David Pawson - Key Steps to Becoming a Christian Pt4 - Baptism in Water

Click the SHOW MORE button below, for this week’s blog...
Copyright “This David Pawson video is the copyright of ©DavidPawson Teaching Trust 2020 and is streamed with the permission of the David Pawson Teaching Trust. For a full library of David’s teaching resources please visit www.davidpawson.org”.
Thoughtful Thoughts 15.3.24 by John Dunning. Peace with God, Pt 4. “Baptizo”.
Introduction.
After Peter finished his sermon at Pentecost, the crowd cried out, ‘When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37.
Peter replied “Repent and be immersed, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call” ’; (Acts 2:38).
1). WHAT does the word “Baptizo” mean?
a). The Greek word ‘baptizo’ means to ‘immerse’ something into a liquid, (like a sheep) or to ‘sink’ it, (like a ship).
b). Greek newspapers will write that a ship has been “baptizo” when it has sunk.
c). The Greek word “baptizo” is also used when wool is ‘dyed’ to give it a colour.
d). Because Greek Orthodox priests understand the meaning, they immerse the whole baby under the water. They know that the Greek word ‘baptizo’ means to “immerse”.
e). -So why is the word “baptizo” not translated into English?
The church had a clause written into the constitution of what was then called the British and Foreign Bible Society, forbidding the Greek word “baptizo” from being translated into English.
f). -Why hide its meaning?
The church didn’t want the public to learn that the practice of Christening was not in the Bible, so by tweaking the Greek word without translating it, the church was able to conceal the English translation of the word, as it means to “immerse”.
Because Bible publishers needed to sell the church their Bibles, they needed to only print the version the church was prepared to buy. The word ‘baptism’ is nothing more than a Greek transliteration.
(The “Complete Jewish Bible” does provide a proper translation of the word - being “immerse”.)
2). WHY must we do it?
A). It a question of obedience! Disciples of Jesus are told to…
i). Jesus told us to! (John 3.22 and Mark 16.16).
Jesus also says elsewhere that His Father loves those who obey Him.
Jesus set the example, (even though He was the only who person who did not need to.) He obeyed His Father to go ahead with it. Now no one can say that it didn’t apply to them.
ii). John the Baptist immersed.
iii). Jesus had His disciples immerse repentant believers.
iv). The Apostles also taught it and set the example for others.
Peter said to do it in Acts 2:38.
v). The disciples got the early church to practice immersing believers.
vi). Paul was immersed after his conversion, just as God directed Ananias to do for him.
vii). Paul immersed his converts.
B). Jesus told us to, for a reason.
Obedience from us leads to our heavenly Father promising the offer of His Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38).
Without a believer’s baptism by immersion, we are like a car with only two cylinders working. There are four cylinders needed to make a car work properly… We must repent and trust in Jesus, be immersed and receive His Holy Spirit.
Many Christians have only reached the point of obeying the first and second commands.
3). WHEN should ‘immersion’ take place?
Like me, many readers will have been ‘christened’, so to them, the question of ‘WHEN’ will be relevant.
Although the Greek Orthodox Church understands the Greek language, they get the METHOD right, of immersion, but then they get the TIMING wrong about what stage in life to do it. That is because they inherited incorrect practices from Catholicism which they continued on with after they split away from them, just as other Orthodox churches did.
Peter tells an honest enquirer to be immersed AFTER repenting of sin (Acts 2.38). (John the Baptist refused to baptise Pharisees who had not repented.)
It was ALWAYS taught that way in the New Testament, and there were no exceptions.
ALL those repenting of their sin in the New Testament were immersed AFTER they repented. I keep saying this in different ways because there is no record in the New Testament of any other practice. Immersion is an act of obedience.
Immersion had to be a personal decision made by an individual who was repenting. Babies cannot do that… Established churches ‘Christen’ babies as and when requested by the parents or guardians, and the church then welcomes the baby into the family of God!
This misleads everyone, making the church a signpost pointing in the wrong direction.
...
If you would like to read the full version, go to our homepage: www.inspiratio...
This link takes you to our devotional blog.inspirati...

[@johnathan8174]

'Promosm'