Identified with our Groom

"Where we first met"

Often times, when talking with other people and “the Lord” might come up in our conversations, we are all reluctant to think that we know all that there is to know about our salvation experience. However, my husband and I have learned through our years in serving the Lord that all too often these are what we find: either people think that they are going to Heaven when it could be obvious they are not Christ’s, or they are truly saved but are not actually secure in that position. Both would be a huge tragedy, on one hand the sinner dies believing they will be granted Heaven, only to burn in eternal darkness and anguish forever. On the other hand the believer lives a life on earth of total defeat, not every laying hold on the truth that could have forever set them free and enabled them to have the victory over sin. Why is it that both are deceived? One reason is because no one has ever explained to them the mechanics of their salvation. In this chapter, we aim to explain the truths and some fallacies about the salvation experience, in hopes to shine some light and make clear what has possibly been a confusing and jagged journey of life.

Wouldn’t it be great if when folks get saved there was just some outward sign that could just let everyone know, “Hey, I’m saved?” Like, a red mark in our foreheads, or perhaps we all walked a certain way, or maybe we could just have this little golden halo that would just hover above our heads. Then we would know for sure, especially those Christians that might have or could be doubting their salvation. One could be hearing the insistent, discouraging voice of our enemy slandering us in our minds, telling us that we aren’t saved. If we had that outward sign, we could just run to the mirror and wham, there’s the answer, “Golden halo above my head, yep, I’m still saved.” Unfortunately we aren’t afforded such obvious evidences of our faith. Then how exactly do we know (to those of you whom are sure about your faith and where you stand with God, just bare with us as we try to help others). This may not seem like such a problem to those that are completely certain, but for those of us that have been tried with fire, tempted, beaten down, depressed, oppressed by the devil, (having not lived the kind of life that we always thought we could have in Christ), we’re the group that needs a little more explanation in this area.

Let’s start with the subject of baptism. Some people have been told that if they were water baptized, then that means that they are saved. There are others that teach that you’re not really saved until you get baptized in the Holy Ghost, with the initial evidence of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives the utterance. Both are wrong and we’ll explain why through scripture.

Water baptism is an ordinance that the church uses, and we could safely say that it is in fact something that each believer should do, but it isn’t what saves one from sin. If it were, then all we would need to do is go dunk ourselves in the bathtub or a pool and we’d be saved. Have we forgotten one very important subject in this equation if this is the case? What need then would we have for Jesus in all of this? The next refute we usually hear at this point is “Well, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and we’re supposed to follow Him, so that proves it, right? Wrong again, we as Christians need to be able to effectively explain these things to people so that they understand what their Bible truly says. If we don’t know what it says then why do we do these things? We give the devil a foothold to come in and get folks really off track when we erroneously teach things that have not been revealed by the Holy Spirit to us personally. Ignorance is one of the biggest hindrances to God’s children, as well as those who are soon to become His children.

As we turn in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 3, let’s begin in verse 11 and go through verse 17. John the Baptist is the forerunner of Jesus, and was sent particularly for two major purposes: First, to baptize Jesus Christ, and secondly to formerly announce Christ’s purpose as He comes on the scene to officially enter into His ministry. Has anyone ever wondered why Jesus was baptized? It’s imperative that we establish who Jesus actually is in more detail before we can answer that question.

Jesus Christ is not just an ordinary man. He is actually the God-man, the Creator disguised as a mere man, Whom is all of the fullness of the Godhead in every manner. He is Righteousness lived out for all men to see, He literally defines Perfection in every way. At Mt. Sinai, when God gave the Ten Commandments, (and later when the 613 laws were also written), God defined what He expected man to do in order to be “right” in His sight. However, mere man could have never kept all of those laws, let alone one of them for a lifetime. Jesus is the ONLY fulfiller of those laws! In every way, He walked perfect and holy before God, (in word, thought, and in deed), because He was God. Even though He was God, having all power, He didn’t use that power (Jn 1(:11). If Christ had used His power and acted as God and not man, then it would have disqualified Him from being the perfect sacrifice for man’s sins. He was never to step outside of the boundaries of being man. This is why the devil tempted Him in the desert by saying “If thou be the son of God…” (Mt 4:3, 6). Satan’s true intention was to get Christ to act as God and not as man. That word “If” is actually an unfortunate translation, for how it really should read is, “Since you be the Son of God…” A mere man (Adam) sinned and brought all of humanity under the domination of sin, therefore Christ had to come, live, and behave in the same manner, (although sinless) that the entire world could be saved.

We now know that Jesus = God. In Mt 3:11, John says, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but one mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Not all of the accounts state it exactly this way, some say with fire, some do not (Mt 3:11, Mk 1:8, Lk 3:16, Jn 1:26). The point we are trying to make is this: John states that he is baptizing people in water “unto repentance,” and then speaks of the One to come that we shall all need to be baptized of. Then in verses 14 and 15 John tells Jesus that he can’t baptize Him, rather that he (John the Baptist) needs to be baptized of Jesus. And Jesus tells him that they need to do this so they can “fulfill all Righteousness.” Has anyone ever questioned the Lord about this wording and sought to know why He would choose to do such a thing? This doesn’t make sense, does it? We should ask ourselves this very important question, “Does Jesus need to repent for anything?” No, because He is Righteousness in all it’s visual and invisible fashion!

This became a dilemma to the writer, as it was a struggle to understand the true importance of such an action (water baptism). We’re going to step back from this scene, as though we are bystanders on the side of the Jordan watching these events unfold, so let’s hit the pause button for a moment:

If we think back to what happened at the fall in Eden, what transpired there that day we find that because of sin, man was officially separated from the presence of God. Can we visualize the distance that now would exist between God and man? We can’t be with God, (due to our sin) and He can’t be near us for the same reason. We find ourselves faced with a huge problem, where do we meet? It’s like marrying a bird and a fish, where do they build their home? How do you merge a Holy, Righteous, Pure, Powerful, Omnipotent God with lowly, dung covered, grave clothed, depraved and utterly pathetic sinners. How do two such unlikely groups become one?

It is in the person of Jesus Christ that we become one. But not by Him alone, for it is not in the powerful and yet humbled Jesus that we find our meeting place with God. There was a place that was foreordained and it was on a hill in Jerusalem called “Golgotha,” where Heavenly Worhsip was postponed, that God might take time out and free the sinning slaves that He calls His children.

Many people believe the empty tomb to be the place of victory for the believer, but that is woefully incorrect and only a small part of the Gospel of Christ. For when we look ahead to the book of Revelation we find that our Blessed Savior is not referred to as “the One that rose from the dead, not even as the First Fruits unto God, but as “the Lamb” (Rev 5:6; 7:10; 14:10; 19:9; 21:22-23; 22:1,3).

As we push play again on the player, we’re standing along the banks of the Jordan, we see the Hope from Heaven has come down to meet us, in order than He might die for His beloved bride.

To better explain the significance of water baptism, we’d like to give an example of what it truly represents. Let’s use the wedding ring as an example, shall we? When a man and woman get married, (in our culture), they usually present each other with rings as a symbol of their marriage. It is something that is worn on our person to remind them of the covenant they’ve made between each other. It also shows others that they have entered into covenant. The same is what we see with water baptism. Although Jesus had not yet married His Bride, by His submersion in water, He was making an outward statement, (as though to present His Bride with the ring), stating that He is going to make this covenant with us. In turn, we receive our ring when we do the same. This is not the actual covenant that we make with Christ, for it is only a symbol of our marriage with Him. Just as the wedding ring that we wear is not the literal marriage to our earthly spouse, but rather a mere symbol of the marriage.

Christ displayed outwardly through water baptism what He would do for us at Calvary. It was as though He were preaching the gospel without words! As He stood there waiting to be immersed in water, He was a tangible expression of Total Perfection. When He passed down into the water and was fully submerged, it was a type of death. He was forced to hold His breath while there, (just as when we are in our mother’s womb), we were alive with no breath in our lungs yet. As Christ immerged from the “figurative” grave / womb, He demonstrated His resurrection from the dead.

Likewise, upon our immersion in water, we would be openly professing outwardly what we desire for Him to do inwardly in our lives. As we stand, waiting to be immersed, begin as a total sinner .Upon full submergence into the water, we identify with what Christ did for us at Calvary. This would be, our “death with Him.” When we come out of the water, it typifies our being raised in the Newness of Christ’s life, not our own. We’ll explain more on this here shortly.

So then, are we saved by water baptism, not hardly!, We are however doing so that we may identify publically with Christ while reciprocating an outward showing (like a wedding ring exchange) with our Wonderful Savior who died and paid the sin debt for us. What an awesome God that we serve!