BAPTISM INTO
THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST
7. Baptism in Living Water Created by God
The terminology “Living Water”
is used in Scriptures with literal as well as spiritual meanings. In describing the beauty of “my sister, my
spouse” Solomon wrote about “a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters,” (Songs
4:12,15)
Water that has the Blood of Jesus Christ Jeremiah informs us
the Lord Jesus Christ is “the Fountain of
Living Waters.” (Jer. 17:13)
Zechariah foretold, “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of
David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” (Zec. 13:1)
This fountain was opened at the Crucifixion when “. . . one of the
soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came
out.” (Jn. 19:34) Water, in
itself, has no power to remit sins.
When water is combined with the blood of Jesus Christ it becomes
alive. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood,
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your
souls; for it is the blood that makes
atonement for the soul.” (Lev. 17:11) The Blood of Jesus Christ must be present in the water so that it
becomes the Living Water. Only the
Living Water that includes the Blood of Jesus Christ can wash away the sins. The efficacious baptism that remits sins is “. . . not only by
water, but by water and blood. And it
is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1 Jn. 5:6)
Water that is Moved by the Holy Spirit Our Lord Jesus
Christ spoke to the woman at the well, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you,
‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you Living
Water. . . But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of
water springing up into everlasting life.” (Jn. 4: 10, 14) Our Lord had also declared: “He who believes in
Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of Living
Water. But this He spoke concerning the
Spirit , whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not
yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (Jn. 7:38-39) Our Lord referred to the Holy Spirit as “Living Water”. In a sense, the water can only be described
as “Living Water” when the Holy
Spirit is present in the water. At
Creation “. . . the
Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen. 1:2) When God’s Spirit came into contact with the
water it became alive, and creation takes place.
The Spirit, the Water and the Blood The Holy Bible
gives us this important revelation. “And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit,
the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” (1 Jn. 5:8) Nearly two thousand years ago on Mount
Calvary, the Spirit, the water and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bore witness on earth and agreed as one
that He died for our sins. Today, the
Spirit, the water and the blood of Jesus Christ also bear witness on earth as
the Living Water. All three also agree as one that through our baptism into His
Living Water our sins are washed away.
Water in the River that has life and saves lives The prophet
Ezekiel describes a river that heals and makes alive. “And
it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will
live. There will be a great multitude
of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything
will live wherever the river goes.” (Ezek. 47:9) The river that heals and makes fish alive
refers to the river of blood and water that flowed out from our Savior’s body
on the cross. Fish symbolizes people who are saved. Jesus told His disciples, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mt. 4:19) This river of the Savior’s blood and water
is flowing all over the world where the Holy Spirit leads. “There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of
God, The most holy place of the
tabernacle of the Most High.” (Psm. 46:4) Our Lord Jesus Christ entered the most holy place and shed His
Blood for the sins of mankind. The
river that began in “the most holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High”
can only refer to the river of blood and water that flowed from our Lord’s
veins and came out from His body (Jn. 19:34).
This river that is divided into many streams indicates there is only one
source but many outlets are formed.
This precious truth of the river of living water must be shared with
every Christian in the world.
The Mighty Waters that Save Lives and Destroy the Enemies Water is the most
common element in the world. Without
water all living creatures would die; and yet water could also destroy people
by drowning. God had used the mighty
waters to save His own people and to destroy His enemies on two occasions. During the Great Flood “all flesh died that moved on the earth” and “only Noah and
those who were with him in the ark remained alive.” (Gen. 7:20-24) The second time that God used the mighty
waters to accomplish His purpose was the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex.
14:21-31). Both miracles prefigure
God’s salvation through water baptism.
The Holy Bible informs us about the longsuffering of God who “waited in the days
of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight
souls, were saved through water. There
is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 3:20-21) “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our
fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized
into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, . . .” (1 Cor. 10:1-2) “Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the
sea and a path through the mighty waters.” (Isa. 43:16) Again, we read in the Holy Bible, “Your way was in
the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known.”
(Psm. 77:19) God had used
the mighty waters in the sea to save His people from their enemies, but He also
uses it to destroy sin that is the people’s real enemy. “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over
the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in
mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue
our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Mic.
7:18-19) Some may want to
know how God casts sin, an intangible element, into the depths of the sea. He does it through water baptism into the
Lord Jesus Christ that has the power over sin. that has the effect of remitting
sins When it is administered correctly by Spirit-filled baptists in Living
Water, that is, when the Holy Spirit and the Blood of Jesus Christ is present,
all sins are remitted.
Living Water refers to natural places that are created by God “Then I saw another angel
flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those
who dwell on the earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people - saying
with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His
judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and
springs of water.” (Rev. 14:7) Our God is the Creator of all things in this
universe, but He wants to draw our attention to “the sea and springs of water”. In these last days God wants His people to
worship Him as their Creator and return to natural baptismal sites that are
created by Him. When you read the New Testament you will find that the Lord
Jesus Christ and the primitive Christians were baptized in natural places with
much water such as rivers, springs and the sea (Mt. 3:5-5; Jn. 3:22-23). When Christianity spread to Europe,
especially in Rome, the early Christians were severely persecuted. Christianity went underground and public
baptism in the open became non-existent.
Christians used to meet in catacombs or underground caves and it became
impossible to baptize converts in Living Water. As a result, baptism by complete immersion soon gave way to
sprinkling and other more convenient modes.
The true form of water baptism was altogether forgotten by the Roman
Catholic and Orthodox Churches. After
the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Christians began to rediscover more
truths regarding water baptism. One of
the greatest truths ever discovered in the Twentieth Century is Baptism in
Living Water.
Throughout the Scriptures we find that water baptism had
been administered in natural places of God’s creation. Some may contend that on the Day of
Pentecost the three thousand people could have been baptized in the pools of
Jerusalem. Actually, there is no support
for this assumption at all. However,
there is a clear record that states where people in Jerusalem were
baptized. “Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the
region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the
Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mt. 3:5-6). If the people living in Jerusalem could go to the River
Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist, the three thousand people could also
have gone to the same river to receive water baptism. Remember the Biblical mode of immersing oneself in the forward
motion with head bowed may be administered to all three thousand people in the
River Jordan at the same time. How
wonderful is the correct mode of baptism!
Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch were riding in a
chariot. “Now as they went down the road, they came to
some water. And the eunuch said, See,
here is water. What hinders me
from being baptized? . . . So he commanded
the chariot to stand still. And both
Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.” (Acts
8:36-38) The eunuch was
baptized in a desert spring that is large enough to be visible at a distance
from a moving vehicle, and deep enough
for two people to go down.
In Philippi Paul had preached to Lydia on the
riverside. After she and her household
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ they must have been baptized in the river
(Acts 16:11-15). The jailer and his
family, who lived in the same city, must have also been baptized in the same
river (Acts 16:30-34). Paul rebaptized
about twelve disciples in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-6) It is a city that is situated near the river mouth and the Aegean
Sea. There are many baptismal sites in
this city. Most of cities where
churches were established have suitable places for baptism.
Our God of Miracles provided the Living Water
Many people have asked me this question. What about places with no living water like
rivers, seas or springs? How will
Christians be baptized? I would like to
share a testimony about how the Lord Jesus Christ solved this problem in South
India several years ago. The Madras
area did not have rain for two and half years, and the people were suffering
because there was lack of water. All
the rivers and streams had dried up. In
October 1969 the Lord sent two ministers to preach the gospel in that
area. I was one of them and the other
minister was John Chin. After the first
open air meeting in Pammal Settlement the Lord performed a great miracle. That same evening the Lord poured down rain
only in the village that we had preached.
All the surrounding villages remained dry. The people living in Pammal brought out containers to collect the
rain water. They all talked about the
One True God in the Lord Jesus Christ. On the second evening of the Gospel
Meeting, 69 souls accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. and were
baptized into Him. God had filled a depressed portion of the river with rain
water the previous evening. It was big
and deep enough to administer water baptism.
Our Lord is a God of
miracles. He had not only given rain to
the people in Pammal so that they would believe in Him, but had also created
the Living Water so that they could be baptized in it. We give all the glory and honor to our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Do not forsake the Fountain of Living Waters Jeremiah wrote: “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of
Living Waters, and hewn themselves cisterns - broken cisterns that can hold no
water.” (Jer. 2:13). This is a prophecy spoken by the Almighty God
to His people who have committed two evils.
The first evil was to forsake the Lord Jesus Christ as the Fountain of
Living Waters. A fountain is a
perennial spring that continually gives out water. It never runs dry. Our
Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal Fountain..
God’s people have forsaken the truth of the blood and water that flowed
from our Lord’s body. This Fountain is
still with us today because of the witness of the Holy Spirit. The second evil that God’s people have
committed is to hew themselves cisterns that cannot hold water
continuously. Although Jeremiah was not
writing about water baptism, nevertheless the same principle may be applied to
it. Man created the hewn cisterns
therefore have a contrast with God’s natural Fountain of Living Water. The Roman Catholic church have ceased
administering baptism in natural places that are created by God, and have been
using baptismal fonts for dipping the fingers and marking crosses on foreheads.
The Protestant churches have only made slight improvements. Some of the newer churches use baptismal
tanks with paintings of river scenes.
Some have used swimming pools and even bath tubs. All these artificial baptismal sites are
man’s creation. God’s people must
return to the Fountain of Living Water and baptize in natural places such as
rivers, streams, springs and seas (Rev. 14:7)
May God bless you.
