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A Revelation About Baptism

One of the most exciting things about this whole experience is how God keeps giving me (and others around me) revelations about the truth that is in his Word. It is outside of everything we have ever been taught and "indoctrinated" with. Truth is at the very source, from the Spirit of God himself speaking to us with his Word. It's enthralling to have the Living God moving inside of us and revealing things to us that our finite and carnal minds cannot grasp on it's own.

I attended two organic church gatherings and bible studies this week. A question was raised by some people asking about baptism. Personally, I never questioned baptism. I grew up with the belief that after we are saved, we go to be baptized with water to represent our new life in Christ. We die, leave our flesh in the water, and we are born again in the spirit.

But someone recently questioned this verse saying there is only one baptism:

"One Lord, one faith, one baptism,"Ephesians 4:5.

Okay, so?

But the bible speaks of two baptisms, one of water and one of the Spirit.

But that's two kinds of baptism, and the Bible says there's only one! We know the Bible doesn't contradict itself, so there must be an explanation.

And there is.

John the Baptist was a prophet of repentance. He preached repentance in the wilderness and baptized many in the water. When Jesus came to him to be baptized, John was stunned and said,

"I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" Matthew 3:14

Imagine, the long awaited Messiah, the Son of God coming and asking YOU to baptize him. Who is worthy? Yet, Jesus replied:

"Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Matthew 3:15

Jesus Christ said this needed to be done for now, because he has come to fulfill all righteousness!

Jesus Christ walked a perfect man on this Earth and fulfilled ALL LAWS. He ALSO fulfilled righteousness. He fulfilled BAPTISM!!!

Now there is one baptism, which is the one of the Spirit.

When the guards put a spear through the body of Christ on the cross, it sprinkled blood AND water mixed TOGETHER (John 19:34). We are baptized of Christ in blood AND water, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

John baptized with water, but Jesus Christ baptizes with the Holy Ghost! (John 1:26, 33)

All physical things have been done away, and now Christ has brought spiritual things. Christ tore down the physical sanctuaries and created a spiritual temple within us by fulfilling the law. Christ fulfilled the physical water baptism and created a spiritual baptism by fulfilling righteousness.

Water is also an illustration of the spirit in the Bible. John 7:38, 39 reveal this.

"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified."

We are now baptized with the living water, which is the Spirit of God.

Behold, Jesus Christ has made all things new. Praise HIS name!!

22 Comments:

  1. Andrea said...
    Beautiful...what better than to be baptized with the "living water of GOD".....
    blessings, andrea
    Heart2Heart said...
    WOW! I am deeply amazed at how you research things in such great detail. I wish I had that kind of talent to search deep within and discover what God has shown you.

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat
    Sisterlisa said...
    I would imagine there will be MANY who will disagree with this, but the scriptures prove that the doctrine of water baptism is not the point, the point is to be baptized into His death by the Holy Ghost. So in my opinion, if someone 'wants' to be baptized with water, have at it. But the emphasis that should be taught is not about water baptism, but about the seeking of the baptism OF the Holy Ghost. For this is what brings the baptism INTO Christ.
    Miss Charlene said...
    Thank you Heart2Heart, but all this happened when I asked God to give me his truth. He gives it freely! He's the one showing me things I have been so blind to before. :-)
    Sisterlisa said...
    Kat,

    Charlene is gifted. The Holy Spirit guides her. It's amazing. I feel like her and I were paired together as sisters in Christ for a purpose. When we get together we become so one minded. It's not of us at all, totally ALL Holy Ghost-led friendship.
    christy rose said...
    Charlene,
    Isn't it wonderful the revelations that God begins to show us when we seek Him for Truth instead of others.I remember coming to that time period in my life where I did not just want to go forward in my life with just the information that I learned at church my whole life. I wanted to know that what I believed was real. I wanted the Truth. I remember even saying that to God, "I WANT THE TRUTH!" And it has been since that time forward that God has shown me deep revelations concerning Him and His body. When we all start to cry out to God desiring and craving only the Truth, I believe we will be amazed at what we as the body of Christ will begin to look and act like. Maybe a little more like Jesus Himself? the One and only Truth!!
    Unknown said...
    Great explanation, Charlene!
    Anonymous said...
    Do you think there is no need to be baptised then?
    Anonymous said...
    Miss Charlene, I'm sorry I haven't left a comment on here for awhile. I enjoy reading your blog - it challenges me to go back to my Bible to study different topics. This study of baptism has again made me re-study the topic. Did you know that in old Jewish tradition in times past they used to have baptisms for all different reasons and for different traditions? - which is why Hebrews 6:2 talks of the doctrine of baptisms (notice the plural) - and again in Hebrews 9, we read of the ordinances of old which was a figure of things to come and were only to be "imposed on them until the time of reformation" (verse 10) - which refers to the coming of Christ. The Red Sea was a picture of the fact that those who were baptised came out in a new position - see 1 Corinthians 10:1-2.
    The fact that the Jewish tradition contained various baptisms was one of the reasons we read in Ephesians that since Christ died, there is only ONE baptism - Ephesians 4:5... the Jewish traditions were done away with in favour of the baptism of Christianity - the new way.
    John preached the baptism of repentance - and it was the only true baptism of that day - those who were baptised by him were the true remnant of faithful Jews at the time, amongst whom the Lord Himself must be numbered - hence His need to be baptised by John.
    Following the death of Christ, baptism became baptism TO death. This means they had a part in the death of Christ, it is a beautiful symbolic action that a Christian has died to sin and to the state he was in before Christ redeemed him, and that he has come alive again, a new man in Christ. Of course the minute we are saved by grace we are dead to sin and come alive in Christ (baptism doesn't do that for us), but baptism is a symbolic action by which others KNOW we have taken that step. This puts us in a place of Christian responsibility - we must walk in the "newness of life" after making such a public declaration of our faith.
    In our day, people get saved and it can take weeks, months or even years for a person to decide to be baptised. This is not how it was at the beginning of Christianity - you read in the Biblical examples (especially Acts, the first period of the Church) that people were saved and immediately baptised - this was their public declaration that Christ had made them new - it didn't save them, it doesn't do anything spiritually, it is purely a profession. Sadly in this day and age we live in people are full of apathy and a lot of people are ashamed and embarrassed by their beliefs - it is not as simple as it was back then - hence it takes so long for a person to decide to take that step and make their decision for Christ public through baptism.
    The example of people like Peter and Paul is that baptism is still to be done even after the Cross - but now it had new meaning, and there was not to be many types of baptism, but rather the one type - the one that shows that we have died to ourselves and taken on new life in Christ. :)
    Anonymous said...
    Sisterlisa, I meant to make a comment on what you wrote of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. :) From what I have learned from the Bible, we do not need to 'seek' the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Baptism of the Holy Spirit took place at Pentecost. The Lord said to His disciples, "Ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence," (Acts 1:5). At Pentecost, the saints were all baptised by the one Spirit into one Body - 1 Corinthians 12:12-14. This is congruent with the Church having begun at Pentecost, and tells us that no one can be a part of the Body of Christ until he is saved and thereby indwelt by the Holy Spirit, having been initiated into the one Body which was formed and characterized by the baptism of the Holy Ghost ONCE for all. Pentecost happened once for all the Church of all time - that was the time when the Holy Spirit descended to the earth to begin dwelling in Christians - He was not here like that previously. He was the promised Comforter. We have no need to ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit because since the existing group of believers were baptised into the Body of Christ at Pentecost, it happens automatically when we are redeemed by the blood of Christ.
    Miss Charlene said...
    Anonymous, I believe we need to be baptized of the living water. I believe the physical water was a shadow of things to come.
    Miss Charlene said...
    And the baptism is symbolic, but shouldn't take the place of the true baptism of the Holy Ghost.

    And the thief on the cross wasn't baptized by water before he died, yet he repented from his sin and sought Christ. I believe he was baptized by the Spirit unto repentance.

    We are to be born again if we want to enter the Kingdom of God.

    And thanks for the verses!
    Sisterlisa said...
    Actually I have researched all the verses on Baptism, After typing out it came to 20 pages printed. The act in Acts 2 was not for the entire Body at that one day. This is why we see MANY examples of baptism of the Holy Ghost later after that. If it was ONCE for all (the Holy Ghost baptism) then why did the apostles keep doing it and telling people they needed it? Water baptism is a symbol of what was to COME, the baptism of the Spirit. Water is just a symbol, Spirit is what actually changes you.
    Sisterlisa said...
    Thank you for the input on the Jewish ordinances though. that was neat to learn!
    Sisterlisa said...
    Another thought I had....I was previously taught that water baptism is a symbol to say what has already happened in the heart, but when you receive the Spirit you show what's in your heart by the Fruit of the Spirit. I've seen MANY people get water baptized, never to walk with God again. Which leads me to question what decision they actually made. No fruit shows. :O(
    Anonymous said...
    Sisterlisa, I have a question - If the baptism with water was done away with, why do we see the example of the eunuch being baptised in water by Philip? See Acts 8:38. I believe that all the other references to baptism don't talk about baptism of the Holy Ghost apart from the ones that talk about Pentecost. The reason the baptism of the Holy Ghost can have only happened once is because He was not here dwelling in people and then He came and baptised the believers at Pentecost and formed what then became the Church (or Body) of Christ - and He has dwelled here in Christians ever since. The Spirit of God strives with man, and dwells in man from the moment they accept Christ as their Savior. There is not a time when the Holy Spirit baptises us, from what I have read in the Bible - He is a GIFT to us from God. We read that the apostles preached for people to repent and be baptised - see the following verse that makes a clear distinction: Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost". The baptism is separate from the receiving of the gift of the Holy Ghost.
    Of course we see many being baptised and then never showing any fruit of the Spirit - clearly there are many who get carried away with emotions, there are many false conversions and many backsliders, but praise God it is not up to us to figure out who is truly saved and who is not. There is no way the Bible classes baptism and the fruit of the Spirit as making each other unnecessary. The decision to be baptised is a decision WE make... Regarding the fruit of the Spirit, that is something we exhibit when we allow the Spirit of God to work in us and through us.
    Baptism shows a commitment to following Christ. The going down into the water is a picture of us following Him into death - we are committed to Him even to that point. It is a very serious symbolic action and should not be taken lightly - unfortunately you will find a lot of pastors making it into a lot less than it is for the sake of boasting of numbers of people they have baptised. So then you might see people being baptised (because it is the thing to do - pastor said they should) without it meaning anything or without their life showing any fruits of the Spirit. In the same way, a lot of people take the Lord's Supper lightly and do not realise the true significance - they might partake without ever showing any signs of the fruits of the Spirit. But who are we to judge who is or who isn't a Christian, regardless of what actions they take?
    Anonymous said...
    To make mention of the baptism of the Holy Ghost that happened at Pentecost, you will notice that is was quite a different event from anything that had ever happened before or since - it was characterised by a "rushing mighty wind", "cloven tongues of fire" and the speaking of tongues. We never read of that happening again like that - so if we are to seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost, or if this baptism is to happen to each Christian, how can we expect it to manifest? I believe it happened in that way because this Christianity thing was brand new and the early Christians were given abilities that were needed for a specific purpose - the initial spreading of the Gospel and growth of the Church. We read that there were Jews in Jerusalem from "every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5), and the gift of tongues that was given to the apostles at that time enabled them to spread the news of the gospel to the Jews first - ALL of them, and then later to the Gentiles. You could say that the baptism of the Holy Ghost came with a big bang because God saw it necessary to tell His chosen people the good news of the Gospel of grace FIRST before it was spread to the Gentiles and this could only be done by the apostles receiving the gift of tongues when the Holy Spirit descended. We know that the Holy Ghost has dwelled in believers ever since - 1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
    Sisterlisa said...
    If the Holy Ghost came at once then can you please explain these verses to me:

    Acts 8:12-24, Simon received the Word, was baptized with water, then asked to BUY the Holy Ghost.

    Acts 9 describes Saul's conversion and filling with the Holy Ghost. He was in a house and was baptized? How in the house? no water mentioned. (??)

    Acts 10 while Peter was preaching the Holy Ghost came down upon them.

    Acts 11 speaks of Holy Ghost baptism happening 'as on us at the beginning'

    Acts 18:24 thru 19:7 Apollos received the Word, was water baptized by John for repentance, but had not yet even heard of the Holy Ghost. Then Paul baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and they received the Holy Ghost. (This is what I believe the ONE Baptism of Ephesians 4 is)

    more in next comment...
    Sisterlisa said...
    in Paul's letters in chronological order:

    Gal 3:27-29 is being baptized into Christ, which we know can NOT be done with Water.

    1 Cor 12:12-14 we are baptized into One Body, this can NOT be done with water.

    Romans 6:1-6 being baptized unto His death, can NOT be done with water.

    Col 2:9-15 Again being buried in his Baptism and risen in faith, this can't be done by water either.

    Eph 4:1-6 is ONE Baptism, not two.

    Hebrews 6:1-6 (Which I think you explained above)

    1 Peter 3:18 being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. v 21 explains the baptism that saves is by Spirit. Not water.

    So if there is
    a.)ONE Baptism as stated in Ephesians 4,
    b.)Water baptism does not save,
    c.) Water baptism is a symbol,
    d.)Spirit Baptism saves

    Then just what exactly is that ONE Baptism?

    And if the Holy Ghost came upon them
    a.)after receiving the Word
    b.)at more times in the Bible than just at Pentecost
    c.)their spirits weren't quickened UNTIL they got the Holy Ghost

    Then why do you think it only happened ONCE and that we aren't to seek Him?
    Sisterlisa said...
    oh I have another question if someone can help me with it. When Jesus sat at the well and the Samaritan woman came. Her and all the town received Jesus as the Messiah. They asked him to stay two more days, He did. NO ONE was spoken of as being baptized. So I am wondering about that.
    Anonymous said...
    Thank you for your patience with my long explanation, Charlene! :)
    Andrea Renae said...
    Miss Charlene, I just want to let you know I was touched to hear the music on your blog and I got to your blog from the agministries, and I'm impressed by the love that shines out of your blog, wondered if I could have permission to keep your blog name on my page, I think it would encourage others... I really didn't realize you are disabled, but I have loved to sign all my songs to Jesus, it feels like it expresses it better than any words... I guess it's the way I worship with movement and dancing, I just adore that our God is using such things as these in my life at this time. His Spirit sure moves in a beautiful way all around the world, I believe he is spreading out in order to gather, and I'm really excited about all he is doing in my personal life. Thanks for being real. Keep it! And run with rejoicing!

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