True Meaning of Baptism

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!

The other night I was watching the religious channel and I noticed something that I've noticed before, but it really struck me this time, because I was watching a Messianic Jewish rabbi. He was bringing a very good message about the suffering of Christ as prophesied in Isa. 52 & 53.

But one thing I have noticed on every single one of these programs… Know for sure that that rabbi cannot preach there unless he believes in the trinity. People would think that a Messianic rabbi would really know the Truth, but he's just like all the rest of them: they know some of the Truth!

What is noticeable in every single one of them is this:

• they talk about the love of God being unconditional

It is not, it's all conditional! If it were unconditional we wouldn't have any IF clauses in the Bible.

• they don't believe in baptism

Yet, it's amazing that they read out of the Bible, and when they read the Scriptures they never really get past the point of the death of the Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.

That's important, but if you're going to run a race, are you done as soon as the gun goes off? No! Of course not! They look at the Scriptures and claim that you don't have to do it today.

Acts 10 is very interesting and a good example of that is you have to read before and after! This is when Peter went to Cornelius' house, and Cornelius was a centurion. He had all of his soldiers, slaves and household there, so he must have had a really large estate. Here he was a righteous man, an Italian, uncircumcised, and he had a little prayer place in his house and he would pray to God.

God answered that prayer and sent an angel who said, 'Go over here to Joppa and get Peter, called Simon, and he's staying with Simon the tanner. Cornelius sent a soldier and a couple of others and they got Peter. Peter had the vision of all these unclean animals and a big sheet.

Sidebar: That does not authorize the eating of unclean meats. That was a vision to show Peter that now salvation is not just restricted to the Jews; but going to all people.

Then the three showed up at the door of Simon the tanner, and asked if Simon Peter was there. Simon the tanner called for him and the soldier told him what happened and 'we'll go tomorrow down to Caesarea.' In the morning they went on down to Caesarea.

Acts 10:24: "And on the next day, they came to Caesarea. Now, Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his kinsmen and his intimate friends. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet, worshiping him" (vs 24-25).

The Catholics would love it if the verse read: and he bowed to him and said, 'thou art Peter the first pope!' But it doesn't say that!

Verse 26:"But Peter raised him up, saying, 'Stand up, for I myself am also a man.'…."

That was a great revelation for those who believe in Judaism, because only the Jews were people. All the rest of the 'goyim' were various degrees of animals. That's the way they treated them. So, the most discriminating people on earth—and still might be to this day—are the orthodox Jews who think that they're the chosen race and the only people on earth who know God! So, this was a real revelation for Peter!

Verse 26:"But Peter raised him up, saying, 'Stand up, for I myself am also a man.' And as he was talking with him, he went in and found many gathered together" (vs 26-27).

Here is the terrible discrimination that they had with Judaism. {note our book: Judaism: Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men by Philip Neal—truthofGod.org}. in the back there are a whole lot of laws from Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried & Goldin, which there are thousands and thousands of them. They are all directed to the keeping of the traditions of the Jews!

Verse 28: "And he said to them, 'You know that it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew to associate with or come near to anyone of another race….'"

Search the Bible and find out where that is so, because it's not! That is a traditional law of the Jews!Unlawful meant according the tradition of Jews! Not according to the Law of God!

So, this becomes a very important thing, because the New Testament the relationship with an individual and God has entirely changed from what it was with the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant included Judah, all Israel and proselytes, any strangers that lived among them. If they wanted to keep the Passover, they could if they were circumcised. There were many proselyte believers. It was one law for everybody!

When Judaism came along, they had separate laws for the Jews, who now had been—since the destruction of the temple—dispersed in all countries. The big problem the rabbis had was: 'How do we keep the Jews Holy before God?' That's how they took all the oral traditions and wrote them down. That's important to understand.

Then Cornelius said to Peter, 'I sent for you four days ago and now we want to hear what you have to say.' For someone from Judaism—which Peter was—this was a tremendous thing to happen:

Verse 34: "Then Peter opened his mouth and said, 'Of a truth I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons.'"

With the Old Covenant with Israel, and any strangers that were among them. God never dealt with any other nation like He dealt with Israel and Judah. Now with the coming of the New Covenant with Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, and the way things were going to be with the New Covenant, everything has changed in who can come and worship God!

Even in the synagogues, they were divided down: men, women and circumcised proselytes. So, when your read further with the Apostle Paul coming into the synagogues, he talks about 'men and brethren, and those who fear God.' Those who feared God were the circumcised Gentiles that were segregated within the synagogue. Here this is a tremendous and different situation.

Verse 35: But in every nation the one who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him…. [then Peter preached about Christ] …The word that He sent to the children of Israel, preaching the Gospel of peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all), you have knowledge of; which declaration came throughout the whole of Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John proclaimed concerning Jesus, Who was from Nazareth: how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all the things that He did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed Him by hanging Him on a tree. But God raised Him up the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses who had been chosen before by God, to those of us who did eat and drink with Him after He had risen from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to fully testify that it is He Who has been appointed by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in Him receives remission of sins through His name" (vs 35-43).

Notice what happened, and here's where the Protestants say that 'if you hear the Word of God and you're move to do it…' And that's why they have that little prayer:

Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? Yes! Do you accept Him as your Savior? Yes! You are saved!

That's how they came up with it, because of this!

Verse 44: "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came upon all those who were listening to the message. And the believers from the circumcision were astonished…" (vs 44-45).

The ones from the circumcision were trained up in Judaism. So, here this was like something never ever seen.

"...as many as had come with Peter, that upon the Gentiles also the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out" (v 45).

All you need to do is believe! Now, here's another Scripture that they use, and we will see that Ephesus was a very important place that Paul went to and was baptizing.

Ephesians 1:12: "That we might be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in the Christ."

Notice what is missing: baptism. So they look at that and say that if you 'trust in Christ…'

Verse 13: "In Whom you also trusted after hearing the Word of the Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, after believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" (v 13-14).

Not a word about baptism, so that's how they developed the doctrine that you don't need to be baptized. All you need to do is believe. But that's not true!

Acts 10:45: "And the believers from the circumcision were astonished, as many as had come with Peter, that upon the Gentiles also the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out."

Remember that all these were Gentiles, not physically circumcised, which from this time forward became an absolute idol for the Jews and Judaism.

Verse 46: "For they heard them speak in other languages…"

Why did God do that? Because that's what God poured out on the Day of Pentecost! Other languages! So, what this was doing was God showing that this is from Him!

"…and magnify God. Then Peter responded by saying… [notice what they leave out]: …'Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have also received the Holy Spirit as we did? (vs 46-47).

You have to be baptized, and we'll see why!

Verse 48: "And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they besought him to remain for a number of days."

That was quite a revelation to happen, but that why the Protestant don't believe that you have to baptize. Now let's see about baptism with John the Baptist. Think about this: If Jesus had to be baptized, what makes you think that you don't?

Matthew 3:13: "Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I have need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?' Then Jesus answered and said to him, 'You must permit it at this time;for in this manner it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.'…. [you can't fulfill all righteousness unless you're baptized] …Then he permitted Him to be baptized" (vs 13-15).

Let's see something else that some people don't even look at. This is quite important because baptism is absolutely essential!

John 3:22: "After these things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He stayed with them and was baptizing. And John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim…" (vs 22-23).

John 4:1: "Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John…" (vs 1-2).

You don't hear that very often and you don't hear it from any of the televangelists on Protestantism.

"…(although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples)" (v 2).

We'll also learn the meaning of baptism. It is not an outward show of your inward belief! Or as written in one of the commentaries, a cleansing of the soul! It's not that; there's so much more, because it involves you directly with God!

Acts 2—the disciples were told by Jesus to stay in Jerusalem until they were baptized with power from on high; that is receive the Holy Spirit! That came on the Day of Pentecost.

Sidebar on Pentecost: Remember that every Holy Day marks something special and a major thing by God. On Pentecost in the Old Testament, He gave the Law, spoke it from Mt. Sinai with all the people down at that base of Mt. Sinai. That's they only time in the whole history of the world that that many people heard the voice of God directly.

It's also revealed something else: that human nature cannot stand to hear the Law! I want you to think on that. All of Protestantism says that you don't need to keep the Law, because if you keep the Law you're under the Law. We'll answer that in a little bit.

Nevertheless, that was a tremendous one-time great event. That kicked off the beginning of the covenant with Israel.

Now, in Acts 2 we again come to Pentecost. While the disciples were speaking, the Holy Spirit came upon all the apostles and they were speaking in other languages. Obviously, in their own mind they were speaking in their own language, but everyone who was listening—because God poured out His Holy Spirit—heard in their own language.

That's very important because the temple was the place where God put His presence. If this would have happened in Galilee what do you think those in the Jerusalem would have said? Oh, we were down in Galilee in Tiberius right near the Sea of Galilee and we were all their praying and God sent His Holy Spirit!

Remember what they said about Jesus? 'Can a prophet come out of Galilee? Never has there been a prophet from Galilee. These men are Galileans and they're unlearned.' So, this was a major event; sending the Holy Spirit and all of them could hear the Gospel preached by the apostles in their own language!

Peter preached about the crucifixion of Christ and that they needed to have the their sins forgiven. Let's understand something very important. Christ died for the sins of the whole world: past, present and future! That's why you need to understand about the Holy days.

• What is God going to do about all of those people that He deliberately didn't call?
• Are they lost?
• How can that square up with God so love the world and then gets rid of all of them?

That's because they don't keep the Holy Days and the Last Great Day shows that there will be a resurrection of all of those people for the first opportunity for salvation.

Think of what that does to the Baptist's doctrine that 'if you don't believe in Jesus and if you're not a Baptist your' going to burn forever in hell!'

That's not what the Bible teaches!And that's right out of the mouth of Pastor Jeffress, one of the one who was a counselor to Donald Trump. The point is that if Christ died for the sins of all the world, now that has to also mean for each and every one, which means that God also looks at it individually for each person.

When I read house of Israel, put your name there. Jesus Christ was the Lord God of the Old Testament. In order for Him to become a human being, He made mankind in the image of God so that He could become a human being, and the alternative to that is so we can become like God. In everything that God has, there's great meaning, more than anybody ever understood.

So, the One Who became Jesus Christ was the Lord God of the Old Testament. It says in Phil. 2 that He divested Himself to become human. How did He become human? God the Father reduced Him to a pinpoint of life to be impregnated into the womb of the virgin Mary and be born as a babe like every one of us!

And God put Him through everything multiple times much stronger than whatever we go through. Why am I bringing this out? Because His shed blood—as Creator of all mankind, both men and women—can be personally applied to everyone who repents, because of Who He was: the Creator of all human beings!

• that could not be accomplished with any other
• that could never be accomplished with the sacrifice of animals

Acts 2:36—Peter speaking: "'Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with full assurance that God has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified…'"

If He died for our sins and was crucified for all, that means our sins also individually had a part in His crucifixion and death!  That's a tremendous thing!

"'…both Lord and Christ.' Now, after hearing this, they were cut to the heart…" (vs 36-37).

This is where repentance comes in! Repentance is a deep, personal repentance to God! Not to any human being, but to God! To God you can confess all your sins. I don't think that there is one Catholic in the whole world whoever confessed every secret sin to the priest. But you can between you and God when you repent, and God will lead you to repentance to see:

• the greatness of the sacrifice of Christ
• the greatness of His mercy and forgiveness
• the magnificence of His great plan when you receive4 the Holy Spirit

That your future will be—at the resurrection—as son or daughter of God! That's adding an awful lot to what we're talking about with baptism, but that's what it's all about.

Think of this: there were probably a lot of those people that were there on that Day of Pentecost that they were also on the Passover saying to Pilate, 'Crucify Him!' You might say, 'I've never said that!' Well, if you reject Jesus, are you not doing that?

Now, baptism is by full immersion in water, and we will see why. That is really important. Catholics have it that you 'daub, daub, daub' with little babies. Nowhere in the Bible is their infant baptism! The Orthodox take little children and dunk them three times… I don't know if you've ever seen an Orthodox baptism, but the poor children are just scared to death.

Baptism is by full immersion, and we'll understand why. It's not for children. Why? Because children have not yet come to the point that they understand about right and wrong enough! That's why the age of adulthood in the Bible is age 20.

Verse 38: "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (v 38).

That's was not given in the covenant with Israel! There was in the temple the 'shekinah' or presence of God, but they never personally received the Holy Spirit, which is called a begettal! For what? Eternal life!

Verse 39: "'For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call.' And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation'" (vs 39-40).

Think about today: perverse generation! Listen, brethren, you look and see the world the way that it is. By that observation none of us have a clue to the depths of satanic activity with humans; what they are doing with child trafficking and child sexual abuse, killing and death.

If you want to know how perverse the government is, and another reason why Donald Trump lost, it's because he was on the way to exposing all those leaders in both parties and business that are Satan worshippers and child rapists! They exist!

You don't know of all the sins that go on everywhere in the world. Think about it! We can have some idea of what it is with:

• the drugs
• abortion
• divorce and remarriage
• what they're teaching the children in school

For this generation, because they have chosen:

• to reject God
• to go their own way
• to pollute their minds and the minds of the children

Unless there is some real change, it's not going to get any better! Those things that are going on, we can verbalize them, but to have a feeling and understanding for what's going on is most difficult for any of us!

That's why we're here, because we are here through baptism and growing, overcoming and preparing for the Kingdom of God, we are going to solve those problems with Christ! Do you grasp that? It's not just a 'religion' so you can be a better person and be liked in the world. NO! it's so you can:

• be converted
• have the love of God
• have the Truth of God
• walk in His way

When Christ returns it's going to be a fantastic thing! So, keep that in mind, and baptism is the beginning.

Acts 8:5: "Then Philip went down to a city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ to them; and the multitudes listened intently with one accord to the things spoken by Philip when they heard and saw the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice… [there's a lot of that today, demon possession] …came out ofmany of those who had them; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man named Simon…" (vs 5-9).

Now, here's what we need to learn right from the start! Satan had his counterfeiters coming:

"…who had from earlier times been practicing sorcery… [religionists, witchcraft] …in the city and astounding the nation of Samaria, proclaiming himself to be some great one. To him they had all given heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, 'This man is the great power of God'" (vs 9-10). They gave heed to him for a long time!

Verse 12: "But when they believed Philip, who was preaching the Gospel—the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ—they were baptized, both men and women." Baptism is essential! And a right baptism it has to be!

Verse 17: "Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit."

You have to also have hands laid on to receive the Holy Spirit, and what does that mean? That you are separated by God to Him!

There are some who would say that if you receive the laying on of hands by the ministers you are subjecting yourself to their authority. That is not true!

(break@40:50)

How important is baptism? We're going to see that it is commanded by Jesus Himself! We will notice something very interesting the way that Jesus phrased this:

Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.'"

What does that do to the authority of the pope? That tells you that he has none! Furthermore, no one has any authority as a human being to annul or proclaim that you don't have to keep the commandments of God.

Verse 19: "Therefore… [as a result of that authority speaking to His disciples/apostles there] …go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them…"

A command to baptize! So, if you don't baptize, you're going against Jesus Christ!If you claim you represent Him, how can you say that you don't need baptism. You need to think on that.

"…into the name of the Father… [because we're going to be the children of God] …and of the Son… [because it's through His sacrifice we have forgiveness of sin] …and of the Holy Spirit" (v 19)—which is the begettal that we receive from the Father, also jointly with Christ so that we become the sons and daughters of God at the resurrection! We need the Holy Spirit to obey God!

Mark 16 is when they were at the mount down in Galilee before Jesus ascended into heaven for the last time.

Mark 16:15: "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world…'" That's quite a command, because Judaism was only to the Jews!

"…and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized shall be saved…" (vs 15-16).

How about if you believe but are not baptized?

"…but the one who does not believe shall be condemned" (v 16).

Acts 19 is quite an interesting section of the Bible, because in the Epistle to the Ephesians by Paul (Eph. 1:14) where it talks about believing and having received the Holy Spirits, that was to the Ephesians. This takes place at Ephesus where the Church was. This is the beginning of the Church in Ephesus. Paul comes there, and let's see what he asks them:

Acts 19:1: Now, it came to pass that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the upper parts and came to Ephesus; and when he found certain disciples, he said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit after you believed?' And they said to him, 'We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.' Then he said to them, 'Unto what then were you baptized?' And they said, 'Unto the baptism of John'" (v s 1-3).

Notice how important that a true baptism is. Wouldn't you say that of all other baptisms that there could be on earth that the one by John the Baptist was the most important? Yes! He was sent by God to do that very thing! But that they should believe on 'Him Who comes after him.' That is on Christ!

Verse 4: "And Paul said, 'John truly baptized with a baptism unto repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in Him Who was coming after him—that is, in Jesus, the Christ.' And after hearing this, they were baptized…" (vs 4-5)—this is a rebaptism!

Sometimes people are baptized too soon and later they find out that they need to be baptized because they are able to understand that they don't have the Spirit of God.

"…into the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, when Paul laid his hands on them… [you have to have this after baptism] …the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with other languages and prophesied" (vs 5-6).

Why did they do that? Same reason that it happened with Peter! Paul was to stay there longer at that place than any other place that he went in preaching the Gospel. He stayed there for well over two years. Here we have that baptism is required! It's important for us!

Romans 5:8: "But God commends His own love to us because, when we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That covers everyone who had not yet been born!

Verse 9: "Much more, therefore, having been justified now by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."

Remember that justification means to be in right standing with God! If you're in right standing with God and have the Holy Spirit, God's blessing can come upon you. But if you're not in right standing with God, and you're a sinner—though you may think you're religious and doing good according to what people think is good—you have not been justified with the blood of Christ!

The blood of Christ is God's covenant blood of sacrifice that He applies to us! We will see how He does it, and it's quite a thing, indeed!

Verse 10: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His own Son, much more then, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the reconciliation" (vs 10-11).

You've been reconciled to the Father in heaven above individually. Then Paul talks about how sin came into the world.

Rom 6 is quite a chapter, and tells us a lot. This bring us good understanding of what God is doing and how He's doing it, and God's love toward us that He does it.

Romans 6:1: "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?"

Think about that statement. When you read the Bible, stop and ask: What is sin? The transgression of the Law! To people in the world sin is just in their own mind doing that which isn't good. It's a whole lot more!

But the way that the Protestants have it, if you have grace and you believe in Jesus, you can't sin. It doesn't matter what you do, God's love is unconditional. The woman preacher Joyce Meyers: every time you see her, she's prancing back and forth saying, 'Doesn't matter what you do, who you are, God loves you unconditionally.' If that's the case then He loves the devil! Grace does not abound that way, so Paul says:

Verse 2: "MAY IT NEVER BE!…."

Listen! These next few verses are the mast important in the Bible concerning baptism.

"…We who died to sin…" (v 2).

• How do you die to sin?
• How can you live, yet, died?
• How could you have died, and yet, live?

This is what it tells us:"…died to sin…" Baptism is a covenant pledge that you will walk in God's way! That doesn't mean you're going to be perfect.

"…how shall we live any longer therein?" (v 2). In other words, if you're baptized, how can you live like everybody else in the rest of the world?

Verse 3: "Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?"

That's quite a statement. Now we can talk about covenant law, which is when a covenant is made—Gen. 15 with Christ predicting His own death—there has to be a sacrifice by both parties to make the covenant sure! God did His part by walking through the animals in sacrifice in Gen. 15, which after He walked through they were completely burned to ashes. Abraham did his part by offering his son Isaac for the burnt offering. But God didn't want that and saved Isaac.

When there is a covenant, both parties have to bring their pledge that they will do it. Christ came and He died. If you're not baptized, you're not in covenant with God. Why? Christ died and was resurrected from the dead. Let's see the opposite for us:

"…as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him…" (vs 4-5)—conjointly!

So, when Christ was put into the tomb, in a figurative sense, because He was the Creator of all mankind He died for the sins of the world: past, present and future! That's His part, but in order to save us and save the world—because He never sinned, yet, was the sin offering, the perfect offering—He was raised from the dead.

When we come along and are baptized, we are baptized into His death! We are counted to have died with Him!

"…through the baptism into the death; so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life" (v 4).

In other words, baptism is a symbolic death! But because you haven't learned to be righteous, God doesn't kill you. He raises you out of the watery grave so you can walk in newness of life!

Verse 5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death…"

Think about that! I look at this way: here is Christ, and conjoined means join together. It's almost like, symbolically with baptism, God lays us right on that body of Christ—conjoined!

"…so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection" (v 5).

We covered that on the message after Pentecost: What Will We Do on the Sea of Glass After the Resurrection? It's going to be a glorious time with everything taking place then.

Verse 6: "Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him…" Baptism is a symbolic crucifixion, co-crucifixion! That you are pledging to God you old carnal way—cutoff from God, living in sin—is dead. You're not going back to it! What do you do because you're not perfect? That comes later!

"…in order that the body of sin might be destroyed… [not immediately removed] …so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (v 6).

Everything out there before baptism, the way of the world, you're enslaved to sin. If you don't do it, just stop one day, take as much time as you need, and go through your smart phone and see how many dumb things are on there that are filled with sin. Turn on your television and flick through all of the stations, which are all just nothing by mountains of sin. Turn to the fake news and all you have are mountains of lies. That's what you lived in! There you are:

• you don't know where God is
• you don't know what to do
• you don't know what life is about
• you know nothing

Then God brings to your attention that, yes, this is the way you're living. So, you come to repentance—deep, profound repentance—from with in. With this operation you symbolically die!

Now you're in covenant with God because Christ died and you symbolically died and you were conjoined to His death. Now you can receive the Holy Spirit! That's what's important!

Verse 6: "Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin. Because the one who has died to sin…" (vs 6-7).

Paul says later on that 'I'm crucified daily' meaning that he came to have his sins forgiven daily! Baptism is for the removal of sin; but it does not immediately change the mind! That comes with the Holy Spirit and growing, overcoming and walking in the way of God!

"…has been justified from sin" (v 7). All of that's put away! Everything is put away!

Verse 8: "Now, if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has any dominion over Him. For when He died, He died unto sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives unto God. In the same way also, you should indeed reckon yourselves to be dead to sin…" (vs 8-11). Living and breaking the commandments of God!

Think about Abraham: Why was the promise given to Abraham and then passed on to Isaac? God told Isaac that it was because Abraham 'kept My Laws, commandments, statutes and obeyed My voice!' That's what it means to no longer live in sin!

"…but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord…. [here comes the challenge] …Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof" (vs 11-12).

Now then, the spiritual battle within begins because you have to be converted. Being converted is a slow transformation of the mind with God's Spirit. Our part is prayer, study and walking in the ways of God!

Verse 13: "Likewise, do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; rather, yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."

This shows a way of living that God wants us to live. Yield to God in:

• heart
• mind
• attitude
• what we do

We resist sin and don't let it overcome us, but we're going to see that we do sin! Don't let it rule over you. Sin comes in, you have to use the self-control in the mind and in instant prayer get rid of it.

Verse 14: "For sin shall not rule over you because you are not under Law, but under grace."

Protestants say that if you keep the commandments of God you are under Law. But under grace you don't have to worry about anything, you just life your little ole life, because God's love is unconditional and anything you do is just fine.

• What does it mean to be under Law?
• Who is under Law?

Remember that we are to keep the commandments of God. When we're done you will see that it's not a contradiction. Paul is explaining why the sacrifice of Christ and the forgiveness of sin through His sacrifice is so important.

Hebrews 10:15: "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after He had previously said, 'This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,' says the Lord…" (vs 15-16).

When you enter into baptism, that is your covenant death, conjoined to the death of Christ. Here's the covenant that you enter into:

"…I will give My Laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds" (v 16). Far from doing away with the Law!

What does that mean? Think about it! Everything that goes into our mind and the memory that we have—audio or visual—it's there recorded. With the Spirit of God in our mind and the Word of God, studying the Word of God and living by every Word of God, what goes into our mind with the help and power of the Spirit of God? It rewires and remakes our mind in a progressive way to help you get sin out of your life!

• we have our part
• God has His part

Verse 17: "And their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again. Now, where remission of these is, it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices for sin" (vs 17-18). That is animal sacrifices!

Why? We have a perpetual sacrifice in Christ when we see that we sin and we receive forgiveness. Let's see who is under Law and then who is under grace.

Romans 7:1: "Are you ignorant, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know law) that the law rules over a man for as long a time as he may live?"

What does that tell you? You are under law from the instant you are conceived! If laws were broken during the pregnancy of your mother, you might not be here! But we have human nature from conception. That has to be so!

So, who is under law? Every man, woman and child is under law!

• When people sin in the world, does it affect them whether they know it is sin or not? Yes!
• How does it affect them? Because they're breaking law!
• What is human nature?
• Where does it come from?
• What makes a little infant 6-months-old angry?
• Why doesn't a one-year-old obey?

Human nature! Human nature!

As I read these verses, I want you to think about the whole world:

• their laws
• their ways
• their rules
• what you see on television
• what you see in movies
• what you see in people's lives

Romans 3:10: exactly as it is written: 'For there is not a righteous one—not even one!'"

There may be 'good' people, because they've learned not to be bad. But that doesn't mean that they're righteous or converted.

Verse 11: "There is not one who understands…"

Think about Washington, D.C. Does anybody back there have a clue as to what is going on? A clue? NO!

"…there is not one who seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way; together they have all become depraved. There is not even one who is practicing kindness. No, there is not so much as one!" (vs 11-12).

When there are those who try to practice kindness, what do they do? They enact laws to take it away from them!

Verse 13: "Their throats are like an open grave; with their tongues they have used deceit; the venom of asps is under their lips, whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes" (vs 13-18)

This tells us who is under law; v 19: "Now then, we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Everyone in the world who does not have the Holy Spirit of God is under Law!

In addition to Satan the devil, they are very willing and have eager minds to do evil. Here's what Jesus said, and this is every man, woman and child regardless of age, young or old. Think about how you think.

Mark 7:20: "And He said, 'That which springs forth from within a man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the hearts of men… [and women] …go forth evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickednesses, guile, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evils go forth from within, and these defile a man" (vs 20-23).

This last week, of those thing at come from within, how many of those did you do? or see? or hear? So, who is under Law? The whole world! (Rom. 3)!

When you are baptized and you received the Holy Spirit you are not under Law as the world is! You are under grace, because God has given His Holy Spirit to you! Now you have connection with Him! Only those who have been baptized, received the Holy Spirit of God are under grace! No one else!

Why? Because God does not give His grace in the manner that He does to us unless we are in covenant with Him! The only way we are in covenant with Him is to die the baptismal death! When entering into a covenant they must pledge their death if they don't do what they say, they should do. Christ already gave His, so God lays us right on the body of Christ to forgive us our sins and now that is the grace of God!

Romans 6:14: "For sin shall not rule over you because you are not under Law, but under grace." You've been baptized and received the Holy Spirit of God!

Verse 15: "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? MAY IT NEVER BE!"

• How are we to live our lives?
• How is it that we are to obey?
• We read it in Heb. 10—in the Spirit, not in the letter!

We are to have the laws and commandments of God written in our heart and mind, inscribed in our mind! God's Spirit is to lead us, and this is why we have the whole operation of God's plan. That's why we have the Sabbath, because God wants us to be in contact with Him:

• through His Word
• through His Spirit
• through our lives

God will bless us, and God's blessings come when we least expect.

• we don't go to God and demand anything from God.
• we go to God and ask God to help us
• we go to God and ask Him to forgive us our sins

Eph. 2—Paul writes of this in a little different way. When we were in the world the 'prince of the power of the air'—Satan the devil—was broadcasting all of the things of his lust and everything that the world does to the whole world. But when God calls us and we have been baptized together…

Ephesians 2:4: "But God, Who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, has made us alive together with Christ…." (vs 4-5).

Through the operation of baptism we die, but we are raised out of there 'to walk in newness of life.'

"…(For you have been saved by grace.)" (v 5). What is that grace?

• God the Father draws us
• Christ leads us
• He brings us to repentance

That's all a part of it!

Verse 6: "And He has raised us up together and has caused us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

"…He has raised us up together…"—out of the watery grave!

Verse 7: "So that in the ages that are coming…" that's when we'll be there!

Verse 8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this especially is not of your own selves; it is the gift of God."

• God draws us
• God calls us
• God leads us

That's why we're here and not everybody else in the world!

Verse 9: "Not of works…"—works that we do! That is works that are not God's works.

For example, when you keep the Sabbath, whose work are you doing? Yours? or God's? God's!

Verse 10: "For we are His workmanship, being created in Christ Jesus unto the good works that God ordained beforehand in order that we might walk in them."

This shows that after baptism and we are under grace, we're to walk in God's way. What are we to do then?

Romans 6:15: "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? MAY IT NEVER BE! Don't you realize that to whom you yield yourselves as servants to obey, you are servants of the one you obey, whether it is of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (vs 15-16).

See the contrast there? Sin is transgression of the Law! Obedience is keeping the Law! How? In the Spirit with love and Truth! This is how we grow in the love of God.

Verse 17: "But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you."

Then Paul shows that we are to use the Spirit of God to grow and overcome. God is there; direct access to God, anytime! Someone always asks: How close is God? As close as your knees are to the floor! He will hear!

• this is what it means to be under grace
• this is what means for baptism

Baptism is that covenant death; now you are in covenant with God!

One last thing concerning covenant breaking! If you break the covenant you're under death! That's why every day when we pray—remember the model prayer—'forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us,' daily! Daily! Sometimes it's hard to forgive. But nevertheless, once we do, it cleans everything out with the Spirit of God.

• this is what baptism means
• this is what it means to be under grace

Scriptural References:

• Acts 10:24-28, 34-45
• Ephesians 1:12-14
• Acts 10:45-48
• Matthew 3:13-15
• John 3:22-23
• John 4:1-2
• Acts 2:36-40
• Acts 8:5-10, 12, 17
• Matthew 28:18-19
• Mark 16:15-16
• Acts 19:1-6
• Romans 5:8-11
• Romans 6:1-14
• Hebrews 10:15-18
• Romans 7:1
• Romans 3:10-19
• Mark 7:20-23
• Romans 6:14-15
• Ephesians 2:4-10
• Romans 6:15-17

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Isaiah 52; 53
• Philippians 2
• Ephesians 1:14
• Genesis 15

Also referenced:

Books:

• Judaism: Revelation of Moses or Religion of Men by Philip Neal
• Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried & Goldin

Message: What Will We Do on the Sea of Glass After the Resurrection?

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 6/9/21

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