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Baptism – Necessary or Not?

Baptism – Necessary or Not?

Could you please write a blog on the topic of baptism. My understanding is that when you come to know God and trust him completely, there comes a point when you decide to surrender your life to the will of Jesus and follow him 100%.

Baptism symbolizes repentance of sinful/selfish living and rebirth in Jesus Christ. It is a public display of one’s change of heart and desire/devotion to live like Christ and develop a Christ like character. Is this correct? Could you also address whether baptism is necessary for salvation and at what stage a of a person’s Christian journey should they consider baptism? Your insight into the meaning and significance of baptism would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. God bless.  


Baptism has a literal and a symbolic significance. The literal significance is when our minds, hearts, and characters are immersed into Jesus Christ and we surrender self, cease to live for self, “die” to self and begin living a new life of love for God and others. This is symbolically demonstrated by the ceremony called baptism. The ceremony called baptism has no power to cleanse, save, heal or renew the believer. It is a mere public enactment of being buried under water, symbolizing death to the old life of selfishness, washed anew by the Spirit, and rising again to live a new life in Christ.

The literal baptism is necessary (having the mind/heart immersed in Christ by the Holy Spirit) for salvation. It is this immersion into Christ, via the presence of the Holy Spirit, which regenerates the heart, writes the law on the heart and mind (Heb 8:10), circumcises the heart, thus recreating us into Christ-likeness. To receive Christ into the heart is the only means of salvation. This immersion of the mind/heart/character into Christ requires the individual to freely choose to surrender self in trust to God.

The symbolic baptism of immersion in water is not a requirement for salvation. The thief on the cross was not baptized symbolically, but his heart was immersed into Christ and renewed by the Spirit.

The ceremony of baptism can be done for many reasons, but only one is spiritually meaningful. A person can be ceremonially baptized (in water) because their parents expect them to do it, their friends are doing it, their fiancé won’t marry them unless they do etc. Such baptism is meaningless because the motives for the ceremony are all selfish, thus the public enactment of dying to self and living for God and others is a lie.

The meaningful fulfillment of the ritual of public baptism is entered into whenever a person has experienced the immersion of heart and mind into Christ, died to selfishness and now lives a new life of love for God and others, and wants to publicly testify to this new life.

Below is my paraphrase of 1Cor 1:10-17 regarding baptism:

1 CO 1:10 Brothers and sisters, as an ambassador of our Lord Jesus Christ, I call on you to come into agreement with each other on the truth about God as revealed by Jesus and be fully united in mind, heart, attitude and motive around the beautiful character and methods of God. 11 My brothers and sisters, I have heard, from some of Chloe’s household, that disagreements and arguments have developed among you. 12 Evidently, some have lost the main focus of the truth about God as revealed by Jesus, for one of you says, “I am Paul’s disciple”; another, “I adhere to the teachings of Apollos”; another, “I belong to the order of Peter”; and still others, “I follow Christ.”

1CO 1:13 What are you thinking? Is there more than one Christ? Do you think Christ has multiple personalities or is two-faced? Were your minds immersed into the truth about Paul or into the truth about God as revealed by Christ? 14 I am thankful, that after your minds were immersed into the truth about God, as revealed by Christ, I didn’t assist any of you in the symbolic water immersion, except for Crispus and Gaius, 15 so none of you would get confused and think you were immersing your hearts in loyalty to me. 16 (Oh yes, I also assisted the household of Stephanas in the symbolic water immersion; but other than that I don’t remember assisting anyone else with this ritual). 17 For God did not send me to perform rituals, but to present the good news about him, his methods, principles and character as revealed by Christ – not some human theory of appeasement, lest the death of Christ be seen as some payment to an offended god and therefore lose its power to free the mind from fear and mistrust of God.

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Your message of design law vs imperial law is so uplifting and makes so much sense- it is a game changer for me. The fact that Jesus’s death is not a big payment by an angry God is , quite frankly, a relief.

Laura G., London, Ontario, Canada

 

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M.T., USA

 

Testimony 59

I’m a native Ghanan, but am currently in France for my master’s degree. Prior to this, during my final years at undergraduate studies in Ghana, I was introduced to your ministry and I’ve been immensely blessed by what you share, especially about the Design and Imposed Laws. God richly bless you for that.

One of the first things I did when I arrived in France was to buy all four of your books. They not only helped me, but those I shared them with. I shared the message with an atheist student and I marveled at how God worked mightily in his life. Today this person shares the Love of God with others and debunks theories of who God is not. I want to share what you present in your “Heavenly Sanctuary and Investigative Judgment” pamphlet, because the message brought rest to my soul and I live today as a healthy person.

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Michael A., Ghana

 

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R. V. N., South Africa

 

Testimony 70

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Judy Phelps, Reno, NV, USA

Testimony 14

We really appreciate your views on the judgment and they make good sense considering our free choice.

Anonymous

 

Testimony 51

I Love This Ministry!!!!!!! I see first hand how this message is desperately needed, how erroneous beliefs about God and His Character negatively affect humanity at every level. I thank God for your ministry, as I was searching on my own and was discovering some of your same beliefs and was blown away when I found your ministry. I know you hear it all the time, but it is truly life changing. May God continue to reveal His Will to you and Bless you!

Eric S., Sanford, FL, USA

 

Testimony 24

I wanted to thank you very much for presenting your understanding of God. I’ve always been troubled by this question: Why did Jesus have to die? Since my conversion I understood that The Father & Jesus are one, I did not have issues with that. But was there not any other way to save us than for Jesus to die? I guess I actually had a question about God – if He is so wise, how come He did not find another way? I did not see the real ‘beauty’  in the cross. Only when you explained the picture in the medical context, Jesus providing medicine for my selfishness, have I started to finally ‘see the light’. Thank you so much. Your seminar, “Healing the Mind,” are absolutely marvelous & have shared them with my family and many other people, including colleagues at work. Thanks, thanks, thanks. May God bless you abundantly in your ministry.

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Testimony 54

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Testimony 62

I would like to express my thanks to the C&R team for creating a platform from which people can learn to trust in God and grow. My life is a witness to the effectiveness of this ministry. Without believing the truth about God as you have shown, I don’t know what my life would be like. I had given up on God helping me with certain sins – it was all useless. Given that the scripture is clear and God is so good, how could I have betrayed him so many times? I was a yo-yo christian; spinning up and down. My faith and enthusiasm was driven by discoveries/threats that prophecy is about to be fulfilled. But when I watched your “Healing the Mind” seminar, it was like a light finally went on. I could see God had no plan to hurt me, the danger came from sin, and that He is working to protect me and strengthen me. Thank you for allowing God to use you. The message God gave C&R saved my life!

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Testimony 53

I was so blessed by a friend who gave me your book, “The God Shaped Brain,” while I was sitting in church asking God to please help me learn more about Him and help me not to be so confused and scared. That was about 2 years ago. Your books have helped me to love God even more. I’m not confused or scared anymore! I have listened to all of your bible study classes and feel like I know the wonderful people that attend every week. Thank you for all that you’re doing in spreading the true message about God and His law of love. God bless you and your whole class.

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Testimony 55

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Testimony 40

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Testimony 33

I was invited over a friend’s house to see the “God and Your Brain” seminar today. I became [a christian] 36 years ago at the age of 19, but have struggled with the concept of God taking His ‘pound of flesh’ out on His Son to be appeased. Wow. Your seminar has been an incredible revelation and breath of reason and fresh air! I have your book, “The God Shaped Brain,” and it is SO eye opening. Finally, after 36 years enlightenment has come! Praise the Good Lord! What can I say, but that the Real Gospel is truly “Good News!” Thank you for your efforts in giving the Gospel a clear sound!

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