Salvation of the Spirit of Man, continued
BAPTISM INTO THE BODY OF
CHRIST (The
Born-Again Experience)
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the
forgiveness of sins: Colossians 1:13-14.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. II Corinthians 5:17.
If you have just prayed the
prayer in the previous lesson or one similar to this in the past with your whole
heart you are “born again.” You have become a citizen of the kingdom of God through the
shed blood of Jesus Christ. From
the moment of being born again, God begins to open your understanding to His
Plan, the Holy Scriptures, and the individual plan for your life. It is not instant understanding of
everything at once. You have the
Spirit of Truth and you have access to the truth but you do not have instant
understanding of all truth.
Though he were
a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
And being made perfect, he became the author of
eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Hebrews 5:8-9.
Like Jesus, we must learn
obedience, and most of the time there is some suffering involved. Whenever we decide to do what is right,
there will be opportunities to not follow through with that decision. That is the suffering and the struggle
that we experience after becoming a Christian. To “walk in victory” requires a daily submission
to the will of God. Jesus was
totally submitted to the Father at all times.
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God;
Romans 3:25.
Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon
all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life.
Romans 5:18.
We are made righteous in
God’s sight because of the blood of Jesus. We must continue to believe this.
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:
that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness:
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:8-10.
If you believed with your whole heart and made a verbal confession that Jesus is Savior and Lord you are born
again. It is a one-time experience
by the work of the Holy Spirit. It
is the revelation to your spirit
that your sin was responsible for
the crucifixion, that Jesus is God, that He is Lord of all, and that the Blood
of Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for your sin. It is that revelation and repentance that
allows the Holy Spirit to regenerate your dead spirit. It is impossible to believe with your
whole heart unless the Holy Spirit gives you this revelation as a gift
(Ephesians 2:8-9). The Lord does
not expect you to understand everything immediately. Understanding is not the same as believing. Your belief and faith will grow
stronger as you begin to understand more, and you will begin to realize that
your daily “walk” with God will require repentance and rededication
every day, if not often during the day.
But you do not get “born again” every day. The genuine born again experience will
give you a hunger and thirst for righteousness, lead you to daily seek the
Lord, and will bring about change in your life towards sanctification.
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God,
God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
I John 4:15.
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the
Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. I John 2:23.
You can be sure that after
you are born again that you are in God (in Christ).
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,
whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and have been all
made to drink into one Spirit. I
Corinthians 12:13.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ
have put on Christ. Galatians
3:27.
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.
For he that is dead is freed from sin. Romans 6:3-7.
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. Col. 2:12.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, Ephesians 4:5.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but
he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mark 16:16
Mark 16:16 is often
interpreted to mean water baptism, but it actually refers to the baptism into
the Body of Christ.
The first baptism that you
experience is the Baptism into Christ, also called Baptism into the Body of
Christ. That is the born again
experience in which you are baptized into his death, resurrected with him to
new life, and you become a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Baptism means a complete
immersion. You are totally
immersed into Christ. Through
obedience you will also experience Baptism in Water and the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. I Peter 1:23.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so
be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Romans 8:9.
Being baptized into the Body
of Christ is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You are born again by the
Spirit and the Word. You are then
eligible for Baptism in Water (complete immersion in water as a symbol of burial with Christ) and Baptism of the Holy Spirit
(complete immersion in the Spirit of God).
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:16-17.
You are born again by the
power of the Spirit of Truth, (the Holy Spirit). However, there is a greater experience of the Holy Spirit
that is a gift to every born again believer. That gift is the Baptism (total immersion) of the Holy
Spirit.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30.
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts. II
Corinthians 1:22.
There is some controversy
among theologians about when a person is actually sealed by the Holy
Spirit. Some believe that you are
sealed when you are born again, and others believe that you are sealed when you
receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.)
Some also believe that the born again experience is the same as the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This
last point will be refuted later in this study. Since there may never be an agreement about when a person is
sealed, it is important to receive everything that the Lord has for us. In other words, do not stop receiving
from the Lord. That way you will
be certain that you are sealed.
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel:
II Timothy 1:9-10.
God has a plan and a purpose
for your life. You are not an
accident. His plan and purpose is
far greater than anything you could imagine for yourself. And, you will like it, because God has given you your
talents and gifts.
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 we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them. Ephesians 2:8-10.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of
the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works
of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Galatians 2:16.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus. Romans 5:1.
For therein in the righteousness of God revealed from
faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:17.
Faith is an important word
for the believer. It was faith
that caused you to receive God’s grace for salvation. But the faith did not originate from
you - it was the gift of God. The
Lord wants you to know that you did not do anything special to receive
salvation. The faith, grace, and
salvation are all gifts from Him.
We are God’s projects (“workmanship”). God does the work in us. However, after being born again, we do
good works out of obedience to
God, not to earn entrance into heaven from our own initiative.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an
holy nation, a peculiar people: that ye should shew forth the praises of him
who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: I Peter 2:9.
A citizen of the Kingdom of
God is chosen, a member of royalty, a worshipper of God, holy unto God, and
separated (“fenced-in”, “peculiar”) from the world
systems. We have been snatched from
darkness and brought into light.
Light in the scriptures is a symbol for good.
What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God
in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. I Corinthians 6:19-20.
When you begin your walk with
God, you must understand that you have a responsibility to live according to
God’s Kingdom principles.
You do not belong to yourself.
You belong to God and should live pleasing to Him. He will show you how and give you power
to do this.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Romans 8:11.
The Greek word in the
scriptures for salvation is SOTERIA,
an all-inclusive word denoting deliverance, preservation, and salvation. It includes material and temporal:
·
deliverance from danger
and apprehension;
·
spiritual and eternal
deliverance granted immediately by God to those who accept His conditions of
repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, in whom alone it is to be obtained, and
upon confession of Him as Lord;
·
present experience of
God’s power to deliver from the bondage of sin;
·
future deliverance of
believers at the snatching away of Christ for the saints;
·
deliverance of the
nation of Israel at the Second Advent of Christ;
·
the sum of all the
blessings bestowed by God on men in Christ through the Holy Spirit (such as
healing, peace, joy, wisdom, etc.);
·
and occasionally as
standing for the Savior. (W.E. Vine [1952], An Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words, p.988, Thomas Nelson,
Pub., Nashville, TN).
You will begin to experience an
“abundant life” in Christ when you are obedient to His Word. You can receive health, prosperity,
joy, peace - all the blessings that God has for His people. You will also position yourself to
receive the salvation of the soul and body as well.
A WORD OF WARNING: It is
possible to believe with your mind
that Jesus is Lord, that His Blood cleanses us from all sin, and still not be
born again. Believing with your
mind is necessary, but the revelation of the Holy Spirit to your heart brings about true repentance and the born again
experience. The born again
experience will produce change in your life for the better and will produce
good and lasting fruit for the Kingdom of God. It will also produce a hunger and thirst for righteousness
and a desire to be in the perfect will of God. If your life does not change after confessing Jesus as
Savior and Lord, keep seeking the Lord for the revelation to your heart that
your sin is still separating you from God.
Be prepared to answer the
following questions:
1. Does the “born-again experience mean that you know
everything at once?
2. To walk in victory requires a _________ submission to
God’s will.
3. How is understanding different from believing?
4. When we are born again we are baptized into ________, also
known as the baptism into the ______
___ ______.
5. Why is it important to receive everything the Lord has for
us?
6. Where did you faith come from?
7. What part do “good works” play in God’s
plan for our lives?
8. Name at least 5 things that accompany salvation.