Contrary to popular opinion, water baptism does not cleanse one of sin. Nor does it save the soul. Baptism is a physical act of obedience. Emersion in water is SYMBOLIC of a spiritual phenomenon known Biblically as CONVERSION, which is a miraculous, Holy Spirit-performed, all-encompassing transformation that MUST take place in order for the convert to be granted eternal life at the return of Jesus Christ to earth to establish the Kingdom of God. The DESIRED spiritual effects of the physical act of baptism and conversion to enter that kingdom and live there eternally. Unfortunately, Satan has managed blind the vast majority of salvation seekers to God’s Truth concerning the Truths of God. As Jesus said in Revelation 12:9: “The devil has deceived the whole world.” One of those deceptions concerns water baptism. In this series I will be addressing several aspects of the salvation process. Read the series about that process. Key word–Process. But before we delve into the baptismal aspect of salvation, I want to explain exactly what the word “BAPTISM” means by taking a historical look at the original meaning of the word, whose meaning remains the same today. Bear with me while I recall an event that brought home to me the true meaning of baptism. What you are about to read is the result of the Lord’s actions in my life. I could have in no way arranged for the following things to have happened.

Not long after I came to realize that God had called me to serve Him, I found myself in the mountains of Guatemala walking across a field toward a tiny shack sitting alone in the distance. At this point a little God-glorifying information is needed. I had been invited on a missionary trip by a man I knew only by reputation before he invited me to accompany him on this trip south. He told me I would need $800.00 for expenses. I could barely come up with $80.00. I told the Lord that if He wanted me to go, He would have to finance the trip. I told Him that I would tell no one about my need. The night before I was to buy the plane ticket a friend, who knew nothing of my need, gave me $800.00 because, he said, God had told him to. Lesson learned: IF GOD WANTS ME TO DO OR HAVE SOMETHING, HE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. I HAVE LEARNED THAT MY JOB IS TO OBEY AND STAY OUT OF THE WAY.

As my new friend, whom I still barely knew, and I were walking toward the shack I noticed that a fence behind the house was covered with large, different colored patches. I would soon learn that those patches were bundles of sheep’s wool that had been died those various colors by the man inside the building. He was a weaver who used the wool to make fabric on a hand-made, hand and foot operated weaving machine. I watched with fascination as he did his magic on that incredible apparatus. The man’s method of turning white wool into all those bright, beautiful colors drove me to understand about water baptism. Here is the lesson we all need to learn about baptism by emersion and it’s original meaning, which is beautiful when fully understood.

The Greek word for the act is “bautizo,” meaning to wash. The word comes from another word–“bapto,” meaning to dip–to totally immerse an object. Anciently, the act of baptizing referred to the dying of wool for the creation of fabric from which clothing was made. I learned that wool has the capacity of totally absorbing any color into which it is immersed. For this reason it was an excellent material from which to make clothing that was expected to last for a long time without its colors fading. THE WOOL WOULD BE TOTALLY CHANGED TO THE DESIRED COLOR AND WOULD REMAIN THAT COLOR WITHOUT FADING AS LONG AS IT EXISTED. THE NEW COLOR TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY CHANGED IT. You see where I am going with this. Some time following the Guatamalan experience I was asked to preach a baptismal service at the Jordan River. My sermon involved what I have just shared with you.

Baptism, then, is symbolic of the total and permanent change in our lives when we are truly converted. Our immersion in the baptismal water symbolically tells the world that we are totally and permanently changed from what we once were. This signifies that one has been CONVERTED from one type of person to the exact opposite type of person. With true conversion comes the awarding of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of God which enables the convert to ward off Satan’s temptations which we must learn to do in order to mature into full conversion mode. Once attained, we must remain in that hand-in-glove relationship with the Lord until death in order to receive salvation upon the return of Jesus Christ to earth. Only those who have maintained their conversion status until death will be resurrected upon His arrival and allowed to enter the Kingdom with Him. From there they will rule, first the earth for 1000 years (God’s millennial “rest”), then the universe forever. Read about this promise using the key word Caretakers.

The effects of baptism have been misunderstood for centuries because of a Satan-orchestrated “truth” that is embraced by the vast majority of salvation seekers to this day. The error concerns the supposed “fact” that the GOSPEL is “the good news about Jesus Christ–Who He was and what He did.” Recall that Jesus came on the scene saying: “Repent and believe the Gospel” (Mk. 1:1,14,15; 13;10; 14:9; 16:15). One of the problems relative to the ministry of Christ involves the identity of the Gospel He Himself preached for 3 1/2 years and commanded His apostles to preach throughout the world until His return. The other problem involves the content of the Gospel. The masses, upon reading about “the Gospel of Christ” believe that His Gospel is about Himself. This is a misunderstanding. Christ’s Gospel concerns the coming earthly Kingdom of God and how to enter it, not heaven. Nowhere in Scripture are we told that true saints will go to heaven. Read Next Stop, Heaven? Key word–Heaven.

What most people do not realize is that the unchanging Gospel is as old as the Old Testament and was preached to the faithful anciently. Recall that Jesus chastised the Pharisees because they claimed to trust in Moses wrote, who, as Jesus said, “… wrote about Me” (Jn. 5:45-47). In Galatians 3:8 the Apostle Paul tells us that the “Scripture (the Word–Jn. 1:1-4,14) preached the Gospel to ABRAHAM.” Then in Hebrews 4:2 Paul notes that the Gospel that was preached to “us” (the New Testament Church) had earlier been preached to “them”–the Israelites who wandered in the Sinai Desert for 40 years because they did not believe and obey it (3:16-19). Paul warned the church to fear that they might not enter into God’s “rest”–the thousand year long (millennium) following Christ’s return to earth. Note that he told the CHURCH to fear and obey lest they fall short of God’s requirements and fail to enter the Kingdom of God. Are you loving the Lord’s “fine print” yet? You had better, for therein is found the keys to the kingdom. Now back to BAPTISM AND CONVERSION.

As stated earlier, true Christian baptism and conversion involve much, much more that what is preached to members of “the church” on their sun god’s day (Sunday) when they pay homage to him (Tammuz). See the Book of Ezekiel for a Biblical reference (Eze. 8:13-16). Note that the men were holding a “sunrise” service in honor of their sun god.” The women were weeping in honor of Tammuz who had supposedly been killed at the age of 40 and had ascended to the sun where he became the sun god. Born on December 25, he supposedly came back on that date each year and left gifts for the faithful. Sound familiar? His disciples still honor him on his “birthday” each year and on each Sun god day throughout the year. Read the series on Christmas using that word as the key. Tammuz’ mother was also worshipped under various names. Having given herself the title of the “Queen of Heaven,” she is known in the Western World as Easter. Read the series by that name using it as the key word. In case you haven’t noticed yet, SO-CALLED “CHRISTIANITY” IS TOTALLY PAGAN AND AN ABOMINATION TO GOD. Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-71 for God’s instructions relative to your association with that “unclean thing.” L.J.