COMMON QUESTIONS ON WATER BAPTISM

WERE THE DISCIPLES OF Y’SHUA IMMERSED IN THE WORD BEFORE THEY WERE BAPTIZED?

Yes, Y’shua immersed them for 3-1/2 years. Then at the end, He said to them, “You are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to you” (John 15:3); He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).

²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. EZEKIEL 36

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THEIR IMMERSION IN THE WORD?

Y’shua did three things: (1) He uncovered God’s name (reverting Adonai to YHVH); (2) He removed the false teachings lurking in the minds of His disciples; and (3) He replaced the false teachings with the truth.

⁶ I have revealed [uncovered] Your name to those whom You gave Me out of the world… ⁸ I gave them the words that You gave Me and they accepted them… ¹⁴ I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world… JOHN 17

SHOULD CHILDREN BE BAPTIZED?

Water baptism is about making a life-long commitment. It is exclusive to those who can make a knowledgeable choice. No one should be baptized unless he has learned the Most Holy Name and unless he has been immersed in the Word, and unless he has given himself to repentance, confession and restitution. This explains why Y’shua did not rush in baptizing His disciples, and why infants and children should not be baptized. The practice during Y’shua’s time is to baptize people as they age 30. Only people with mature judgment and disposition were baptized.

IS IT TRUE THAT INFANTS AND CHILDREN WHO DIE UNBAPTIZED GO TO LIMBO?

Limbo (allegedly a region on the edge or boundary of hell) is a speculative idea without biblical basis. Pope John Paul II had the concept of limbo abolished.

Infants and children should not be baptized but their parents may dedicate them to God. Christians sometimes refer to it as dry baptism.

In the Christian Dedication, the parents heartfully offer their child back to the Giver. They acknowledge Y’shua as their God and recognize Him as the real owner of the child. Children belong first and foremost to God (Psalm 127:3) but God entrusts them as gifts to parents. The parents make a vow (as God’s stewards) to love and take care of their gift, and to raise him according to God’s purpose and ways. 

Child-rearing is a partnership with God. So the parents ask for grace and wisdom in carrying out their parental responsibilities. They also pray that the child may be shielded from evil touch, and for the day to come when he will accept Y’shua as his personal God and Savior.

In Luke 2:22 Mary and Joseph brought their baby to the Jerusalem Temple in order to present Him before God.

WHAT DOES IMMERSION MEAN? 

Encarta defines immersion as

1. complete involvement: involvement in something that completely occupies all the time, energy, or concentration available

2. placing something under liquid: the dipping of something into a liquid so that it is completely covered

3. CHRISTIANITY baptism by dipping body in water: the practice of baptism by lowering a person’s head and upper body, or sometimes the whole body, into water.

Immersion in the Word means giving focus, time and energy in understanding the Word. It also means reading with open ears.

²⁰ Hear the Word, accept it, and produce a crop. MARK 4

Should you literally hear the voice of God talking to you, that’s a bonus, listen to it too. Listen for as long as what the voice says is in complete agreement with the written Word. Should there be any contradiction no matter how insignificant it may be, stop listening; for the voice is demonic. God neither contradicts nor violates His written Word (Isaiah 46:11).

Pay attention to what is being said now for it is extremely important. 

Peter the Hermit, who led the first wave of the First Crusade, claimed to have a vision of Y’shua in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He said he was commanded to call on the people to fight the Seljuk Turks who had invaded the Holy Land and destroyed the Holy Sepulchre. Y’shua gave him the authority to lead the crusade and promised heaven for all who took part in the expedition. The expedition proved to be disastrous to its participants. (Dark Side of Catholicism, p. 84)

In 1212 ad, a 15-year-old boy named Stephen organized the Children’s Crusade. According to him, Y’shua urged him to lead it. Twenty thousand children left Germany and France for the Holy Land. The crusade ended in disaster. The children never reached their destination. Many died along the way. Of the survivors, the boys were sold into slavery and the girls were either sold to brothels or taken as maids. (Dark Side of Catholicism, p. 90)

In the Philippines, I was present when two nights before the 2004 national elections, Bishop Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus Is Lord Movement confided to Born-Again leaders gathered in a Baguio City hotel that God had talked to him and anointed him to be the next President of the Philippines. He lost in the election.

I also heard Pastor Wilde Almeda of the Jesus Miracle Crusade prophesy in Dasmarinas, Cavite that Jose de Venecia would win the 1998 presidential election. The pastor claimed to be a prophet of God and he vowed to have himself shot by a firing squad at the Luneta Park should De Venecia lose. De Venecia lost. The pastor did not honor his vow.

The point is, the demonic forces are most deceiving. Why even the chosen can be deceived! Beware of the voices you hear. Stop listening to it should it say “God said this” and nothing like it happened. Do not be deceived (Galatians 6:7). Be sanctified by the truth. An ounce of truth dispenses with a pound of false teachings. Crave pure spiritual milk, like newborn babies, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation (1 Peter 2:2). 

SHOULD IMMERSION IN THE WORD BE STOPPED AFTER WATER BAPTISM?

Of course not, immersion is for life. One reading is not enough. Keep on learning. The Word has so much breadth and fabric. It has seven layers of meaning, none of them contradicting the others. There is always new knowledge and deeper understanding to gain. 

¹² I have so much more to say to you, more than you can bear now. JOHN 16

Man has a short memory span and it gets shorter as he ages. So keep on being reminded. Read and re-read the Scripture the way you would to letters from a beloved. Keep on reading until you memorize the verses and the punctuation marks that separate them. Keep on reading until you fully understand every instruction in it. 2 Peter 3:18 says, “Grow in the knowledge of our God and Savior”.

St. Paul wrote:

¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Y’shua the Messiah, the glorious Father, may give you wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of your glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and His incomparably great power for us who believe. EPHESIANS 1

What happens if you stop the immersion process?

Then you would lose focus so easily. Bear in mind that the evil empire will not stop in making you  think wrong, act wrong and speak wrong.

What happens if you do not submit to the immersion process at all?

Then the false teachings will deceive you. You will not qualify for water baptism because your heart will not be in the right place. This Scripture verse will apply to you: “Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave [abandoned] them to a depraved [debased, reprobate] mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:28).

IN PREPARING FOR YOUR WATER BAPTISM, ARE YOU EXPECTED TO DEAL WITH ALL OF YOUR ENEMY STRONGHOLDS AT ONE AND THE SAME TIME?

No, getting rid of your enemy strongholds “from glory to glory” will do. No one climbs a mountain in one great leap; it’s done one step at a time. You can climb your own personal mountain this way. 

God is not like the foolish farmer who planted seeds and then dug up the soil the next day to see if they had grown roots. God knows that His seeds don’t grow into trees and bear fruit overnight. He knows that you will make mistakes, fail, stumble and hit many a bump in the road. His only hope is that “though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again” (Proverbs 24:16).

¹⁸ But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 CORINTHIANS 3 kjv

WILL YOU ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD IF YOU DIE BEFORE YOU ARE ABLE TO DEAL WITH ALL OF YOUR ENEMY STRONGHOLDS?

Yes, you will. God is forever merciful, full of love and grace. What matters to Him is your resolve to clean up your act, your dedication to love God and neighbor, your determination to stop committing any deliberate sin, your effort to emerge triumphant from your baptism of fire. If your heart is right with Him, His grace will reciprocate your love and faithfulness. It will be His great joy to welcome you to His kingdom.

¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in the Messiah Y’shua, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ROMANS 8 nkjv

⁴² [The criminal] said, “Y’shua, remember me when You come into Your kingdom?” ⁴³ Y’shua answered him, “I tell you the truth, today, you will be with Me in paradise.” LUKE 23

²⁴ …the sins of those who dwell [in Zion] will be forgiven. ISAIAH 33

WHAT ABOUT OUR NEIGHBORS, AREN’T THEY LIKELY TO JUDGE US AS A HYPOCRITE, AND THEREBY SIN, SEEING THE ENEMY STRONGHOLDS WE HAVE YET TO GET RID OF?

Prevent them from sinning by teaching them the difference between the man who does his best to lessen the enemy strongholds in him, albeit one or two at a time, and the man who does not. Let them call hypocrite the man who knows of the enemy strongholds he must get rid, moreso teaches others how to do it, and yet does nothing about it.

Warning

The demonic forces will use your confession to create in you a longing for the fun and adventure of your checkered past. They will shame, ostracize and alienate you, in order to make you feel bitter, make you doubt God’s forgiveness, put a rebellious spirit in you, make you give up the fight and return to your old sinful life. They will fill you with remorse (excessive guilt or sorrow), especially when your guard is down, for the hurts, grief, injuries and losses you had caused to your neighbors. The apostle Judas Iscariot hanged himself when hit with remorse.

Your neighbors might not forgive you for the wrongs you have caused to them. Just when you soften up, they might become hard on you. Just when you decide to come out of your shell, they might slam the door on you. Just when you are determined to turn into a new leaf and to make life better for everyone, they might ignore you, reject you, harass you, harangue you, jail you, or worse, cut your head off.

We are products of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners of it, said Rick Warren. (Purpose-Driven Life, p. 28) There’s no sense crying over spilled milk. Do not worry of the wrongs you had caused to others after you have done spiritual detoxification for them. Be assured that God has forgiven your wrongs and erased them from His memory (Isaiah 43:25). And do not worry if you cannot afford to make restitution because God will recompense the wronged who forgives you (Matthew 19:29). The burden of perpetuating LOVE is transferred from the wrong-doer to the wronged.

⁵ Love keeps no record of wrongs. 1 CORINTHIANS 13

⁴⁰ If they confess their sins and the sins of their fathers—their treachery against Me and their hostility toward Me, ⁴¹ which made Me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, ⁴² I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham. LEVITICUS 26

⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 JOHN 1

¹² I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful, declares the Lord, I will not be angry forever. ¹³ Only acknowledge your guilt—you have rebelled against the Lord your God. JEREMIAH 3

¹⁸ Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. ISAIAH 1

God hopes that you would never cross back to your old sinful life.     

⁶² No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. LUKE 9

²⁶ Lot’s wife looked back [longingly], and she became a pillar of salt. GENESIS 19