"Spiritual Matters" - 2

 "Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of the laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." (Hebrews 6:2 KJV)

  "Once we too were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But - "When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life."" (Titus 3:3-7 NLT)

 Okay then, here is what this is all about, whether you believe it or not, the moment you received Christ Jesus into your heart, you were already baptized, which is basically called, "an inward baptism." There is a really good example of that, as we are washed by the blood of Christ as soon as we have been saved! We are washed by His blood; there for, when we actually do get baptized, in water, we are demonstrating an inward work that was done; signifying that inward work with an outward expression. 

 We can go into that with greater detail, but I think you get the just of what that means. The whole point that I am trying to make, is that of the spiritual matter! Our spiritual connection with God was dead! If you don't know what that means, it means we were spiritually dead! Even though we lived in these temporary bodies, we were basically like the walking dead; living a life that had no connection with the God that had created this living soul.

 When we accepted Christ into our hearts, we became alive; totally and completely connected to the God that made us; which we in inward baptism, the washing away of our sins by the blood of Christ. The main point is that this thing, "the doctrine of baptisms," is one that has several different ways that people have interpreted what it means.

 If you have followed this blog for long, you might have heard my conversation with a man that didn't like my shirt, because it had the symbol of a dove, and it said: Calvary Chapel. As it was, he didn't like my shirt because we didn't agree on the importance of baptism. He believed that you have to be baptized to be saved, and I believe you must get saved, then you get baptized.

 Pastor Bryan touched on this last Sunday but didn't really get deep into the illustration. There is a very power illustration of how this actually worked, with the thief on the cross. Was he not saved because he didn't get baptized? Well, if you really want to get right down to it, he was actually baptized inwardly, as soon as he received Christ into his heart...

"One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, "So you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself - and us, too, while you're at it!" But the other criminal protested, "Don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus replied, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise."" (Luke 23:39-41 NLT)