Monday 29 December 2014

Dialogue between a bible believer and Mormons.


Question:


 

Is God Spirit or made of flesh and bones?


 

This question I put forth is in light of sitting in the LDS Church where members were giving talks stating that God the Father is flesh and bones.

 

Fairmormon Website: It is incorrect to imply that God cannot be in human form, since a fundamental doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus is God, made flesh.

Me: This statement is false and misleading, and is served to only place the reader in a state of mind or have a train of thought into thinking that God CAN be in human form with no scriptural evidence (Bible Only) that God (The Father) is Flesh.

Here is the problem, this statement does not make a distinction between Jesus and the Father. This statement is a play on words or putting it more specifically a word game leaving the reader open to any interpretation.


2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

We must study the Word of God to show ourselves approved unto God, RIGHTLY Dividing the word of truth.

So who are we talking about in the statement?

 Jesus or the Father?

You can take this statement and say that Jesus and the father are the same Person/God, can you not?

Christians rooted in the Holy Bible believe Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, yes. 

Jesus is God.


John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
We all know Jesus is the Word. He was in the beginning, he was with God, and was God. The same was in the beginning with God and all things created by him.


John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. (He is the only begotten of the Father)

So we read here that the Word (Jesus) was made flesh and came to live among us (man).


John 20:28 "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."

Jesus appears to the Apostle Thomas after his resurrection, Thomas call's Jesus his Lord and his God.


1 Timothy 3:16 "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

This verse speaking of Jesus, whom is God manifest in the flesh.


John 8:58 "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am"

Jesus claiming to be God in reference to Exodus 3:14.

There are many more verses that show Jesus is God, but this is not what you were teaching at your chapel service,

Jesus is God in the flesh, but you say God the Father is flesh and bones.

 

GOD THE FATHER IS SPIRIT:

 

Jesus himself defined what a spirit is – and pointed out that it is different from a human, physical body. After his resurrection, he told his disciples in Luke 24.


Luke 24:39 "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

From this definition, we see that a spirit is not flesh and bones.


John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."


Here we have Jesus Speaking to a Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well, she had finished asking Jesus which location should they be worshiping God.

Jesus makes a clear statement to her and says we will no longer be worshiping the Father in any physical location, which according to the Samaritans was in mount Gerizim or with the Jews in Jerusalem. 

Jesus said the TRUE WORSHIPERS shall worship the FATHER in spirit and truth.

Verse 24 Jesus states God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.
Jesus cannot be talking about himself as he makes a clear distinction that he is talking about the Father.

And the KJV translators added words in italics to indicate that it is not part of the original text but inserted by them to give more clarity to the text.

So in verse 24 even if you did remove the italics it would read the following:

"God a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth" – how can you yet still misunderstand that?

 

Fairmormon Website: Mormons believe that God has a physical body and human form. Does scripture which says that "God is not a man" (e.g. Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Hosea 11:9) contradict this idea?

These scriptures read (emphasis added):

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man [i.e., a human being], that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" - Numbers 23:19

The first passage, in Numbers, not only says that "God is not a man", but it also says that God is not "the son of man." If a Christian were to claim from this passage that God is not a man, they would have to consistently claim that God is also not a "son of man." This of course contradicts many New Testament statements about Jesus (who is God) to the contrary.


Me: Of course this boils down to who you are talking about, if we know that Jesus is the "I AM" of the Old Testament, and we know he made this statement before he manifest in the flesh does not this verse ring true?

The nature of the godhead had not fully been revealed until the moment Jesus got baptised.

Think about it, if he said this in the Old Testament, and not yet manifest in the form of Jesus in the New Testament, then this verse is true. There is no contradiction.

And if we are talking about Jesus then this verse has nothing to do with the Father, in which Mormonism claims that the Father is flesh and bones.

Fairmormon Website: Therefore, we know that the passage from Numbers is not suggesting that God is fundamentally not a "son of man", but rather that God is not a "son of man" in the sense that God doesn't have need for repentance. The next logical step requires us to conclude that the passage is not suggesting that God is fundamentally "not a man", but that God is not a man in the sense that God does not lie.

Me: Agreed, in context God, speaking through Balaam, explains His nature to the pagan king Balak and says, "God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and will he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?"

But nowhere is this teaching that God the Father is flesh and bones.

Yes God does not lie, nor does he have the need to repent like man.

But, THERE ARE CLEAR SCRIPTURES THAT SHOW IS THAT GOD DOES REPENT.

Jesus has two natures, he is God and Man, he is 100% God, and 100% Man, and this is called Hypostatic Union, the term we use to describe this state. 

He is not half God and half man, He continued to exist as God when he became a man and added human nature to Himself.


Philippians 2:5-11 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Jesus as God

He is worshiped - Matthew 2:2, 11; 14:33
He is prayed to - Acts 7:59
He is sinless - 1 Peter 2:22; Hebrews 4:15
He knows all things - John 21:17
He gives eternal life - John 10:28
All the fullness of deity dwells in Him - Colossians 2:9

Jesus as Man

 
He worshiped the Father - John 17
He prayed to the Father - John 17
He grew in wisdom - Luke 2:52
He was tempted - Matthew 4:1
He died - Romans 5:8
He has a body of flesh and bones - Luke 24:39


Fairmormon Website: "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent." - 1 Samuel 15:29I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. - Hosea 11:9

Me: Again, this does not answer my question, is God the Father Flesh and bones?


Fairmormon website: Though there are many examples, one should suffice. Jesus says, "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:40

Me: What does this have to do with God the Father being a spirit?

Fairmormon Website: These verses say nothing about the nature or form of God—they merely assert that God is not like man in certain ways

Me: why even bring up Jonas and Matthew scriptures, these verses aren't even saying what you are implying either!

Fairmormon Website: It is incorrect to imply that God cannot be in human form—the fundamental doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus is God, made flesh. One would have to assume that these verses also apply to Jesus, when they clearly do not. Jesus may be in human form, but he will not sin, or change his mind from doing his father's will.

Me: it is also incorrect to imply that God the Father can be in human form, the fundamental doctrine of Christianity is Jesus who is God manifest in the flesh is correct – are you doubting the bible?

You have no verse from the Holy Bible to support your claims that God the Father is flesh and bones, but there a plenty of verses to support the Father is Spirit

Mormon Member: Don't you believe that God was once a man?

Yes in the form of Jesus who is God the Son and the Word, but as to the Father who was once a man? 

No.

Fairmormon Website

In John1:1-14
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Well considering that you believe Jesus is God. In what form did Jesus come in? Flesh and Blood.

Me

He came by water and blood, John's first epistle chapter 5 gives us the testimony of Jesus.


1 John 5:6 "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth."

Note: water is symbolic of the flesh.

Fairmormon Website: Does the doctrine that God has a physical body contradict the Bible's statement that "God is a Spirit"?

Questions

Some Christians object to the LDS position that God has a physical body by quoting John 4:24

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (Italics in KJV original).

Answers

Adopting a critical reading of this verse leads to some strange conclusions if we are consistent. Deuteronomy 4:28 says that our God can see, eat and smell. Can an unembodied spirit do that? 


Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 say that God is a consuming fire, 1 Jn 1:5 says God is light, and 1 Jn 4:4,16 says that God is love. 

Is He just those things? Clearly not, and the LDS conclude that neither is He just a spirit.


Me: this view is completely illogical and shows the calibre of this person who wrote this article, this writer has difficulty in rightly dividing the word, no doubt has difficulty in distinguishing literal and metaphors.

Of Jesus said no man hath seen the Father, a clear distinction between himself and the Father.


John 1:18 "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."


John 6:46 "Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father."

Clear scriptures that tell us that no man has seen the Father.


Deuteronomy 4:28 "And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell."

This verse is talking about false idols, where on earth is this talking about the true living God? 

Note that the word "god" is lowercase…

Again this shows how unlearned the writer of the fairmormon website is, failing to rightly divide the Word. This shows their apologetics and how they employ their tactics.

Cannot a Spirit see? Is this writer so content with their writing that they are making foolish statements?

Cannot a Spirit hear? It is foolish for the writer to make a statement who assumes that Spirits cannot hear then how do you explain the numerous recorded events in the bible where men are communicating to spirits?

Did not King Saul Communicate with a familiar spirit (Demonic Spirit) supposing to be Samuel the Prophet? Read 1 Samuel 28:14-20
 

Hebrews 12:29 - God is a consuming fire, Why can't God be a consuming fire? This is literal, Can God not be anything he wants to be? Or is your human mind to ignorant of the fact that God is God and farimormon's writers are not as intelligent as other humans?


Deuteronomy 4:24 "For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."
Not only is he a consuming fire, but this verse says he's also a jealous God. 



1 John 1:5 – God is light, fairmormon is getting ridiculous now, of course God is light, even in revelation we are told the sun and moon will no longer shine it's light in the new kingdom to come.



Isaiah 60:19 “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.”

 Revelation 21:23 “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
 Revelation 22:5 “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” 

1 John 4:4,16 – God is love

Is this Author trying to insult our intelligence? Clearly these are only some of the things that describe his attributes, and even pointed out that he is literally all these things, can a body of flesh and bones be all these things? No. So the LDS conclusion is illogical.

Which now leads me to ANTHROPOMORPHISM.

Means the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object.


Let’s take a look at some of them.

By the power of his mighty arm

  • Exodus 15:16 “Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

 God is also pictured as having a face, hands, fingers and a back.

  • Psalm 27:8 “When thou saidstSeek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”
  • Psalm 10:12 “Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.”
  • Psalm 88:5 “free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.”
  • Deuteronomy 9:10 “and the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord Spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.”
  • Exodus 33:23 “and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”

As well, God is described as talking, walking, laughing, and weeping. 

Such anthropomorphism's are poetic symbols or metaphors representing that which would otherwise be indescribable, because God in his being is invisible and unknown. 

Such symbols of God’s being are condescension’s to us – put in words that we can understand. 

We have to have some way of describing God’s relationship to us. The only way this can occur is through symbols that are understandable to our finite minds and experience.

The nature and size of the universe itself tells us that it would be impossible that a God made in the image of humans could create, maintain and control the universe.  

Yet, precisely the opposite is said of God – that the universe cannot contain him…

  • 2 Chronicles 2:6 “But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?”

Anthropomorphism, as mentioned earlier, makes God in our image and forgets that we are made in his image. 

Man has been given the ability to reason and to express many divine qualities, such as communication, invention and the creation of new things, but only from existing materials. 

God has also given humanity dominion and stewardship over his creation, which shows humanity's place as ruler and king, much like God. 

This is the meaning of God creating us "in his own image," not that God is like humans in having bodily parts and shape.

Taking Anthropomorphism literally, is a dangerous and pagan doctrine that we should avoid. 

In the book of Romans, explains what happened in human philosophy and religion.

  • Romans 1:21-23 “because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”



Fairmormon Website: Note that in the KJV cited above, the word "is" is italicized. This is because the King James translators have inserted it on their own—it is not present in the Greek text from which the translation was made.

Me: Already know that. Note now this author is only spewing out what they have been told, they are not Hebrew and Greek scholars. It shows in their failure to correctly interpret Deuteronomy 4:24.

Fairmormon Website: Secondly, the reader should be aware that the indefinite article ("a", as in "a dog" or "a spirit") does not exist in Greek. Thus, the addition of the word "a" in English occurs at the discretion of the translators.[3]

Me: Yeah, So this author is now an expert in ancient Hebrew and Greek? And wants to pit their wits against the 52 translators of the KJV bible whom each individual who were godly men that are fluent in ancient Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, and Latin among 15 other modern languages?

Fairmormon website: This leaves two Greek words: Theos pneuma [θεος πνεμα]—"God spirit". The JST resolves this translational issue by saying "for unto such hath God promised his spirit". The word pneuma, which is translated spirit, also means 'life' or 'breath'. The King James Version of Revelation 13:15 renders 'pneuma' as life. Thus "God is life," or "God is the breath of life" are potential alternative translations of this verse.

Me: Wrong this author is not an expert in Ancient Greek.

Joseph Smith made his own version of the Bible. It was called The Inspired Version of the Bible or JST. 

The Inspired Version contains numerous alterations to what the text actually says, the rendering: "For unto such hath God promise his Spirit" is not found in any Greek manuscript. 

Produce one manuscript having over 5,800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages including Syriac, Slavic, Gothic, Ethiopic, Coptic and Armenian; produce one that supports Joseph Smith's translation.

As with the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible: The New World Translation, Joseph Smith changed the text to force his own theology into the text.

The literal reading of John 4:24 is: "God is spirit" (pneuma ho Theos). The word "spirit" (pneuma) is an anarthrous predicate nominative that comes before the subject (literal translation: "spirit the God"), hence grammatically, "spirit" cannot be translated indefinite: "a spirit" but rather qualitative: "spirit" denoting as to the quality of God - namely as to His nature: He is spirit, thus the text does not read: has a spirit but is spirit. 

Do not confuse possession with identity due to the unacquaintedness (That this Mormon has) of Greek grammar! 

It's laughable that someone today can turn to the Greek or Hebrew who can't even speak the language can come along and undermine an entire translation committee who spoke these languages fluently.

And in regards to Joseph Smith's translation which is not a translation at all but really an interpretation if you could even call it that, and you couldn't even call it a paraphrase, and in doing so just condemned himself by adding and removing from God's Word in his so called inspired translations.


Fairmormon website: Also, if God is a spirit and we have to worship him in spirit, do mortals have to leave our bodies to worship him?

Me: another unintelligent statement by the author, Understand what it means to be Born Again please…this is such a condescending statement that just goes to show the intent of the author by trying to insult Christians, look, Mormons might think that you have to leave your mortal body to worship God but biblical Christians do not.

In Fact this author is implying that we should die in order to worship the Father, after all the bible says to the Corinthians the following:


2 Corinthians 5:8 "we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

And if you get the context, Paul is talking about dying when he says to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord; of course this only refers to Born Again believers.


Fairmormon website: Thus, the Latter-day Saints believe that man is also spirit (DC 93:33-34; Numbers 16:22; Romans 8:16) and is, like God, housed in a physical body. We were, after all, created in the "image" of God (Genesis 1:26-27).


Me: We all believe man is spirit and housed in a physical body also. However, the difference between biblical Christianity and Mormonism is WHEN that spirit came to be in the body, before or after the physical housing was made, and the fact that the Father is Spirit, not having a body.

The bible teaches that the spirit comes after the physical body, proving also that their belief that men pre-existed as spirit children residing with the heavenly Father is incorrect.



Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Hmmm, body formed first, then the breath of life (ruach = breath, wind, spirit) then man became a living soul...what do you know???


 Genesis 1:26-27 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

At this point is it safe to say that both the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in...Spirit form?

Has Jesus manifest in the flesh yet? No...So Genesis 1:26-27 is referring to their Spirit then isn't it?

So God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness, God did not say let us make an exact copy of us, verse 27 God created man in his own image = likeness, resemblance or similarity. 

Notice man is the one that is created in God's image, the female is in the image of man.

The body is formed before the spirit as bible states.


1 Corinthians 15:44-49 “it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”

 Hmmm no pre-existence there, in fact the pre-existence teaching isn't even new, heretics of Paul's time tried to teach this heresy.

What else can we find:

Zechariah 12:1 “The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.”

According to the bible here, spirit formed in man...


Fairmormon Website: It is interesting that in 1 Corinthians 2:11, Paul wrote about "the spirit of man and the Spirit of God." 

Me: You sir are truly a deceptive false evil tree, true God rejecting baboon, proving that Mormons are very good at taking verses out of context.

The context of this verse starts at verse 6 of this chapter, and is telling us how the Spirit reveals to us the wisdom of God. verse 11 in part is a question, showing how foolish they making doctrine from a question like there baptisms for the dead heresy.

Verse 11 is asking a question, Paul is asking for what man knows the things, as in his thoughts other than his own spirit? In the same way no man knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

Elsewhere he spoke of the resurrection of the body and then noted that it is a "spiritual" body (1 Corinthians 15:44-46), though, rising from the grave, it is obviously composed of flesh and bones, as Jesus made clear when he appeared to the apostles after his resurrection ({s||Luke|24|37-39}}).

Me: Again the Author shows how misleading they are, and how unapproved they are to God in their scriptures. Besides isn't that what most do when they have more than one source of authority?
Let's read from the bible, oh no! we've found a contradiction to our theology, let's turn to our Book of Mormon to override the bible…hmmm still can't find what I'm looking for in the book of Mormon, let's turn to our Doctrines and Covenants, hmmm found it section 130:22! Ah that's what I wanted, always knew that the Holy Bible was mistranslated…

I explained 1 Corinthians 15 already, and there explanation is full of it, it makes one angry to see how full of the anti Christ spirit this writer has. You can tell when one is not saved because they twist and pull and stretch scriptures to fit their own theology it's sad.

This person is a false teacher, an evil tree which bears only evil fruit, they'll probably twist the meaning of fruit as well and say it's good works...lol...they say they're Christian too...


Fairmormon website: Paul also told the saints in Rome, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you" (Romans 8:9).

One Commentary insists:

That God is spirit is not meant as a definition of God's being—though this is how the Stoics [a branch of Greek philosophy] would have understood it. 

It is a metaphor of his mode of operation, as life-giving power, and it is no more to be taken literally than 1 Jn 1:5, "God is light," or Deuteronomy 4:24, "Your God is a devouring fire." It is only those who have received this power through Christ who can offer God a real worship.


Me: Again, this writer has the inability to tell the difference between what is literal and what is a metaphor. Does this writer have to resort to somebody else's commentary? Which is darn right wrong.

This is from a lack of understanding scripture as well especially from somebody with little knowledge about ancient Greek.

I am no expert in the language of ancient Hebrew and Greek, and would dare not attempt to destroy the work of men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

This is like that ridiculous unintelligent nonspiritual comment previously made;

"Also, if God is a spirit and we have to worship him in spirit, do mortals have to leave our bodies to worship him?"


When Jesus says he is the door, does that mean he is an actual door with a handle, hinges and screws? 

When Jesus said he is the bread that came down from heaven, does this mean that Jesus actually turned into a loaf of bread?

When Jesus said, "Eat my flesh and drink my blood" do you think he meant it literally? 

Seriously? 


Show me where in the bible (KJV) does it say that God the Father is flesh and bones!

Sunday 7 December 2014

The Baptism of Jesus and Baptism in General



 

I thought it was about time to write out an article on the subject of Jesus Baptism, many questions have arisen over why Jesus got baptised, and it stems from the baptismal regeneration crowd (Those who say Baptism is necessary for salvation) and between those who say baptism is not required for salvation.

Of course we will use the KJV Bible and the help of the Holy Spirit to shed light on this subject.
Now, the main argument both sides will bring up is the question of why did Jesus get baptised?

To answer this question, we are going to do some serious studying of the scriptures to come to a straight forward biblical conclusion. It is important to understand that in order to come to the right conclusion was must employ sound biblical, grammatical and exegetical techniques.

In order to gain an understanding we must first look to where baptism began, with the man, John the Baptist and we will dive into the purpose and goal of his ministry.

 

The Purpose of John the Baptist


 

In the gospel according to Matthew we read the following:

 

Matthew 3:1-2 "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 

In the gospel according to Mark we read the following:

 

Mark 1:4-5 " John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins."

 

In the gospel according to Luke we read:

 

Luke 3:2-3 "Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;"

 

And in the gospel according to John we read the following:

 

John 1:6-7 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe."

 

From Mark and Luke we read that John the Baptist came preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. To understand what the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins means we need go a little further back in the gospel according to Luke Chapter 1 prior to his birth.

 

Luke 1:11-17 "And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

 

Verse 13 tells us that an angel spoke to Zacharias (John's dad) that his wife Elisabeth will give birth to us son, and that they will call his name "John".

John's birth was a called a miracle birth as earlier in Luke chapter 1 we read that his parents were both stricken in age.

Verse 15 is interesting, we read details that John received the Nazarite/Nazirite Vowel from birth. I'm not going to go into this vowel but you can read details about it in Numbers 6:1-21, and Numbers 30:-1-16.

Now verse 16 and 17 gives us insight into his purpose and helps explain the meaning the term "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins".

For some reason, I always find myself explaining what the word repentance means, I guess it's because too many people pervert the meaning of the word.

Breaking down the term "Baptism of Repentance for the Remission of Sins"


 

Baptism (and its many variations): The word baptise means to immerse, to completely cover, or submerge an object fully into another substance or object.

People errantly think any mention of baptism automatically means being dipped in water, this is wrong and perverts many passages in the bible. 

We must rightly divide the word and look at the context that the word is used in.

Repentance:

means to change one's mind about something, to turn from one thing to another, to change from one course of action to another, to change your mind about something.


We read that God repents more often in the bible than anyone, this would be a whole sermon in itself, to explain that God is not a man that he should repent…

IT DOES NOT MEAN TO STOP SINNING!

Remission:

to cancel, forgiveness, the cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty.


So now that we have our definitions let's take a look at what this statement is NOT saying.

People will look at this statement and say see, we have to get baptised to cleanse us of our sins; this not only defies the grammatical structure of the sentence, but goes against what is taught in the bible.
We know that Salvation is dependant only on one thing, and that is BELIEF or FAITH on the Lord Jesus Christ. And I will put an Amen to that!

A careful analysis of the sentence structure we can conclude that there are two parts to this sentence.

 

The sentence starts by with the word preached or preaching, so John is delivering a sermon or religious talk to a group of people and what is his preaching called?

 

BAPTISM of REPENTANCE for REMISSION of Sins


 

So I've coloured the breakdown of the sentence to show you the two parts. Let's get on with the explanation.

The first part we will put it into its literal meaning: John preached the immersion, in this case immersion in water of a change of mind or turning from something, we'll get to that something soon. So this is saying we get baptised because we have had a change of mind about something.


The second part goes like this:

What does the word "for" mean or used to denote about a sentence?

FOR: With the object or purpose of. For example "to run for exercise."

So we read literally "for the purpose of forgiveness of sins."


The first half of the sentence is the object or subject or the action and the second half tells us the reason why it is done.

Now we need to figure out what that something is that they have to repent of?

Let's start with the verse in Mark first.

 

Mark 1:5 "And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins."

 

So all these people from Judaea and Jerusalem came out to get baptised by John, confessing their sins. Let's make one thing clear here, if we know that nowhere in the bible does it teach that you have to repent of your sins to be saved, then we cannot interpret this verse to say they got baptised because they turned from their sins.

This verse does not say they turned from their sins, the word "Confess" means to acknowledge, so these people are acknowledging their sins. They have acknowledged that they are sinners.

So this verse is still a little muddy or unclear as to why they got baptised.

Now let's go to Matthew.

 

Matthew 3:1-2 "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Matthew 3:5-6 "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."

 

So in Matthew's account we read that John proclaims for everyone to repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, so here John is telling us to change our minds about something because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And in verses 5 & 6 we read the parallel to Mark's account.

At this point it is still not clear of what we are supposed to be repenting of, but we read these people got baptised, and confessed their sins, so they are acknowledging that they are sinners.

Let's turn to the gospel according to John and see if he can shed light on what it is we are supposed to be repenting of.

 

John 1:6-7 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe."

 

So in John's account we read that John the Baptist was sent from God, he came for a witness, John came to bear witness of that light we read. That light is the Messiah who we know as Jesus.

So now we get a glimpse of John's purpose, his mission, to point the people to the Christ. That all men through him (John) might believe.

Ah I see, you're thinking right now, that all men, might believe.

It's starting to become clearer now isn't it?

Let's go back to Luke's account before John was born and read what was prophesied of him.

 

Luke 1:16-17 "And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

 

Verse 16 says he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. This verse describes exactly what repentance is, a turning from something to something, in this verse we see that the children of Israel need to turn from not believing in the Lord their God, to believing the Lord their God.

Following me yet?

Verse 17 and he (John) shall go before him (Jesus Christ) in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah), this verse is prophesied by the prophet Malachi.

 

Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts."

 

So now we not only see John's message become clearer, but we read from here that his mission was to prepare the way for the Lord.

So a quick recap, his baptism of repentance was to show that people had acknowledged that they were a sinners, would get baptised to show that they have now turned to the Lord their God, and that John was preparing the people to receive the Messiah.

This is true when it comes to soul winning and giving the gospel to someone, it is easier to win someone to the Lord when this person acknowledges that they are a sinner and need someone to save them.

The rest of Luke 1:17 says to turn (Repentance) the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just (Righteous, there is none righteous but God); to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

So there you have it, John's mission, to get the people ready to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm not done yet showing you more evidence that John preached Baptism of Repentance to mean to turn from whatever they believed in to believing the one true God.

The bible also gives us more details on what John the Baptist preached:

 

Mark 1:7 "and preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose."

 

So now we get even a clearer message of what or who the people had to repent to, in which he says in the verse that there comes one mightier (Jesus) than he (John).

 

Now in Mark's account after John was put in prison, Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry he went into Galilee and proclaimed the following:

 

Mark 1:14-15 " Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. "

 

The time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Jesus says repent, change your mind, turn from your unbelief and believe the gospel!




 

Overview of John the Baptist and his purpose


 

So we learned the following things:

 

  1. They had to repent first, from what? Unbelief and turn to the Lord their God (Believe on him).
  2. People got baptised to show as an outward (public profession) sign that they have repented from unbelief and now turned to the Lord their God for the purposes of having their sins forgiven.
  3. John came to prepare the way for the Messiah, to make the people ready to receive the Lord, and how did he achieve that?
  4. By getting the people to acknowledge that they have sin, that they are sinners in need of the Lord to have their sins forgiven.
Now onto my next lesson, this is also key as to why John the Baptist baptised people under water.

 

BAPTISM IS A "PICTURE" OF THE GOSPEL THAT PICTURES THE DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.


 

Baptism or Believers baptism is a participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in which our old selves have been crucified and forsaken in Christ and we have been freed from the shackles of the past, present and future and given a new being through his resurrection. 

Baptism proclaims the good news that Christ has made us his own, and that it is only in him that our new life of faith and obedience emerges.

Baptism is a picture of all this.

 

Romans 6:3-6 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

 

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

 

Colossians 2:12 "buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead."

 

Being immersed in water pictures the death of Jesus Christ dying for our sins, being raised from the water is a portrayal of Jesus' resurrection in which He overcame and conquered sin and death.

 

1 Corinthians 15:55-56 "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

 

Therefore, being baptized by immersion in water the believer visually shows the physical death, burial, and resurrection (of the spirit) of the believer's life showing that the old man has died and the new man has risen.

Water Baptism should follow belief in Jesus Christ as one's Saviour, although baptism is not necessary for a person to be saved and born again, we should do it as the first step in obedience to the Father.

The prerequisite (what must happen before baptism) to baptism however is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as it is written in the book of Acts where Philip is giving the gospel to the Ethiopian Eunuch:

 

Acts 8:35-39 "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing."

 

So there is something that must take place before one can be baptised, verse 36 we read the Eunuch asks Philip what is stopping him from being baptised, and Philip responds to him by saying that if he believes with all his heart he may.

Baptism in water is not an act that one does to obtain salvation, and no one in the New Testament was baptized who did not first believe and put their faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

 

For that reason salvation is not merited by any ritual, ordinance or work that we perform ourselves, the only applicant for baptism is one who has already been saved. It is a public testimony of salvation, a public profession that you are a believer.

 

Are there examples in the bible where people believed, got saved and did not get baptised in water?


 

Sure, and you will find many examples in the bible, let's take a look.

 

The Thief on the Cross


 

During the crucifixion of Jesus, they also crucified two other men, the bible called them malefactors (means wrongdoers, criminals, offenders, lowlifes, you get the picture). 

Jesus was in midst of the two, in other words at either side of Jesus himself; this fulfilled scripture that said he would be numbered among the transgressors.

As the two hung on the cross and time went by we read from the gospels that both these men in like manner of the certain of the public mocked Jesus in Matthew's account:

 

Matthew 27:44 "The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth."

 

In Luke's account we read more:

 

Luke 23: 39-43 "And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, to day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

 

So we see here one of the criminals rails on Jesus and the other rebukes that criminal railing on Jesus.

What we see here at some point this criminal that gives the rebuke has had a change of heart, and we read earlier that Jesus had spoken some words to the Father to ask him to forgive them for they know not what they do, was it this statement that was made by Jesus cause a change in the heart of this malefactor?

The Malefactor got saved, otherwise Jesus would not have told him that he would be heaven with him. 

Yes, Paradise is a synonym for Heaven, do a concordance of the word and you will find that the word Paradise is defined as heaven, it only occurs a few times in the New Testament and NEVER in the Old Testament.

Now the question stands, did the malefactor on the cross get baptised?

Obviously no, some would argue that the thief may have gotten baptised prior to being crucified?

Not only is this a far stretch, but nowhere in the bible does it mention this, and we read in this account that he believed on the Lord at that very moment on the cross, and we know that there is a prerequisite before you can get baptised.

This event also goes to prove that your good works has nothing to do with getting saved.

 

Are there people in the bible that believed but the bible is not clear whether they got baptised or not?


 

Yes, we read numerous people believed and there is no indication that they got baptised.

 

John 12:42 "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:"

 

So the bible says here that MANY believed on him, no mention of them being baptised; they did NOT openly confess him for fear of the Jewish authorities.

 

Are there any others?

 

John 19:38 "And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus."

 

So we read Joseph secretly was a disciple of Jesus. Now, if Baptism is a public profession of one's beliefs, then why would the bible tell us that Joseph was a secret disciple for fear of the Jews?

 

So let's recap what we have learnt so far:

 

  1. People got baptised to show as an outward sign that they have repented from unbelief and now turned to the Lord their God for the purposes of having their sins forgiven.
  2. John came to prepare the way for the Messiah, to make the people ready to receive the Lord, and how did he achieve that?
  3. By getting the people to acknowledge that they have sin in their lives, and that they are sinners in need of the Lord to have their sins forgiven.
  4. Baptism is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection
  5. Baptism is a believers public profession of their saviour the Lord Jesus Christ
  6. Baptism does not save, works does not save.
  7. There is a condition you must meet before you can get baptised, and that is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
  8. There are examples of people who did not get baptised after Salvation had occurred.

 

Is there only baptism by water or is there other types?


 

Yes, John the Baptist himself proclaimed and made distinctions to different types of baptism. Let's take a look at all the scriptural accounts.

 

Starting with Matthew's account:

 

Matthew 3:11 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:"

 

So we read here that John makes a clear distinction between his water baptism, baptism of the Holy Ghost and the baptism of fire. 

So in this verse we see 3 distinct separate baptism mentioned here.
Let's look at Mark's account:

 

Mark 1:8 "I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."

 

Here we read John stating that he baptises with water, but he (Jesus) shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost. Mark's account gives us two distinct baptisms.
Let's take a look at Luke's account:

 

Luke 3:16 "John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:"

 

Same thing said as in Matthew's account, Luke's is parallel with Matthew's account. 

But what we see here is a distinction between John's baptism of water and the Lord Jesus Christ Baptism of the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Before Jesus ascends back to heaven in the Acts of the Apostles, he tells them the following:

 

Acts 1:4-5 "and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

 

So they have not received the Holy Spirit as yet, he is the gift, the gift of salvation that indwells every believer; the promise of the Father.

 

John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;"

 

Jesus said to his disciples that this other Comforter will never leave us.

 

So what's the difference between being baptised with the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit?


 

Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs only in the New Testament, on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts Chapter 2 when all the believers received the Holy Spirit.

This baptism occurs at salvation. I'm not going to go into major details about it because I have written articles that explain this in greater detail on my blog site.

Both Old and New Testament people could all be filled with the Holy Spirit in times that God needed to use these people to achieve certain goals.

But realise that there is a clear distinction from being filled with the Spirit and being baptised by the Holy Spirit.

 

The Baptism of Jesus


 

Now we have established the fundamentals around Baptism of Water let's dive into the weight of the matter, why did Jesus get baptised?

 

Like all proven bible students we must start from a firm foundation, so we will dive into the 4 gospels to get a foothold into why Jesus got baptised.

We know part of John the Baptist mission was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. 

He was to create an ideal environment for the Lord to operate in.

Let's start in Matthew's account:

 

Matthew 3:13-14 "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?"

 

And in Mark's account:

 

Mark 1:9 "And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan."

 

And Luke's account we read:

 

Luke 3:21 "Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,"

 

I'm not going to touch on John's account yet because his account details more of the actual baptism than Jesus rocking up.

Now what is interesting here is only Matthew's account do we read that as Jesus turns up, John forbids Jesus, he says in verse 14 "…I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?"


So John is saying to Jesus that he needs to be baptised of him (Jesus), and instead you (Jesus) come to me (John)?

 

Jesus replies:

 

Matthew 3:15 "And Jesus answering said unto him, suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him."

 

The word "suffer" means to allow, allow it to be so now: for hence or consequently it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness. What does that mean?

To do what is right. But let's elaborate this further, because a lot of misunderstandings have resulted on the subject of baptism.

Now we know that baptism in water itself does not cleanse us from sins, to say so is otherwise heresy and voids the significance of the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is what Peter says about the water and what it symbolizes:

 

1 Peter 3:21 "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:"

 

Out of context this verses almost looks as though it says baptism by water does save us, but this is an incorrect understanding of the verse.

In context the verse before this is talking about how in the days of Noah, only 8 souls were saved by water, Peter then goes onto say in the above verse that "The like figure" Baptism in water pictures or symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Notice in the parenthesis he emphasises "not the putting away of the flesh" as in washing in water, "but the answering of a good conscience toward God," notice this part of the sentence defines what repentance is also.

Now, to fulfil all righteousness, what does that mean?

Let's review what we know Jesus.

The scripture, we can know that Jesus is both fully God, and fully man. His father is none other than heavenly Father himself whom by the Holy Spirit came upon Mary (a Virgin), and thus he was also born of a woman.

 

Matthew 1:18 "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."
Matthew 1:21 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."

 
So we read above that his birth is a miraculous birth, conceived by the Holy Spirit. 

There are religions out there that deny the virgin birth, they even go on to say that God the Father himself came down in his bodily form and had an actual physical union with Mary to conceive the Messiah; what absolute trash, this is one of the fundamentals of Christianity, to deny this is to deny Christianity!

Next we read how Jesus came into the world as we know it, the same manner as every other human born baby.

 

Matthew 2:1-2 "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

 

And in Luke's account we read the following, it's interesting to note that Luke's account contains a very detailed description of the Lord's birth:

 

Luke 2:7 "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

 

So we can see that the Lord being born in the same manner as all men, what is interesting though is that we read that men came to worship him (baby Jesus). Now let's see if we can find anything out about his childhood.

Now it is important to note that I am not covering precisely what the bible records about Jesus from his birth but only listing what is relevant to our topic in question.

But after Jesus birth, we read that on the 8th day he gets circumcised according to the covenant between God and Abraham which can be read in Genesis Chapter 17.

 

Luke 2:21 "And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb."

 

Then we read the following:

 

Luke 2:40 "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him."

 

As the child Jesus grew, he became strong in spirit, FILLED with wisdom, now does it say he always had wisdom? 

No, he was filled with wisdom as he grew, which mean he was just like us, human in nature and we read that the grace of God was upon him.

Joseph and his mother attended every year in Jerusalem to take part in the Passover, Jesus was 12 years old at this point and as they fulfilled the custom of the feast they returned from Jerusalem a day's travel before they realised that Jesus was not with them so they turned back. 

After 3 days they find Jesus sitting amongst the doctors, this word means teachers.

 

Luke 2:46-49 "And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, how is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"

 

The key passages here that we need to understand for this topic is verses 48 & 49.

In verse 48 Mary addresses Jesus that she and his father (Implying that Joseph is Jesus father) had been seeking him worried sick. 

In verse 49 Jesus responds to her, he says how is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?

Jesus is pretty much saying, how can you and this man, who you say is my father be seeking me? My Father is in heaven, he knows where I am, and I am about HIS business, preaching and teaching the Word of God!

And there we have another clue which we will eventually tie it all up.

We then read in verse 52 the following:

 

Luke 2:52 "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."

 

Just like what most men strive to do, to increase in wisdom and stature, but unlike Jesus, some men deny God and seek to increase their wisdom and stature with other men, rather than God.

Now we move onto Jesus Baptism, in Luke's account he gives us the age at which Jesus got baptised.

 

Luke 3:23 "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,"

 

So we find that Jesus was baptised at the age of 30, coincidentally King David started his reign as King when he was 30 years of age. So Jesus Started his ministry at the age of 30, just like King David started his reign as King!

We know that Jesus is born of the tribe of Judah from the same bloodline as King David.

There are other attributes of Jesus nature as man that we can find in the bible.

The shortest verse in the bible is this:

 

John 11:35 "Jesus wept."

 

We know he wept.

 

Mark 3:5 "And when he had looked round about on them with anger…"

 

He got angry,

 

Mark 4:38 "And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?"
He also slept!

 

So from what we have gathered so far let's go down the list.

 

  1. Jesus miracle birth
  2. Jesus born like any other human baby
  3. As he grew, he also grew in wisdom
  4. We know he is 100% God and 100% man
  5. We know he has taken on human nature

 

From this information we can see that Jesus is, every bit as human as we are, and lastly of all he could die like us. So suffer it to be so now…

 

Matthew 3:15 "And Jesus answering said unto him, suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."

 

To fulfil all righteousness takes on a new meaning doesn't it?
Jesus came to fulfil the law and the prophets:

 

Matthew 5:17-18 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

 

If we know that that Jesus came to fulfil the law, in which no man has done, Jesus who is God, made manifest in the flesh, in other words God took on human form and nature, and don't you think it was only fitting for God to do this to save us?

And here lies the answer:

As Jesus came to 'fulfil all righteousness' it seems to best to say that He came to perform perfect obedience to Gods Law.

This obedience not only included all the ceremonial, civil and moral laws given to Moses, but as Christ was not only God but man, He must also submit to the ministries of Prophets that was sent by God.

Also we see that the level of awareness that Jesus, as a man, had of His purpose and ministry seems to have taken a sudden increase after His submission.


Matthew 3:16-17 “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

For it is hear that God declares from a voice from heaven and a visible token of His Spirit anointing Him for His ministry that he is the One whom God loved, that He is the Messiah, and also the suffering servant who He was well pleased with.

Peter put's it perfectly in Acts chapter 10:

Acts 10:38 “ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”


And we also have revealed to us the Triune nature of God, whom all are present at the moment of the Lord baptism.

To say that God is three separate Gods is to contradict all scripture in the bible, the concept of the Trinity is best what describes the true and living God, which is 3 separate personages that make up our one true God, also called the Godhead.

So His baptism was to fully comply with all Laws in order to have a righteousness that He could provide to sinners while the sins of the world were placed upon Him in return. 

Take a note what John the Baptist says:

 

John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

 

Remember how earlier we learned that baptism was the foreshadowing of his death, burial and resurrection?

Jesus was presenting Himself as the Lamb in Baptism, to suffer all the sins of men punishable under the Law of Moses.

Jesus was the focal point upon which this baptism had meaning, for water does not cleanse, only the blood of the Lamb. 

Amen.