WATER BAPTISM PREREQUISITES

The common perception is that water baptism is nothing but a public induction of the new members of the Church. It has a higher significance:  

³ I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again… ⁵ No one can enter the kingdom of heaven unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at My saying, “You must be born again.” JOHN 3

Three acts in the baptismal rite—submersion in water, renouncement of Lucifer, and acceptance of the Spirit—are symbolic of the preparations we must comply with before the actual rite. Necessary for our hearts to be right with God. If we do not comply with them, our baptism would be a sham. We would not receive the five blessings which the baptism brings. No rebirth would come about. We might be held a new member of the Church in the eyes of men, but not in the sight of God.   

Submersion in Water

Submersion in water is symbolic of our need to be immersed in the Word of God. It must be done for three reasons:

1.            To read the fine print. Water baptism is entering into a contract with God. Nobody in his right mind would enter into any contract without understanding the terms and conditions, isn’t that right? We must understand what the New Covenant is about: its vision of where to go, its mission statement of why go there, and its roadmap on how to get there. We have to evaluate what participation is expected of us and what participation can be expected of the other party. We have to determine whether we can deliver our side of the contract; what the rewards are if we do and the penalties, if we fail. We have to check whether we are inclined to be a coworker of God and, if we are, what our motive is. All these have to be done so we can relate properly as a party to the contract.

³³ Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. MATTHEW 6

¹⁰ Find out what pleases the Lord. ¹⁷ …Understand what the Lord’s will is. EPHESIANS 5

2.            To gain faith-knowledge. Faith-knowledge makes us see the spiritual realm. It broadens our perception of reality beyond the scope of the visible and the tangible. Complementing our fact-knowledge with faith-knowledge is what being “born of water” means. No one can love God without faith-knowledge.

3.            To cleanse our minds of false teachings. Feed our computers with wrong inputs and we get wrong outputs. Feed our minds with wrong inputs and we think wrong, act wrong and speak wrong. We cannot be holy and pure unless the wrong inputs are purged away.

⁸ Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me. JOHN 13

³² [Hold on to My teaching and] you will know the truth. JOHN 8

⁶ I am the way and the truth and the life. JOHN 14

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of the Messiah. 2 CORINTHIANS 4

² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. ROMANS 12

⁷ Let the wicked forsake his ways and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. ISAIAH 55

Acceptance of the Spirit

Acceptance of the Spirit is symbolic of our need to do prayer and fasting.

We have to pray for indwelling. Because no indwelling will take place in us if we do not. God is a respecter of the human freewill; He will never violate our freewill. He will indwell our spirits only if we ask for it.

Have you witnessed how a man can turn so religious overnight and after a short while return to sinfulness in a fashion worse than he was before? It is likely that the demonic spirits had voluntarily abandoned his spirit, but because no prayer was made for indwelling, they were able to reclaim their seat; and they drove him to a worse situation.

²⁴ When an evil spirit comes out of a man, goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it, then it says, “I will return to the house I left.” ²⁵ When it arrives, finds the house swept clean and put in order, ²⁶ then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. LUKE 11  

We have to pray for remission of sin. Also for protection, guidance and strength because the demonic forces will prevent us from getting to water baptism.  

We have to pray for empowerment.

¹⁶ [Pray] that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ … pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of the Messiah, ¹⁸ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. EPHESIANS 3

We have to pray and accompany it with fasting. Fasting is the surest way to quick answered prayer. Let us take cue how the Israelites do it:

¹ They gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads. ² They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers. ³ They stood where they were and read from the Books of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. NEHEMIAH 9

The Israelites do prayer and fasting to earn the pleasure of God, not the praise of men. They do not walk around in a holier-than-thou fashion; after all, isn’t the sinner like to a sick man? The sick keeps to the confines of his room and conserves his strength and energy. He does not boast of his ailment or how he endures it, and does not boast of the treatment process or how costly it is.

King David said, “I humbled myself with fasting” (Psalm 35:13).

Y’shua advised us to do prayer and fasting without attracting public attention to it.

⁵ And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you… ¹⁶ And when you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. MATTHEW 5

Our advice to start-ups is to do prayer and fasting gradually. Do not do 40 days as Y’shua did even if you can. We recommend the 12-day regimen in this sequence:

§  7-day diet of liquid and raw food (fruits, vegetables, sashimi). Eat only when hungry; drink only when thirsty.

§  3 days of liquid, no solid intake

§  2 days without solid or liquid intake.

Break your fast with a cup of soup. Next meal, have a cup of soft food. After three meals, do regular meal in small intakes, gradually increasing the intake, until your stomach gets used to its former regimen.

What is our guarantee that our petitions will be granted after prayer and fasting? Scripture says

¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! LUKE 11

Renouncement of Lucifer

Renouncement is symbolic of our need to do spiritual detoxification.

Just as physical detoxification eliminates the toxins (poisonous substances) in our physical bodies, so spiritual detoxification eliminates the toxins in our souls. If not eliminated, they will bring about our Second Death.

The toxins are in the form of (1) unconfessed and unforgiven sins; (2) sinful desires; (3) fears and doubts; (4) false teachings; and (5) the curses we have inherited from our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and great great grandparents. Bible scholars call them enemy strongholds.

Spiritual detoxification is letting the Holy Spirit to demolish the enemy strongholds in us. They are like horse straps that Lucifer and his demons could pull to rein us. The Son of Man conquered the evil empire because there were no straps in Him that they could pull (John 14:30).

Nothing and nobody must deter or delay the Spirit-demolition. If one has seven enemy strongholds, he must submit all seven. Saving or covering one or two will keep him impure.

The detoxification process will demand four actions on our part: Listing of the enemy strongholds in us; Repentance; Confession; and Restitution.

Listing of the enemy strongholds in us. So we will not forget them. In doing this, it is preferable that we retreat to a quiet place, away from the maddening crowd, so we can focus.

“We have many people who ask us, ‘How can I know about sins in my past that I have forgotten?’ The answer is simple: Ask the Holy Spirit to bring them to your remembrance. Even more frequently we hear, ‘How can I know if there is a curse operating in my life?’ Again, ask the Holy Spirit to show it to you,” wrote Rebecca Brown. (Unbroken Curses, p. 13)  

Repentance (“metanoia”). This means submitting ourselves to God with a broken and contrite heart. It goes without saying that our ego will have to be shrunk.

¹⁵ I live… with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. ISAIAH 57

Sirach 21:6 says repentance should result in visible reformation and sincere change in our attitudes and lifestyle. It will not be easy but it certainly is a better option than being the constant object of Lucifer’s whim in this life and of God’s wrath hereafter.

³⁸ Repent and be baptized, every one of you… ACTS 2

¹⁷ Repent for the kingdom of God is near. MATTHEW 4

²⁰ Examine your conscience before the Lord judges you… He will forgive you. ²¹ Humble yourself before you are punished with sickness. When you have sinned, show your repentance. ²² ...Don’t wait until you are about to die to set things straight. SIRACH 18

³ Unless you repent, you will all perish. LUKE 3

He who bats for repentance will reap practical benefits. As he looks back at his thoughts and actions, as he examines them and seeks counsel, he will learn from his mistakes. As he renounces the “hidden things of shame” (2 Corinthians 4:2) and takes full responsibility for them, he will cease to be their slave. The widening gap between God and him will be remedied before it becomes irreconcilable. God’s personal curse on him and his family will be lifted. He will stop grieving the Spirit. He will earn the moral authority to be a coworker of God.

Confession. This means admitting the enemy strongholds in us.

We admit them to ourselves first. It is like going to the doctor and candidly telling him what seems to be the problem, and what seems to have caused it; no stone should be left unturned. We must be completely honest with ourselves, for nobody can build an honest relationship with God and neighbor unless he is completely honest with himself.

After being honest with ourselves, we must forgive ourselves for acting stupid.

⁶ Say to the Israelites: When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord, that person is guilty ⁷ and must confess the sin he has committed. NUMBERS 5

²⁶ Don’t be ashamed to confess your sins. SIRACH 4

¹³ A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses them and forsakes them, he gets another chance. PROVERBS 28 tlb

¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His Word has no place in our lives… ⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 JOHN 1

Next, we seek release from our karmic debts. We make a public confession of the enemy strongholds in us, apologize for them, and ask for forgiveness. We confess in church the wrongs our parents and ancestors had done so that we may be liberated from the curses attached to them (Nehemiah 9:2). We confess to God the wrongs we have done Him. We confess to our neighbor the wrongs we have done to them. In Luke 15:21 the prodigal son confessed to his father, saying, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.”  

We should not confess and leave hurriedly. We say sorry and stay until we obtain the forgiveness we seek.

²³ If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of at the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. MATTHEW 5

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other that you may be healed. JAMES 5

³ There was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner I was. My dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. ⁴ …until I finally admitted all my sins… and stopped trying to hide them. ⁵ …and (God) forgave me! All my guilt is gone! PSALM 32 tlb

“Confession must be heartfelt and freely expressed. It is not to be urged from the sinner. It is not to be made in a flippant and careless way, or forced from those who have no realizing sense of the abhorrent character of sin. The confession that is the outpouring of the inmost soul finds its way to the God of infinite pity. True confession is always of a specific character, and acknowledges particular sins. They may be of such a nature as to be brought before God only; they may be wrongs that should be confessed to individuals who have suffered injury through them; or they may be of a public character, and should then be publicly confessed. But all confession should be definite and to the point, acknowledging the very sins of which you are guilty,” said Ellen G. White (Steps to Christ, p. 38).

A bishop told the story of a Nigerian whose head had been chopped off after confessing his sin. The bishop advised his listeners not to confess their sins lest they face violence or death. We begged to disagree on the basis of James 5:16, Proverbs 28:13 and Psalm 32:3-5. Confession is component to remission of sin. Without remission of sin, the dead will stay dead and doomed. But with remission of sin, the dead will enter life—even if his head is chopped off! (John 11:25)

²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. MATTHEW 10

⁸ It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal flame. ⁹ …It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and thrown into the fire of hell. MATTHEW 18

³⁴ If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the Gospel will save it. MARK 8

²⁴ I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. JOHN 12

Restitution. This means repairing the damages our wrong has caused to our neighbor. A manifestation that we are sincerely sorry for our sins and willing to undo them.  

⁶ If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution. EXODUS 22

⁶ Say to the Israelites: When a man or woman wrongs another in any way… ⁷ [that person] must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. NUMBERS 5

⁸ Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” ⁹ Y’shua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” LUKE 19

What if the wronged is dead or cannot be found? Then restitution must be made to his immediate family. If none of its members can be found either, an act of charity must be made in his name. Charity is helping the needy for love of God. As water quenches a blazing fire, so charity atones for sins (Ecclesiasticus 3:30).

²² …let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. HEBREWS 10

The Most Holy Name

After you have complied with the pre-baptismal requirements—immersion in the Word, prayer and fasting, spiritual detoxification—be reminded of your need to be baptized by a real man of God. One big reason why people do not gain the five blessings which water baptism brings is because a wolf in sheep clothing did the baptizing. Read about who the real man of God is in Commandment No. 5: HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER.

Also (and this is more important) be reminded of the instruction in Acts 2:38 that we must be baptized in the name of Y’shua.

Non-Compliance Not OK

Many clergymen teach that it is okay to submit to water baptism without complying with the requirements enumerated above. They say it is enough that you accept Y’shua as your personal God and Savior. Don’t fall for it. It is not enough. So many of those who have believed the teaching did not gain for themselves the five blessings which water baptism brings.

The clergymen go to the extent of quoting Ephesians 2:8-10 and Titus 3:5 to justify their belief. Don’t fall for it. Grace is not enough. So many of those who have put their faith in grace did not gain for themselves the five blessings which water baptism brings.

Check out the clergymen and their followers. Access to Divine Power is what sets apart the children of God from the rest of humanity. Can they expel the demon spirits, heal the sick and raise the dead? If the answer is No, that means they did not gain the five blessings and their water baptism was a failure. That means their teaching is wrong. They are likely to continue in sinning and in being demon-driven. And likely to continue in thinking wrong, acting wrong and speaking wrong.

A Singaporean asked, “Hundreds of millions of people in the world today cannot read. If immersion in the Word is a prequalification for water baptism, how can they qualify?” The answer is, Matthew 28:16-20 says, “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” John 21:15 says, “Feed My lambs.”God has given the mandate to His co-workers. The mandate is to teach both the literate and the illiterate.

To those who say there is no need to comply with the baptismal requirements enumerated above:

¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Isra’el, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” ISAIAH 30

Don’t Mind the Opposition

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 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