Prerequisites for Freedom

I. New Birth: John 3/ This is the interaction with Nicodemus where Jesus explains that you cannot see or enter the Kingdom of God unless you are born again or also translated born from above. Jesus explained that being born of the Spirit is like watching the results of the wind. The wind can't be seen but the changes it brings makes it self evident. Wind can move things around, change the temperature, change air quality, bring weather changes, primarily it changes the atmosphere around you. Change is the nature of the new birth because it brings change to your nature. How is this achieved? Jesus goes on to explain in the 14th verse that he must be lifted up, in the same way that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. In Numbers the 21st chapter you find the story of the poisonous snakes that were biting the children of Israel and many of them were dying. The people asked Moses to intercede for them to save them from this affliction. God told Moses to make a serpent, set it on a standard pole so that when anyone was bitten by a serpent they had only to look to the standard to live. The Son of Man being lifted up is the finished work of the cross. The poison of the serpent is sin. If anyone puts his faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the finished work of the cross, will receive the new birth of the Spirit. That is the antidote to the serpents poison. The poison brings death/the cure brings life. In verse 15 it is referred to as life everlasting. This doesn't just speak of the length of life but the quality of it. If sin is the poison that brings spiritual death then new birth of the Spirit is the cure. You can't fight the disease without the cure. So the first prerequisite for true freedom is that you must be born again.

II. Baptism- The word Baptizo in the Greek means to be fully immersed or to submerge. It comes from the root word bapto which means to be dipped-baptizo should not be confused with bapto. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be dipped (bapto) into boiling water and then baptised (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary and the second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change. Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptised shall be saved: but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Here we see the word baptize linked to the term saved. I see new Testament salvation as the ongoing experience about which we are speaking. It is probably a more accurate term than true freedom and encompasses the entire journey from new birth to eternal life with God.
In verse 16 He who believes (the act of new birth) shall be saved (set free, delivered, transformed). But he who has disbelieved (not been born again) shall be condemned (damned, eternally separated from God) Condemnation is not linked to baptism but salvation is. In order to understand the link between baptism and transformation we must know what we are being immersed into. Baptise is not a word we commonly use outside of religious circles. If it were, we might use it for a lot of things. You could be fully immersed into soccer. What would that mean? You could attend a summer soccer camp where you would spend every waking moment on soccer. You would learn about soccer, soccer strategy, soccer techniques, evaluate the great players in soccer history, talk with your friends about soccer teams and your most memorable games. You would practice soccer until you were too weak to walk and you would go to sleep and dream about soccer. You could say you had been baptised into soccer. You weren't dabbling in soccer or just mildly acquainted with soccer, you were immersed into it. Now when people see you they say, "There goes that soccer guy", because what you are about is obvious. So to determine what we mean when we say baptism is linked to salvation, we will let Jesus set the context. In Mark 10:38 Jesus asked James and John if they were able to be baptised with the baptism with which I am baptised. The baptism that Jesus was relating was the passion of Christ, His sacrificial suffering and death on the cross. This is also the baptism that Paul writes about in Collosians 2 and Romans 6. Let's look at Romans 6:3-12 it is this sacrifice that has gained access to life changing transformation for everyone who believes. Paul said in Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. And in Romans 6:4-5, therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection. When ever we enter into this death to self we are partakers of this baptism, and by it gain access to life changing resurrection power. It is this access that links baptism to salvation.
There are multiple baptisms mentioned in the New Testament. But according to Ephesians 4 there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Leading me to the conclusion that being baptised into any part of the God Head and His kingdom has the same intention and result, which is, death to the old nature results in a transformed life. Outside of the ceremony of water baptism, baptism is something that we enter into as a lifestyle. We are baptised into the body of Christ. Remember the example of the pickle? We must be immersed into His body the church. That's why we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Being immersed into the body is much more than attending church on Sunday. We need to know those whom we labor with. This takes time and effort. We must know the doctrine being espoused by those who are leading and weigh it against the word and the Spirit of truth that resides in us. We must find how we fit and function with those we are joined to. Immersion would require a very active body life. This offers some unique challenges to many of us who are somewhat out of the current church life.
Next week "Baptism Part Deux"