The Foundational Principle of Baptisms – Part 4

The Building Materials of the Glorious Church – Part 4

SOUND DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST CONT’D.

Welcome back! As we continue the study on the elementary doctrines (principles) of the Glorious Church, we will study the four (4) baptisms spoken of in the Word of Yahweh. If you have not read the first three parts of this study, I encourage you to take the time to do so. You will gain a clearer understanding of the importance of each principle. Please subscribe below to be notified of new posts/teachings as they become available.

For those of you just tuning in, we are studying the Elementary (foundational) Doctrines of the Glorious Church. Each principle builds upon on another (Repentance, Faith, Baptisms, Laying of Hands, Resurrection, Eternal Judgment). In each study, you will find references such as “the building materials for the Glorious Church, foundational building materials for the Glorious Church, building a foundation…etc.” The reason I have done this is to show that whatever you call it, or how it is summed up, the result and principle is the same…It’s all about becoming part of the Glorious Church that Jesus Christ is returning for. He is not returning for a dead church, a sleeping church, or a sleep-walking church. He is returning for His bride, His Glorious Church, who has made herself ready. It is my prayer for this series to help you get ready.

He says, “For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For every one who only partakes of milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to them that are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.” “Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles (of the doctrine) of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permits.” (Hebrews 5:12-6:3)

BAPTISMS

There are four basic baptisms under the doctrine of baptism. The Baptism “of” the Holy Spirit, The Baptism “by” the Spirit, The Baptism of Fire and the Baptism in Water.

Note: Being baptized by the Holy Spirit and being baptized in fire are two administrations of Jesus Christ—that is, He himself baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and He baptizes you with fire.

Baptism of the Spirit—when the Holy Spirit does something to you —that’s an automatic work. And then finally (but certainly not last) there is water baptism. Let’s look at each individually and their divine purpose.

1. Baptism “by” the Spirit – Results in a change from you being your own person, living your own life the way you want to, to you being placed in your place in the body of Christ so that you may pick up your destiny and live it out to the fullness thereof. This baptism occurs at the same time the Holy Spirit enters into a person.

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greeks, slave or free, and we were given the one Spirit to drink” ( 1 Corinthians 12:13)

Without repentance from works that lead to death, this baptism by the Spirit can’t take place. The baptism by the Spirit takes a person whose identity was defined by his or her own actions and reputation, and translates them into the body of Christ. This change of identity not only requires a change of mind-set, but often a change of lifestyle as well. It requires you to lay down your own identity in order to present yourself as a living sacrifice unto God so he can fulfill His purpose in and through you.

When baptized by the Spirit, you will be able to better discern and be led by the Spirit to do His will. If you have not read Part 2 of this study that teaches on repentance from works that lead to death, you will want to do so.

“John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:4-8)

2. Baptism in water. Baptism in water is meant to convey to you that Adam no longer rules and your identity is no longer that of a sinner… that that person (your old self and ways) will die and give way to a new person who is raised with Christ and, indeed, who becomes a new creature —even a new creation in Christ. Death and resurrection then are the results of the teaching on baptism in water.

Prior to making the choice to serve Jesus Christ, you were subject to the rule of Satan and his kingdom of darkness. I know this sounds a little harsh, but it is truth. Being baptized in water is making that declaration that you are no longer willing to live under his rule, but rather die to that life and be born again under the Kingship of Jesus Christ and His kingdom of light. The work then begins, as the enemy remembers the old you and will test you by employing false accusations to reassert influence over your mind and life. But you now have the seat (the promise) of the Holy Spirit in you.

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1-6)

There is a whole generation of people, many of whom are under the age of 40, who have never been taught anything about baptisms and the changes that are foundational, elementary—elemental to your process—that guarantees a certain platform on which you can stand with certainty, with security. Without the elementary foundation of baptisms being laid, professed believers in Christ become wishy-washy, they are wobbling and being tossed to and fro. That’s why, when for the time many ought to be teachers, they are still battling with foundational, elementary things and are not sure.

“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” (Hebrews 5:12)

It is the symbolic act of water baptism that is foundational for one’s introduction into the Kingdom of Heaven and for stewarding the growth and maturity of the children of God.

3. Baptism “of” the Spirit—when you are baptized of the Spirit—that is meant to result in a change from your being powerless to your being powerful. It’s also meant to relate to a change from you being “outside” and lost and sinful to your being confirmed as a child of God. The baptism “of” the Spirit—when the Holy Spirit comes and fills you up—is meant to result in your receiving an impartation of the power and the authority that belongs to Jesus Christ and has now been given unto you, working now on your behalf and working through you. This impartation of power comes in: 1) the form of spiritual gifts. God gives gifts as He wills, as purposed, for each individual to fulfill their destiny in Christ; and 2) for empowerment to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-15)

Spiritual gifts will follow one’s calling and will increase as God can trust you with your calling. This is why God distributes the gifts as He wills and we must never be jealous of another’s spiritual gifts but rather encourage the gifts. One who has experienced the baptism of the Spirit but continues to harbor the orphan or servant mind-set may desire to utilize the gifts for personal gain. It is critical to grow in Faith toward Christ and not fall prey to self-interests.

“for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. (1 Corinthians 12:8-11)

4. Baptism of Fire is meant to relate to a change in you that realizes the dominance of the soul giving way to the dominance of the Spirit—your soul governing you to having your soul “saved”—the soul is saved through the baptism of fire. Prior to making the decision to give Jesus your heart, your soul ruled over your human spirit and body. Whatever your soul felt or wanted is what your mind and body was led to do. Once saved and grafted into the Body of Christ, your spirit must be nurtured and your soul must learn to step aside and get inline with the will of God. This is a battle within.

Baptism of fire is described in the Scriptures as a baptism of suffering, where you become a partaker of the sufferings of Christ. This is not to be confused with the cloven tongues like as of fire, which were actually the sign of the Holy Spirit himself, like when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove on another occasion, He descended in the form of like cloven or split tongues of fire.

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. “ – Matthew 3:16)

But the baptism—walking through the fire—is part of your experience as a believer and if you have suffered nothing as a believer then the chances are that you have not acquired much maturity because God has a special place for suffering in the life of a believer.

In fact, it’s referred to by Peter, here in the first book that Peter:

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (I Peter 4:12-13)

Paul in Romans: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:1-4)

And again in James: – “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you bay be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let his ask of God, who give to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

God will chastise (discipline us) to get us to maturity. The loss of control is one of human’s greatest fears because the devil has deceived our minds through pride and our soul has taken over (hence why our souls must be saved). The baptism of fire is critical to the process of being led by the Spirit. Without it, we can be easily led by another spirit that we think is the holy spirit.

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:5-8)

In closing on this study of baptisms, I need to share that there are a few schools of thought on the subject, depending on which denomination you attend. Some say water baptism is all you need and with that some say just sprinkle water and some say full immersion in the water. From everything I have studied and read in the Bible (and you should study it as well), there is far more to baptism than just getting wet. Very few have been taught the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ or the ‘full gospel’. I want to encourage you right now to think about what you were taught prior to being baptized (if you have been baptized). Many will say it was more just a ceremonial thing and you were told to say a ‘sinners prayer’ and that you now have the Holy Spirit, but you have never learned about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, let alone how or why to use them. Many don’t even believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I can assure you that if you don’t believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you are missing a baptism. If you have been baptized in water but didn’t have an understanding as to the true importance of it, please consider repenting and getting baptized again, this time based on scripture. If you have never been baptized, once you understand these elementary doctrines, please get baptized in accordance with scripture. Baptisms is a heart issue between you and Jesus and without understanding, the devil will creep right on in and toss you to and fro with every wind of doctrine. You must walk in the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ.

In addition, there are those who have fallen prey to a practice of so called ‘fire tunnels’ where people will make a human tunnel and have each individual walk through it as they chant calling down fire and many times there is a spirit that is operating but it isn’t from the one true God. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN AWAY FROM THESE. They are not scriptural and I can assure you Jesus never had his disciples behave so foolishly. Some of you may need to repent and get deliverance from such.

There are also too many Christians that have not understood nor been taught the truth about the baptism of fire and when they experience trials in their life, they are quick to blame God for the troubles they experience when, if fact, it is their own sin bringing on the trials. Many fall from the faith because they have not been taught the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ. I always like to say that there is a general rule when it comes to trials and tribulations in life. If a trial comes or you feel you are bombarded with one after another and never get a break, stop and do a self exam to see if you have sinned (or gotten out of the will of God) in an area of your life that would allow the adversary to attack. God will allow this to get your attention to return to Him. If you can say with a pure heart that you have done everything you know to honor God with your life and a trial comes, then you can rest assured (based on scripture and the sound doctrine of Jesus Christ) that you are being refined and the outcome will be far greater once the trial is through. You can look back and say, “I understand now and give all praise and glory unto Jesus” because you have a clear understanding of the elementary doctrines, your faith is stronger, and you can persevere.

I would also end with: “why on Earth would anyone want to call down fire on themselves?” If you are truly a disciple/follower of Christ Jesus and love him with all your heart, you can bet the baptism of fire will come upon you as He sees fit and when He sees fit. Calling down fire upon yourself could very well invite a strange demonic fire or unholy spirit. The Word of God says in Proverbs that His people suffer for a lack of knowledge. Scripture also warns about such things. Look it up.

I pray this study has provided insight and wisdom for you in the area of the elementary doctrine of baptisms. Be blessed in knowing how much Jesus loves you. He would want that no one would perish but that we would all have everlasting life with Him. In Part 5, we will look at the elementary doctrine of Laying on of Hands. Until then, Blessings.

Norma Umphress