Tag Archives: baptism

THE SIGN OF OWNERSHIP

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THE SIGN OF OWNERSHIP

In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self, ruled by the flesh, was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Col. 2:11-12).

What was the purpose of circumcision in God’s covenant with Abraham?

Then God said to Abraham, ‘This is my covenant with you and with your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised . . . My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. (Gen. 17: 9-11a; 13b).

Circumcision was a sign of ownership. It set God’s people apart from every other male in every other nation. No doubt, when Joseph finally revealed himself to his brothers, how would he have convinced them that he was indeed Joseph? By his mark of ownership as a Hebrew!

The Jews were God’s people by right of birth and ownership. Every Jewish parent would ensure that their sons carry their mark of ownership in their flesh. This was to be symbolic of a greater spiritual reality which would be revealed through Christ. Believers carry a mark of ownership, not in the flesh, but in the spirit, which sets us apart as belonging to God.

Paul spoke of a principle which applies in many areas of our lives – revealed in 1 Cor. 15: 46: The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. It applies here as well. Circumcision was to be a physical (or natural) sign which would be followed by the spiritual when the truth was revealed in Christ.

Many streams in the church have seen baptism as the counterpart of circumcision and have developed the doctrine of paedo-baptism as the sign of God’s covenant. Just as boys were circumcised eight days after birth to show that they were included in the Abrahamic covenant, so infants are ‘baptised’ to include them in the New Covenant.

However, this idea conflicts with the teaching of Scripture, clearly indicated here, as in many other places (through your faith in the working of God), that it is faith in Christ, of which infants are incapable, that brings people into the New Covenant, not infant baptism.

What is the sign of the New Covenant, the sign of ownership? Paul was in no way teaching that baptism is the sign of the New Covenant which would contradict the principle of ‘first the natural, then the spiritual’.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1: 13-14).

Paul could not have stated this truth more clearly. God marked us with His seal of ownership, the Holy Spirit who is in us, when we confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10: 9-10).

What, then, is the purpose of baptism? Baptism was both initiation into and identification with a person, an office or a teaching to indicate publicly that the one being baptised had a new status. Baptism, or ritual washing, was a common practice in Jesus’s day. John the Baptist initiated people who identified with him into his teaching about the Messiah, calling them to repent and identify with the One he was introducing to them. Baptism is, therefore the public, visible witness to our identity with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

Through baptism we are telling the world that we have died to ourselves and have a new owner, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose Spirit in us sets us apart as God’s possession. We have left the old life of sin and the flesh and are now living in union with Jesus and in submission and obedience to Him.

As the covenant people of God, set apart to Him and marked by circumcision, the Jews were to live in obedience to His commands, which they did not because they were without the Holy Spirit. We who have the Spirit are able to put to death the deeds of the flesh through His power and live a new life In Christ because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

We must become who we are.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

SECURE IN CHRIST

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SECURE IN CHRIST

In it, only a few, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolises baptism what now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ who had gone into heaven and who is at God’s right hand, with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him. (1 Peter 3: 17b-20)

Is Peter really teaching that baptism saves? What does this obscure passage mean?

We cannot make a doctrine out of these verses alone. We have to read this passage in the context of other Scriptures.  When we put Paul’s teachings together with Peter’s, they are definitely not teaching that baptism is the way to salvation as some denominations insist.

Let’s look at the story of the flood, since Peter used Noah and the ark to illustrate the meaning of baptism.

Noah and his family did not escape the flood. The deluge of rain fell on them as well as on all the wicked people God wanted to destroy. The difference was that Noah and his family were protected by the ark. It was the ark in the water that saved them from drowning. They were also a part of the judgment that fell on the earth and on all the people who perished, but in the ark they were safe. They reappeared after the earth had been purged of all the wicked people as though they had risen from the dead.

How does this compare with salvation? Although Peter does not specifically mention that those who believe in Jesus are ‘in Christ’, this is the reality that has taken place. Just as Noah was ‘in’ the ark and safe from God’s judgement, so those who are ‘in’ Christ are safe from the judgment that fell on Him. He took the rap for our sins and ‘in Him’ we died to sin and to our old sinful lives and emerged from the judgment alive and cleansed just as He emerged from the grave alive and free from sin’s power to touch Him.

Jesus was God’s perfect Son and spotless Lamb, but as long as He was a human being before His death, He had the potential to sin because He had the nature of Adam before the Fall, innocent but not righteous. Through the course of His earthly life, He had to earn His righteous status before God by being perfectly submissive and obedient to the Father’s will. How did Jesus achieve righteousness? Through suffering.

Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him. (Heb. 5: 8, 9)

He did not learn obedience through trial and error because any little thought or act of rebellion or independence against the Father would have plunged Him into the same condemnation as every other human being. He learned obedience by obeying the Father’s every desire. There is not another person who has ever lived who could have thrown out the challenge He did to His opponents:

Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? (John 8:46a)

Just as Noah and his family were secure within the ark, so those who are in Christ are secure in Him. Noah built the ark according to God’s instructions and God Himself shut them in. No one could open the door until God have the word. In the same way, God Himself made the plan and gave His Son the instructions on how to carry it out. Jesus became the ark of safety from all those who put their trust in and obey Him.

It was through the very water that destroyed unbelievers that Noah and his family were saved. The water buoyed the ark up against the wind and rain and carried them to safety when the water receded. Jesus carries us to the Father on the very waves of God’s judgment against sin on the earth.

We have a place of refuge in Jesus, through our faith in Him, and we have the reassurance that, when He comes again to judge the earth, those who have trusted Him will be safe forever because He ever lives to make intercession for us.

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5: 9)

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE PRICE OF POSITION

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THE PRICE OF POSITION

5 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is n Mark 10:35-40

James and John were shrewd. Instead of being part of a squabble for the position of prime minister, they stood together and went straight to Jesus. Since arguing got them nowhere, they decided to secure their position by going right to the top. Reading their request leaves one with a feeling of outrage. They were bold and blatant and without any shame over their arrogance. They were not yet ECHAD!

Jesus seemed unfazed by their request but He was certainly aware of their naivety regarding their sense of top position. They thought it came by appointment. Jesus knew that it came through sacrifice, submission and suffering. He called it a “baptism”, and “drinking a cup”. These are concepts deeply rooted in the Old Testament. “Drinking the cup” was associated with God’s wrath over national and personal disobedience and sin. Baptism was a ritual washing to initiate a person into something.

For Jesus, baptism initiated Him into identity with the human race, including God’s judgment, and “drinking the cup” referred to His taking the wrath of God and the punishment for the sin of the whole world. According to Paul in Phil 2:6-11, Jesus would ultimately be accorded the place of highest honour because of His obedience to the Father from His place in heaven to death on a cross.

How could James and John be a part of that? How brash they were in boasting that they could drink of that cup and share in that baptism. What did they know, at that point, of the cost to Jesus? They refused to listen when He tried to tell them. Sadly, Jesus acknowledged that they would be part of that price in the future, not to secure God’s forgiveness but to spread the news to the ends of the earth. James would pay with his life before he even left Jerusalem. John would experience persecution and exile on a lonely island for the sake of the Master and His message.

Their request was evidence of their immature understanding but Jesus left it at that. He knew that life and experience under the tutorship of the Holy Spirit, would eventually lead them to understand the truth.

THE BOOK OF ACTS – WHY CAN’T I BE BAPTISED?

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WHY CAN’T I BE BAPTIZED?

“As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, ‘Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?’ He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. He had what he’d come for and went off down the road as happy as he could be.   

“Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.” Acts 8:36-40 (The Message).

Mission accomplished! The seed of God’s word was sown in the heart of an African man who came to Jerusalem seeking the Lord. He was on his way home, with his feet firmly planted on “The Way” and the joy of the Lord spilling out of him.

Although Philip did not mention baptism, why did the eunuch seem to know what to do to seal his new-found faith in the Lord Jesus? If he was one of people the Book of Acts called “God-fearers”, he would have understood the ritual of baptism in the Jewish faith.

Baptism was a common practice in Judaism. It was a ritual washing (mikvah) in running or “living” water to initiate someone into a new office, e.g., into the priestly office, or into a new phase of his life or identity with a new leader, e.g., the baptism of John or as ritual cleansing. Both John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples baptized people regularly, according to John 4:1. No doubt this man, being a Gentile, had been baptized into Judaism at some time in his life as a sign that he had embraced the Jewish faith.

Just as He had done with the Passover meal, i.e. revealed its fulfillment in Himself as the Passover Lamb, so Jesus had also infused baptism with a new meaning – His resurrection.

When we eat the bread and drink the wine which symbolize His broken body and shed blood, we are expressing our faith in His sacrifice which redeemed us from slavery in “Egypt”. Likewise, when we are “baptized”, we are immersed in a watery grave as a symbol of our identity with Him in His death and we “rise” to a new life with and in Him. This is a clear and visible statement that we have died to our old way and have risen to a new life of identity with Jesus.

“We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:2-4 (NIV)

The implication of baptism is much more than a ritual initiation into Christianity. It is a public confession of our identity with Jesus in His death and resurrection and a symbol of our cleansing from sin and embracing our new life in him.

“Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3 (NIV).

Perhaps at this stage the eunuch did not understand all the implications of his baptism, but at least he knew that his life had changed direction. He was now on course to follow Jesus and be identified with Him and with all those who had become a part of “The Way”.

The Cup And The Crown

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THE CUP AND THE CROWN

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’

‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He asked. They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right hand and the other at you left in your glory.’

‘You don’t know what you are asking,’ Jesus said. ‘Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?’ ‘We can,’ they answered.

Jesus said to them, ‘You will drink the cup I drink and be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with, but to sit on my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they are prepared.’ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John (Mark 10: 35-41).

What a cheek! James and John were shameless in their attempt to get ahead of their fellow disciples. Up to this point the disciples had jockeyed among themselves for the highest position in the kingdom of God. Jesus often caught them arguing and tried to instil in them the values of the kingdom but, apparently to no avail. In the same way as they ignored His repeated warnings about His impending death, they were deaf to His teaching about leadership and greatness.

Now James and John went straight to the top. One would have thought that they would have been careful about approaching Jesus on this subject seeing that He had clearly taught them not to seek greatness. The way up was down, He told them, but they had obviously not got the message.

Did you notice how they approached Him? “Will you say yes to whatever we ask you?” That’s what children do. They want to secure the parent’s agreement before they ask what they want. Jesus was smart. He was not about to fall into their trap. “Tell me what you want first and then I’ll give you an answer.” Their response was bold and brash. They had obviously schemed together to secure their place in the kingdom before the other disciples got in. “Promise us that we will have the places of honour beside you when you are crowned king.”

“You guys just don’t understand, do you?” I can imagine that Jesus was annoyed with them. What would it take to get it into their thick skulls that they had no right to ask for what they were asking? Matthew mentioned that their mother accompanied them when they came to Jesus with the request and voiced it for them. Did they think that their mom had more clout with Jesus than they had? This had even become a family matter.

Jesus’ response cut right across their way of thinking. There was a cup to drink and a baptism to be baptised with before they could receive a position of honour like that. What was the “cup” to which Jesus referred? It was a cup and a baptism He, first of all, was about to endure before they could experience it themselves.

Throughout the Old Testament the “cup” is mentioned – both the cup of God’s wrath (Jer. 25:15) and the cup of salvation (Psalm 116: 13). Without going into great detail, “cup” is a euphemism for the full experience of either wrath of salvation. Paul uses the same expression to refer to God’s blessing (1 Cor. 10:16). To “drink” implies to take it into oneself with all its effects.

“James and John, before you can participate in any glory that belongs to me, you must first drink the cup I must drink. Can you do that?” How blasé they were in their reply. “Yes, we can” they replied, yet they had no clue about what they were saying. Sadly Jesus agreed that they would drink the cup and go through the baptism but to give them the assurance of the honour they requested was not His right.

Jesus’ position of honour was given to Him by the Father but earned by His humiliation and suffering. He drank the cup of God’s wrath to the dregs so that He could offer the cup of salvation to anyone who received it by faith. Mere association with Jesus did not qualify the brothers. Only full participation with Him would allow them to share in His glory. The cup first and them the crown.

At that moment they had no idea what He meant but they would one day. John was killed at the hands of the despotic Herod and John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. Yes, they had a cup to drink – the cup of suffering because they had been baptised into identity with Jesus.

Each of us has our own cup to drink and our own baptism to be baptised with. Only when we submit to Jesus and embrace the cup will we have a share in what has been prepared for us.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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