Leprosy and the Law

In this episode, brother Jonathan discusses the role of the Law of Moses, leprosy, and what it pictured.

 

Leprosy and the Law

1. Introduction
   1. My goal in this episode is not to discuss at-length what leprosy is, how it is to be identified, or to do exegesis on those passages in Leviticus. My goal is to give you information that will help you to understand some of the reasons for why those passages from the Law of Moses are recorded for us New Testament Christians, and to help you understand their purpose. So we’ll be considering the Law of Moses as a whole first and what role it plays for us who are under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood.
2. The Law of Moses
   1. The Law of Moses has been explained to contain three different parts:
      1. The Ceremonial Law (or Spiritual Law) which contains the ordinances of sacrifices, tabernacle setup, priesthood, feasts, sabbaths, dietary restrictions, etc.
      2. The Civil Law (or Social Law) which contained the laws and punishments for Israel as a sovereign nation. These are things such as punishment for breaking the seventh-day sabbath and adultery, etc.

• The Moral Law is classified as those things which show the morality of God’s own character and nature. Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, His morals and character never change. (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8) These commandments are repeated under the new covenant in Christ’s blood. We do not obey them because they were part of the law of Moses: we obey them because they have been carried over as part of the New Covenant (or testament).

• Christians are not under the ceremonial or civil law of Moses.
  1. If we believe that we are justified by any part of the Law of Moses then we have rejected our salvation that is by grace through faith and have been severed from Christ.
     1. “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” (Gal 5:4)
  2. We are not under any dietary laws or restrictions.
     5. Matthew 15:10-20; Acts 10:14-15; Romans 14:17; 1 Timothy 4:4-5.
  3. In fact, if we believe that we are accountable to ANY PART of the Law of Moses for salvation—in the sense that we are required to do it in order to be saved—then we are accountable to keep the entire law of Moses.
     1. “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.” (Gal 5:1-3)
     2. You can only be “under the law” or “not under the law”. There is no middle-ground where you can pick and choose which commandments you get to be accountable to—as some cults teach.
  4. Christians are still under the moral law of God. This is why we are commanded again in the New Testament to not lie, steal, kill, commit adultery, etc.
     1. “"You know the commandments, 'DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'"” (Mar 10:19)
     2. “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Rom 13:8-10)
  5. The one commandment of the decalogue (the ten commandments) that we are never commanded to keep is the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday). On the contrary, we are told that we are not required to observe it.
     1. “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Col 2:16-17)
     2. “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.” (Gal 4:9-11)

• Early in the church the question was raised about whether or not believers had to keep any part of the Law of Moses. In Acts 15 is recorded the first church council where the Apostles clearly stated that believers did not have to keep any part of the Law of Moses. This included the seventh-day Sabbath.

1. Some of the early Christians—being Jewish—still observed the Law of Moses to not offend the Jews to whom they were trying to preach the gospel. At the same time though, they did not preach that you had to keep it. It was not any part of salvation. Paul talked about how they did it to not offend the Jews so that he may have greater effectiveness preaching the gospel to them.
   1. “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.” (1Co 9:19-23)
2. I am emphasizing this to you because there is a widespread movement to turn people back to observing the seventh-day Sabbath. It is commonly called the “Hebrew roots movement”. Also, the group called the “Seventh Day Adventists”. Both of these groups are followers (whether they know it or not) of the same groups called “judaizers” that used to follow Paul the Apostle around trying to teach that the new Christians needed to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. (Acts 15:1; Gal. 2:4, 12-13) Be careful to not fall into this deception which is designed to overthrow the gospel. Several very quick points about these groups’ errors:
   1. The Hebrew Roots movement picks and chooses which commands from the Law they keep. This is a fundamental denial of what the scriptures say. We are told clearly, which verses I already read, that if you believe you are accountable to ANY part of the Law then you are required to keep it all. This is because you have chosen to seek to be justified by the Law and not by faith in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
   2. The Seventh Day Adventists were birthed from a man named William Miller who falsely prophesied that Christ would return before March 21 1844. This obviously didn’t happen. Later, three groups came together to form what is known now as the Seventh Day Adventists: Hiram Edson taught the (false) doctrine of the sanctuary and Christ’s final ministry in the holy of holies, Joseph Bates provided the (false) doctrine of the seventh-day worship, the Sabbath, and Ellen G. Harmon White provided (false) visions and prophesies to confirm these things.
3. It is important to understand that both of these groups are dangerous cults that lead people away from salvation. They are not to be considered brethren or just another “denomination”. Their teaching fundamentally denies the gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ. Remember what Paul had to say about the Judaizers to the Galatians:
   1. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Gal 1:6-9)
4. Christians gather together on Sunday out of memorial for the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday, the first day of the week. (Matt 28:1; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 24:1) They also began gathering throughout the week, most notably on Wednesday, for more fellowship. There is no commandment that tells us to gather on particular days. We are only commanded to have fellowship with other brethren (Heb. 10:25) to strengthen each other, worship and pray together, and instruct one another.
5. It was the Roman Catholic Church that later created the notion of Sunday being the “new Sabbath” for Christians. This was done several centuries after the apostles had died and has no place in scripture. There is nothing wrong with regularly gathering on Sunday, or any day, but we must not falsely say that it is a “new Sabbath”. If we did, then some young believers may be led to thinking that Christians indeed do have to keep the Sabbath as described in the Law of Moses. That would lead them astray and into deception. So we must be careful to make the distinction clear.

1. Old Testament Pictures
   1. The things in the Law of Moses are actually pictures (symbols, shadows) of things to come. This is what we call “typology”. All throughout the Old Testament God left illustrations and examples for us to benefit from today. These teach principles that God wanted us to understand, pictures of new testament doctrines, and are sometimes even earthly pictures of things that are in Heaven.
      1. “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.” (1Co 10:11)
      2. “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Rom 15:4)

• “For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "SEE," He says, "THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN."” (Heb 8:3-5)

1. Some examples of typology are how Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and later would rule over them for their own deliverance. This pictures Christ being rejected by His people and later ruling over them as King and Lord. Solomon, the son of David, ruling over a peaceful Kingdom with unprecedented prosperity and building the temple of God pictures Christ, the Son of David, building the spiritual temple of God (the church) and setting up His own earthly kingdom with unprecedented prosperity and peace. Moses himself was rejected the first time he tried to help his Hebrew people (Acts 7:22-37), but when he returned he delivered them from Egypt. Christ is the prophet like unto Moses (Deut. 18:15-19; Acts 3:22; 7:37) who was rejected by His people at His first coming (John 1:11; Isa. 53:2-3; Luke 19:14; 20:13-15; Acts 7:51-52). They will receive Him at His second coming (Zech. 12:10; Romans 11:25-27).
2. These are a few examples of how God has woven throughout the Old Testament history illustrations and foreshadowing of the things to come. It is important to remember that we do not use typology to establish or teach doctrine. This can become looking at the scriptures as though they are allegories instead of literal history. We establish doctrine by the straightforward teaching and then we can look back to see if there are any typological pictures.

1. Leprosy
   1. Leprosy itself is a picture, or “type” (from the Greek word “tupos”), that illustrates something for us. It pictures sin and its effects. This will bear out as we look at what is said and/or described.
   2. Let’s look at a passage in Matthew that shows Christ interacting with a leper.
      1. “When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus *said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."” (Mat 8:1-4)
   3. This is a very interesting interaction between Jesus and the leper for a number of reasons.
      1. This leper came to Him. This was a thing that lepers were not supposed to do. They were to be separated from people and kept away so that they didn’t infect other people.
         1. “"As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' "He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (Lev 13:45-46)
      2. By touching the leper Christ himself would’ve been considered unclean until the evening. How can Jesus be excused by the people for willingly touching a leper? This is because in the law the priests were allowed to touch the lepers when they were being cleansed without being defiled.
         1. “"The priest shall then put some of the oil that is in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering. "Moreover, the rest of the oil that is in the priest's palm he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement on his behalf before the LORD. "He shall then offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, which are within his means. "He shall offer what he can afford, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the one to be cleansed. "This is the law for him in whom there is an infection of leprosy, whose means are limited for his cleansing."” (Lev 14:28-32)

• Christ Himself is the person the role of the High Priest in the Law pictured. He is the one who is our mediator between us and God, the one who intercedes for us with a sacrifice.
  1. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:14-16)
  2. See Hebrews 5:1-10; ch. 8

1. Examples of Leprosy in the Old Testament
   1. Moses’ sign to the Jews
      1. “The LORD furthermore said to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom." So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, "Put your hand into your bosom again." So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.” (Exo 4:6-7)
   2. Miriam’s punishment for rebellion against Moses
      1. “Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?" So the anger of the LORD burned against them and He departed. But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. Then Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. "Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother's womb!" Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "O God, heal her, I pray!" But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again." So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.” (Num 12:5-15)
   3. Naaman the Syrian
      1. “Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy." Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel." Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy." When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me." It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean." But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.' "Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.” (2Ki 5:1-14)
   4. King Uzziah’s Error
      1. “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men. They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God." But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him. King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's house judging the people of the land.” (2Ch 26:16-21)
   5. The reasons for these examples:
      1. Moses was given the sign of leprosy in his hand for it to be a testimony to the Jews that he was sent by God to deliver them.
      2. Miriam was punished for rebelling against the authority of Moses.

• Naaman was given leprosy (we don’t know why) and the narrative about how he was healed by Elisha is a picture of New Testament salvation:
  1. Naaman has a disease that is a death sentence (like sin)
  2. Naaman hears there is a way to be healed (people hear the message of the gospel)
  3. When Naaman hears what to do in order to be healed he is initially offended because of its simplicity. (like how people don’t understand initially how believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection is supposed to forgive their sins)
  4. Naaman is convinced by his servant to listen and believe because it is something simple. He is healed for doing as he is told by Elisha. (people embrace the simplicity of the gospel and believe)

1. Uzziah was punished for intruding into the priest’s office.

1. All of these examples have one thing in common: God is the one who either caused the disease, healed it, or both. In fact, so far as we know there is not one instance of a leper being healed or cleansed in Israel other than these times. This makes the significance of Jesus healing lepers all the more powerful. Jesus, the Messiah, was doing openly what only God could do.
2. It was a statement to the Jews that this prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, was doing in His own authority what God alone could do. Elisha was able to tell Naaman the Syrian what to do to be healed, but he did not do it of his own authority. Jesus speaks to a leper and tells him to be cleansed and the leper is cleansed. Jesus has his own authority to do such things.
3. In Leviticus 13 and 14 there are instructions for the priests on how to identify leprosy and how to treat it. Leprosy, of this kind that is talked about, could infect clothing and even the materials of people’s houses. It was a very serious concern for public welfare. It was highly contagious.
4. There are several parallels between leprosy and sin that show its typology.
   1. Sin begins oftentimes as a small thing. Leprosy usually begins to manifest in the body as a small thing.
   2. Sin in one person has the ability to influence other people. This is why Paul said that congregations need to deal with sin in their midst so that it would not spread. Leprosy was highly contagious and could infect others easily.

• Sin, once embraced into a believer’s life, causes separation from fellowship and the people of God. Lepers were required, once it had been identified, to separate from family, friends, and social life in general.

1. Sin hardens the heart from feeling any conviction from God. Leprosy numbs the sense of touch in the body.
2. Only God can forgive and heal sin. Only God can cleanse and heal leprosy.

1. Leprosy is a terrible disease which deforms the body. There is nothing more appropriate to illustrate the heinousness of sin in the sight of God than that He has set forth such a terrible disease to picture the effects of sin.

Here's our new episode:

The Everyday Christian Life

In this episode, Brother Jonathan discusses the two points that constitute the everyday Christian life.

 

How do we live every day?

S3EP26

Remnant Bible Fellowship

 

1. Introduction
   1. I was asked by a friend to do an episode on the everyday Christian life. How it works and what it looks like.
   2. I spent a couple of days just thinking about the topic and concluded that I believe most, if not all, of the daily Christian life can be covered under two main points. It may seem to be overly-simple, but I honestly believe that the entire Christian life may flow from these:
      1. Love Jesus Christ
      2. Deny yourself
   3. So let’s discuss these broadly and then try to think about them practically.
2. Love Jesus Christ
   1. “"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him… Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.” (John 14:15, 21, 23-24)
   2. If you have ever learned about Islam you may have heard about the dedication that they have to imitating their prophet Muhammad. If they are raised in Islam, from a child they are memorizing large portions of the Qu’ran in a language that most of them don’t understand (Arabic), they memorize prayers in a language that most of them don’t understand which they recite several times a day, they learn and imitate every aspect of Muhammad’s life and practice from the Qu’ran and the Haddith. They even have laws about how they go to the bathroom—for example they have to enter the bathroom with their left foot because Muhammad said so.
   3. It is their commitment to imitating their prophet’s life and ways that makes me believe that they love him. Whenever I consider my own commitment to Jesus Christ their dedication strongly convicts me. It convicts me because Muslims follow a false prophet, a false god, and they’re doing it in their own strength. Christians, on the other hand, follow the resurrected Son of God who died for them, the true and living God who created the universe and gave His Son for them before they knew Him, and have the indwelling Holy Spirit.
   4. I remember an illustration, I believe it was used by E.M. Bounds, that a man was awakened in the morning by the sound of a baker who was already at work by 5:30. He said that he was convicted because his master (Jesus Christ) deserved greater service than that baker’s master (his employer). So what we’re mainly talking about when we say “love Jesus Christ” is being dedicated to Him, His person, and His teachings. We ought to be followers of Christ. The very act of conversion is giving up on yourself and becoming committed to Jesus.
      1. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1Co 6:19-20)
      2. “"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal 2:20)
   5. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ means that we have chosen to give ourselves to His teachings. You see many of us think about salvation in terms of a spiritual transaction of Christ paying for our sins and redeeming us from the penalty for our sins, but we often don’t think of our salvation in terms of discipleship. Even that word “disciple” has a very different meaning today than it did in the days of Jesus. In ancient times among some groups disciples would memorize every word of their master/teacher. It was common knowledge that if you were a “disciple” of a certain teacher you were an accurate and trustworthy source of that teacher’s very words. That is sadly not the norm for the professed disciples of Jesus of Nazareth today. It is much easier to learn what you are supposed to believe (regarding doctrine)—though most don’t even do that—than to truly be focused on imitating Christ’s own dedication to the Father in our personal/private life and time.
   6. Nevertheless, we should speak the words of God, meditate on them, study them, pray about them, and live by them. Yet even if we stop there that’s not enough. We can do all of those things without really loving God. People do it all the time. If we just think about being a Christian as a checklist that we perform—you know, check off the boxes of daily reading and prayer—then we fail at the start. It’s been said before, and it’ll be repeated until it’s not true anymore, we are ready to commit our abstract futures to God’s control but not really our everyday life.
   7. “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1Pe 2:21-24)
   8. “"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” (Mat 11:28-29)
   9. Many of us will correctly think of following Jesus Christ’s words, but very few of us think about actually imitating His actual example. Yet that is exactly what Peter just said “leaving you an example for you to follow His steps”. When I say that I do mean that we should pay attention to context. We can’t just go throw over tables just because Jesus did. We must pay attention to context and the intention of the Gospel writers when they record events and actions. Jesus fasted 40 days but that doesn’t mean that God wants you to.
   10. The very essence of God saving you is that you died to your old life. If you want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, if you want the blood of Christ to cleanse you of your past sins and the Spirit of God to come into your life and change you from the inside out then you have to give up on yourself, your life, your desires, your dreams, your hopes, all of it. I’m not saying that God is going to make you miserable or send you to the Siberian wilderness to live in a hut, but what I’m saying is that if He mentioned it your response is “Yes Lord.”
   11. This segues very nicely to the next point.

• Deny Yourself
  1. “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” (2Co 5:14-15)
  2. “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 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.” (Rom 6:11-13)
  3. “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:1-2)
  4. It’s very easy when you first become a Christian, at least if you were truly converted, to just dive-in to following Jesus. In my circle we kind of refer to it as the “honeymoon with Jesus” phase. What happens over time though is that we slowly become distracted with other stuff. This is especially true as you approach middle-age. Young people in their teens and early twenties have no real fixed life usually so they are pretty free, but as you get older and get married, have children, buy a house, worry about different kinds of insurance, etc., you begin to have your eyes and attention continually focused on guiding your life. Therein lies the problem. You’re getting established in this world and your slowly losing sight of the fact that you can’t keep anything in this world.
  5. I’m not saying that working to do better in your career is bad, or that loving and enjoying family and friends is bad, or even that wanting a nicer house is bad. I’m only pointing out the distraction that comes sometimes when we slowly begin to focus again on what we want in this world as opposed to what Jesus wants. The two will sometimes overlap for sure, but sometimes He wants us to do the harder thing, or the weirder thing. Being a missionary is contrary to the American dream of a suburban middle-class life. Dick Brogden has some very good messages about this with the Live Dead ministry. I don’t know enough about them to endorse them but he has very good things to say nonetheless.
  6. If we want to know Jesus intimately, if we want to be children of God, or if we just want the Christian life to “work” we have to deny ourselves. I’m not just talking about not sinning either. That’s the easy way to think of self-denial. That’s the lowest bar that we have: don’t sin. Yes that is self-denial because your flesh wants to do ungodly things, but our lives are supposed to be more than that. If you are not lying, lusting, committing sexual immorality, or idolatry, yet you still are guiding your own life by your will you are still sinning. We are to be living sacrifices for Jesus Christ. Our will is to do His will. We are supposed to be poured out for His cause, for His name, according to His desire, in His own way and time. Not everyone will be missionaries to foreign fields, but every believer is supposed to follow Jesus, deny themselves, and serve others.
  7. Here recently, in my life, the Lord has really been pressing the importance of this upon me. We don’t stretch ourselves too much here in America especially. We’re almost constantly getting what we want and not being out of our comfort zone. So the need for us to exercise self-imposed discipline and denial of self is very high. We can talk about the practical side of “how to” in a few minutes, but let me just remind you of a couple of things that Christ said for us:
     1. “"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. "He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” (Mat 10:38-39)
  8. Your life in this world is not the thing that you should be focused on building up. And I want to make clear that we’re supposed to use wisdom in this world. If we have jobs, homes, families, etc., we are accountable to God for how we take care of them. That is our stewardship and it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. If you are a father then you ought to labor in the sight of God to be the best, godliest, father that you can be. If you are an employee/employer, then you ought to strive to be the best that you can be—and I’m not talking about profitability. I’m talking about honesty, integrity, hard work, and those kinds of things.
  9. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” (Col 3:23-24)
  10. Everything in your life is service to God. Yes, some are called to full-time ministry. That is what the Lord has put them into. But all of us are servants and only some of us realize it. I’d warn you to really think about what Christ said to His disciples:
  11. “"For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. "To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. "Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. "In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. "But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. "Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them. "The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' "Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, 'Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.' "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' "And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 'And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.' "But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 'Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 'Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.' "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mat 25:14-30)
  12. Everything that you have is because God has either directly given it to you or because God has allowed you to have it. We are tempted sometimes to think of only those in full-time ministry as truly called to serve, but that’s just not true. As a father, I need to go out of my way to be there for my children. I need to provide for them, love them, instruct them, and play with them. Some people just want to discipline their kids and wonder why they don’t have a good relationship with them or why they won’t listen to them. As a husband, I need to be a godly, loving, protecting, providing husband for my wife. I have a direct commandment to love her in the same way that Christ loved the church. He gave Himself for His bride. God Himself came from heaven, lowered Himself to be a man, a poor man nonetheless, to be mocked, spit on, beat, and crucified for His bride. That is the kind of love and devotion I’m told to have for my wife as a husband. As an employee, I’m told to do my job as if I’m directly serving God Himself. I’m supposed to do it without complaining. I shouldn’t try to cut corners. I’m supposed to have integrity. In every area of my life I have to realize that it’s not my life.
  13. We want to please ourselves. That’s the plain fact of the matter. We want to choose things for ourselves. We want to protect our pride. We want to protect our reputation. Apologetics is another way of building pride in the Christian life. We want to be able to never have to look like a fool for Christ. I love apologetics, but I must recognize that I will never be so “smart” or knowledgeable as to make Christianity look intelligent to an unregenerate lost person. I must embrace the call to be a fool in the world’s sight. I have to embrace God’s call to serving others and thinking of them as more important than myself. If someone needs something, and I can do it or provide it without compromising another area of my service to God, then I should try. It’s not easy. It’s hard. That’s the point. It’s impossible for a man who does not truly embrace the gospel and the hope of the world to come and the Kingdom of God to do it. But if we embrace our hope in Christ, and in eternity, then these things are just seen for what they are: preparation for the age to come. We’re serving the one who we have to face in judgment for our service. I always liked what the writer of Hebrews said about Abraham:
      1. “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb 11:8-10)
  14. So let’s move on to some practical application.

1. Practical Application
   1. How do we begin to apply this type of devotion to Christ? You must see it as your duty to do these things.
      1. “"So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'"” (Luk 17:10)
   2. We don’t devote ourselves so that we may be saved: we are devoted to Him because we are saved. I don’t believe the doctrine of eternal security. It is a false teaching. But sometimes the pendulum swings so hard it hits the opposite extreme and becomes eternal insecurity. That’s equally unbiblical. Believe in Him, follow Him, and have confidence in His ability and promise to be your Savior.
   3. I must address something quickly though: legalism. Legalism is what happens when insecurity is mixed with pride and selfishness. Sometimes people will be more prideful than insecure, but it is usually a mix of these things. It is when we ourselves become the enforcers of God’s rule. That is highly unbiblical and dangerous. When this is the case you will find a life that is very self-indulgent, someone who cannot or will not deny themselves. That is because they are living for themselves. Legalists would say, “No that’s not true because everything I do I do for Jesus!” No, everything a legalist does they do for themselves in the name of Jesus. People so afraid of being cast into Hell because they honestly don’t believe God’s promise of forgiveness and grace that they bring everyone around them under their thumb and make everyone miserable. I know because I’ve seen it in people. I’ve been tempted toward that extreme at certain times in my own life. Also, my wife went through it horribly when she was a teenager. So she can spot it a mile away. These people will continually be spinning their wheels and getting no traction in their spiritual lives. All the Christian life flows from loving and believing Jesus Christ. He is the Savior. We don’t cling to Him so that He may save us we cling to Him because He saves us.
   4. Next, I would encourage you to truly spend time thinking and meditating on the cross of Christ. Pay attention to what the scriptures say about Christ and what He did. Memorize the verses and think about them throughout your day. Spend more time thanking God for His wisdom and grace in salvation. And assert those promises in your mind when you are tempted. As long as you are not practicing sin claim those promises. You must exercise faith in the promises.
   5. Begin to see prayer, praise, and thanksgiving to God as your duty. I don’t mean in a sense like “well I better get this done”. I mean that because you understand and constantly remind yourself what Christ did for you that you say to yourself “I must praise Him and thank Him because He is worthy and the least that I can do is spend time in prayer”. I don’t care how you feel. Believe the Word and apply you heart to it. You will see your life gradually change as you intentionally begin doing that.
   6. You are a disciple of Jesus. It is your business to be about His business. In everything you are to be a witness to Christ. I’m not talking about the gospel now either. In all that you do you are to be a witness for Him. Strive for excellence. It is difficult when you know that in the sight of the world you are justified to slack off like others but you serve a higher master.
   7. Here’s the dreaded word: discipline. I’m not meaning put your kids in military formation before bedtime and force them to memorize things they don’t even understand. I mean you discipline yourself. If you sleep more than you need (don’t make excuses) then discipline yourself to go to bed at a consistent time and wake up at a consistent time. If you eat more than you need, begin to ask God to teach you to eat less. If you only eat fast food, then you need to learn discipline. I say that as someone who loves fast food. It’s something that I am even now striving about. And when I say these things I’m not meaning for you to lay down a law. True liberty is seen when it is flexible as need dictates. Sometimes things are gonna happen that require you to be up later in the night or rearrange things. God understands as long as you don’t make an excuse to indulge yourself more than is good. Some days you may need to catch up on sleep. So pray about this aspect of your life and just open yourself to God’s direction and conviction, and don’t force a law on others.
   8. Learn to take care of others. As a husband, my wife is about 81/2 months pregnant right now. If she needs me to do something, or if I just see that it’s difficult for her to do it I need to stop what I’m doing and help her. If I haven’t spent much time with my children today, and I know that I haven’t gotten much sleep, then I need to try to make sure that I spend time with them. Sometimes it’s just a five-minute story that I read to them, but they need to know that I care and want to spend time with them. If someone at work needs help, or I see something CAN be done and it’s in the power of my hands to do it then I should do it. My life is to care for those around me more than myself. If by denying myself something that I want I can be in some way helpful to others then I should see if I can. Now, it’s okay to enjoy something for yourself occasionally. It’s okay to celebrate sometimes. If we only give of ourselves and never allow others to do the same for us when they want to then we deny others the ability to bless others.
      1. And I’ve failed at all of these points before. I’m not talking down to you as though I am above you. I need to be poked and goaded about self-denial regularly.
   9. One thing I want to emphasize as something that I believe all Christians should begin disciplining themselves about is fasting. Not just to lose weight, not because intermittent fasting is really big right now in the fitness and diet world, because historically this has been a significant part of the Christian life. Jesus told His disciples “when you fast” do this and this. We usually interpret that “if you fast” instead of “when”. Fasting is a way that we regularly practice denying ourselves and the flesh. It should always be coupled with prayer. Throughout your day and in a specific time by yourself. And you don’t need to have some grave concern on your mind to fast. I used to think that when I was a new believer. Do it just to draw closer to God. To discipline yourself. In Isaiah 58 the Lord said that he desires to break every yoke. Are you in bondage to something? Begin to fast once or twice a week while praying regularly about it. You will see a difference. God is intreated of those who truly want to draw closer to Him and seek His face.
2. Closing
   1. I wish I could be more practical but I don’t want to just lay down a checklist for someone to blindly follow. If you really begin to pray about loving Christ more and denying yourself more, and ask God to teach you to, He will if you let Him. Leonard Ravenhill had a very good saying: Others can, you cannot. The world is living for itself. One of the things that Paul said was that the world would be full of people who are lovers of their own selves, lovers of pleasure more than God. I don’t want to be guilty of only seeking to feed my own fleshly appetite of comfort, self-interest, or entertainment even. I’m supposed to be a soldier who disciplines himself. All of it being because of my devotion to my captain. Jesus is said to be the captain of our salvation. What I want you to think about is if you would honestly describe your commitment to Him in your private life, with the stewardship of the money that He allows you to have, in the relationships that you have, etc., as being one of true commitment to pleasing Him in all things. Intentionally commit yourself to Him in every area, deny yourself, and your Christian life will begin to “work”.

Here's our new episode:

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

In this episode Brother Jonathan talks about common mistakes made in understand and seeking the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

 

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

S3EP25

Remnant Bible Fellowship

 

1. Matthew 3:11-12
   1. “"As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."” (Mat 3:11-12)
2. Stating the Issue
   1. If there is an issue that divides people—other than salvation issues—it is anything having to do with the Spirit of God. Some denominations teach Cessationism (the teaching that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased), and others teach Continuationism (the teaching that the gifts of the Spirit continue to this day). Some teach that there is no baptism in the Holy Spirit and some teach that there is. Sometimes these divides are on denominational lines, and other times denominations are divided within themselves. For example, Baptists almost totally teach Cessationism; but there are some Baptists that still teach that there is a baptism in the Holy Spirit. That can happen especially in the Baptist denomination because they are generally independent unless they have become part of an association or convention.
   2. Here in the passage that we’re talking about in this episode, we first encounter the phrase “baptism with the Holy Spirit”. The Greek preposition used in the phrase is “en”, but it is almost always translated as “with” instead of “in”. Generally though, people mix-and-max the phraseology. That might not be very exact theologically but that’s generally what most people do.
   3. The main controversy over the term “baptism in/with the Holy Spirit” is twofold: (1) What is the baptism in the Holy Spirit; and (2) When does it occur? There are other questions that follow, but this sums up the main point. There are several interpretations that have support. What all agree on though is that it involves an experience of the person with the Holy Spirit Himself. How to define that and when it occurs are the main dividing points. Also, after that is answered there are questions that follow: To whom does this experience belong, how do you know it happened, when does it happen, etc.

• The Options
  1. John W. Wyckoff summed up the choices pretty well in Stanley Horton’s “Systematic Theology”:
     1. “One possible position is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a part of the conversion-initiation experience, with no special evidence such as speaking in tongues…The second possible position is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a part of the conversion-initiation experience and it is always accompanied by the special evidence of speaking in tongues. This is the position of some Oneness Pentecostal groups. The third possible position is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit usually follows regeneration, but the experience is not accompanied by speaking in tongues. This is the position of some Wesleyan Holiness groups such as the Church of the Nazarene. The fourth possible position is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit usually follows regeneration and is always accompanied by the special evidence of speaking in tongues. This is the position of Pentecostals such as the Assemblies of God.” (p. 425)
  2. Now, I want you to notice a problem here with how this is stated by Wyckoff. There are several things assumed in his description of the possible interpretations. That’s probably because this chapter was written for an Assemblies of God systematic theology textbook. I personally can think of a number of other options, but some in particular that I think need consideration.
     1. What most people call the “baptism in the Holy Spirit” is one of any number of possible experiences with the Holy Spirit after conversion.
     2. Tongues can be an evidence of the experience, but not always.
  3. These are generally the main dividing lines of interpretation about this issue. Before I start talking about what I believe can be confidently said to be true or false I want to discuss my personal experiences with this issue good and bad.

1. My Experiences
   1. My conversion.
   2. I was an IFB.
   3. I attended an IFB Bible Institute and an IFB Bible College.
   4. I was taught cessationism and that any “manifestation” was either demonic or just an act from a fleshly-minded person.
   5. I was corrected by reading the scriptures and prayer.
   6. I realized that manifestations of the Spirit were biblical and I began seeking how to understand them.
   7. I got confused by the many contrary teachings about the issue.
   8. I got disillusioned.
2. What is Certainly Wrong
   1. Cessationism is absolutely false. Biblically, there is no defense for Cessationism. Remember that cessationism is the teaching that the gifts of the Spirit, or manifestations of the Spirit in general, have ceased because the canon of scripture has been completed.
      1. I was taught this, and it is complete nonsense. This is an interpretation that was created to explain why certain things weren’t seen in certain circles. Now, I am not a Pentecostal. I have never identified as Pentecostal, but I used to be a cessationist and now I am not. Let me give you several reasons why this is not a biblical teaching:
         1. It violates the basic rule of biblical interpretation: A text cannot mean for you what it did not mean for its original audience. What that means is, the scriptures do not mean something for its original audience, like “don’t do this”, and today that same scripture means for you “go ahead”. The only exceptions would be things that are cultural (rare) or possibly prophetic texts from the Old Testament.
         2. Gordon Fee talked about his briefly in his book “How to Read the Bible for All its Worth” (2nd edition): “You will recall from chapter 1 that we set out as a basic rule the premise that a text cannot mean what it never could have meant to its author or his or her readers. This is why exegesis must always come first. It is especially important that we repeat this premise here, for this at least establishes some parameters of meaning. This rule does not always help one find out what a text means, but it does help to set limits as to what it cannot mean.”
         3. “For example, the most frequent justification for disregarding the imperatives about seeking spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 14 is a particular interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:10, which states that “when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away” (RSV). We are told that the perfect has come, in the form of the New Testament, and therefore the imperfect (prophecy and tongues) have ceased to function in the church. But this is one thing the text cannot mean because good exegesis totally disallows it. There is no possible way Paul could have meant that—after all, his readers did not know there was going to be a New Testament, and the Holy Spirit would not have allowed Paul to write something totally incomprehensible to them.” (pp. 64-65)
      2. The early Christian writers recorded the exact opposite. Prophecy, divine healing, casting out devils, etc., all these things occurred AFTER the closing of the canon for hundreds of years. John Wesley wrote a sermon in the mid-1700s defending the idea that these things have continued throughout church history in its entirety. A.W. Tozer was quoted as saying that there is not a single verse in the NT that teaches that spiritual gifts have ceased.

• Most cessationists still claim that other spiritual gifts have continued. That is, they claim that the gifts which cannot be substantiated or verified have continued; but the “sign” gifts have ceased. I honestly say that most teach this because it is what they have been told or because they use it to justify their own denominations.

1. Most cessationists can only cite examples from the NAR or the Prosperity gospel movement as examples of tongues or these things when there are many outside of these movements that accept them as well—they’re just not Baptist or reformed.
2. Most cessationists associate people like David Wilkerson or Leonard Ravenhill with heretics like Kenneth Copeland or Benny Hinn simply because they’re ignorant. They presuppose the perfection of their own church’s doctrine and therefore condemn all others as inferior. I know, because that’s what my church’s pastors, preachers, and teachers did, and I learned it from them.
3. The bias of Cessationists is clearly seen when they use as a reason for justifiably denying spiritual gifts the example of the radicalist snake-handling churches. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that from Baptists. But this cuts both ways because if that is a justifiable reason to deny the doctrine of continuationsim then I can certainly deny Eternal Security because of the adulterers, fornicators, liars, etc., who claim to be Christian because of that false doctrine.

• The fact of the matter is that Cessationism cannot provide one single text from the New Testament that can exegetically be shown to TELL Christians that spiritual gifts would stop before the second coming of Christ. It is therefore, by definition, unbiblical.

1. Tongues being necessary is certainly wrong.
   1. It cannot be shown scripturally that tongues are a necessary manifestation of being filled with the Spirit of God. The only thing that can be made clear is that it may manifest if you are filled with the Spirit. There is no single, consistent, pattern in the book of Acts that gives us that picture. On some occasions we are told that a person was filled with the Spirit and tongues is not mentioned at all. There is no text that tells us it will always happen or that it is a sign of it. On the contrary, it is usually described in conjunction with the gift of prophecy.
      1. “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. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.” (Act 8:12-17)
         1. In this passage we have a clear text where new believers were being “baptized in the spirit” or “filled with the spirit” after their conversion. Neither tongues or prophecy is mentioned in the entire chapter.
      2. “So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." (Act 9:17-20)
         1. Paul the Apostle’s conversion specifically mentions him being “filled with the Spirit” but the only thing we see is that he begins boldly proclaiming the gospel. Tongues are not mentioned. Now, we know from his other writings that he later spoke in tongues, but that gives no support for tongues being a sign of being baptized in the Spirit because it cannot be shown that when he was filled with the spirit it happened. Actually, even when Paul recounts his conversion later in Acts 22 he doesn’t mention tongues or prophesying either.
      3. “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" (Act 10:44-47)
         1. Here in the instance of Cornelius’ conversion and those with him we do see tongues mentioned when these people received the Spirit of God. But that’s not all we read. We see that some of them were speaking a language that was known also. It says that some were “exalting God”. So either these new believers were hopping back and forth from speaking in tongues to speaking in their own language, or some spoke in tongues and some prophesied. Either way, a definitive case for ALL speaking with tongues as the ONLY sign of being “baptized in the Spirit” cannot be made.
      4. “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” (Act 19:1-6)
         1. The disciples of John at Ephesus are said to speak with tongues and some prophesied. This is the same as the last passage. Were they going back and forth from tongues to prophesying, or was it simply that some prophesied and some spoke in tongues? Out of the four passages that I gave you I can make the same case for prophesying being the sign of being baptized in the spirit instead of tongues because it occurs the same number of times in connection with it.
      5. The fact is that there is simply no consistent pattern given in the book of Acts to which every Christian should expect to conform. You have to understand the problem with looking for one also: we are given no reason in the text to expect that there is a consistent example of what should happen regarding gifts of the Spirit of God. Just because certain things are described for some believers in the book of Acts does not mean that it is prescribed for all believers. If that were the case then we would expect a consistent example and plain statement and imperatives telling us to expect it a certain way.
      6. Those who would go on to say that we should use the apostles as examples regarding experience, referencing the day of Pentecost, I would like to ask was there a tongue of fire that rested on you? No? Then it’s not the same thing is it—at least not in how it manifested.
      7. That’s the real issue about the tongues thing: how does it manifest? In the passage we just read about Cornelius’ household from Acts 10 it doesn’t sound like what happened to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost at all. There was no sound of a mighty rushing wind. There were no tongues of fire. But when Peter describes what happened to the elders back at Antioch in chapter 11 this is what he says:
         1. “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?” (Act 11:15-17)
      8. Peter says that the same thing happened to them: they were baptized in the Spirit of God. But you need to see what was different. It wasn’t at the same time as the Apostles. The apostles already had the spirit of God, but they were later baptized in the spirit and endued with power from on high to go preach the gospel. Cornelius’ household was baptized in the Spirit when they heard the gospel and believed it. It happened simultaneously with their conversion. The Apostles already knew a lot of doctrine and stuff. Cornelius and them just heard the gospel. The apostles had sound and tongues of fire, but Cornelius’ household didn’t. The apostles spoke with tongues, and at least some of Cornelius’ household did. The emphasis was that both were given the same gift: they were endued with power from on high by the Spirit of God. That is the emphasis. Tongues may happen, but they might not.
   2. My View
      1. This has been a very difficult episode to prepare for. The issue of the “baptism in the Spirit” has been a point of confusion for me for several years. I am certain that there is an experience to be sought from God and confusion and disillusionment has kept me from really seeking it confidently for a long time.
      2. If you read R.A. Torrey then you are told that you just need to ask and believe that you have it and eventually it happens.
      3. If you read Charles Finney you read that you need to seek God and tarry in prayer until it happens, and the only thing that will hinder it is unbelief or sin.
      4. If you read Andrew Murray you get a mixed bag of what to expect, but he says that it is for the power to overcome sin as well.
      5. If you read Richard Taylor then you’ll believe that it is entire sanctification.
      6. If you read traditional Pentecostals then you believe that you are to expect tongues and that you should not get involved in ministry unless you have it.
      7. If you follow the Azusa Street people then you will be told that you are infallible when you receive it.
      8. If you read any of the Apostolic Pentecostal preachers they’ll tell you that if you don’t speak in tongues that you aren’t saved.
      9. If you read the Calvary Chapel stuff you’ll get their view.
      10. I’ve read so many books, and heard so many sermons that all I got was confused. It is hard for some to simply maintain a desire to just be close to God. You get so focused on seeking this experience because it will fix your walk or make you feel spiritual. Or, you start to seek it in order to prove to yourself that you are a Christian. It gets especially difficult to maintain your focus on just drawing close to Christ if you get confused doctrinally. That is what happened to me and it has taken several years for me to get my footing again. So I want to simplify the issue for those of you who are seeking this experience.

• My Advice
  1. Don’t use other people’s experience as an example.
     1. There’s a reason that Paul wrote that we should not compare ourselves with other believers. Consider 1 Corinthians 12:
        1. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” (1Co 12:4-11)
     2. We are specifically told that there are “varieties of effects”. That means that the Spirit of God does different things in different ways to different people. There is diversity within the body of Christ. This is not just true about spiritual gifts but about how the Holy Spirit works in each believer. Yes, there are things common to all believers such as conviction of sin, our being drawn to God, being born of the Spirit, learning to walk in the Spirit, etc. But not everyone came to Christ through the same operations of the Spirit. Some have some miraculous thing happen to them to wake them up. Some people God seems to practically put a billboard up with their name on it saying, “Get right with me.” But some are just raised in a Christian household and repent when we understand the gospel and are convicted. It’s the same Holy Spirit doing it all. Don’t get so concerned with the details of how—as long as it doesn’t violate the scriptures because that’s not the Holy Spirit then—and just be happy when people become Christians and seek the Lord. The same thing with this issue. God can manifest Himself any way He feels and to whatever extent He feels and we need to understand and trust that God knows what He is doing. Some people need a great manifestation because of where they are at, and God knows it. Some don’t need it like that, and God knows it. Don’t use other people’s experience as a false expectation of what you should expect. Just stick with the scriptures. You are only free to have an expectation of what is specifically stated in scripture as an expectation.
  2. Don’t get bogged down with the nitty-gritty details in Acts.
     1. I have been through every text having to do with the baptism in the Spirit I don’t know how many times. I was labor to parse Greek words and exhaust the text trying to find the “missing key” to make it all make sense. As I told you earlier, there is no clear through-line or example in Acts that’s going to give you that. That Acts of the Apostles is not meant to be an instructive book it’s only an historical narrative. Can we glean doctrinal things from it? Absolutely. But there is a reason that certain things are not explicitly stated in the other books of the New Testament. Everything that matters is explicitly stated. Here are some passages that tell us things explicitly:
        1. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Rom 8:14-16)
           1. There is supposed to be a close relationship between believers and the Spirit of God. How that happens is another matter, but there is supposed to be a definite fellowship between our spirit and God’s.
        2. “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” (Rom 8:9)
           1. You are not a Christian if you don’t have the Spirit of God. Does this mean that you need an experience to confirm that to you? No. Just remember what Paul says: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:26) It is simply faith in Jesus Christ that makes you a child of God. Yes, there are things such as repentance, but those are not “works” that add to this.
           2. In John 6:44 Jesus told us that no one can come to God unless the Father draws him. You cannot even begin to think about God unless the Spirit of God is already working in you. If you believe the Gospel and have put your trust in Christ then you have been born of the Spirit. You have the Spirit of God. There are different aspects and/or ministries of the Spirit of God though. Conversion is one thing, spiritual gifts are another.
           3. The fact that Paul tells the Corinthians to desire spiritual gifts makes clear that some of them were still seeking these things even though they were already Christians.
        3. “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.” (1Co 12:1)
           1. Paul makes clear that there are certain things about gifts and manifestations of the Spirit that we ought to be aware.
        4. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.” (1Co 12:4-6)
           1. There are different gifts of the Spirit. There are different ministries. There are different effects by the Spirit. You need to really understand that. There is no cookie-cutter mold or formula that the Spirit has to follow in how He manifests Himself through believers so long as it is not contradictory to what we are given in the scriptures.
        5. “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1Co 12:7)
           1. When the Spirit manifests Himself through a believer it is not just for Himself. Yes the Spirit of God can absolutely comfort you personally, but we are talking here specifically about gifts and manifestations.
           2. I remember reading one of the early Christian writers talking about this. He remarked about when a Christian casts out a devil from a lost person in the name of Jesus with prayer. He said that such things were not for the benefit of the one who God used to do it but it was for the benefit of those who saw the power of the name of Jesus and were convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel.
        6. “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” (1Co 12:8-11)
           1. Again, Paul goes out of his way to explain that the Spirit of God does different things through different believers but every one of them (except contrary to the written Word) is from the same Holy Spirit. We need to remember this when seeking to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
        7. “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,” (Eph 5:18)
           1. This verse is sometimes used to talk about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. That is incorrect. This verse cannot be referring to that experience. If we look at the context we’ll see why.
        8. “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” (Eph 5:18-21)
           1. First of all, the phrase “be filled with the Spirit” is an imperative. That means that it is in your power to perform the action. This cannot be referring to the baptism in the Spirit because that is not something that is in our control. It is something that is sought from God. That’s our first clue.
           2. Second, look at the context. The imperative, or command, to be filled with the spirit is followed up by a description: speaking in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing, giving thanks for all things, and being subject to one another.
           3. What Paul is talking about here is the state of being filled with the Spirit of God. Remember, if you are a Christian you already have the Holy Spirit. You just might not be walking in the Spirit. This is a command to continually walk in the Spirit that you already have. That is separate from being baptized in the Spirit.
        9. I could go on with other passages but we can see from these few several things that ought to inform our understanding of being baptized in the Spirit.
     2. Focus on Jesus Christ.
        1. The beginning of a lot of mistakes and errors made in seeking the baptism of the Spirit is when you take your eyes off of the real focus. It begins to be about having the experience—for any number of reasons—and not about seeking to be closer to Jesus. It’s supposed to be about being all that He wants, and as made possible through His sacrifice, for us to be in Him. This connects with the next point.
     3. Make sure your heart is right about why you are seeking it.
        1. Not to convince you that you’re saved.
        2. Not to strengthen a ministry.

• Not to make yourself feel spiritual.

1. We seek Christ, and Him only.
   1. Our sole purpose is to draw closer to Him, to be all that He desires us to be, and to further the kingdom of God.

• What to do
  1. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience. It’s sole purpose is stated in scripture:
     1. “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."” (Act 1:8)
  2. The sole purpose for the baptism in the Spirit that is explicitly stated in scripture is endowment of power for service. It is to enable us, and to strengthen us, to be effective ministers of the gospel. Whereas things such as spiritual gifts are for the community of believers to be edified and built up the baptism in the Holy Spirit is for service. Let me briefly tell you how to seek it.
     1. Keep your focus on Jesus Christ. You are seeking Him and not necessarily an experience. Guard your heart from any ulterior motives.
     2. Abide in Christ continually. In everything make Christ the Lord of your life. Seek to root out all worldliness and anything that God is dealing with you about. You cannot compartmentalize your life.

• Strengthen your prayer life. Learn to tarry in prayer. Don’t only pray about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but pray about everything. Learn to pray throughout your day. Learn to praise God throughout your day and to cast down anything contrary to His Word in your mind. Pray for others continually. And in addition to that, be asking God to endue you with power from on high. But pray for it leaving it in God’s hands. Persist in prayer day by day AS you follow Christ in every other area of your life.
  1. If you feel led to, you can spend long seasons in prayer about the baptism in the Holy Spirit or even fast when you want to, but be seeking it from Jesus as you follow Him with your life. If you aren’t letting God have the rest of your life then don’t expect much from God.

1. Read the Word of God. Read it more and more. Learn to love it. Memorize it. Let it become the guiding principle of your life. When you see promises that are for Christians today then begin to pray about them. When you don’t understand something pray and ask God to give you understanding.
2. Learn to walk in the Spirit. As a Christian you already have the Holy Spirit. You CAN overcome sin already. Learn to stop quenching Him in your daily life. Deal with sin in your life. Learn to deny yourself and discipline yourself to do these things continually. The Christian life is about pressing forward. It takes conscious, concerted, effort on your part.
3. Persist. Endure. Continue to seek God and continue to pray to God about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and asking, seeking, and knocking for it. Trust God that He will be faithful to His Word, and trust that He knows when you are ready for it.

• (Testimony of praying for a wife)

1. Closing
   1. I know that I will surely disappoint some people. I didn’t go in-depth about some things and some will feel that I’ve oversimplified. No. It really is that simple. It’s just that sometimes people don’t want to press forward into a closer relationship with God. They simply want an experience.

Here's our new episode:

On Baptism

In this episode Brother Jonathan talks about Baptism. What is it, who is supposed to be baptized, when, and how. Also discussing whether to re-baptize and should children be baptized.

 

On Baptism

S3EP24

Remnant Bible Fellowship

 

1. Intro
   1. In the last episode that I talked about Baptism there were some things that I didn’t talk about regarding baptism. So I wanted to do a brief episode just talking very straightforward about baptism: what is it, who is to be baptized, when are they to be baptized, and how.
2. What is baptism really?
   1. As we looked at the last time I talked about baptism, “Matthew 3:3-6 and Baptism”, baptism is simply an outward expression of your profession of faith in Christ. It is not the cause of receiving the Spirit of God, and it is not an instrument of grace. The only kind of grace that you receive in baptism is the grace from obeying the commandment of God. People can be established in the Lord before they are baptized. My wife was very young when she was converted and her family did not have a regular fellowship. They didn’t live in an area where there were sound churches. So my wife was never taught about the necessity of baptism and she was never really given the opportunity for a number of years. After some time though, when they were visiting out-of-state, a friend of her parents baptized her at his fellowship. This doesn’t mean that she wasn’t saved or that she didn’t grow, but it certainly wasn’t ideal.
   2. The early Christians so closely associated believers’ baptism with your profession of faith that it was common to not be allowed to fellowship or partake in communion unless you had been baptized. The only exception was if you gave your life for Christ before you were saved. That obviously showed a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

• Who is to be baptized?
  1. The next question that should be asked is who exactly is supposed to be baptized?
     1. “"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."” (Mat 28:19-20)
     2. In some translations the word underlying “make disciples” is instead translated as “teach”. It’s the verb form of the word for “disciple”. So some translations will translate it as “go ye therefore and teach” and others will have “go therefore and make disciples”. It has the same meaning though. Someone who follows and adheres to the teachings of someone is their disciple.
  2. This is the great commission. It, in essence, encapsulates our marching orders as Christians. It also explains why we baptize: It’s a commandment from God. We are to go and make disciples out of all the nations of the earth. These disciples are to be baptized and then they are to be taught how to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It is disciples who are to be baptized. We see this in the pattern of the history of the early Christians in the book of Acts.
     1. “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” (Act 2:37-41)
     2. “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. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Act 8:12-16)
        1. You see that in these passages that it is those who believe the gospel who are to be baptized. These are called disciples. By believing the gospel and following through with baptism you are committing yourself to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the salvation that only He can provide.
     3. When are they to be baptized?
        1. “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” (Act 2:41)
        2. “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. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Act 8:12-16)
        3. “So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;” (Act 9:17-18)
        4. “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.” (Act 10:44-48)
        5. “A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.” (Act 16:14-15)
        6. “and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.” (Act 16:30-33)
        7. “Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.” (Act 18:8)
        8. “It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism." Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Act 19:1-5)
        9. When we read these passages we see that it was usually right after they believed the gospel they were baptized. It should be as soon as someone demonstrates that they understand the gospel, and that they are putting their trust in Christ alone for salvation, that they should seek to be baptized as soon as possible.
     4. How are they to be baptized?
        1. “Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.” (Mat 3:5-6)
        2. “John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized” (Joh 3:23)
        3. We see from these two passages that there was much water required for baptism. Now, these passages are referring to John’s baptism of repentance and not to believer’s baptism, but the only difference that we can discern is that of purpose. John’s baptism was under the Law of Moses for people who were repenting and confessing their sins to God in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. Believers’ baptism is an outward show that you believe the gospel and are putting your trust in Christ alone for salvation.
        4. (I said this in the last episode that I talked about baptism) The early Christians got very much out of whack when it came to baptism. Especially by the time of the Catholic church being formed. It was due to the influence of pagan and Greek philosophical thought that baptism started to be seen as a means of receiving the grace of God. But this is not what the NT teaches or the earliest Christian writers.
        5. Here is a passage from the Didache which is believed to be a first century document recording teaching from the apostles to new gentile converts from paganism.
           1. “Regarding baptism. Baptize as follows: after first explaining all these points, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in running water. But if you have no running water, baptize in other water; and if you cannot in cold, then in warm. But if you have neither, pour water on the head three times in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Before the baptism, let the baptizer and the candidate for baptism fast, as well as any others that are able. Require the candidate to fast one or two days previously.” (Didache, ch. 7)
        6. Now, we gather several things from this. The method was not important. It was preferable in certain ways and settings over others, but it was not mandatory. The type of water was not important: running, standing, or pouring in rare instances. The temperature of the water didn’t matter: cold or warm. There is no mention of the spirit of God. There is no mention of the need for it to be in a particular place. There is no mention of who is to do it. None of those things is mentioned in scripture either.
        7. It should be seen from the scriptures though, and from the meaning of the word as well, that baptism by immersion should be sought. That is, it should be that you dip the person entirely under the water and they should be brought out again. Usually what is done is the person or persons doing the baptizing stand beside the person who is to be baptized. Then the person should proclaim their belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and their confidence in the gospel. Then the baptizer helps to lean the person backward into the water until they are submerged and then bring them back up again. This is the traditional way that a person is baptized.
        8. I changed a point in my description from most people’s experience though. Baptism is the time of the person being baptized proclaiming their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Most churches simply have the baptizer, usually the pastor, say something about it for the person. I don’t think that is right. I’m not saying it is sin or anything. But the person who is being baptized should be willing to say it themselves. It doesn’t have to be a speech. It doesn’t have to be eloquent. But it should be affirming their sincere belief in the gospel. Maybe something as simple as: “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I believe that He died for my sins and rose again.” I do believe that there is something wrong if the person is not willing to do that.
     5. Should children be baptized?
        1. A question that might arise sometime is whether or not small children should be allowed to be baptized. I believe that they absolutely should as long as they can demonstrate that they understand the gospel, and what its implications are, and that they are sincerely trusting in Christ.
        2. I do want to say though that I despise what most congregations do though to children. They teach them an A-B-C-repeat-after-me type of gospel where the child has memorized what to say but has no understanding of it. You should be able to ask them open-ended questions about their belief and they should be able to respond in their own way. Now, don’t make it an academic exercise. We should never over-complicate the message of the gospel. I just want to emphasize that we should be careful from that wrong kind of persuasion, which I call coercion, and emotionally manipulating a child.
        3. If I can give you an example, I have known that there are people who ask a child if they want to go to Hell. The child will obviously say no. Then the person will just go, “Well, repeat after me.” The child repeats what their told with no understanding of what’s going on and is told they are now a Christian. No their not. There was no personal understanding or exercising of faith on the part of that child. So be careful to not manipulate a child, but also remember what Christ said:
           1. “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mar 10:13-14)
        4. Now, it should be obvious that infants cannot be baptized. An infant cannot profess their own faith in Christ. This is something that very early on crept into Christianity because of Greek philosophy’s ideas affecting the interpretation of scripture. Only those who can personally understand the gospel and make up their own mind to believe on Christ are eligible for believers’ baptism.

• Should people ever be re-baptized?
  1. There are times when a person is being saved and converted to the truth from a cult. There are many cults that profess themselves to be “Christian” who have some form of baptism. Cults like the Seventh Day Adventists, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), the Watchtower Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses), and the Roman Catholic Church, etc. There are many other examples that could be given. But these types of cults like to proclaim that they are “Christian” or the true church of Christ and have a kind of baptism usually.
  2. My belief is that those who are saved out of these groups NEED to be re-baptized. I believe it absolutely should be done because baptism is a way to proclaim your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. By not re-baptizing someone from these groups you are in essence saying that the form of teaching that they had received was acceptable so as to have no need. This is historically how it has been understood in the Church.
  3. When groups like the Anabaptists (who did have some problems of their own but were nevertheless brethren) started to proclaim that those who were baptized as infants in the Roman Catholic Church needed to be re-baptized it started a firestorm of anger because it was seen as denying Roman Catholic authority. I say rightly so.
  4. So if someone is coming out of a religion or group that denies the true gospel of Jesus Christ or His identity as the Son of God then they should definitely be re-baptized.
• Closing
  1. I hope that you in some way learned something in this episode. I wanted to do a straightforward talk about baptism because some people have questions.
  2. Next time, which may be a couple of weeks out, I’m not sure yet, we will continue going through the book of Matthew and finishing up chapter 3 as we talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It can be a pretty divisive issue but I believe it is necessary to discuss it. I may end up devoting multiple episodes to talk about it, according to the Lord’s will.

Here's our new episode: