Baptism And To Be Born Again Of Water
And Spirit.
John the Baptist baptized people in the river Jordan,
not because the river Jordan was larger or smaller or better than any other
river in the world; but because the river was the only place in which
people should be baptized as it was made a symbol and a replica to
the river of life which flows out of the throne of God and the Lamb in the
heavenly Jerusalem at the time when the Israelites crossed it over to go to
the Promised Land, and it was also in conformity with the prophecy as in:
Ezekiel (47 – 8):
And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region
and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the
sea, the waters shall be healed.
9 And it shall come to pass, that
wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will
live, and there will be many fish; for these waters reach there, that
the waters of the sea may be healed; so everything will live where the
river comes.
In accordance with this prophecy, all living souls
that creep to where the river goes are healed and live, this means that
their sins are washed away with the water and the sacred blood
which flows out from the side of the crucified Christ. That is
the water which flows out from the throne of God and the Lamb,
and of which the Jordan river was made a symbol and a replica.
This is why the Baptism of John was named as the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Let us see what John said about his baptism:
Matthew (3 – 5):
Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about
the Jordan,
6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins.
7 … 11 "I baptized you with water for repentance, but he who is coming
after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
And in: Luke (3 – 3):
And he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
4 .. 16 John answered them all,
"I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming,
thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire.This is why John was surprised to see
Christ asking for his baptism, as Christ had no sin in himself, and he needed
no repentance, but Christ said to him, "Let it be so now" as in:
Matthew (3 – 13):
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you,
and do you come to me?"
15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting
for us to fulfil all righteousness."
Now let us see what the glorified Christ said to his disciples after he rose
from death:
Matthew (28 – 18):
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
And in: Mark (16 – 15):
And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to
the whole creation.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned.
But what was he symbol of baptism in the Old Testament? How did the priests
Aaron and his sons enter into the Holy-place of the tabernacle??
As the Holy-place represented and symbolized the churches of God on earth
and throughout the generations.
Exodus (30 – 18):
"You shall also make a laver of cupper, with its base of cupper,
for washing. And you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the
altar, and you shall put water in it,
19 with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.
20 When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come
near the altar to minister, to burn an offering by fire to the Lord, they
shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die: it shall be a statute
for ever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their
generations."
The water which was in the laver represented and
symbolized the crossing of the Jordan which the Israelites crossed in
order to enter into the Promised Land, and as we have said earlier, the
river Jordan itself was a replica representing the river of the water of
life in the heavenly Jerusalem which flows out of the throne of God and
the Lamb, and every living being that creeps to the river is healed
and lives by being baptized in it, that is, the water in the
laver was an indication representing the necessity of baptism
before the believer could enter into the church of God in the Holy-place.
Jesus Christ did wash the disciples feet before the crucifixion as in:
John (13 –5):
Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet,
and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.
6 He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, "Lord, do you wash my
feet?"
7 Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not know now, but
afterward you will understand."
8 Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus
answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in
me."
9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands
and my head!"
10 Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed does not need to wash,
except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean,
but not every one of you."
So now let us see how Peter baptized people:
Acts (10 - 3):
…He saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him,
"Cornelius".
4 And he stared at him in terror, and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said
to him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before
God.
5 And now send men to Joppa, and bring one Simon who is called Peter;
6 .. 34 And Peter opened his mouth and said, "Truly I perceive that God
shows no partiality,
35 ..38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazereth with the Holy Spirit and with
power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by
the devil, for God was with him.
39 and we are witnesses to all that he did both in the country of the Jews
and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by crucifying him on a piece of
wood;
40 but God raised him on the third day and made him manifest;
41 not to all people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses,
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 And he commanded us to preach to the people, and testify that he is the
one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
43 To him all the prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him
receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
44 while Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who
heard the word.
45 .. 47 Then Peter declared, "Can any one forbid water for baptizing
these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
48 and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
As you see the water was for baptizing them in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That is he who received the Holy Spirit has been purified spiritually
, so he has to clean and purify his body by getting baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ the Son of God.
But how was water brought so that Peter would baptize Cornelius? Peter
did not say let us go to the river Jordan so we can baptize you there
Cornelius, so was there a big pool of water in Cornelius house? The book
does not mention that also, but simply that Peter said, "Can any
one forbid water for baptizing these people" and he baptized
Cornelius in his own house.
Also we see in: Acts (8 – 12):
But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom
of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13 .. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,
15 who came and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Spirit;
16 for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had
only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit
.
This means that the Holy Spirit does not fall on those who are baptized
with water. The Holy Spirit might fall on the believer before
baptism then water is brought to clean and baptize his body as in
Cornelius case, or the believer is first baptized with water then the Holy
Spirit falls on him by prayers and the laying of hands of the disciples or
their representative, that is, he who lays his hands should have already
got the Holy Spirit himself.
Saint Paul says in:Ephesians (5 – 25):
………, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water
with the word.
That is that you may be born again of water and Spirit, just as Christ
said to Nicodemus in:
John (3 – 5):
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
But let us see how the human brain thinks:
1 Corinthians (1 – 12):
What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul,"
or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas,"
or "I belong to Christ."
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in
the name of Paul?
We say here, "As the believers are all of them priests to God
exactly as Aaron was", as seen in:
The Revelation (1 – 5):
And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead,
and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him
be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7 .. 11 saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the
seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna
and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to
Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicia.
"
And in: 1 Peter (2 – 5):
and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house,
to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 .. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood
a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the
wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light.
Now let us see how the priests were sanctified before entering into the
Holy-Tent of meeting:
Exodus (29 – 1):
"Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them,
that they may serve me as priests. Take one young bull and
two rams without blemish,
2 .. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of
meeting, and wash them with water.
5 .. 7 And you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head
and anoint him.
8 … 10 "Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting.
Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bull,
11 and you shall kill the bull before the Lord, at the door of the tent of
meeting,
12 and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it upon ….
13 .. 19 "You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons
shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram,
20 and you shall kill the ram, and take part of its blood and put it upon
the tip of the right ear of Aaron and upon the tips of the right ears of
his sons, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes
of their right feet, and …… .
21 Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar,
and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon
Aaron and his garments, and upon his sons and his sons’ garments with
him; and he and his garments shall be holy, and his sons
and his sons’ garments with him.
Are the requirements necessary to sanctify the believers to become priests to God clear?? God asked for:
First: To wash them with water at the door of the tent of meeting.
Second: To pour the anointing oil on their heads.
Third: To transfer their sins to the bull which is killed in
their place, that is, to redeem them by the bull which was only a
replica representing the crucified Christ.
Fourth: To take part of the blood of the ram and put it on the tips
of their right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the
great toes of their right feet.
Fifth: To sprinkle part of the blood that is on the altar
and the anointing oil on them and their garments.
And now, as the blood
above was a replica to Christ blood and his redemption of the believer who
accepts it and believes in him, and as the anointing oil is made of the
finest spices: of liquid myrrh and of sweet-smelling cinnamon and of
aromatic cane and of cassia and of olive oil, which is
a replica to the perfumed Holy Spirit
as in Exodus (30 – 23/24/25). So the sanctification steps are:
First: To wash them with water of the laver at the door of
the tent.
Second: To pour the holy anointing oil on their heads. That is
the Holy Spirit may fall on their heads.
Third: To accept and believe in their redemption by Christ on
the Cross.
Lastly: To sprinkle the holy anointing oil on their bodies,
that means, they should accept the Holy Spirit and to take the vow to be
in the service of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and he who
believes is saved, and who does not is condemned.
This is baptism with water and the blood of the redeeming Christ and
the Holy Spirit. He whose baptism does not confirm to the four points
above is incomplete, the baptism with water is the first condition,
but we point out that the water of the laver was not enough to dip the
whole body of the priests in it. The acceptance of Christ redeeming
blood is the second condition. The anointing with the holy oil is
the third condition. Yes, this is how you should be born
again of water and the Spirit and to be worthy of the kingdom of God.
Abid Al-Ahad Dauod.
21 / 1/ 2001
