Greek Translation: “The like figure corresponding to the representative of the reality, even baptism does also bring us Salvation, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.” Comment: The ancient Christians used to say the bread and the wine at communion are the representatives of Christ! These elements remind us of the work Christ has done for us on the Cross bringing us Salvation! We as mortals need to be reminded often! Reminded we were purchased with a price and we belong to Christ not the world! In regards to Baptism the Apostle Peter was trying to connect the event with the reality! What reality? The dwelling of the Holy Spirit into your life! The Holy Spirit will keep us until Christ’s second coming! When Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on him! He needed the Holy Spirit to complete his mission here on earth! So do you! The thief on the Cross was saved yet he was not baptized! He had a few hours to live and received Salvation! The filth of the flesh is cleansed by the Blood of Jesus! The infilling of his Holy Spirit comes after Salvation! God will not dwell in a dirty vessel! That is why infant baptism is rejected by most theologians! The Holy Spirit keeps us saved until Christ’s return! Salvation cleanses us on the inside where water baptism cleans us on the outside preparing us for the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the escrow or down payment with all of God’s promises living in us! We cannot live in this fallen world without the help of the Holy Spirit! By faith step into the waters of baptism! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: baptism
The Trump’s & Apostles Creed!
The Apostles Creed is never used by the Orthodox Church! They only use the Nicene Creed! The Apostles Creed arose as a baptism creed. Donald and Malenia were married at an Episcopalian Church in Florida. They only recite the Apostles Creed at Baptism and the Nicene Creed at Communion! Malenia is from the Eastern Orthodox and they only use the Nicene Creed! This may explain the misunderstanding at the Bush funeral! It may demonstrate their convictions! Some of our former Presidents would recite the Quran if you gave them a copy at a Service! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Trinity of Communion! 1 John 5:7-8
Verse 7: “These are the 3 that witness a good report in heaven, the Father, the written Word and the Holy Spirit or the Breath of God.: Verse 8: “and these are the 3 that witness a good report in the earth, the Spirit, and the water and the blood; and these 3 agree as one.” Comment: So we see in Heaven a Trinity of the Father, Word and Holy Spirit! So where is Jesus in Heaven? Remember the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! Now let us move down here to the earth. We have a good witness of the Spirit, the Water and the Blood! We have the Holy Spirit, the Blood (Jesus Christ) and the Water! The Water? There is only one thing the Lord could be talking about here! Baptism! Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River! Jesus washed the disciples feet with water before the Cross! I believe there are 3 elements of Communion! The body, the blood and water! Baptism is a separate ordinance in the church as so is Communion however you cannot separate them spiritually! After Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on Him! It pleased the Father! Should we want to please God? Baptism is a witness in the earth to the world that we belong to Christ! In Communion we identify with Christ in Heaven here in the earth and in Baptism we identify with Christ here in the earth as a witness to the world! We do these things in remembrance of Him because He first remembered us at Calvary! God first loved us! Do you want to identify with Christ? Can you be saved without baptism and communion? Yes like the thief on the Cross but would you not want to experience the joy and fellowship of communion with God? In order to be in authority we must be under authority! The ordinances of the Church and the tithes and offerings established by God are there to test you and see if you are under God’s authority? You cannot be in God and not under His authority! Do you forsake assembling together in Church on Sunday’s? If you do you are not under His authority! If we really believe the Word of God then we need to practice the Word of God as a witness for Him in the earth and in Heaven! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Why get Baptized? Acts 2:38
Greek Translation: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent! Have a true change of heart towards God understanding that your future is not dependent on your past! Be baptized! That is make a public identification with Jesus Christ through water immersion. Be baptized in the name and character of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your willful and intentional acts against God! Be baptized with the purpose of serving God by the free gifts of God’s character through the Holy Spirit!” Comment: Believe it or not this church doctrine has been controversial for the past two thousand years! You would think it would be a slam dunk but not the case! Some believe infant baptism is enough! However there is no conscious decision on the part of the infant to do this! Some believe there is no need of baptism because the thief on the Cross was not baptized yet he was saved! Baptism is connected to forgiveness but not dependent on it! Baptism is about power for ministry! It is about an effective work here on the earth! Jesus was baptized yet he did not need to be saved! Some say I am saved and therefore do not need to be baptized! If it is good enough for Jesus it is good enough for me! Remember the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus after baptism! The Holy Spirit will empower you for effective ministry here on the earth! Without His love you will be abusive in the ministry! Your human capacity will never be enough! We need the character of God to do the work of God! The thief on the Cross was headed for heaven! No earthly ministry time left for him except to say he was saved without baptism! The Holy Spirit saves us until the rapture or Christ’s return to earth! The Spirit is the down payment or escrow to hold us until his return! Remember Jesus said greater things will you do after I send the Holy Spirit! We have examples of baptism in the Old Testament! The evidence is strong for baptism unless you want to go it alone! Do not try to figure it out just do it! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Herod’s Defensive Letter to Caesar!
Letter form Herod Antipas to Tiberius Caesar and the Senate of Rome: “My Noble Lords, Greeting, As to what Pontius Pilate says in regard to my cowardice and disobedience in the case of Jesus of Nazareth, I will say in my own defense: I was informed by all the Jews that this was the same Jesus that my father aimed to destroy in his infancy; for I have it in my father’s private writings and accounts of his life, showing that when the report was circulated of three men inquiring where was he that was born King of the Jews, he called together the Hillel and Shammai schools, and demanded the reading of the sacred scrolls; that it was decided he was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea, as read and interpreted that night by Hillel. So when my father learned that there was a birth of a male child in Bethlehem under very strange circumstances, and he could not learn where or who the child was, he sent and had all the male children slain that were near his age. Afterward he learned that his mother had taken him and fled into the wilderness. For this attempt to uphold the Roman authority in the land of Judea the world has not ceased to curse him to this day; and yet the Caesar’s have done a thousand worse things, and done them a thousand times, and it was all well. Just think how many lives have been lost to save the Roman Empire; while those infants were only removed in their innocence from the evil to come. The proper way to judge of action is to let the actor judge, or the one with whom the action terminates. If this should be done, and there is a life of happiness beyond for innocence to dwell in, those infants as well as Rachels should be thankful to my father for the change. Again my Lord’s, Pilate is a higher officer than I; and you know in our law the lower court always has the right to appeal to the higher. As to Pilate’s saying that Jesus was a Galilean, he is mistaken. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, as the records show. And as for his citizenship, he had none. He wandered about from place to place, having no home, making his abode principally with the poor. He was a wild fanatic, who had taken up the doctrines of John (but not his baptism), and was quite an enthusiast. He had learned sooth-saying, while in Egypt, to perfection. I tried to get him to perform some miracle while in my court, but he was too sharp to be caught in a trap; like all necromancers, he was afraid to show off before the intelligent. From what I could learn he had reprimanded some of the rich Jews for their meanness, and his reproaches were not out of the way, from what I heard they would have much better men if they had practiced what they preached.” Herod Antipas
Faith & Baptism! Mark 16:16 (Greek Translation)
“He that puts his faith or trust in me and is submerged in water as a profession of their faith shall be saved from sickness and death. He that disobeys shall be judged and condemned!” Comment: I substituted faith and trust for belief because it is the same Greek word. Belief is a verb and requires a response or action! Baptism is an act of obedience based upon your faith in Christ! So the old proverbial question is does baptism by itself save you or is it Christ alone who saves you or it is both? Jesus was baptized yet the thief on the Cross who was saved was not baptized? Baptism is an identification with Christ! In the early church baptism was a public identification with Christ! Baptism was not done in a church building but along a stream, river, lake or sea shore for unbelievers to see! Today we could live behind the four walls of a church and unbelievers would never know you were saved! This is where much of the American church is today! To publicly profess Christ outside a church is foreign to much of the church today? If the unbelieving world does not know you are a Christian God probably does not know either? When you enter the cultural war with gays, lesbians, Muslims and abortionist you are a target! Worship has to be more than the Sunday only crowd! Your Pastor cannot save you! You want me to serve Jesus seven days a week, 24-7? I do not have time? Remember that old hymn, “Take Time to be Holy.” The word time means to honor! If you do not worship God in this life then where? Get some Gospel tracts and start there! Distribute them wherever you go! Give them to store clerks at Walmart, McDonald’s, Best Buy, Sears, Burger King, Waffle House, Post office, Government Federal State and County offices or wherever you go! Jesus does not have a denominational name stamped on His forehead! Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved! In the previous verse 15 Jesus said, “Go out into all the world and preach the Gospel to all the world.” The Greek word used for preach means to publically proclaim the Gospel! Although they do that professional ministers was not who Jesus was talking to! Jesus was talking to me and you! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Baptism
In the early church Baptism was done outside a building in a lake, stream, pond or on the ocean shoreline! During this time in church history this was a witness to the unbelievers as well as the believers since many unbelievers saw this testimony displayed! At least in America most baptism is done inside a church where only believers witness! Suggest if this is your case you can record the baptism on YouTube and other social media to share with the unbelieving world! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Nicene Creed (Baptism)
This morning we are going to cover the last two stanza’s of the Creed. This Creed was crafted in the 4th Century to give guard rails to our Faith! The Creed is a prayer predicated on the Scriptures to unify the Body of Christ together! The Creed says, ” We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sin.” For the parents here I would never force your children to take Baptism but should be ready to give an answer when asked about Baptism. Baptism should be voluntary! Baptism is not a box to be checked off on your church itinerary! It should not be on your no can do list! Baptism is a supernatural event! It is a galvanizing document much like our Constitution! There are two idea’s I want to discuss about Baptism. Some call Baptism in water as a voluntary drowning! Jesus is your life guard! Romans 6: 1-4. Water baptism is surrendering to Christ! Remember Jesus got Baptized! In the Jordan River and then on the Cross! Baptism is a defining moment for you are entering death, burial and resurrection! The Roman Empire was the center of civilization during the first few centuries of history. As powerful as they were the Gospel still got into Rome! First under the Emperor’s skin and then to become the official religion of the Roman Empire! How does Grace align with Baptism? The cheap brand of Grace says it does not matter what you do just what you believe! Baptism is living out your Faith! Faith in action! Some think today as some in the 1st century that we sin more so we can get more Grace? Grace is God doing for you what you cannot do for yourself! God will not sin for you! We do not live to sin but die to sin for all are Baptized into His death! The Roman’s perfected Crucifixion! Christ was executed for our sin! We are buried with Him and raised with Him in Baptism! As Christ was raised from the dead so we are raised to life! We participate with Him in Baptism! After we are raised with Him we are radically different! His internal witness living inside us changes us! Our world is turned upside down! What used to matter the most to us now matters the least! Eternity awakens our souls! The early Church set aside a special day for Baptism. It was called Holy Saturday. It was done between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It was done on sunset Saturday. It was a special moment of reflection where you die to self and let Jesus raise you up into new life! We need to remind ourselves and those who are taking Baptism this morning why are we doing this? It is personal and a special moment in your life! Baptism is personal but it is also public! Baptism is the outward protest of sin’s attempt to win an internal war! It is resisting the enemy! It is surrender to the one who has defeated your sin! It is a public protest to acknowledge your victory in Christ! This do in remembrance of me! More important He remembers you! When you remember Him you forget your sin and so does Christ! All of God’s promises to you are released in Baptism. The death, burial and resurrection bring victory! Never view Baptism as a work that gets you to Heaven! It is a work that prepares you for Heaven! Baptism is not begging for forgiveness of sin but receiving that which is already ours! Baptism is releasing victory! Baptism is a family event! Again Salvation is personal but not private! At water baptism people help you! John the Baptist helped Jesus! It is team work in the Body of Christ! If done by yourself it is just taking a bath! Baptism is proof that the Holy Spirit brings us together! Baptism breaks down the cultural divides that separate us! The 1st Century divide between the Jews and the Greeks was bridged through Baptism! The free and the slaves, the rich and the poor, the men and the women were united into one Body His Church! 1 Corinthians 12: 12-13. We have one body but many members! Baptism illustrates this! By one Spirit we are all Baptized into one body! Just as the Trinity is one so are we one in Christ! We are clothed in Christ! In the Greek culture they wore an outer and inner garment. They always took off the outer garment before entering a home because it was a dirty covering. The outer garment represented the places they lived and traveled. The outer garment represented sin and death. Jesus left your dirty garments at the foot of the Cross! The soldiers gambled them away! When you are Baptized in water those who help you are committed to walk with you! In Baptism you receive a new garment worn by you a new person clothed in Christ! Jesus left your grave clothes in the tomb! We are family because we are immersed in the same water! As family we trust God together! In marriage the two become one! In the Covenant we have each other! The Church is a family! Baptism is a public demonstration of your Faith! Baptism is a public confession of your Faith and your new birth into a family! Thankyou. Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado.