I do not believe that the people who received Jonh's baptism would have thought of it being spiritual, even thinking of him as a prophet
You are not agreeing with Jesus or the jews, of what they believed of John's ministry and his spiritual work that was from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 21:25,
- the baptism of John whence was it from heaven(spiritual) or of men(physical)
- and they reasoned with themselves, saying,
if we say from heaven(spiritual) Jesus will say to us,
Why did ye not then believe John
But if we say from men(your position)
we fear the people for all hold John as a prophet
So you do not agree with Jesus.
And the Jewish people do not agree with you.
Jesus taught John's baptism was from heaven.
You have to have a theology that teaches water baptism is from man to not see what the Bible teaches on water baptism.
According to Jesus it is from heaven.
John was guided by the Holy Spirit to baptize in water.
Jesus says it's from heaven.
The Jews believe it's from heaven.
The men challenged by Jesus said if they did not answer from heaven, Jesus would accuse them of not believing in John or his ministry.
The Jews would have rejected their denial of John's water baptism being from heaven as dening John is a prophet of God.
You are disagreeing with Jesus and the Jews and you dont realize it.
And the reason is simple.
Your theology wont allow you to agree with what the Bible says.
So, sorry. I still see John's baptism as physical
Jesus does not.
Nor do the jews.
Remember... The baptisms John performed had the specific purpose of readying their hearts for the coming of the Lord. They had heard
the Messiah would be coming, and believed it to be so, and to the people this was the first step .
It was the first step for many of them who recognized they could not continue in their ways and be accepted by the Messiah
This is all your theology will allow for the purpose of John's baptism.
John's baptism prepared the Jews to be allowed into the kingdom of God.
You could not enter in the kingdom if you were still in your sins.
You purposely left out what John's baptism does for the jews.
Mark 1:4,
- John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins
The Greek word for here is eis,
It means into, to, towards, for, in order to obtain, it expresses the purpose, result, or the end goal of an action
Water baptism by John was for the purpose to obtain forgiveness of sins.
That is what the word of God says.
Changing the meaning is denying the word.
Do you realize that no one can be saved if they refuse to do the will of God?
When Gods will is for you to be baptized, you cannot go against Gods will and be forgiven of your rebellious heart.
Luke 7:30,
- but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God against themselves being not baptized by John
It was impossible for any jew to enter into Gods kingdom without obeying the will of God.
You are teaching that John's baptism was not essential to obey.
Therefore sins can be forgiven by not obeying Gods will.
The kingdom at this time was at hand,
Mark 1:15,
- and saying,
the time is fullfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and believe the gospel
Impossible for those Jews who rejected the will of God by not being baptized by John to have repented.
Only way true repentance occured is if the were baptized by John.
Therefore no repentance no access into the kingdom.
Your theology has Jews saved before they repented.
You have the Jews who rejected the counsel of God by not being baptized as not being condemned.
No repentance= refusal to be baptized by John.
No repentance = no forgiveness of sins.
No baptism = no repentance nor forgiveness of sins.
You cannot under John's ministry have repented if you refused to be baptized.
The two God joined together.
Mark 10:9,
- What therefore God hath joined together lot no man seperate
This is a universal law.
It does not only apply to marriage.
Anything God joins together man cannot alter by taking some of what God says and excluding the rest of what He says.
With God it is all or nothing.
The term "born again" is derived from the Greek word "anōthen," which can mean "again" or "from above," indicating both a renewal and a divine origin.
It has nothing to do with water. Water is a great tool to show others where your beliefs are, but water will only get you wet.
You are separating born again from baptism.
Gods word doesn't teach this. You are teaching this.
We are in agreement. The water is not the cleansing agent.
God is the agent for how we are cleansed from our sins.
The water is only the element that God not man has decreed we use.
If Gods will was a burial in dirt. Then dirt would not cleanse us.
But since God decreed dirt then dirt cannot be seperated from being born again.
Look at the story of Naaman.
Told to immerse himself in the river Jordan seven times.
Did the water remove his leporsy?
No, God is the agent that removed it.
But would Naaman have been made clean if he refused Gods will?
Cant seperste the river Jordan and immersion from Naaman's cleansing just as you cannot seperate John's baptism from being born again.
Was there some scientific reason for dipping seven times?
Did the water cleanse If it wasn't seven times.
Obviously it was God doing the cleansing not the water.
But it should be obvious that Naaman could not be cleansed if he did not do the will of God.
2 Kings 5:14,
- So Naaman went down to the Jordan river and dipped himself seven times as
the man of God had instructed him and his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child and he was healed.
You must do what God says to be cleansed.
No power in water.
Grace is only given to those who obey Gods commandments.
The process of spiritual rebirth begins with repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. (Water is not needed)
You are teaching that those who refused John's baptism could repent without immersion in water.
That's from a theology. Not from the Bible friend.
