THREE BAPTISMS

THREE BAPTISMS

1/ Baptism "into Christ" or the body of Christ—(Gal 3: 27), (1 Cor 12: 13) This is the first thing a sinner does to become a follower of Jesus. We must be "born again" (John 3:3), (2 Cor 5:17), (Eph 2:1-10), which is the same thing as being baptized into the body of Christ, in my opinion.

2/ Baptism in water---(Matt 3:13-17), (Acts 8:35-38), (Rom 6:1-6)
This is the second thing a person should do, as soon after becoming "born again" possible. There has been some controversy over the mode of baptism, whether it should be done in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or in the Name of Jesus. To me they are the same, because Jesus is the only Name in the Godhead, Father and Holy Spirit are titles and not names. An understanding of this would eliminate the controversy.

3/ Baptism "in or with" the Holy Spirit--- (Matt 3:11), (Acts1:1-8)
This can happen at any time after the first two, when a person yields completely to the Holy Spirit, and confesses every known sin, and those that were unknown until God makes them known. This often takes some time of spiritual growth after conversion! (Eph 4:11-13) Some people claim that speaking in "tongues" always accompanies baptism in the Holy Spirit as the "initial sign" or evidence. But others have believed there should be many signs of a "Spirit filled" life besides the gift of tongues, See (Eph 5:18-21) where Paul describes what being filled with the Spirit really means. The Greek word translated here as "be filled", means to keep on continually being filled, and is not a one time experience! The danger as I see it is that if people are expecting any sort of a sign or experience, they might be deceived by Satan who can counterfeit gifts. But if they are seeking Jesus, who is the baptizer, and not some experience, they are safe. I believe the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the first step in a spirit filled life, and the two terms mean the same thing. The baptism never needs to be repeated, but we need to be filled daily. And the initial biblical evidence of the baptism is speaking in a language you have never learned as the Spirit gives this ability.(Acts 2:4)  Once a person is baptized in the Spirit, they need to keep being filled daily, by constantly hungering and thirsting after God!

Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

HOLY OR UNHOLY

HOLY OR UNHOLY?

When God chose the children of Jacob (Israel) as a special people to be an example to the ungodly tribes that inhabited the world of that day, He gave them some clear instructions.Many of these instructions are found in the writings of Moses. I would like to direct you to one such passage in the book of Leviticus, It is chapter 10, verse 10 "that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean". To put it in context you need to read the whole chapter, especially verses 8-11. God is giving very explicit instructions to Aaron the high priest about keeping clear of some things that would defile him, or make him unclean for service to the Lord.

In (1 Peter 2:4-10), we understand that God considers all born again believers to be part of His "chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation" (vs 9) since Jesus said he did not come to destroy the law, but only to fulfill it then we know that the principles laid down in the OT apply to us in the NT age. This principle of holiness and living a separated life from the world system is certainly one of these.

There has been a lot of confusion in the church as to the real meaning of holiness. Most people associate it with a list of do's and don'ts, or in other words a very legalistic attitude towards outward actions. True holiness must begin on the inside with a change of heart by a real "born again" experience. Outward observance to a certain code of conduct enforced by some religious system will never accomplish holy living as outlined in God's word. We are told in (Lev 11:45) "For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall be holy for I am holy." The world system is for us what the land of Egypt was for them. Salvation literally means separation "from" the world and separation "to" the Lord. Paul tells us in (Col 1:13) that "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love". Let us consider Paul's exhortation in (Phil 2:15) "that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world". That is certainly good advice, and would be my prayer for each of you today and everyday, as you follow Jesus!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

A KINGDOM MANIFESTO by Howard Snyder

A KINGDOM MANIFESTO by Howard Snyder----sub-title calling the Church to live under God's reign

A quote from the preface to the book will serve to present the main purpose for it being written. "I'm afraid evangelicalism is infected by the most subtle form of worldliness. It's the worldliness of Hollywood and Madison Ave----we operate as if the only thing worth doing in the world is what we can measure by numbers and dollars. We are not Kingdom of God people." Then a paragraph later "Many people who have been converted to Jesus seemingly have never been converted to the Kingdom He proclaimed" In the preface on page 12 the author states "the theme of this book: The kingdom of God in Scripture and it's meaning for us today." He then goes on to quote E. Stanley Jones on page 13 "The kingdom of God is the master-conception, the master-plan, the master-purpose, the master-will that gathers everything up into itself and gives it redemption, coherence, purpose and goal."

The book is divided into two sections, ----Part 1 The Biblical Promise,--- seven chapters that give us God's promises pertaining to His Kingdom. They are 1/ The Peaceable Order, 2/ The Promised Land, 3/ The House of God, 4/ The City of The King, 5/ Justice for the Poor, 6/ The Age of Sabbath, 7/ The Age of Jubilee.---Part 2 The Present Challenge---four chapters that show us how to live in the Kingdom in our present age. They are 1/ The People of the Kingdom, 2/ The Possibility of the Kingdom, 3/ The Project of the Kingdom, 4/ The Principles of the Kingdom.

He finishes with a Select Bibliography, and several pages of Notes referring back to each chapter. I consider this book to be a Scholarly work, but written for the ordinary person in an easy to follow format. It is difficult to pick out any one chapter of this book that I found most challenging, but probably if I had to pick one it would be chapter 8. In this chapter on pages 81-84 he describes "The Kingdom Community" as what the Church that Jesus told us He would build, should look like.

In another book by this same author called "Community of the King" he describes the church as an "Agent of the Kingdom". Showing clearly that the church is not the Kingdom, but has a very important role to play in helping the world to understand what the Kingdom of God is all about!

Sincerely submitted

Dave Jamer

Some quotes from Derek Prince on holiness

SOME QUOTES FROM DEREK PRINCE ON HOLINESS

Quotes taken from an article in "New Wine Magazine" back in March 1975.

"John Wesley defined holiness as perfect love. However I prefer to define holiness as a combination of God's righteousness and God's love".

"First we are to pursue holiness—we are to make it an objective. Second,
in order to achieve holiness, we must pursue peace with all people".
(Heb 12:14)

"Christ redeems us by His blood, then He sanctifies and cleanses us by the washing of water by the Word" (1 Peter 1:2), and (Eph 5:25-26).

"Sanctification proceeds from the inside, outward; not from the outside, inward".

"The process of sanctification will only be as effective as our faith allows it to be".

"It is the new nature that each believer receives through rebirth that cannot sin". (1 John 5:18)

"The nature of the seed determines the nature of the life that comes from the seed---The incorruptible seed of God's Word produces a nature that is, like the seed, incorruptible." (1 Peter 1:23)

"This new nature is incorruptible and undefeatable. It does not sin and it cannot sin.---If I am defeated, it is because  I am not meeting my problem with the new nature.". ( 1 John 3 :9)

"Satan can only touch the old man,---the carnal nature is the legitimate prey of Satan, but he cannot touch the new nature." (Gen 3:14) NKJV

I trust these quotes from Derek will help shed some light on any discussions on holiness! They did for me!

Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

HIDE & SEEK

HIDE AND SEEK

 

I'm sure you all remember when we were kids we could spend hours playing "hide & seek". We would all take turns trying to find the perfect hiding place where no one could find us! Of course we never found the perfect place, and were always found. But the idea of finding some place, where we could remain hidden from the searchers, and yet see them, would keep us playing this game for hours!

 

The scriptures mention in several places about a secret hiding place, where we can remain hidden from our spiritual enemies. This is important for those of us who are followers of Jesus, who are often being hounded by Satan and the spirits of his kingdom of darkness. In (Psa 91:1) we read "He, who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty". This verse plus many other similar ones, give a clear message that our God has provided a safe place for us to hide from our enemies. This safe hiding place is found only in an intimate relationship with our Creator God, which He has made possible because of what His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, did for us on the cross of Calvary!

 

This is the very core of the gospel of the Kingdom, that Jesus came to declare, and was then passed on to his disciples. After His death and resurrection he sent the Holy Spirit to take His place on earth. These disciples were baptized with this Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4), and became known as the first apostles (sent ones), who went about spreading the good news of the Kingdom. This same Holy Spirit who came to earth that day is still here, and is still baptizing and filling people with Himself as they yield themselves completely to Him. Paul declared in (Eph 2:19-22) that we have become a temple or "dwelling where God lives by His Spirit" NLT. So now as followers of Jesus, we can be filled with the Spirit of God, and have Him living in our hearts by faith! Could this be the NT way of expressing the truth of these OT scriptures about being safe under His Wings etc? How could we be any more protected by our God, than by having Him living within us? It would seem to me that if we make Satan aware of this fact, "by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony" (Rev 12:11), that he would have to back off, and leave us alone, which is the testimony of many followers of Jesus!

 

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

SAINT OR SINNER?

SAINT OR SINNER? ?

We know from reading (2 Cor 5:17) that anyone who is "in Christ" is a new creation, and we know from (John 3:3) that this happens when a person is "born again" by the Spirit of God. By this act on our part of confessing our sinful condition and receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Savior from sin, we become "saints". Paul wrote several letters to groups of believers gathered together to form churches. He always extended his greeting to the "saints", or holy people, who resided in that city. In other words the believers, or followers of Jesus, were called saints. Because over the years the church has set certain people apart, and called then saints, usually long after they are dead, we have been confused about the true meaning of this term. We often hear well meaning believers refer to themselves as just a "sinner saved by grace", but this is not correct. If they are indeed saved, they are no longer a sinner, but a saint. Their true identity has been changed from sinner to saint, and their position before God can never be reversed. If and when a believer sins after being saved, they don't revert back to a sinner, they are merely a saint who has sinned. God has made provision for restoring such a one back into fellowship with Him. (1 John 1:9)

In the natural world around us we see beautiful butterflies, who were once ugly worms before they were supernaturally changed. Now a butterfly can land in a mud puddle and get wet and dirty, but they never revert back to a worm because of this mistake. As soon as they dry off they can fly again as usual. Neither does a saint revert back to a sinner because they fall into some form of sinful behavior after they are saved. By following the provision of God in His Word, they can be cleansed and restored. There has been much confusion in the church over this issue of a Christian sinning. Some say they are lost again, while others have maintained that they are eternally secure. I believe if we separate membership in God's family, from our position in His Kingdom, we have the answer to this debate. In other words our sinful behavior does not affect our position in the family of God, but it may affect our place in His kingdom. In (1 Peter 1:3-4) we read about a "precious inheritance" which is being reserved in heaven for us! I believe this is our part in the Kingdom of God. A careful reading of (1 Cor 6:9-11), (Gal 5:19-21), and (Eph 5:3-5) will clearly show that this type of sinful behavior listed in these passages will affect a believer's place in the Eternal Kingdom. We enter God's family by means of the new birth, which is a gift of God's grace, but we are transferred into the Kingdom,(Col 1:13). If we are transferred in, we can be legislated out if necessary! Check these scriptures out for yourself, and see what you think!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

TWO MEN

TWO MEN

 

I have been impressed with the stories in the scriptures of two men that Jesus healed, who were very different. One was the "certain man" mentioned in (John 5:1-15), who had been lying by the pool of Bethesda apparently for 38 years waiting to be healed. The other man was Blind Bartimaeus, mentioned in (Mark 10:46-52) who was actively seeking healing. Jesus asked both men a very similar question, to the one "Do you want to be made well?", and to the other "What do you want me to do for you?". Let us look briefly at these two men, and their different attitudes toward healing.

 

The certain man in John 5, started to offer excuses to the question of Jesus. Apparently he had become discouraged and had really given up hope of ever being healed. As a result he had learned to accept life as it was, and because Jesus knows what is in the heart of every man, He asks him that question. How many people today who are in need of healing or deliverance have come to the same place as this man? They have become accustomed to their condition, and couldn't imagine what life would be like otherwise! Therefore Jesus comes to us all at certain times with this same question "do you want to be made whole?" If we are completely honest, I believe none of us can say we are as whole as Jesus wants us to be! Thank God He is not finished with any of us yet, and is still working on us, little by little to bring us to the place of spiritual maturity! The scriptural term for this process is "sanctification" resulting in "holiness", a term not heard very often in the modern day church, but quite often in the pages of scripture. (1 Peter 1:16)

 

In the case of Bartimeaus, he was actively seeking healing from his blindness. Before Jesus ever asked him what he wanted, he was crying out to Jesus for mercy. This indicates to me a much different attitude from the certain man in John 5. We might say his was a very "passive" attitude, whereas Bartimaeus had a very "proactive" attitude. Jesus healed them both because of his mercy and compassion, but can you see the difference in the two men? Which of these two attitudes towards being made whole would you say you have? I think it is easy to fall into the "passive" mindset of the certain man, especially if your condition has persisted for many years. Let us ask God for a "proactive" attitude towards the needed deliverance or healing we need to become perfectly "whole"!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer