kingdom life that will remain and continue to frustrate us.
There are several places in Scripture which reveal that Baptism is an essential experience that cannot be avoided if we are going to complete God's Purpose.
Today, we will begin in Romans 6 but other aspects of baptism are revealed throughout the Scriptures.
Baptism, among other benefits, is designed to deal with "sin," singular, problem!
The Blood is designed to deal with "SINS," plural, problem.
Both the sin, singular, and the sins, plural, are the product of the nature we inherited from first Adam.
Therefore, Baptism must deal with this life connection with first Adam.
These are just two of the several benefits of proper Baptism which results in new births.
ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?
2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all;
but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Outlining the book of Romans is helpful to see how baptism is related to other basic experiences.
From Rom.1 to chapter 5:11 we see the whole problem of "sins" plural and how God handles the "sins", plural, problem through faith and the blood of Jesus Christ.
From Rom. 5:11 to chapter 8:39 we see the problem of Sin, singular, which is a problem with the sinner himself and his fallen nature.
Baptism is integrally linked to "so we too might walk in newness of life.
Thank God we can be forgiven of "SINS" (plural) through faith in the Blood of Jesus, but the person himself is still a "sin factory" after the "sins," plural, are forgiven.
This is the root cause of recurring sins and the reason believers are unable to grow.
This is such a common problem in the visible church that it need not be pointed out.
This bondage and immaturity can only result in a serious problem that is connected to the end time harvest.
Even though the person has been forgiven, he is still participating in all the fallen habits and rebellion that he has inherited from the first Adam.
Even though his sins, plural, are forgiven, his personal problems are NOT resolved because his nature is still wrong.
The next step in our deliverance is to get entirely free from the first Adam:
· his attitudes,
· his fallen nature,
· his history and
· his fallen characteristics.
Otherwise, as a "believer" we will look like a hypocrite, saying one thing but manifesting something entirely different.
We may blame the "believer" for that bad testimony but the real failure is with the "ministry" that fails to focus upon God's requirements and His solutions.
Then, how do we escape from all the fallen attributes and corrupt nature of the first Adam?
That is the purpose for the fourth (4th) Foundation which is Water Baptism.
It should be clear that changing our clothes or wearing a tie or reading the Bible or becoming religious is not the solution to first Adam.
Joining the church and reforming our lifestyle will not release us from this sin factory we inherited from the first man.
God's solution is we (the old I) must:
· die,
· be buried, and
· be resurrected into a whole new life AND a new life source in Jesus Christ.
To be clear we must distinguish between the death of the outer man and the death of the fallen nature we have inherited. Why?
This is because we have heard complaints that after baptism, the body, that was supposed to be dead, is still creating problems.
It is NOT the body that dies but the old man / person / Adam who lived in that body.
God only sees two men, the first Adam and the Last Adam, Christ.
We are either in one or the other.
Because of man's fallen state, he must be first redeemed and then REGENERATED.
That means "bought back" through the Blood and then begin again as a New Species of Man with a NEW GENESIS ONE experience.
We must be granted the innocence and cleanness of the first Adam, before he fell in the book of Genesis.
However, God's design, this time, is to begin with a whole NEW SPECIES or TOTALLY NEW PERSON so we can actually operate in the New Covenant dimension of the Christian / Kingdom Life.
In other words, man must be more than forgiven, he must be restored and literally start over again as a whole NEW SPECIES upon this earth.
Even though the outward man is forgiven, he is still integrally linked to the first Adam, by birth.
Immediately following repentance and the born-again experience in the new believer, this attachment to the first Adam and his fallen life must be severed by DEATH and burial.
Then the new believer must begin his journey having received a whole new Resurrected Life.
Why? Because all Christian / Kingdom activity MUST be out of the resurrection Life of Jesus Christ.
Since the body is not totally vacated in baptism there must be a "new man" in residence BEFORE the "old man" can be removed.
If we do NOT remove the "old man" and his activities, he will always create tremendous problems in the church.
Why are all these "extra" things necessary?
We must not forget that the Christian / Kingdom Life must soon enter into the New Priesthood dimension of Life and begin to function as the Body of our High Priest!
Even before he fell from God's purpose, the first Adam was not all that God designed him to become.
Since Adam was created to be like God, he was given a moral choice or some call this "free will".
Adam was told by God what he could eat from and what he could not eat from.
This was God's Sovereign choice which is inherently connected to God's Eternal Purpose.
It was up to Adam to decide whether to obey God or to determine what he, himself, wanted to do.
From this we understand that Adam would be involved in his own development by making certain moral choices and by how he lived.
When Adam made his first moral choice to disobey God and decide his own path,
his gradual development towards God's eternal purpose ceased.
Not only that but he died and lost his connection to God, Who is Eternal Life, which is reflected in the Tree of Life.
True development into God's Eternal Purpose can only be realized when we give ourselves to do the whole Will of God and to bring honor, glory and joy to God's heart.
Only as we rightly discern the purpose of God and live our lives with one goal of fulfilling God's Eternal Purpose, can we rightly relate to the present world, to our family, to our jobs and to our salvation.
ONLY when the visible church adopts these Eternal changes, vision and goals, can we properly view the visible church as being relevant to God's purposes.
The Church He is building will always be identified as being relevant to God's Eternal Purpose.
We must not forget that the Christian / Kingdom Life must soon enter into the New Priesthood dimension of Life and begin to function as the Body of our High Priest!
One of the identifying marks of the first Adam was that he chose to do his own will and to live for himself.
Even though Adam was sinless, innocent, pure and created in God's own likeness and given God's own image, he chose to live in God's creation, use God's provision, enjoy God's sunshine, but live unto himself.
This is the same curse that plagues much of the church today. They have never escaped from the selfishness, the ego-centric focus and self-centered interest of the first Adam.
We take the power of the cross, the cleansing of the blood, the forgiveness of our sins and receive our reconciliation to God and then live just for ourselves and do our own will.
It should be obvious that this influence and nature of the first Adam must be finally dealt with in every true believer or the church will never become both salt and light and influence the world system!
We must not forget that the Christian / Kingdom Life must soon enter into the New Priesthood dimension of Life and begin to function as the Body of our High Priest!
It would be too shallow to say this necessity for a fundamental change and a radical transformation is only related to "the new believer!" Why?
It is because we see this same selfish nature of first Adam and his fallen attributes, his ego-centric life manifested in OLD believers and ministers everywhere.
We recite the verse that old things have passed away and all things have become new but then live in the same old way. Why? Because we live by the same old life.
When we continue to live by the life of first Adam, the Scriptures about change just become clichés or moral proverbs or messages from the pulpit but without manifesting the resurrection life of the RISEN Savior.
It is easy to see the error of "no preparation" by just observing the pitiful condition of the visible church.
It seems that because of the pressing demand for more workers "to send to the harvest fields" there is NO TIME or opportunity to lay the proper Foundations.
However, to send out laborers into the harvest that have not made the transition from the first Adam to the Last Adam is a terrible mistake.
We are not speaking about not being born again or not receiving the Holy Spirit or not knowing the doctrines.
We are speaking about NOT laying all the Foundations BEFORE they are sent out.
Why is this essential? This is because ministry in the flesh is unacceptable to God and can never please God. It will also be totally ineffective.
What we observe when we travel around is;
MAXIMUM EFFORT THAT HAS A MINIMUM RESULT!
When the "ministry" is unprepared and unchanged there can be no transition to the Spiritual dimension of ministry.
We "serve others" to attain to a position of leadership with a title and position and to fulfil our ego-centric goals.
We live a self-centered life but we call it ministering "IN CHRIST."
Ministering "IN CHRIST" would require that each of us be radically transformed so we can minister out of the new inner man. (Christ in us) Why?
So we may develop the ability to:
· hear His Voice,
· speak His Word and
· be equipped to do the Will of God!
These "foundational transformations" must take place, experientially, before we can begin living wholly to serve God, bring joy to God's heart by doing His Will and by fulfilling His calling.
The primary characteristic of the first Adam, that we are identifying, is:
· living just for himself,
· doing his own will,
· being ego-centric,
· remaining selfish and self-centered,
· refusing to change, or
· be disciplined by God.
These attitudes and fallen characteristics are still VERY much alive in the visible church!
How can these things be possible and still be Christian?
Our thesis is this; We experience less than a genuine and full salvation when we experience less than ALL the basic and personal Foundations.
It is in this developing "salvation" that these fallen attributes are dealt with.
The visible church has presented a counterfeit grace to excuse our selfishness and egocentric motives and fallen characteristics so no change nor growth need take place in the "believers."
Why? Oh, we are already "saved."
A recent article told about a man that had rejected God his whole life. On his death bed he asked for a Christian burial.
The "minister" said "Well, who knows, maybe he accepted Christ at the last minute."
This foolish remark may give some false hope to others who think that is the whole purpose of God to just "accept" Jesus on our death bed.
Because God's goal for man is much more than to receive forgiveness of sins and a primary redemption, God has made a wonderful provision to sever the believer's life connection with the first Adam.
The first Adam is called the natural man, or the "old man" (he is still of the old species, created from earth).
God's plan is for the natural, old, carnal man to enter into death and burial.
This is to eliminate him from participating in any Christian experience.
Then God's revealed plan is for a New Man to rise into the resurrection Life of the Last Adam. The last Adam is called "the new man" (the New Species).
Jesus Christ was born of God so He became the first born man of the New Species.
ALL Christian / Kingdom people MUST be born AGAIN by being born of God, the same as Jesus.
Otherwise they cannot be of the new species of man that is required to function within the New Covenant.
We have been criticized for saying it is the NEW MAN that is Christian and it is the NEW MAN that is "SAVED."
Since we cannot participate in both the first Adam and the Last Adam, we must die in the first Adam, be buried and be resurrected into the Last Adam.
God is only dealing with two men.
He is only identifying us with the first Adam or the Last Adam.
We are either in one OR the other!
Our ONLY option is to be in the first man or to be in the second man!
It IS an eternal mistake to remain in the first man and it is fatal not to escape! Why?
It is because now everything has changed and we are living in the New Covenant times.
In the New Covenant there is NO PROVISION for the old man.
Jesus Christ has purchased the redemption of all who are in the first Adam.
Everybody has been predestined to this redemption that is ONLY in Christ. How?
We begin to participate through His shed blood, that was shed at Calvary, for the forgiveness of our sins, plural!
All who are in the first Adam can be forgiven of their sins through the Blood and that by faith alone. However, this "transaction" is not just another doctrine to be believed.
This process of redemption must produce a life changing experience.
JUST To BEGIN in the process of redemption, each of us MUST receive forgiveness of sins.
We must be very clear that this is provided ONLY by Jesus' Sacrifice on Calvary and by His shed Blood.
Following that we must receive a NEW SPIRIT and be born again.
How does this happen?
We MUST receive, as a Genuine Experience, the Living and Abiding Word of God which is the Spirit of Christ.
We are ONLY born again by receiving the Sperma of God!
Then, if we have experientially received and have been conceived by the Living and Abiding Word of God, a NEW CREATION SPECIES is birthed.
This Sperma, being implanted into us, causes us to be born again to a Living hope!
We are, at that time, in the process of becoming a New Creation upon this earth.
We can only be a New Species if we have been born of God.
"BEING BORN OF GOD" means that we are a New Species that never existed on this earth before Christ Jesus.
We, as a new species, must have a NEW spirit and a NEW soul as we are a totally new creation man.
However, we are still living in an OLD body and its many limitations until it is laid aside.
Baptism adds resurrection Life to the old body.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who indwells you.
2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now all these things are from God, Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
As a New Species we are once again sinless, clean, pure and innocent.
We stand righteous before God in the same way the first Adam was before he rebelled against God while in the garden.
We have become a "New Creation" and are, in effect, back in the garden state of innocence.
However Romans 7 reveals that even in this "garden state" we are subject to the desires of the flesh that were inherited from the first Adam.
There is, within the new man, a definite desire to please God but there is another power that is pulling the other way and inspires us to do our own will and to live just for ourselves.
If we obey its lusts, we will fall into the modern curse of "continuing in sin," singular, after our "sins," plural, have been forgiven.
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?
2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
To say that Paul is speaking of himself before he was "saved" is to miss the whole context of Romans 5 to Romans 8.
Paul is relating the Plan of Salvation in a more complete form than just Romans 5.
The Evangelical Church has taken a few verses from Romans 5 and Romans 10 to present a "gospel of salvation".
Some have ignored Romans 6 and others have ignored Romans 6 , 7 and 8 as they assign God's total plan of redemption just to forgiveness of sins, plural.
If our redemption was complete in Romans 5, as is foolishly taught, what purpose is there for a Romans 6 experience?
Romans 7 shows us the problem with the flesh and the old man which is still facing those who are born again.
We should be aware that even though our connection to first Adam has been severed and we can no longer blame him for our bad attitudes, there is still YOU that must be dealt with.
That means YOU still have problems and habits that are NOT Christian and neither are they acceptable in the Kingdom.
We must not forget that the Christian / Kingdom Life must soon enter into the New Priesthood dimension of Life and begin to function as the Body of our High Priest!
Romans 6 shows us God's provision to overcome the Romans 7 syndrome and
Romans 8 shows us God's final solution to the Roman 7 failure.
Each of us, by now, should understand the personal frustration of living in the flesh and the pitiful experience revealed in Romans 7.
We have a genuine desire to do the Will of God but discover we are totally unable.
If we are honest, we should see the need of the Romans 6 and the Romans 8 solution to this frustration.
If we see God's goal is not just forgiveness of sins but to be free from the flesh and then to be led by the Holy Spirit!
From this revelation we should understand that laying ALL the Foundations is necessary.
It should become obvious that the Foundation of Baptism and the Romans 6 reality is God's provision to actually begin to live the Christian / Kingdom Life.
If we understand the problem of getting a church to participate in Romans 12:1 and 2, we should see how Romans 1 through Romans 11 is foundational and fundamental to the Romans 12 experience.
The Consecration Offering is reflected in the Romans 12 transformation.
For many years we made the mistake of sharing the Consecration Offering with thousands of believers that had none or few of the preparatory Foundations.
Romans 12:1-2 is just as much a part of God's plan of salvation as Romans 5 or Romans 10: 9-10.
Romans 5 has been presented as "the Plan of Salvation" and Romans 12: 1-2 is presented as just for those who are seeking after the "rewards" in heaven.
Of course the only reward we seek is to hear Him say "well done, good and faithful servant."
If we shared "just one plan of eternal salvation" from Romans 1 to Romans 15, there would be a lot of people disappointed by what they have accepted as FULL salvation.
It is certainly true that forgiveness of sins is through faith only but full salvation is a very serious process and involves ALL the Foundations!
We should understand that the natural, fallen man, is very limited by the faith that he is capable of exercising in his fallen state.
His faith is capable of repenting of his full way of life!
However, as with first Adam, every true believer is expected to do the Will of God.
Adam, in his pristine state, was still required to do the Will of God!
Why should God require the first Adam to do His Will and to fulfill His purpose and not require us to do at least the same?
The standard answer given is that now we are living under "grace" and are not required to do anything but believe something about Jesus!
This strange doctrine says that because of "grace" we can do our own will, please ourselves and God loves us just as we are.
By grace we can even try to get God to do what we want Him to do to fulfill our desires.
"Grace" has come to mean that God is here to serve us.
Now we can pray to instruct God what He needs to do for us next.
Even the first Adam had a better revelation than that!
Many people testify to living in the reality of "the fullness of Christ" but only a few ever personally experience the reality of that fullness.
Many testify to the finished work of Christ on the cross but few know the personal experience of the cross in daily life.
Many testify to a past experience of "salvation" but know very little about the daily experience of that salvation coming to full maturity within them.
There seems to be fewer true believers who have been fully prepared to continue in faith when it comes to crisis events and problems.
"My righteous ones shall live by faith" surely means to live continuously and daily to exercise saving faith.
Many are instructed to just trust in a past experience of exercising a "one time faith" for repentance or for forgiveness of sins.
Was the only purpose of Jesus Christ being born into this world as a man just to provide fallen man with forgiveness of sins? Not at all!
He came to restore man back to obedience and to completely fulfill God's Eternal Purpose which was predestined and inflexible before the world was.
My thesis is that forgiveness of sins had to be provided so that man could fulfill God's Eternal Purpose.
Forgiveness of sins was not the goal but a means to the ultimate goal which is wholly God-Centered and focused upon His Eternal Purpose!
ROM 14:7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;
8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived {again},
that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
2COR 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him Who died and rose again on their behalf.
Until the visible church is no longer living for themselves but it corporately lives wholly for Christ, it will always be irrelevant.
Until the visible church is able to do His Will and to fulfill the purpose of Calvary, it will not be relevant.
This has nothing to do with rewards but has to do with fulfilling God's original purpose.
2Tim 1:9 Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His Own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, Who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.
If "the man in the pulpit" just takes a few verses out of the context of the whole counsel of God, the old Man / Adam is welcomed into the visible church system and can become an elder.
The natural man is still insisting that he is saved by faith when God has no plans for the natural man except death and burial.
Just say these specific words and believe our doctrine and you are as "saved" as you will ever be.
It appears that this message says that "forgiven man" can take his "salvation" and do his own will and serve himself and that all because of God's grace!
Of course, they conclude, we may discipline ourselves and seek some optional rewards.
Once you have become a child of God, like the first Adam, you can't lose that status.
Once saved always saved!
It is easy to expose that lie with just a few Scriptures.
The old Adam still thinks he did the only reasonable thing in the garden.
To him, the tree of knowledge still contains a valid and valuable food up to the present day. He considers it a great blessing to eat of that tree of higher learning.
Our great seminaries confirm this fact!
The devil is still insisting Adam can be like God. He still insists that by eating from this "fatal tree" we can live forever.
It comes as a shock when we discover there is NO LIFE in the Tree of Knowledge.
It is a greater shock when we discover there is only death present.
The Devil is continually inspiring that same lie again, "You shall not surely die"!
The preacher, who is presently living in Romans 7, is always looking for an excuse to live according to the flesh. Why?
Because, he says that is the best we can do while still in this body.
His hope is that someday living in the spirit will be possible, after we die!
However, God has given the solution to the flesh in Romans 8.
Still, this requires that we "walk in the Spirit" but the natural man cannot accept that doctrine!
What we discover is that the flesh is ALWAYS hostile to the Spirit.
Most "men of the flesh," who are still living in first Adam, refuse to admit their necessity of the Holy Spirit or to experience Him in His full New Covenant capacity.
What is their reasoning? All these things passed away with the last Apostle.
If what the Bible says is true, then Romans 6 is a crucial chapter in the Christian/Kingdom life and is essential in fulfilling God's predestined purpose.
Of course the shed Blood and the Redemption of Calvary must be a reality before Romans 6 has any power to deliver us.
Also, our original faith must still be "living" and actively working to experience any and all of these other Foundations.
We must point out here, very clearly, that Romans 6, in itself, is not the solution to all of man's problems he inherited from first Adam.
This is why all the other six (6) Foundations are also necessary and each must be our actual experience. Why?
Because, all these Seven (7) Outer Court preparations are interlaced together with one another so that each one is contributing and adding to the other.
This whole Book of Romans is presenting the one goal of salvation which is incorporated within God's purpose.
Therefore, the complete book should be seen together as presenting one salvation.
Romans 6 is the preparation for Romans 8.
The Romans 7 experience is the result of stopping short of receiving all the provisions of Roman 6.
The solution to the Romans 7 failure is by going on to the fullness of the Holy Spirit presented by the Romans 8 understanding.
Romans 6 is not the whole revelation of water baptism but is that section that deals with the old Adam and his sin factory and those things that remain AFTER forgiveness of sins.
This understanding destroys the concept that the New Birth is all that is relevant for the believer.
We must remember that God's Eternal Purpose was established before man was created and preceded the fall of man.
God's purpose was in His heart and in His foreknowledge before the foundation of the world.
The fall of man never changed His Eternal Purpose!
God's purpose for man was set into motion at the original Genesis one creation of man.
The earth was the location this purpose was to be fulfilled by man.
Adam was originally created to fulfill God's Purpose but he failed.
God's predestined plan will not be complete until the new species man fulfills God's original purpose.
The first Adam did not develop so he could fulfill God's purpose!
Now, because of the fall, he never can fulfill it and is eliminated from it.
That limitation also includes all those born of the first Adam or who continue to participate in his fallen nature and character.
None of this process of "perfection/completeness" can possibly come to a final conclusion until the NEW SPECIES OF MAN has fully completed God's Purpose!
Neither Israel nor the world system is the time table for the end time.
God is NOT going to pull the plug and end it until His Original Purpose is fulfilled.
Forgiveness of sins is the first step in the restoration of man but certainly not the final step.
The old Adam, in each one of us, must be dealt with by death and burial and that is without exception! Why?
For the forgiveness of sins? No!
But so we can fulfill God's Eternal Purpose!
This old Adam, with his old nature and fallen character, is the stumbling block that keeps us from fulfilling God's original purpose.
Those who hold to the doctrine that "all things are made new" when we receive Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, have not accurately evaluated the truth of Scripture!
The visible church is the glaring evidence and the proof is in its present pitiful condition.
ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?
Paul's teaching here is focused upon those who are born again but continue to live in sin.
God's abundance of grace was even used as an excuse to live in the flesh and to continue in sin in the days of Paul.
The Mantra today is "still go ahead and do it because God will forgive you out of His grace and mercy." "God knows my heart, I would if I could but I can't", is another excuse that is rejected by God. Why?
Because, God has given those great and magnificent promises and so much provision in the New Covenant that NO EXCUSE is valid.
Paul refuted this error "of super grace" by saying;
"Shall we continue in sin? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?"
But, if this is true, "when did we die to sin?"
The popular religious interpretation is that "death" happens when we leave this earth?
ROM 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
2CO 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
When Jesus Christ died on Calvary, He died for the whole human race.
He was God's acceptable sacrifice for sins of all men.
His blood cleanses the sins of all those who believe.
Our own experiential faith in Christ's sacrifice is required to be forgiven of our past sins.
Now, in Romans 6 forgiveness of past sins is not in view but freedom from present sin.
Freedom from "SIN, singular," comes through death and burial.
Once we are dead, we are freed from sin.
God's method is to include us in Christ and His death.
Therefore, we are baptized INTO CHRIST JESUS and at the same time we are BAPTIZED (immersed) INTO HIS DEATH AND HIS BURIAL.
ROM 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
To say that baptism does nothing for man is gross ignorance.
Following Paul's revelation of baptism, he sums up its experiential reality within the teaching in Romans 6 and reveals baptism's obvious purpose.
ROM 6:12 Therefore do not let "sin" reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin {as} instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members {as} instruments of righteousness to God.
From this we see that the properly baptized believer must take a continuous and active part in his baptism and his deliverance by a daily presenting himself to God as one who is alive from the dead. (death is past tense)
Our baptism is a past event but the effective result of our baptism is in a daily participation in our death (old man) and burial with Christ.
Baptism then is a "final" burial of what we inherited from first Adam.
Death is not complete until there is burial.
We don't just leave dead people laying around.
God ordained that the corpse should be buried before sundown.
When the burial of our outward body, in this earth is complete, that person's natural life has reached its final conclusion in this earth realm.
From God's Kingdom viewpoint, Baptism is the conclusion of our old life in the first Adam.
One mistake that is obvious is that Baptism is NOT just a burial of the body of the outward man by getting wet, but a death and burial of the old fallen person who lives in the body which got wet.
Baptizing the outward body of a person is of little benefit if nothing happens on the inside.
Unfortunately this has been the experience of multitudes of believers who have gotten the body wet and thought that was experiencing a valid baptism.
ROM 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Being dead and buried is a proper conclusion for the old Adam and his sin nature.
However, we are no good to God or to His Eternal Purpose if we are just dead and buried.
Now we must be resurrected into a whole new kind of life that first Adam rejected.
Adam actually eliminated himself from God's Purpose. Why?
Because after death set in he could never know anything about that higher Life.
That Life was found in the Tree of Life which Adam rejected.
This Tree contained the (ZOE) Life of God which is Eternal Life.
Jesus Christ was also raised from the dead by the Glory of the Father.
ROM 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who indwells you.
Raised by the Glory of the Father is raised by the Holy Spirit!
It was the Holy Spirit Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead.
This is the exact same Holy Spirit which also raises us from the dead and imparts to us this ZOE Life of God.
To insist that we receive this Life before resurrection, which follows this death and burial, is to close our eyes to the reality of an EXCHANGED Life.
This is VERY clear in the Scriptures.
ROM 6:5 For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection.
Raising out of Baptism is when we are united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection.
This is not speaking of receiving Him as personal Savior as some teach.
Without death there is no need AND no opportunity for resurrection.
However, if we are united with Him in the likeness of His death we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.
That means we will be raised up into newness of HIS RESURRECTION Life by the Holy Spirit.
ROM 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Our old self, that was born of the first Adam, was a slave to sin.
Sin was a nature that inhabited our body, soul and spirit.
Sin was a part of our person and we could not ever be free from it.
God ordained that the soul that sinned should surely die.
Following Genesis 3 there were no plea bargains, no excuses and no remedies outside of God's provisions. Why?
There was no escape from death and no exceptions.
"But, wasn't there forgiveness?"
This is debatable!
In the Old Testament there was a covering of sin but no way to take sin away!
This was solved in the New Covenant by the sacrifice of Jesus.
1John 3:5 And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
Heb 9:26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
This clearly means that there is NO excuse to sin if we have fully participated in the provision of God, the Foundations and the full Sacrifice of Calvary.
ROM 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
The sentence of death is upon all men because all have sinned.
Thank God, we can choose the day of our death and get on with living for God.
The day we die is the day we are freed from sin.
We are not speaking about forgiveness of sins but being freed from the body of sin inherited from the old Adam.
If that "body" of sin (not the outer body) is done away with, we are freed from the slavery to sin.
We can still commit "sins" if we want to but we don't have to.
If we go on sinning it is because we want to and not because we have to.
The slavery is broken in proper water baptism because a personal death to the sin nature has taken place.
Burial brings the slavery to sin to a final conclusion.
ROM 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
It is appointed to man to die once.
We can't escape that first death but thank God we can't die twice.
Therefore, once we die, death has no more power over us.
There is a fear of death up until the time we die. After death passes, fear also passes.
After we die, death is no longer master over us.
Death brings the fear of death to a conclusion.
Of course this is not speaking of the death of the physical body but the FEAR of death!
ROM 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Death brings a conclusion to "sin", once for all.
The popular concept is that after we are born again God no longer sees our sins.
He just looks at Jesus and declares us righteous with His righteousness.
Romans 6 is about victory over "sin" and not about forgiveness of "sins."
This is about being dead to "sin" but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
ROM 6:22 But now having been freed from "sin" and enslaved to God,
you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
One problem with the failure to manifest the Christian Life is with those who want to be freed from sin but are not willing to be enslaved to God.
Doing your own thing will sooner or later end up in more "sins"! Why?
The "sin factory" has not been shut down, permanently!
Romans 6:14 to 23 has to do with sin and how we get free from "SIN."
This is not speaking about forgiveness of sins but victory over "sin", singular.
The wages of sin is still death and separation even if you believe something about Jesus.
This is an eternal fact hidden from much of the visible church out of ignorance by the "ministries."
The first verses of Romans 7 is continuing the same thought and teaching of Romans 6.
To accept the chapter division as a whole new and separate thought clouds the revelation of water baptism.
In this teaching Paul uses the doctrine of marriage from the Old Covenant Law to show another aspect of what happens in baptism.
We should remember that these chapter divisions were established by man long after the letters were sent and NOT set there by God!
ROM 7:2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living;
but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
3 So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.
God's plan is one woman with one man and one man with one woman.
Outside of that relationship the Law of Moses calls it adultery.
However, this part of Romans 7 is NOT speaking about divorce and re-marriage but how to get free from the Law of marriage.
ROM 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him Who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.
It might be clearer if we review the story given.
This "woman" would like to get free of her husband. (The Law)
If he would just die she could at last be free. However, this guy (the Law) will not die.
Then she realizes that if she could die, get buried and then get resurrected she could be joined to another that would treat her better. (That is so she could be joined to Christ)
The application is this;
We not only have to die to sin but also die to the law that defines sin.
Before we participated in Jesus Christ, we were under the laws of God for fallen man.
We cannot divorce from the law or ignore the law.
Therefore, we MUST die to the law to be freed from it.
When we are dead, the law no longer has jurisdiction over us.
Just being dead to the law is not the solution to God's eternal purpose.
If we are going to be fruitful for God we must be married to another.
That is to Jesus Christ Who has been raised from the dead.
Baptism must result in our producing fruit for God through our union with Jesus Christ in resurrection Life.
We are not resurrected into some heavenly realm, above the clouds, so we can do our own thing.
We are resurrected so that we might be joined to Him Who is raised from the dead.
"Single Christians" are not in God's plans.
We must be married to the law or be joined to Christ. These are the ONLY alternatives!
We MUST be JOINED to Jesus by Life in order to bear fruit for God and THAT is the reason for "MAXIMUM EFFORT TO PRODUCE MINIMUM RESULTS."
The law refuses to die. In fact not one jot or title will pass from the Law!
Therefore, how we can ever be married to another?
Jesus is NOT an adulterer and nothing has passed from the law so how can we be joined to Him?
Since the Law will NOT die, it only leaves us to die and be buried because only this frees us from the law.
ROM 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
Before we can serve God in the Spirit, we MUST FIRST get free from the law that defines sin.
Otherwise we will always be bound to the letter of the law.
This is not a small or isolated problem in the church.
In some groups they create their own laws but have the same problem with these laws as with the former laws of Moses.
In these churches DEATH and BURIAL are unknown as a freedom from law and then keeping the LAWS become impossible.
If our death, burial and resurrection (that is supposed to take place in baptism) does not place us into the reality of the newness of the Spirit, we will be bound by rules and regulations.
Either we will create our own laws or submit to others' laws.
He who walks in the Spirit has no need of rules and regulations.
Those who continue to "walk in the flesh" must have rules and regulations or they will have no idea how to walk.
This is the curse of rejecting the fullness of the Holy Spirit and not moving from the actual experience of Romans 6 into the actual experience of Romans 8.
This transition will NEVER happen until we have passed through God's Provision of Death and Burial.
We CANNOT walk in the Spirit if we are still living by the old life or just living IN THE FLESH.
To sum up Romans 6 we could say that even though we are forgiven of past "sins" (plural), we will still be a slave to "sin," (singular), as long as we are still alive in the character, nature and attributes of first Adam.
The only way of escape the "sin" problem is to:
· die,
· be buried and
· be resurrected into a different kind of Life.
After we are dead, we are freed from "sin" (singular). Why?
It is because "death" brings to a conclusion our slavery to "sin" (singular).
Once we have truly died in baptism, the fear of physical death is brought to a conclusion.
However, physical death is still a reality!
If we have died with Christ and have been buried in baptism, we (the New man) cannot die again!
The purpose of water baptism is to die to the past and to live for the future.
It should result in freedom from "slavery to sin" (singular) and it should result in the next step of being enslaved to God.
Baptism MUST result in a death to the Law or we will never be able to serve God in the Spirit!
This is NOT a metaphor, it is NOT a symbol, it is Not a testimony and it is Not a ritual!
Baptism is a life-altering change and a birth into a new dimension in which we can now serve God.
Baptism should birth us into a life of obedience to God.
We were once obedient to sin but now we must become obedient to God.
We were slaves to sin but now we must become slaves to righteousness.
That is the difference between the old life (old man) and the new Life (New Creation Man).
If we refuse to be enslaved to God we will continue to experience the reality of Romans 7 and walk in the flesh.
Then, like the visible church, we need to relegate Romans 8 to the millennium because it is impossible to live that way in the here and now.
Water baptism will do what it is supposed to do if we are truly:
· dead,
· buried,
· resurrected and
· enslaved to God.
The real goal of water baptism is to be married, joined in one spirit, to Jesus Christ in that same resurrection LIFE.
1CO 10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1CO 10:3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. 6 Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved. 7 And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written,
"The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play."
8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.
9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.
10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Each of these experiences that Israel had in coming out of Egypt and entering into Canaan are types, shadows and examples for the Christian life.
Egypt is a picture of the world system.
Pharaoh is a picture of Satan.
Moses is a type of our deliverer.
The Passover Lamb is a picture of Christ Jesus.
The cloud is a picture of the Holy Spirit.
The Red Sea is a picture of baptism.
As long as Israel was on the west bank of the Red Sea they were still in Egypt and therefore under the authority and the control of Pharaoh.
He had the power of life or death over Israel!
The only way of escape from that bondage was through the Red Sea.
As they approached the banks, the cloud that was over them came down and passed back over them, immersing them in the cloud. They were baptized in the cloud.
When Moses struck the waters with his rod, the waters parted and stood up like a wall.
(Psalm 78:13) When they passed between "the walls of water" they were Baptized into Moses.
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. They passed through the Red Sea, by faith, as it stood up like a wall and they were baptized into Moses' authority.
As long as Israel was in Egypt they were under Pharaoh's authority.
When they passed over to the wilderness, they were baptized into Moses' authority.
The authority over their lives changed at water baptism.
We are not baptized into Moses but into Jesus Christ and at baptism we come under His authority.
The authority over our life changes from Satan to Jesus Christ at baptism.
At baptism we come out of the world system and begin our walk into the purpose of God.
There was also a MASS DEATH which took place as Pharaoh and his great army perished in the waters of Baptism. This crossing became a foundation for Israel.
However, just like we saw in the other verses in 1 Corinthians 10, there are many things to discourage us and cause us to fail in fulfilling God's Purpose.
God said "The enemies that you see today, you will not see again forever".
Pharaoh's army was destroyed at the Red Sea.
Still, there are many other enemies waiting as they made their way to Mount Sinai, into Canaan and on into God's purpose for Israel.
Israel was saved by the blood and they were saved by the water.
They were saved by the manna from heaven and they were saved by the water out of the rock.
They were saved from Amalek's army by faith and prayer.
Now they could testify to their escape, and to victory and to their new found freedom.
God was their God and He looked after them for their good!
However, they craved evil things, they were idolaters, they acted frivolously, they acted immorally, they tried the Lord, and they grumbled and complained against God.
This was by those who had found a new freedom to pursue a new destiny.
They were, in effect, the "CASUAL CHRISTIANS" today who have their sins forgiven.
They have experienced new freedom and can testify to "being saved."
However, like Israel, they NEVER inherit the Promises of God.
Like Israel, they NEVER went back to Egypt but they NEVER entered into Canaan.
After being freed from Egypt, they died in the wilderness.
They never walked in the Christian / Kingdom Life or brought their lives under the sovereign authority of Christ Jesus.
Many new believers never even make it to Mount Sinai which is a metaphor of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Mount Sinai is a type of Pentecost and that feast was kept on the fiftieth day after Passover and celebrates their visitation by God at Mount Sinai.
1COR 10:11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
We, like them, may have had many experiences within the provision of God but still have several character faults and defects.
As we continue to walk into the Purpose of God, it is necessary for God to:
· adjust,
· rectify and
· change many things in our lives.
One of the great changes that is necessary is turning us from a self-centered life to a God-centered Life.
1PET 3:18 For Christ also died for "sins" once for all, {the} just for {the} unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits {now} in prison,
20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through {the} water.
21 And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you - not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Noah and his family entered into the ark before the flood began.
This is another picture of water baptism. This, also, is recorded as an example for us.
In the days of Noah the earth became so corrupt that God could no longer look upon it.
Everywhere there were the signs of total immorality, depravity and the gross sins of the people were the evidence of their failure!
God decided He had to destroy ALL the inhabitants to rid the earth of "sin, singular."
When the earth was under the dominion of angels, God submerged the whole earth in water for centuries.
In Genesis one God restored the earth out of the water and began anew.
Now, many years later, God must cleanse the earth again by submerging the inhabitants in a flood of water.
However, God "SAVED" eight souls by placing them in the Ark.
This was the only way He could deal with the "sin problem" of that generation!
God dealt with them by death and burial! (This is NOT a matter of forgiveness of sins)
God judged the world through Noah! Why?
God found one righteous man by which he could judge the unrighteousness of the people.
Noah was a man who was righteous in God's sight.
God's original purpose was not to destroy mankind but through mankind to fulfill His Purpose which He predestined before the world was.
However, to rid the earth of corruption, He had to destroy mankind in order to finally judge their sin.
However, through this "baptism into death" in Noah's time, God could destroy the corruption of the world system but still preserve the Adamic race through Noah by placing him and his family in the ark.
This appears to be a very radical and final solution to sin but this reveals to us how God will free the earth from the present corruption.
The final judgement will come to the world at the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ Jesus and His saints.
Christ Jesus IS our Ark of safety.
Therefore, God told Noah to build an ark for the saving of his family.
Noah built the Ark and continued to preach righteousness.
2PET 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
The world mocked both Noah and his message of rain, because, at that time, they had never seen rain. Still, the rains began to fall and the waters began to rise.
Noah and his family were in the ark and it says that God shut the door so there were no late comers to be saved! In the days of Noah 100% of the people were baptized.
Most drowned because they were baptized outside of the ark.
Only those who were inside the ark were saved.
This shows us that all who are baptized outside of Jesus Christ are still lost.
Baptism is "Into Jesus Christ," or into the Ark.
As the water rose, the ark began to float. The earth was under water.
However, when the water receded again the ark had moved to a new and distant land.
It did NOT return or rest again in the old land but had traveled to a whole different land.
When Noah and his family came out of the ark they walked out into a completely new life.
The old things had disappeared and all new things had come.
In this same way, baptism now saves us.
It is not just a washing of the flesh but it is an appeal to God for a new, clean and active conscience.
The conscience comes alive and begins to function again following proper water baptism.
A good conscience is requisite for us to identify the Will of God and to reveal our hidden sins.
The new conscience is also a powerful tool to avoid the snares of the Devil.
This existence of a working "conscience" is another evidence of a proper baptism.
If it is evident that there is no new conscience it indicates there was no proper death and burial so there was no resurrection Life.
It is in this resurrection life that the good conscience actually works.
There is another picture for us in the Tabernacle of Moses that is revealed in the Laver.
EXO 40:12 "Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 13 "And you shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me.
14 "And you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them.
It appears that every believer must be constantly reminded that God has called all New Covenant believers into a valid and living Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek.
This is the Priesthood of the Kingdom of Priests who will receive the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom forever.
This Priesthood is made up of our High Priest Who is Head and His grown and mature Sons that make up His body!
This initial washing in the laver followed the removing of the old garments.
This washing is a picture of baptism which was to prepare the priests to approach God for service.
The priests' garments were placed upon them following this washing, not before!
The next experience following the new garments was the anointing with the Holy Oil.
This anointing was not upon the flesh of the Priests but was only upon the priestly garments.
Therefore, the anointing followed the application of the Priestly garments.
In other words the fulness of the anointing follows the full clothing of the priests within the Priests' garments.
However, this was not All the preparation required of the priests.
To be clear; speaking about any of the Priest's garments before the complete washing in the Laver is foolishness.
Without first experiencing proper Baptism, speaking about the garments of the priests is foolishness.
In addition to this initial cleansing there was the continual washing each time the priests passed the laver.
The continual washing was so they would not die!
EXODUS 30:18 "You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19 "And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it;
20 when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they may not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire {sacrifice} to the Lord. 21 "So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they may not die; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations."
Following the initial washing there was the continual washing.
This was not a washing of the whole body but just the hands and feet.
Once they were clean, they only had to wash their hands and their feet.
John 13:8 Peter *said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."
9 Simon Peter *said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." 10 Jesus *said to him, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."
These Scriptures appear to be very innocent verses, that have no application to us, until we really look into the total Scripture and other verses that tell us of this continual washing.
Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
Once we have been baptized, there is the continual washing of water with the Word.
This washes our doing (hands) and our walk (feet).
Whether we call this sanctification or God's dealings with us or growing up in all things into Christ, the result is the same, a continuous cleansing.
This is NOT a once for all time event!
The real question is this; do these things represent optional things or are they essential things for the Christian Life if we expect to be presented to Jesus without spot or wrinkle?
If should be obvious that NONE of these things are optional!
While this study may seem to be repetitive and extremely detailed, we want to point out why all these "other things" practiced and preached by the visible church are irrelevant if the Foundations are not accurately laid as experiences.
During the Charismatic movement we paid no attention to any of these things.
If someone spoke in tongues, it was assumed nothing more needed to be done.
GAL 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Baptism is into Jesus Christ.
When we are "IN CHRIST" we are clothed with Christ, as with a garment.
Another translation says "have put on Christ as a garment".
The Priests were clothed with the new priestly garments following the initial washing in the Laver.
The dual experience of the Christian / Kingdom life is first "Christ in us" and then "us in Christ".
"Christ in us" is our born again experience.
This experience begins when we receive the Sperma of God.
This is the Living and Abiding Word of God and is Christ in us!
When we enter into a genuine "baptism into Christ", this Baptism is "Us in Christ" or submerged in Christ.
JOHN 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, {even} to those who believe in His name,
EPH 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him In love.
EPH 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
1John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.
1John 3:24 And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.
And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit Whom He has given us.
John had the insight to recognize that to abide "in Him" requires that we keep His commandments.
He also saw that we must abide "in Him" if we are going to be ready for the coming of the Lord.
We are baptized "into Him" but it is by obedience that we abide "in Him".
When we receive Him, the Word of God, He abides "in us" but we also must be diligent to "abide in Him".
It is clear that there are multiple experiences in Christ and NOT a once for all time experience that is being taught.
COL 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, Who raised Him from the dead.
Baptism outside of "faith in the working of God" produces very little in our lives.
The resurrection that is supposed to follow death and burial requires "faith in the working of God."
For that reason baby baptism must be rejected. Why?
Babies can exercise no faith, make no decisions and demonstrate no obedience in the baptism. Therefore they cannot qualify for baptism.
Baptism should also set us firmly into God's purpose, experientially.
LUKE 7:30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves,
not having been baptized by John.
Surely, the baptism of John was a very little thing in the eyes of the Pharisees and the lawyers.
John seemed to be some kind of radical that dressed in strange clothes and ate strange things and lived in the wilderness.
They were the Theologians of their day.
Nevertheless, they cut themselves off from the purpose of God simply by refusing John's baptism.
They could go NO FURTHER simply because they rejected John's Baptism which was a baptism of repentance, saying repent and believe in Jesus!
How much more ignorant is our rejection of our Baptism into Christ?
MARK 16:16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved;
but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
We have never been authorized to tell anyone they are saved before they have "believed" and have been baptized.
That means having a valid "Baptism" which followed "believing the Gospel of the Kingdom!"
Why? That was the ONLY Gospel they were authorized to preach.
In Acts 1 it is clear the "only Gospel they were authorized to preach is the Gospel of the Kingdom."
When they believed THAT Gospel they were baptized.
ACTS 2:38 And Peter {said} to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
ACT 22:16 'And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.'
Faith is not a passive and dormant thing.
Faith must result in action to be valid faith.
Faith without a following action is dead faith.
Works without faith are dead works!
True faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ AND Faith in the Government of the Kingdom should come alive when there is a valid baptism.
Baptism is the action that expresses our faith in Christ's sacrifice and activates that tremendous provision to become our actual experience.
Act 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
When these "believers" believed BOTH the Kingdom of God AND the Name of Jesus they were permitted to be Baptized.
He who believes the Gospel AND is Baptized shall be saved.
HEB 10:22 Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled {clean} from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
· Baptism then is not a public testimony.
· It is not an outward sign of an inward change.
· It is not a baptism into a church, it is NOT a metaphor.
· It is not a ritual.
· It is not a ritual bath as in other religions.
· It is NOT getting the outer man wet.
· Baptism is NOT another man-made option.
Baptism is an integral part of the Christian / Kingdom Life
Baptism is designed by God to produce something essential that is real and eternal in our lives.
We cannot take the next step into God's eternal purpose without a valid baptism.
Here are the 20 things that we have covered about Baptism in this study.
(1) Baptism is an immersion into the death of Jesus Christ.
(2) Baptism is an immersion into a death to sin.
(3) It cuts us loose from the old nature of first Adam.
(4) It destroys the "body of sin" or the sin factory.
(5) It is a personal burial into the death of Christ Jesus.
(6) It is the preparation for resurrection into Christ.
(7) It frees us from slavery to sin that is in our members.
(8) It frees us from the fear of death because we can only die once.
(9) We are freed from sin so that we can be enslaved to God, or our preparation for Consecration.
(10) Death and burial sets us free from the law of sin and death so we can serve in newness of the Spirit.
(11) Baptism is our escape through death and burial from the world system.
(12) Baptism loosens us from Satan's authority.
(13) Baptism brings us under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(14) Baptism is another step into God's purpose.
(15) At baptism God provides us with a good conscience.
(16) Baptism is our first obedience to the Word of God.
(17) At baptism we are clothed with Christ (as with a garment).
(18) Baptism brings to a conclusion all that was before so that in Christ Jesus all things can become new.
(19) Baptism is one of the Foundations of the Christian life.
(20) God will not permit us to go on to maturity until the Foundations are complete.
(Hebrews 6:1-2)
Until we can accept the fact that baptism is essential and exercise faith in all the provision of God released in baptism, we will not be able to exercise faith to experience all the benefits of baptism in our actual experience.
The tragedy is that the other Foundations will not be activated until our Baptism is authentic.
This lack of reality has been the experience of too much of the church.
Since very little was expected by the act of being baptized, very little was experienced in baptism.
Therefore, the church has developed a doctrine that nothing much happens in baptism.
It is, therefore, assumed that baptism is just a public testimony about our "salvation!"
It is assumed, therefore, that baptism can't be very important.
Since some groups acknowledge that baptism is one of the "sacraments" of the church, they concede that it would be good to do it sometime, before we die.
Therefore, not much relevance is placed upon whether there is any faith exercised in baptism because all the emphasis is upon the act and the water.
They conclude that how we were baptized is not important if we got wet.
If this was true, baptism before we have faith or after we have faith is irrelevant.
Since "immersion or burial" in baptism is not convenient in many groups, sprinkling the water or touching the forehead with water is considered as sufficient.
According to this doctrine, any water used, in any manner, at any time, by any person, is a valid baptism.
Using any water, in any way, is then considered the same as burial in the water.
Of course we should know it is not "the water" that does the work but it is our faith in His death and burial that is the essential part we play in participating in Calvary.
All these essential Foundations also are activated through our obedience to the Word of God and by holding to the great and magnificent promises of God by faith.
This is what brings the promises into our experience.
Repentance prepares the heart to believe what God has said in His Word is true and that everything will happen just as He said.
Baptism outside of repentance, faith and a born-again experience produces nothing real in our life!
That is why we hear "nothing happened in my life when I was baptized."
This is the testimony of many who were not properly baptized.
Being "baptized" into our personal death and burial is still NOT Christian baptism.
This is a common error and misplaced faith!
Proper Baptism is ONLY into Christ's death and burial.
This really sounds strange today because at the time of Calvary we weren't even born.
However, this IS God's Plan and is the foundational experience through which we get free from first Adam and his fallen life!
We can't help feeling sorry for all the multitudes that were baptized out of obedience to some church ordinance or church requirement but without any clear understanding of what was supposed to happen.
They, therefore, could not exercise faith or even know what to believe and, consequently, very little was experienced as a life changing reality.
The natural man, baptizing a natural man, into natural water, out of a natural ordinance, can only, at best, produce something natural, in the natural realm.
It might qualify for some church membership or some other natural requirement, like preparing for a natural ministry, but be void of power.
Since none of this "ritual in religious baptism" was designed by God, it produces VERY little!
May God open our eyes to see into these other eternal Foundations that depend upon our true Baptism for us to experience their reality.
For the Rocket to be shot to the Moon from Cape Canaveral to succeed, EVERY natural law and EVERY law of Mathematics and EVERY law of Science had to be followed precisely and in the minutest detail.
Otherwise, there was no hope of completing the mission.
All these Laws were built into creation from the very beginning.
If the scientists had ignored one these laws, disaster would have followed.
Most Christians would agree with these various laws and acknowledge they were essential to the success of the project.
Most Pastors would agree that if the scientists or mathematicians had made a mistake or just broken one natural law it would have guaranteed that the whole mission would fail.
Then how is it possible that the church can totally ignore God's Spiritual Laws and think that it doesn't matter because of "grace?"
Somehow they believe that because of God's forgiveness and mercy, we can now ignore His Spiritual Laws without judgement.
Why? They say it is because Jesus removed all laws at Calvary.
No, that is NOT true!
The Laws of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus were not removed or annulled at Calvary.
The Laws of Baptism were not removed but established for all time in their ultimate reality.
The same is true with EVERY foundational experience!
Even though the Laws of Salvation were firmly established at Calvary, the church has been so loose and casual about these laws they could be preaching lies!
Just rearranging these Spiritual Laws to make Salvation much easier for the natural man must be identified and rejected as invalid.
This spurious doctrine of "just say these words and believe this doctrine and you are saved for all time" is another BIG lie that is boldly preached.
· The Laws of Repentance,
· the Laws of Salvation,
· the Laws of Baptism,
· the Laws of the Spirit and
· the Laws of Consecration.
are regularly ignored or are replaced with an arrangement of human concepts in the church.
Very few even think that this omission is a serious breach of responsibility or that this subverts the plans of God.
What if we said, even ignoring one of these Foundations would guarantee us failure in completing the purpose of God?
Would that change the focus of the church to insist upon these Foundations as real life experiences?
No! I have shared that "FACT" in several places and warned the "ministers" of how serious this is but I was, in most cases, just ignored.
Why does this attitude prevail in the visible church?
It seems to be because "we are too busy trying to build a church" that we don't have time to be bothered with all those Foundations.
Just to lay these seven (7) Foundations, as experiences, would require several weeks and we would lose the time required to be out "winning souls" for the Kingdom of God.
Besides, in 500 years of past church history laying these Foundations has not been a BIG priority in the ministries so why is it so important now?
Of course, that is true and that is exactly why the corporate church has not come to the maturity of Jesus Christ.
The "ministries" just blame the "believers" because of their apathy and lack of zeal.
However, the maturity of the believers IS responsibility of the "ministries."
After the Foundations are firmly laid, the responsibility for growth lies with the believers AND the ministries.
They must share the responsibility!
The real question is this; whom will God hold responsible for this travesty at the Judgement Seat of Christ?
My guess is that the "ministries" that were given this responsibility "for the perfecting of the saints," will be in BIG trouble.
Will that excuse the poor believers who were so misdirected? No!
Why?
They had the Bible and could have discovered the truth themselves, instead they trusted someone else to fulfill their own personal responsibility before God.
What is the result?
They cut themselves off from their predestined calling and have subverted their eternal destiny!
They will suffer the Eternal Loss, along with the ministers who were irresponsible and unfaithful in their calling!