Ephesians
4:5b
"...one
baptism,"
Oh
as we have said, there is probably no other word in the Christian
language that will set people’s hair on end quicker than to
disagree with them over baptism. This is not at all funny. Something
that is really doctrinally unimportant so far as our salvation is
concerned can cause such enmity, and the sparks just fly immediately.
Probably more than saying that Judaism is nothing more dead works, a Religion of the flesh. Let’s just look at this word for a moment. There is only
one baptism, and even as your mind is floating out there among the
world of Christendom, how many different kinds of baptism can you
think of? Oh some sprinkle, some pour, some immerse, but are they a Truth or a habit of the flesh. The making of it to feel good and a trickery of the mind in its preconceived notion of understanding the use of false words which direct us to envision what is not meant or there. All of this is caused by a spirit of Religion the same deceptive spirit that caused Adam and woman to accept the lie and in affect become liars, children of Satan. Jesus the very essence of Truth and the One Who is True tells us through His very being what Truth is. Just as the Father of spirit is all Truth so is Christ and we are to become ONE with Him, in other words we are to be true in character and nature. How by being Baptized into Him who is Truth and then we possess the Spirit of Truth and live by and in total Truth just as Adam and woman were in Genesis 2:7 when the glory of God filled and surrounded them as a covering and way of Life.
We will
never forget years back there were two churches, one baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ, and the other baptized in the name of the
Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Other than that their teachings and
their doctrines were not all that much different, but they would not
accept one another’s members. They were at complete odds simply
because of the terminology that they used when they baptized. It is
ridiculous isn’t it when you really stop to think about it? But
Paul says, "There aren’t four or five different modes of
baptism, but only one. We have looked at it previously in 1Corinthians chapter 12, but let’s look at it again.
1Corinthians
12:13a
"For
by one Spirit (the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth) are we
(believers) all baptized into one body,..."
This
Spirit baptism is the only baptism that Paul knows. As we have shared, it is the only baptism that will make a difference for
eternity. We can be baptized in water a hundred times and it is not
going to fit us for eternity. There is only one baptism that will do
that, and it is this one that Paul teaches here. It agrees with the teachings and word of Jesus when they are heard correctly. Now I should interject this just here, yesterday my wife was helping our graned son in his home schooling and the were in the English lesson on listening. In it were these four elements listed, sound, hearing, recognition and response. These four elements have different functions, as a principle in operation within each of us, within our perception of what is being said and what is being read. A good listener needs these four elements in full operation, then we are truly paying attention. But there is one more thing that needs to have happened for us to be fully receptive of God and that is the removal of our own blind spot, developed by a false conception of God and Truth. This blind spot is what Paul calls a block of stumbling and Jesus called a block of offense which hinders man from receiving the Word of God. It is the same blockage Paul speaks of in Romans 11:25 and Ephesians 4:18. We have called it a familiar spirit a spirit of untruth the same spirit God gave to the false prophets of old. We are to have the same spirit which Elijah had as witnessed by Zarephath in 1Kings 17:24. For our churches are full of the familiar spirit of deception because the world is under this spirits influence and we are to be set apart from it. It causes deception to abound and divides the house and home of God our heart.
1Corinthians
12:13a
"For
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body...."
This
one Body is the one we talked about. It does not matter about our
status in life, there is only one baptism that counts for eternity.
And our counting for eternity is what it is all about. The moment we
believe this Gospel as outlined in 1Corinthians 15:1-4 and Romans
10:9-10 the Holy Spirit in His invisible, all powerful modus operandi is
placed the believer and the receive of Christ into the One Body of Christ. This the one
baptism that Paul talks about in Ephesians. The Spirit of Truth, the Comforter the revealer of Christ Who is Truth. For He said that "I AM" (referencing Exodus 3:14), the Way, the Truth and the LIFE. For Paul also tells us in Romans 8:9 that "if" we have not the Spirit of Christ we ARE NOT His! We have NO part with Him. He never mentions
water baptism in this book, because remember we made that jump up in
Ephesians to the higher doctrinal things, and we are coming even
from his earlier revelations to those later ones as we had it
earlier, and so now he can define the fact that there is only One
Baptism that counts for Eternity. Its through death! Which is God's
revealed Will for us all, no exceptions here. No wiggle room, no
second opinions. For this is what the Old Testament word
“everlasting” was pointing toward, the culmination and
conception of all things in Christ. The mystery hidden in the small
book with its seven seals.
Revelation
5:6-10
“And
I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts,
and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God
sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of
the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne. And when He had taken
the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before
the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of
odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals
thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And
hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on
the earth.”
Backing up to verse 3;
Revelation
5:2-4
“And
I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to
open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven,
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book,
neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found
worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.”
So
Christ meets with Paul in the wilderness and teaches him the things
contained in this small book. The very book that the Old Testament
Prophets saw but were kept form revealing, until the “everlasting”, "the end of days" and the prophet Zechariah calls in "in that day" came and
ascended and took His place.
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