(64) Baptism

Two years ago this lesson was posted:  http://ideasoftimbible.blogspot.com/search/label/Baptism

Some who had read that had and others may have questions about those who say faith only is what you need to be saved.  Some have said that saying baptism is needed is legalism at its core because they think it means someone's works can earn them salvation.  Some have said that to teach baptism as being needed is borderline cultish.  But what is baptism?  And why is it in the scripture?

Baptism-  as with most translations this word comes from the Greek word baptismo.  Those who teach baptism would stress that it means "immersion"and would add that with Acts 2:38, for the forgiveness of sins.  Read the lesson posted above and you will see that baptism in and of itself is more than just these two terms and verses.  But this lesson is not about what it is.  It is about is it needed or not.

Faith is where it all starts.  Believing in Jesus Christ is the first step towards salvation.  But faith is more than just belief.  Faith is action.  Faith will cause us to do things.  Being a Christian means you are Christ-like.  This means that you take on the qualities of Jesus Christ.  "Taking" is a verb.  Verbs are action.  It is not about earning salvation.  It is about following the life of Christ and emulating what He did.  We are called to repent.  Without repentance are we saved?  No.  But some will ask about the thief on the cross since he wasn't baptised.  Well what they fail to consider is did the thief have a chance?  Who knows how long he was in prison as a thief?  He may have been there for all three years of Jesus' ministry and just heard about him right before he was hung on the cross.  Maybe nobody brought water to him.  In certain cases it would like God to allow circumstances to offer other options.  Or maybe he was baptized before he was thrown into jail.  The Bible does not say it either way.  In any case, the thief on the cross repented.  He may not have said the "sinner's prayer", whatever that is.  But nevertheless he told Jesus he wasn't worthy and wanted Jesus to save him.  That is repentance.  But, it is also an action.

Jesus also told us to worship, pray, take communion, teach.   Will these save someone?  More than likely no.  But are they commanded to do?  Yes.  If Christians do not do these things will they still make it to heaven?  That is up to God and God alone to decide.  But if we do not follow a command, then we are sinning.   These actions are commanded.  Saying no to a command is a sin.  You make the call.

 

Is baptism commanded?  If it was not important as a command then why would Jesus tell his followers to baptize people when He said goodbye to them?  Why did He do it Himself?

 

Hebrews tells us all about faith.  Once the book describes what it is it gives examples.  Abel brought a gift.  Noah built an ark.  Abraham left his home and traveled.  It says they were living by faith.  Living is an action.

 

Baptism may not be the thing that saves you.  But having faith only is not an excuse not to do things.  Faith takes action.  Baptism is part of your faith.  So in this case faith only means you do all that is commanded.  If that is the case then yes, having faith only will save you.

(41) The Greatest Commandment

Last month's poll asked, which commandment is broken the most.  Here are your results:

• 38% said Dishonoring God,  the first 3commandments
• 33% said Lie
• 11% said Idolatry
• 11% said Coveting
• 5% said Murder
• 0% said Adultery, Stealing, or Dishonoring parents

The problem of course is we can not measure this since not of us are honest with our lives.  Hmmm, that almost sounds like Lying would be the number one sin.  But truth be known if we could understand all of these sins we commit do one thing----dishonor God.  When we break any command, we not only perhaps hurt ourselves and/or destroy our reputations, but we may also hurt others with our actions, even with what we would call our smallest actions.  There are no such things as little white lies.  There is no such thing as petty theft.  When we break even the slightest amount of a command we dishonor God.  And this is why when Jesus was asked what is the greatest command, He answered  with, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.  He wrapped up all ten commands into two and above all said the Lord comes first.

But this is also why He said that all fall short of the glory of God.  He knows we sin.  He knows we all do it and none of us are innocent.  If murder can come from our lips, we are all murderers.  If fibs are lies then we are all liars.  If we rebel against our parents we all have dishonored them.  If we put something ahead of our relationship with God then we have committed idolatry.  If we have looked at someone with some kind of impure thoughts then we have all lusted and committed adultery.  If we have competed against our neighbor to try and have better things than they do and we do it out of spite then we have coveted things.  Any of these in our lives means we have dishonored God, thereby making us all sinners.  We are all in need of a Savior.  And anything besides Jesus Christ will keep you short of any glory for there is no other who can save you but Him.

(40) Love Thy Neighbor

Exodus 20:15-16

• You shall not steal.
• You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

These two commandments deal mostly with how we treat each other.  These, besides murder of course, are probably the worst things we can do to people.  It is said that the only thing worse than a thief is a liar.  Both make those we do it to feel vulnerable, used, and/or betrayed.

So if people feel this way after we do it then why do we do it?  The only answer to this is so that we gain something out of it.  People may say they do it because they have to but that is a rationalization.  There are no such things as little white lies.  There are no such things as petty theft.  Although man's law may set levels for how we do things like this, in the eyes of God it comes down to one thing.  We sinned.  We have lied.  We all have stolen.  We all deserve the penalty that comes with these, both man's and God's.  But God gave us a way out.  He of course gave us Jesus Christ.

Oddly enough Jesus' adversary (and ours) is a liar and a thief.  Go figure.

(39) The Lord's Name

Exodus 20:7

• You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name

Most people think this is just about saying God and damn together, or to say Jesus Christ as a term of content for a situation.  These are true but it goes more than just these.

To misuse something means you are using it in all the wrong ways.  To mention the word God in and of itself is not wrong.  Many Jewish people talk about God by writing it like this:  G_d.  They do this because they feel this is misusing His name.  But leaving out a vowel to show this does not change anything.  All they did was replaced one symbol of a language (the "o") with another symbol ("_").  Sure it may make them feel better and it may show that they are trying to show honor to where honor is due, but it misses the point.

Using the name of God to invoke power or authority, or even authenticity is using His name in vain.  This is why scripture says let your yes be yes and your no be a no.  Do not swear by God's name.  This swear does not mean the same as "cursing".  It simply means do not have God as your witness just because you need Him to back you up.  If you are telling the truth then you do not need His backing.  Telling people, "I swear to God", should be a tell-tale sign that the person is lying or has a horrible reputation for lying.  Ministers (of all kinds) should not use God's name to bring glory to themselves.  Those that proclaim to be of God just to make income or fame are using His name in vain.  Saying you have healing, prophetic, or other miraculous power from God when you do not is using His name in vain.  This is not saying that some people do not have these powers.  There are some who abuse the naivete of others.

Using God's name in vain, as some would say, means you are invoking God into situations He should not be called for.  Blaming God for earthquakes is misusing His name.  He did not cause the earthquake.  Using God as an exclamation is misusing his name.  Using OMG on your text does not exclude your sin just because you omitted letters.

Calling Allah, Buddha, or anything else God is misusing His name.  As a matter of fact it is idolatry and even blasphemous, but that is a different lesson.

Calling upon God is not wrong.  Calling out the name of God is not wrong.  Using it for your own gain, pain, or wane is when it becomes a sin.

(38) Love and Lust

Exodus 20:14

• Do not commit adultery

The Seinfeld episode called The Good Samaritan has a scene with George and a married woman he had a sexual encounter with.  In the scene George gets upset because he can't believe he has just committed adultery.  She comforts him by saying, "You didn't commit adultery. I did." This is not taking away from the comedic genius of the show or trying to say that watching Seinfeld is a sin or whatever before anyone thinks that.  This was just to show that this example attitude of sexual activity shows our ignorance of what sexual sin is.  Old Jewish law does back up what she said.  The woman commits adultery.  But is the man okay when this happens?  No.  He was considered part of the problem.  Notice another command was

Exodus 20:17 (c)

• Do not covet your neighbor's wife

George did wrong as well.  Therefore when a sexual activity happens outside of marriage both parties are wrong.

So what about two people who aren't married at all?  No adultery by definition is committed then.  This is where you have to read between the lines.  Perhaps one day the people will be married.  If the woman has already slept with another man, that man is not her husband.  When she marries, it will be adultery.  It is the same with the man.  Once he marries he already has coveted.  Even if they never get married, the act itself should be implied to be wrong, just based on principle.  So the idea that you can have sex as long as you never get married would just be a rationalization.

In the New Testament Jesus even adds on to the law by saying that even if a man looks at a woman with lust in his heart, he has committed adultery.  How can it be simpler than that?

Having sexual feelings and thoughts are normal.  And the feeling itself is not wrong.  The thought will enter and that is not wrong.  But when the thought becomes more than just a thought as Jesus said it becomes sin.  Paul also states that we need to take every thought into captivity.  If the thought grows it becomes sin of the heart and may even lead to sin against humanity.  Other forms of wrong sexual activity are:  incest, bestiality, masturbation, groping, fondling, homosexuality, bisexuality, non-marital oral (yes, Bill, oral), pornography, petting, fornication, and coveting.  But do not miss this point...all forms of sexual activity outside of marriage is not appropriate, that includes even two consenting heterosexual adults even if they have been together for 30 years.  None is any worse than the other.  And even though none of us would really admit it, we all have done it one way or another.

Many people will not agree with this lesson.  And it isn't fun to hear because sexual activity is so prominent on our lives.  And perhaps out of all sins, it is the most fun.  But maybe that is also why satan uses this one to distort the truth more then the rest.  We tend to laugh when a TV show has an 80 year old woman "getting it on" with a man who is not her husband.  We all write it off as though "well at least she is having fun".  Sure the words make us laugh but in reality it shouldn't.
For more understanding here are some lyrics from Bride called Same ol' sinner

Same ol' sinner
Wearing the chains
I get the same ol' sinner

I believe your lies, desire inside
The truth I know will hurt
Your devil-eyes, I can't deny
I know what lust is worth
The devil has a healthy appetite
Raped by fear in the fire tonight
He'll tell you it's love when it's only lust
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust

The point being behind this whole lesson is that the Bible says sex has its limits.  Sexual activity outside marriage is not appropriate.  But why?  Sexual activity shows commitment.  Commitment to one person is an analogy to commitment to one God.  It is honorable and the right thing to do.

(37) Life

Exodus 20:13

• Do not murder

The fifth commandment of God was to not take the life of another human being.  The first thing that people do with this is use the KJV version and misinterpret it.  The KJV says "Thou shall not kill".  The two things are different.  Explanation:  if someone breaks into your home and is hurting your loved ones and the only way to stop the hurting is to take the life of the perpetrator then that is not murder.  In war time when someone who is the "enemy" is trying to take your life and your only choice if you want to live is to take their life then that is not murder.  These two victims, if you will, are innocent of this commandment.

If you are the one who initiates the taking of a life then that would be murder.

Back to Cain and Abel.  Cain and Abel are the first two people we hear about with the act of murder.  God was not pleased with Cain's offering as in the last lesson.  Cain became jealous of his brother.  God talked with him and said that if he was doing the right thing then there would no problem (Genesis 4:3-8).  But Cain chose a different solution.  Never mind what God says, I will do my own thing.  Cain murdered his brother.

Listening to what God had originally planned for man in our lives will stop many of the unnecessary burdens we carry.  But since when does man do that?

But how do you take the life of someone?  It's not about just the physical life ending of someone.  Proverbs tells us that life and death is found in the tongue as well.  What we say to others can either lift them up and encourage them or say something so hurtful that we basically murder them with what we said.  Bryan Adams had a song back in the 1980's that was titled Cuts Like a Knife.  Our words can cut someone to pieces  to where we destroy their life.  A few simple words have the power to murder.  Sticks and stones may break my bones but your words cut right through me.   Especially if these words come from someone we love.  Jesus told us that murder is even more that this.  In His sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained that murder is hating your brother.  Your brother is anyone next to you.  Hating involves both actions and non-actions.  Most people think the opposite of love is hate.  But the real opposite of love is apathy, not caring about others.  Trying to hurt someone is wrong but not helping others who are hurting is just as wrong.

Forms of murder:

• Aggravated life-taking with no valid reason
• Abortion (see right above)
• Abuse (all kinds)
• Neglect (apathy)
• Racism (hatred)

The one and true God shows the path of righteousness. It shows love.

(36) No Other Gods

Exodus 20:3-6

• You are to have no other gods before me.You shall have no other gods before me.
• You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
• You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
• but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments

When the Israelites were brought out of Egypt and got to live free for the first time in over 400 years, some of course like any other good human went too far and started to forget how they got there and lived according to their own laws. But God laid down the law for them and created the 10 Commandments. But why did He put them into a certain order? Was there a pattern to His law? Perhaps.

The first commandment is to not have any other gods before Him. A different way of saying it is to not have any other gods period. This would stop all unnecessary and harmful distractions from the path of righteousness. Jesus restated (love the Lord your God) that this was one of the top two greatest commands and that all other commands stem from this one and loving your neighbor. To put God first is to follow what He did for us. He created us above all creation and made us the rulers of the earth. He gave us a spirit that He gave nothing else in the universe. He breathed His own breath into man and that separated us from all other living beings. He placed us upon His own pedestal and said this was His greatest of all creation. He wants this feeling to come back to Him. We need to give Him our "first fruits".

Cain and Abel are the first two people we hear about giving back to God. Cain gave some of his life's work to God but Abel gave not only some, he gave his first, his best to God and then some. Abel knew how to sacrifice his own wants and riches to give back to God and put Him first. God was not pleased with Cain but He was with Abel.

Putting God first is a sign of worship. Keeping Him above all things means that we lay down our own pride. It is the beginning of what pure sacrifice and true worship is all about. Without putting God first then our worship isn't what it is supposed to be.

Why not other gods? What is a god anyway? Notice the lower casing of this word. Websters dictionary describes a god (lower cased) as a

being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers
and to require human worship; specifically : one controlling a particular aspect
or part of reality.

So a god, un-capitalized, means anything that you worship or controls one part of your reality. That means anything you allow to control your life could become a god to you. You start to worship it. It could be money. People start to worship money and try to gain as many possessions as they can. They step on others to get to a higher position to get more money. They don't care how they get there as long as they do. They are too focused on beating others or at least trying to be others that all they do is for the glory of money. That is worship. That is a god. Some worship beauty. They spend hours upon hours worrying about their looks. They spend thousands of dollars "fixing" themselves to what they feel is beauty. It becomes their obsession. That is worship. That is a god. Many other things could be considered a god. Anything that takes your desires and moves them beyond passion into obsession can be considered a god.

Why do we not consider God just a god? Because He is different. No other god has said that He created you AND has lived among you AND has died for you AND has created another place for you AND is still around. Some have said many of these but has not and can not say all of them.

Why are other religions considered to only have gods instead of God? Follow what the rest of this lesson says. They are something that offers only a fantasy world. Other gods lead people astray from the truth and reality.

The one and true God shows the path of righteousness. It shows the way to true happiness.

(21) The Decalogue, Exodus 21:1-24:18

Once the Ten Commandments were etched in stone, they became law; a Godly law. But, how does that transpire into man's law? Could you do something to man that was not against God? Is there a way around His law and still get away from helping man? God knew man's heart and knew his intentions. He knew what man would do if there was some loop hole or way out of something. So, God continued with explaining what the law meant. And since Israel was a stubborn nation, then punishment and atonement for breaking the laws needed to be strict. Israel was God's chosen people. They should have known the power of God yet somehow they remained worldly. He would put a stop to it. This is why chapters 21-24 in Exodus are long winded, extreme, monotonous, dare say...boring, along with Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Almost every aspect of life was written down on how to treat your fellow man. The first four commandments dealt with what your relationship with God should be. The other six deal with your relationship with other people. But notice when the covenant is expanded most of the laws deal with man. When God laid down the law about our relationship with Him, He needed no to expand. He is the Lord, nothing else will do, remember Him and Him only! Stray outside that and you have a problem. But He knew we would do things to each other and needed guidance. These chapters tell us how do deal with servants, injuries, property, social responsibility, justice, mercy, the sabbath and celebration days. Each topic mentioned has its own subtopics as well.

In the end though God tells His people He will protect them if they abide by the rules. He sends an angel out before them preparing their way. Who is the angel? No one knows. It could be any of them but verse 23:21 says he will not forgive your rebellion since my Name is in him. Is that a hint that it could be Christ or is it symbolically saying there is no excuse for rebellion against something from God? You have to be the judge there.

The covenant is finally confirmed with the sacrifice of a life. A young bull (several of them) was sacrificed to claim the testament in blood, the life force, the essence of being. And as a final witness to this covenant God showed Himself to Moses and all the elders of Israel. They ate with Him and had fellowship. But God would not do this all the time. He is too holy to be seen by all so the next step was to build a place where God could meet His creation; the tabernacle.