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Teaching -
Foundations of Faith
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Written by admin
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Monday, 22 January 2007 17:20 |
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Page 6 of 9
Many Baptisms
- The world was once baptized in a cataclysmic flood that destroyed all life except those creatures and people that stayed in the ark. (Genesis 5-9  , 1Peter 3:18-22)
- The nation of Israel was baptized in the Red Sea shortly after deliverance from Egypt. (Exodus 14 ,15 1 Corinthians 10:2 )
- They were later baptized in the Jordan as they entered the Promised Land. (Joshua 3 ,4)
- John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance and preparation for the appearance of Jesus. (Matthew 3:5 ,6 Mark 1:4 ))
- John spoke of a greater baptism of fire that would be given by Jesus himself. (Luke 3:16 ; John 1:33-34 )
- Jesus was baptized in water just before His public ministry of healing and preaching the Kingdom of God began. (Matthew 3:16 )
- Jesus even referred to his death on the cross as a baptism. (Luke 12:49-52 )
Baptism is not about doing something to attain favor; baptism is the form and method of transformation from living in one realm of life to living in a higher realm. It requires death to the former realm. The result is resurrection into the new.
Part of the problem is that we have turned baptism into ritual, rules, and fake righteousness which has resulted in division, confusion, and a degree of blindness in the Church today.
This mentality leads to questions like: If I am not baptized (speaking of immersion in water) will I still be saved? Subsequent inquiries follow such as "Must I be baptized right away?" and
"What if someone believed Jesus died for their sins and asked to be received into the Kingdom of God, but they died before they got to the baptism service, would they go to hell and not get ‘saved' because they were not yet baptized?
And so on......
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