Baptism

     After a person becomes a Born Again Christian; is it mandatory for them to be baptized, in water, to qualify for Heaven? 

     Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be Born Again, but did not mention the MIKVEH (immersion in water / baptism).

When one is Born Again, they are forgiven of their sins and the Ha Rauch Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) comes to indwell them (“I will never leave you nor forsake you”). 

    Although Jesus was sinless, he was dunked in the Jordan River, by His cousin John ‘the baptizer’. They did this in order to fulfill scripture (fulfill all righteousness), not because Jesus had to give Himself to Himself. I do believe that He was the Anointed One of God, before, and after the incident. The dove (Holy Spirit) descending on Him with the message from the Father, was a sign that Jesus was not alone (He had the Father and the Spirit in Him).

     Water Baptism is the outward sign and confession, to all, of what Jesus has accomplished in your life. The cleansing in water, (MIKVEH), is a Jewish duty to cleanse oneself ritually before doing something religious. 

     I am of the opinion that water baptism is advantages, and something that God would encourage. I, and my wife, and all of our children were baptized under the auspices of the Southern Baptist Church, because I believe that it should be done, if it can be done. My earthly father, for example, was saved two days before he passed over. He was in a hospital and there was no chance for a formal baptism. The Lord is just, in all things. Why then do we place so many obstacles and obstructions in the way of non believers and even place guilt on some believers. God is not happy when we add to His word and really gets upset when we twist His word. The Bible is infallible, not your opinions about it!

     There is another baptism, known as the baptism of the Ha Rauch Ha Kodesh. Although the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer, He doesn’t bestow all or even sometimes any of His gifts on everybody. The Spirit distributes His gifts as He wills. They are gifts that (in most cases) the Christian has to be open to, and even ask for in some cases. There are many Christians who claim that when Peter petered out, the gifts of the Spirit petered out. That shows a lack of biblical knowledge, because St. John was the last Apostle to die, in His nineties. Does anyone believe that John lost the gifts when Peter died?

Holy Spirit fire, symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit. That fire rained down on the participants at Pentecost. People were converted to the Messianic branch of Judaism as well as foreigners that might have not been Jewish, in huge numbers at that event, and apparently were baptized in the Holy Spirit before any water baptism could have taken place. At that point, the gift of tongues was used to enable the foreigners to understand what was going on. They were amazed that people were speaking in their languages.

     Lack of display, of the gifts if the Holy Spirit, is not the sign of a lesser Christian. It has always amazed me that so much misunderstanding surrounds the Holy Spirit and His gifts. However, many who lack the act of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit claim they have the gifts like preaching and teaching. 

     There is a misnomer that the Holy Spirit is actually the “Holy Spurt”, to be called on in case of emergency and put away until the next crisis. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will guide and lead you into all truth. Since we all say we want the truth, why wouldn’t we turn God’s Holy Spirit loose, in the entirety of our lives. Please, keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and does not force His gifts on anyone who doesn’t want them. 

      

     Back, to the discussion of Water Baptism. The thief on the cross is a prime example of the Baptism being important but not necessarily mandatory. Jesus told him that he would be with Him, in Paradise, ‘today’.

     Jesus doesn’t forgive your sins by your being dunked in water. Jesus has already taken care of you sin life.  Jesus suffered and died for all the sins of all of mankind. You accept the free gift of forgiven sin, by John 3:16 and Romans 10:9, by humbling yourself, asking for forgiveness and asking Jesus to be the center of your life. At that point, your sins are sent away as far as the East is from the West. Because of what Jesus did for us, The Father no longer sees us through our sin, but rather through the veil of Jesus blood. It is that blood that was sacrificed for us that saved us, not the water of the outward display of our acceptance of our Christ.

     There has been a lot of harangue about the method of baptism. Should it be shortly after birth, full dunk, sprinkling of water, dunking in a baptistery, dunking in a pool, dunking in a river (with running water); if so which River and upstream or downstream. Some people say it has to be upstream, because downstream you will be dunked in other people’s sins that came washing down from upstream. How silly is that? Some people even say it has to be upstream, in the Jordan, just like Jesus.

The Lord I know doesn’t put obstacles in your way. God wants you to come to him, warts and all. He loves you, and wants you to freely receive, of the free gift of Salvation that He paid for. It is not difficult: repentance simply means that you have changed your mind and want Jesus to be Lord if your life. Please, don’t waste the opportunity you have been given. Spending eternity in Heaven is by far preferable to spending eternity in The Eternal Lake of Fire. Free will is a gift if God, so why waste it, the choice is up to you.

The Bible is our authority, covering all information. Sometimes different versions and translations need to be used for clarification of original intent.

If you should disagree with what I have written – I’m wrong, your right!

“Blessed is the Peacemaker”

 

Rick Rahn

Lakeland, FL

2^nd. Day of April, in the year of our Lord Christ, 2020