Historical Posts
Water and Blood
Water and Blood: Water Baptism Contacts Christ’s Blood.
1 John 5:6: “This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood…” Jesus Christ naturally came by water and blood when He was born of this world of a virgin. However, both of these elements are also present in later events in his life, at His death. These events are very significant for our lives as well.
Water and blood were both present at Jesus’ death. John records, “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced (John 19:34-37).’”
This event is significant because “…without shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22).” When Christ died, His blood was shed for the remission of our sins. We come in contact with His saving blood and our sins are washed away when we are baptized… in water.
Jesus told Nicodemus one must be born of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). The Ethiopian eunuch understood, for when he saw water he wanted to be baptized (Acts 8:36). Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John (Mark 1:9-11), and washes us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5). We come in contact with His blood, washing away our sins when we are baptized (Acts 2:38; 22:16).
Both water and blood have a role in God’s plan for man’s salvation from sin. Baptism puts us into Christ (Galatians 3:27), where His blood cleanses us from all sin. His blood continues to cleanse us when we continue to walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7).
Salvation in Christ requires both water and blood. Have you been immersed in water to come into contact with His saving blood?
Salvation: Hear - Believe - Repent - Confess - Be Baptized - Live Faithfully
Content by Richard Dillon
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Water and Salvation
Introduction
A. By having a better appreciation for the Old Testament, we may have a better understanding of the New Testament. In fact, the things “written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope (Romans 15:4).”
B. Thus, with a better appreciation of Noah’s relationship to God, we can have a better understanding of our relationship with Him.
Body
I. God saved Noah through water.
A. The wickedness of man was great; the intents of man’s hearts were only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).
B. God planned to destroy man from the face of the earth (Genesis 6:7).
C. Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6:8-9).
1) He was a just man.
2) He was “perfect” in his generations.
3) He walked with God.
D. Noah built the ark according to God’s instructions, and gathered the right number and kind of animals (Genesis 6:13-22).
E. The floods came, and those on the earth perished; Noah and his family were saved (Genesis 7:1-24).
II. God saves us through water.
A. All men have sinned (Romans 3:23; Galatians 3:22).
B. God destroys those who serve sin, yet saves those willing to serve Him (2 Peter 2:4-5; Romans 6:23).
C. God’s grace has appeared to all men (Titus 2:11; 2 Timothy 1:9-11).
D. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:1-8; Hebrews 11:6-7; Romans 4:13-16; James 2).
E. As eight souls were saved through water, so baptism saves us (1 Peter 3:18-21).
1) Christ sanctifies and cleanses the church with the washing of water by the word (Ephesians 5:25-27).
2) We must be born of water and the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).
3) Baptism allows us to die to ourselves, to be buried with Christ, and to rise again in a newness of life (Romans 6:1-7; Acts 8:36-39).
Conclusion
A. Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
B. He had faith in Him, and did what God commanded of Him.
C. God’s grace that brings salvation has appeared to all of us.
D. Are we willing to do what He commands us?
Salvation: Hear - Believe - Repent - Confess - Be Baptized - Live Faithfully
Content by Richard Dillon
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Water, Water Everywhere Nor Any Drop To Drink
Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned the words “water, water, everywhere nor any drop to drink” in his poem “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” in the early 1800s. He gives his readers a sense of abundant water that is not fit to drink. It would be terrible to come upon an abundant water supply, yet not be able to partake of any.
In contrast, we have an abundant water supply that we can partake of! Jesus told a woman of Samaria, “whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:13-14).” After hearing these words, this woman desired that living water! We too should desire everlasting life, and we can get it through Christ.
Water may be abundant, but not fit for drinking. Rather than being thirsty for physical water, we should desire the spiritual water.
Once our physical thirst is quenched, we will become thirsty again. However, by partaking of that spiritual water we shall truly be filled.
There is plenty for you, and plenty for me. “…Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).”
Content by Richard Dillon
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Can Baptism Be Sprinkling, Pouring, or Dipping?
According to Webster’s Dictionary, baptism is “a Christian sacrament marked by ritual use of water and admitting the recipient to the Christian community.”
Most denominations teach that baptism may be administered either by sprinkling water on one’s head, by pouring water over one’s head, or by dipping one’s entire body in water. Some denominations allow the one being baptized to select which mode of baptism he would like to experience, with the understanding that it really does not matter how one is baptized, in the first place.
But, is it really the case that the mode of baptism does not matter?
- What does the Bible have to say about this issue?
- How were people baptized in the ancient church?
- Did the apostles give people a choice?
The New Testament tells us all about baptism
The fact of the matter is that the Scriptures teach that there is only “one baptism,” which is recognized by the Lord, as valid (Ephesians 4:5). The New Testament tells us all about baptism, but it only speaks of one form of baptism. In Matthew 3:13-17, we find that, in the account of Jesus’ own baptism, the Lord, “when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.” For Jesus to come up out of the water, He must have gone down into the water. This account depicts Jesus’ baptism as being by immersion in water. In Acts 8:27-40, in the account of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, we find that “they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” The text goes on to say that they both came back up out of the water, and the eunuch went on his way. Again, baptism is depicted as immersion in water.
Buried with him in baptism
Also, it is worth noticing that, in Romans 6:4 and in Colossians 2:12, the text says that we are “buried with him in baptism.” The concept of baptism as a burial in water shows that baptism is done by dipping, plunging, or submerging someone in water. Just as you cannot bury someone with a sprinkling of dirt, or with a handful of dirt, you cannot baptize someone with a sprinkling or a handful of water.
There are many other proofs, which show that baptism is immersion in water. If you have been baptized, was it by immersion in water, or by some other means? According to the Scriptures, there is only one way to be baptized under the Law of Christ. Have you really been baptized?
Baptism: the Gateway into the Church
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…” – Mark 16:16
Content by Russell Kline
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