of the Spirit, the water, and the blood

12 hrs

i would like to show some things around the import of baptism.
not HOW to baptise, but WHAT is baptism.
what is actually happening.

let's start with the baptism of moses.
yes, the israelites were also baptised, INTO moses.

1 cor 10
- 1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. -

now, notice that they were baptised into moses in two things, the cloud and the sea.
but this baptism was not complete yet, for something was missing.
to explain that we look at what was meant when it says 'moses' into which they were baptised.
well, his writings of course, the Torah. the Law given him by YHWH.
and that Law, ineffable as it is, had not yet been completed, or fulfilled, by Yeshua yet.

ephesians 5
- 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her 26to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, -

when one reads the NT, whenever there is talk of baptism and it has detail, notice that the people being baptised are always being PREACHED to beforehand. and they are preaching the Word, which is now the fulfilled Law that Yeshua brought. and reading ephesians here it should be clear that the 'washing with water' that cleanses is being done by the Word.

the Word itself is solid food, the bread to eat, the knowledge of God.
FOLLOWING the counsel that the Word provides, the Law it gives, is the water to drink.
peter, in acts 10, when he baptises cornelius et al, gives a most wonderfully concise sermon, where he explains all that had happened, starting with the baptism of john the baptist.
and john the baptist is all about REPENT. turn, from following the ways of the world, and follow the Way of the LORD.
drink. immerse yourself.

let me show you 1 cor 12
- 13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink. -

when we respond to the call of God to come out of egypt, it is the Spirit of God calling us, the cloud, and when we repent, turn, and follow that cloud out of egypt, we pass through the sea.
but this is not yet different to the baptism of moses. and that was insufficient. so, what is still required?

romans 6
- 3Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? -

for we are talking of the fulfilled Law now, remember, and this is the missing element, the blood.
for we are to follow our Messiah into death, by which is meant that almost mystical concept, dying to ourselves, by which is meant we do not anymore do what we feel like, but what YHWH demands of us.

and this is testified to
1 john 5
- 5Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 6This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ—not by water alone, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies to this, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are in agreement. -

it would really help when people are immersed in water that they are made aware of this beforehand.
the best preparation for baptism? go read the Bible from cover to cover first. although that's quite a demand.
but always, the good news must be preached first, for it is what actually cleanses.
peter's sermon in acts 10 is exemplary.