Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - Baptism, there is more than one.
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The thing is, not every baptism is for the believer; some were for people in the past and some are still in the wings, waiting for a time in the future. And yet others are ritual only and don't affect a change at all. No wonder this topic is so controversial.
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Jesus Chooses The Cross
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, the full lesson from Jeremy Thomas. Here's a hint of what's to come.
SPEAKER_02Nobody could kill him. All the Roman previous pastor where I used to be at when he left, I remember hearing him say, all the Roman armies could not have put Jesus Christ on the cross. That's right. They couldn't. Remember when they came to arrest him, a whole cohort? And he said, I am. And all those soldiers did what? They fell flat on their back, and all their gear is fallen down. Where's my sword and where's my helmet? And they're having to get all back together. You know. Why? How could he do that? Because he's the God of the universe.
SPEAKER_01That's who he is. Have you been baptized?
SPEAKER_00I'm not talking about infant baptism or being sprinkled or being dunked or having a pitcher of water poured over your head. I'm not talking about any of those ritualistic baptisms. I'm asking, have you been baptized? Not like the eight souls on Noah's heart. Not like the Egyptians in the Red Zoo. I'm asking, have you been baptized? Baptized by the Holy Spirit. If you've been moved, if you believed in Jesus Christ as the unique and only begotten of God who lived and died and was resurrected according to the scriptures, then you have been baptized by the Holy Spirit. A real, authentic, perfect baptism. And yet we are not the only ones in the Christians to be baptized. There have been many types of baptism in the past, and there are none yet future. So it's no wonder that we get so confused about this topic. When we argue about the right method of baptism, we're missing the point. It isn't about the ritual, it's about the act of the spirit, about the work of God, and about the result.
SPEAKER_01Being baptized into the Spirit at salvation by God's Holy Spirit. Let's look at this some more with Jeremy today.
Baptism Beyond A Ritual
SPEAKER_02This is not necessarily water baptism, though the association is always there whenever you use this Greek word, baptism. So we'll be talking about some more of the works of the Spirit. Just by brief way of review, we've already discussed the doctrine of regeneration, indwelling, and filling. There is an acronym that is and has been used for probably many decades, if not centuries, to remind ourselves of the doctrines of the works of the Spirit, and that is the acronym RIBS: regeneration, indwelling, baptism, and sealing. However, there is a shortcoming in that in this short acronym, filling is not mentioned. And that is the only one of the works of the Spirit that is conditioned on us, meaning we are commanded to be filled in Ephesians 5.18. So I think we have to have that in there. And if you just have a class on the Holy Spirit and teach ribs, you'll be missing this very vital component. And so that is something that should always be added in any class you teach about the Holy Spirit. And I hope you'll be teaching a class about the Holy Spirit very soon to some people. I hope you'll all teach these things to someone. It can be just one other person. You can just sit down and disciple someone, have coffee with them on a weekly or monthly basis. It doesn't matter. It can be in a larger classroom like a Sunday school, it can be a women's Bible study, it could be a men's Bible study. Um, it can be through Zoom meetings where you meet with other believers or family members, and you can teach these basic things. Okay? So these are here your notes. You can take these notes, you can make your own notes and transfer this knowledge. So regeneration is the first work that we talked about. The imagery, I try to give people imagery because the Old Testament's based around images, right? The New Testament's more abstract, it's more difficult. Uh so if you have the images, images, the Old Testament begins very image-based because the Bible is a curriculum, it's a pedagogy, uh, meaning there's this particular sequence in which God decides to reveal things. And in the Old Testament, it's very easy. Uh nobody writes books, you know, really about, you know, Paul or something, you know, kids' books. They write books about the flood, uh, books about the Exodus, you know, books about creation. Why? Well, because it's image-based and kids can identify with that. So this is a tendency in children's writing for Bible stories is to focus on the Old Testament. When they get to the Gospels, of course, they'll have images like Jesus walking on water and fishing on the other cast your nets on the other side of the boat. But again, it's all image-based. It gets really difficult with the Apostle Paul because, you know, like what are the images exactly? He's teaching abstract theology built on these images. So I like to give the image. Regeneration uses the imagery of creation, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, but you are a new creature, right? All things have become new. So the imagery of regeneration is the imagery of creation, and everybody in their mind's eye can begin to cycle through the story of Genesis 1 and 2, where God created the world. And this is a supernatural creation, uh, not an evolutionary slow process type of formation, because regeneration is also a supernatural creative work of God. And these are linked together. So how you deal with one will impact how you deal with the other. What happens when you're regenerated, the moment of faith in Christ is the Holy Spirit creates the inner sanctum inside of which he will dwell. Think of the most holy place in the temple. Uh, this is the source. This new inner sanctum is the source of your inner desire to please God as a believer. Paul talks about this in Romans 7. He'll say all sorts of things like, Um, I want what I want to do, I cannot do. The thing I hate, that's the thing I do. Who will deliver me, right, from this body of death? So it's a struggle that the believer is facing because he has these new desires to please God, but he can't fulfill these desires in his own flesh. Chapter 8, Romans 8 is the answer, and that is to learn to walk by the Spirit. So that's the first aspect, though. You have this inner sanctum, you now become a place wherein the Spirit of God can dwell. That's the second truth indwelling. The imagery is the temple itself, and this is the location the spirit indwells in your inner sanctum that's this regenerate aspect of your being. Paul calls it the inner man in places like Ephesians 3. And this is where the Spirit dwells. Personally, he has taken up residence in every believer, and he wars from this place within you against your flesh. The two are opposed to one another, and there's a constant battle and war that's going on inside of you, and that's because the Holy Spirit is there to war against your flesh. The third doctrine we talked about is the work of the filling of the Holy Spirit. The imagery here is control, like Ephesians 5 18. Do not be drunk with wine, but what be filled by the Spirit. Okay, but we don't want to be filled with wine because when we're filled with wine, meaning we become drunk, influenced by it, therefore it takes control of us. So the contrast is do not be filled with that, but rather be filled by means of the Spirit of God. Let him control your life. This is a command to follow. The parallel in Colossians 3, 16 says, Let the word of Christ dwell richly within you. So the filling of the Spirit and the Word of Christ dwelling richly within you are closely associated. You have the Spirit, you have the Word, and you have Christ. These are always very, very closely associated in the Bible. So ideas in addition to being filled by the Spirit, the other ideas such as abiding in Christ, John 15, the vine and the branches, right? Abide in the vine and I in you, and you will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. How much? Uh zero. So we cannot produce anything of positive value that God is going to ultimately reward on our own. But when there's the reciprocal abiding, I in him and he in me, then we have the life of the vine being produced through the branch. That is the life of Christ being produced through us, and that is fruit, that is worthy of reward. So that's uh akin or parallel to the idea of filling. And again, then uh the spirit filling, the word of Christ dwelling richly within, and us walking by the spirit. Here's another image, Galatians 5. Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So, how do I defeat the temptations that I face, whether they come from the world, the flesh, or the devil? Well, I have to walk by the spirit. The walk is literally a word that means how to go about one's life. It's a metaphor for how you live your life. So, how should you live your life? By the Spirit, by dependence on Him, not dependence on your own strength, dependence on His strength. Um, and therefore you will see His fruit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. Uh against such things, there's no law, right? These are all the things we want in our life, but we can't produce them. Therefore, what we can do is we can walk by his strength, and he can produce them. And Paul says, um, this is the life of Christ being lived through us. He says, It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the flesh, he says, it's this mortal state. He says, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So he's given us a new way to live. It's essentially the concept of filling or abiding or walking by the Spirit, or letting the Word of Christ dwell richly within you, which means you've got to put the world system and all of its thinking outside of your mind. You've got to keep a careful focus on the Word of God. And that's what we're here to do. We're here to train primarily in the church. My seminary president years and years ago, a few decades ago, Mel Couch used to say there's a difference between preaching and teaching. He says, Preaching is what you do outside the church. It's evangelism, it's telling the lost about what Christ has done for them in his death for their sins and his resurrection. And if they believe, they have eternal life. But teaching is what goes on inside the church. That's where you build up the saints. You edify the saints, you give them truth, something that they can uh lodge in their minds so they can have a tool to go back to and to live in his presence in a pleasing fashion. So those are the first three works of the Spirit we've looked at.
RIBS Plus Filling Explained
SPEAKER_02We want to move on to baptism and start with the imagery of identification and always judgment salvation. I should have added that there. The imagery of identification, but it comes through means of a judgment salvation. There's always a judgment salvation. Let's talk about the word baptism because anytime you mention the word baptism, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a creek or a baptismal. But water is usually involved in some form. Um, and this is not necessarily correct. This can be a confusion about baptism. The word baptism, of course, is just a Greek word. When we had people in Christianity at the time of the Reformation, and even before, you know, you had that the John Husses, you know, Jan Huss, the Hussites, you had the Wycliffe and the Wycliffites, those who followed Wycliffe. We know still of Wycliffe today because of Wycliffe Bible translators, right? They like to translate the Bible into various languages and tribes of people around the world, so everybody can have the Bible in their own language. And then you have the reformers in the early 1500s, people like Martin Luther's, Melanchthon, Savonarola's, you know, and others. Um and these men wanted to translate the Bible into their native tongues so that people could read the Bible for themselves and hear God's voice themselves. And before that, most of the Bible was just in Latin. And the educated in the Roman Catholic Church would have access to this and they would use this language even in much of the service. And the common person did not really know what they were talking about because Latin by that time was a scholastic language, only known among scholars. So uh, how did you know if what the person was teaching was accurate if you really don't even really know the language? So these reformers wanted to translate the Bible into their native tongues. The problem with this word baptism was that nobody wanted to translate it because there was a disagreement about the mode of baptism. In other words, how was baptism to be carried out? Are you supposed to uh sprinkle water on them? Are you supposed to pour water on them, or are you supposed to immerse them? You know, let's just say dunk them. Right? Um, there have actually been groups in church history that their names stemmed from dunk dunking. But anyway, so very interesting. Church history is always a playground for a lot of wonderful and interesting ideas, some not so wonderful. But they decided to not translate this word, and they decided to just put it in the English Bible, direct transliteration from the Greek word. So a transliteration is when you have a word in your language that's actually from another language. I'm gonna give you another one after we say the prayer. When we get to the end, we say in Jesus' name. Amen.
SPEAKER_01Is Amen an English word? No. Is it a Greek word? No. It's a Hebrew word.
SPEAKER_02And uh the base of this word is actually from the Hebrew concept of the mother. The concept of the mother was from a root word that meant true. Why? Because your mom will always tell you the truth, the truth. And when we say amen, we're saying a Greek word, we're saying a Hebrew word, and that word is the word true or truly. So when you have agreement with the prayer that someone has offered, and you say amen, you're saying I agree with that. It's true. True what they said. And so here's another word that's not an English word, but we use it. It's a Greek word, baptize, baptism. And this word means to dip, to plunge, to cleanse. Uh, it refers in the lexicon to a ceremonial ritual that signifies a change in identification of an object that is baptized. So here's an example from practical world. Lydia in Acts chapter 16 was a seller of purple fabrics. We could go into the whole story of where she got the dye from the mollusk in the Mediterranean and all of that. But the important thing is that she sold these purple fabrics, which were associated obviously with royalty with the elite, the high status people in the Roman Empire. If she actually was the one who prepared the wool fabric, then she would have been the one who dipped the wool from the sheep into a dye that changed the identity of the wool. That was the whole idea. You have this wool, it's white or grayish, and then you dip it in this dye, and it comes out and it's it's purple now. It has the signification of royalty. And it's so different from what was before that one could say that its identity was now changed. And this becomes the heart and substance of baptism. This work of the Holy Spirit is the most difficult for Christians to grasp.
Old Testament Images For New Truth
SPEAKER_02So we're spending a little time on the word, okay? Um, but its fundamental idea is that there's been a change in identity through the dipping or plunging of one thing into another. Now, there are going to be eight baptisms in the Bible. Uh some of you know this because you've spent your life studying these things. Others of you, you've never heard this. And that's okay. Um we all are in process, right? There are still things I, of course, I've never heard or don't know yet that I have to learn to understand. But there are five of these eight baptisms that are what we call real baptisms, meaning something really happens that's spiritually significant, and they are dry baptisms, meaning the person that or persons that are baptized don't get wet, but they stay dry. And all of these five dry, real baptisms are administered by God. That's what makes them real. Any baptism that is administered by man is a ritual only, it doesn't accomplish any spiritual reality because we can't do those things. Only God can do those things. So the five real dry baptisms are all administered by God. The first one is the most difficult one, but it's Noah's, and I do want you to recall forever and ever and ever that the very first baptism ever mentioned in the Bible is mentioned by Peter, and it's associated with the flood. And it's called Noah's baptism, and it refers to the eight people who were on the ark, and they stayed dry, didn't they?
SPEAKER_01They did not get wet.
SPEAKER_02It was, in fact, you don't want to be in the side that got wet, right? Um, that would not be desirable. So let's look at 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. This is considered a very difficult text. I remember when I was getting ready to come up here to be the pastor, and I was at uh Dr. Kennedy's home. We were down in his basement studying and looking at some of the text. I remember that we looked at this, Dr. Kennedy, and I think we discussed, and I don't think we ever, I don't know if we came to you know any kind of resolution at the time, but it was mostly just to spend some time in the text and how we think about the text and how we try to understand the text. Um you'll notice that a lot of things that are spiritual are being discussed in verse in the previous verses. So, you know, context is king, right? The first three rules of interpreting the Bible are context, context, and context. Um, but you also notice, like in verse 13 and 14, that there's the context of suffering. Believers who are suffering for the sake of righteousness, and he says, if you do, you're blessed, and that you shouldn't fear their intimidation, you shouldn't be troubled. But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts and set him apart, right? Always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. So that's how we we talk to unbelievers. We have to speak to them with gentleness and reverence, but our lives have to be different so that in the first place they ask a question and we're in a position to make a defense. Verse 16, and he says, and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are being slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. So even if people attack you as a Christian, you you are supposed to keep a good conscience, and you do that by keeping up good behavior in Christ. That way you won't be put to shame, right? And then he gives an explanation, verse 17. See the word for? That means I'm now going to explain why, give a reason. And then verse 18 is also another explanation for why. So verse 17, the first reason, for it is better if God should will it so that you suffer for doing good, um, doing, I'm sorry, what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. So, God, God's, what's God's will for your life? Well, here it is. God would will it that you would suffer for doing what is right rather than suffer for doing what is wrong. So God wants us to suffer for doing what is right. That's the first reason, and as we do that, we keep a good conscience. The second reason we should keep a good conscience is because, verse 18, Christ also died for our sins once for all. Like he's already paid for all of our sins, the just one, Christ, for the unjust ones, us. Why purpose, so that he might bring us to God. So, this is of course referring to the gospel and what Christ has done for us. Having put to death in the flesh, but made alive, we would say, by the Spirit. Spirit, capital Spirit, Spirit of God. So Christ was put to death, but he was made alive. By the Spirit in the resurrection. And verse 19, in which also he went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison. Now that's a whole sermon on and itself. Who these spirits are. That's not the point right now. Verse 20, who once were disobedient when the patients of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark, that was during the 120 years, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. And we know that to be Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their three wives, eight persons in all. And then he says, corresponding to that, or the Greek word is antitype, antitupas, for we get antitype from that. So there's a type-antitype relationship going on here. And he's referring back to the water, corresponding to that. That is back to the water that was at the flood. Okay. He says, baptism now saves you. Not the removal of dirt from the flesh, not that, not getting wet. He's not talking about that. I think he's talking about a real baptism, a spiritual baptism. And he's saying you need to look back to the fact that what? Christ died for you and he paid your penalty in full, right? So when we believe that, in that sense, we are baptized into him. And so this would mean then that we keep a good conscience by doing what? Going back to the fact that Christ was crucified for us. He's paid for our sins. So we're not going to live in them any longer. We may be getting persecuted, but that doesn't give us the right to go and now live a sinful life and not a different life that makes our lives more visible to the unbelieving world. See, the tendency when you're persecuted is to blend in, blend in with the culture so you don't get persecuted. But he's saying, no, no, that's first of all, you need to suffer for doing what is right. That's God's will for your life. But secondly, what? Secondly, Christ has paid for all your sins, so we shouldn't go on living in them. We need to live a different life. And remember that Noah and his family did the same thing. They could have tried to blend in with the rest of the world before the flood, but instead, they decided to identify with God and build an ark on dry land in Noah's front yard. Separating themselves from the culture, opening themselves up to being mocked and persecuted, right? And Paul's saying, hey, corresponding to that, hey, we need to live like believers. So the baptism here isn't water baptism, I don't think. He's talking about spiritual truths and the importance of reckoning ourselves saved and living really as saved individuals. So this is the first image we have, or first baptism we have, it's Noah's. And the people who were saved, of course, in this occasion all stayed dry. And, you know, when you were saved physic spiritually, the moment you believed in Christ, presumably you were dry, unless I guess you were taking a shower or you were swimming or something. But the point is, you don't get wet necessarily to get spiritually saved. Um, you stay dry. Only one way of salvation. So that's what's going on here. It's a real baptism, it's a dry baptism, and it's speaking of our salvation.
What Baptism Means In Greek
SPEAKER_02The second baptism that is mentioned is Moses' baptism. And everybody probably automatically goes to the right image when they think of this. They probably don't think of the frogs or the gnats or anything, but they probably think of the Red Sea dividing. And that would be a correct association. Turn to 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10. This is another real baptism. And uh those who were baptized remained dry. Again, it would have been a bad thing on this day if you got wet. That was uh Pharaoh's army, right? Who followed after them in between the waters, and then these walls of waters collapsed and they drowned. So this is a picture of judgment for Egypt. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Paul uses Israel as a type for us to learn from. He says, I don't want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud. That's the Shekinah glory that led them about, right? The cloud by day, the fire by night. He says, and they all passed through the sea, and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. So they were identified with Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and of course, it was a real baptism, and that they were saved while their enemies were judged. So judgment salvation is always kind of a picture here that is in the background of baptism. And those that are judged are the ones who got wet, the Egyptians. And those that were saved, they are the ones that stayed dry, they are the Israelites. How many ways of salvation are there? There's only one way. You would have to go through the waters of the Red Sea, and it was by staying dry that they were saved. So, delivered. A physical deliverance, of course, uh, but a picture of God's deliverance. So that's the second type of baptism that is used in the Bible. The first associated with Noah, the second associated with Moses, and the third is associated with Christ.
Noah And Moses As Dry Baptisms
SPEAKER_02Now, um, this baptism is not the one where I'm not talking about John the Baptist baptized Jesus. I'm not talking about that one. We'll talk about that one in a minute when we get to the wet baptism. This is a dry baptism that Jesus spoke of in Mark chapter 10, verse 38. So take a look at this one. Some of you may know what this baptism was that he said he had to undergo.
SPEAKER_01Mark chapter 10. He says he has a bat had a baptism that he had to undergo. This is the context of James and John.
SPEAKER_02You know, it's like, hey, you know, we want to sit one on your right hand and one on the other. We want to preserve those places for us in glory. Hey, think you could work this out for us. And sometimes you feel like these guys are like working deals under the table. It's like, how do they think this works? Um, it seems somewhat immature. But Jesus said in verse 38, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?
SPEAKER_01Now, what was what's he referring to then? What was the cup that he had to drink? Yeah, the cross, his work.
SPEAKER_02Where he would bear the sins of the world, he would take upon himself right. He would be identified with our sin and taking our penalty upon himself. So that's the baptism that he had to undergo. It's the baptism of the cross, it's a real baptism, right? Because he really did take our sins upon him by amputation. Right? To pay the penalty for our sin. And therefore resolve our basic problem. So this is the baptism of the cross. Of course, it was dry. Jesus didn't get wet on the cross except for perhaps some of the sweat. Right. But you follow what I mean. It's essentially a dry baptism. It's administered by God. God is the one who imputed our sin to him so that he would pay our sin penalty in full. Notice he never became sinful. Okay, but he took the penalty upon himself. If he became sinful, then he would have died a necessary death. Because death is the penalty for sin. But he never became sinful. But what he did was he took the penalty of our sin upon himself. And he paid that in full. He said it's finished. So that's the baptism of the cross. It's a real baptism, the fire.
The Cross As Christ’s Baptism
SPEAKER_02Turn to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3. These two, number four and number five, go together. This is fire and spirit. And these are associated with one another. And what's interesting, fire, this is one of the baptisms, the other one's spirit. These are both administered by who? Who administers these baptisms? Chapter 3, verse 11. He, that is the Messiah, the one coming after John, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So these are two baptisms that the Messiah administered. So again, that makes them real baptisms, dry baptisms, because he is God. He's actually God and man, but he's administering them here as God. Notice the context, chapter 3, verse 1. In those days, John the baptizer came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, out in the area where Elijah was last seen when he was caught up in a whirlwind. That's where John was. And he has a message: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he's preaching, of course, to Jews. It's in Judea, Israel. He says, For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Now you have to understand who John was. John was a prophet. He was preparing the way for the king, so that the people would recognize the king and anoint him and crown him and worship and serve him. So the prophet in the Old Testament is always the kingmaker. Prophet precedes the king, the prophet anoints the king, right? And then the people are to recognize the king. So the imagery is the idea of preparing the way. Whenever a king would come to an ancient city, everyone would be put on notice in the town. The king is coming to your town. Now, what are you going to want to do? You're going to go out in your yard, you're going to clean up all the trash, right? Because it's not what you want the king to see. And you're going to put out pots of flowers, and you're going to wave flags, and you're going to be joyful. You're preparing the way for the king. Now, John can't prepare the people's hearts so that when the king came, they would recognize the king. Because our hearts have to be ready. The heart is the most important thing. And the whole picture of what John is about, he is preparing the people for the king, preparing their hearts. Now, verse 4, interesting guy, right? Had a garment of camel's hair, a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. And so everybody's out to see this strange thing. Who is this John? Then Jerusalem was going out to him, all Judea and all the district around the Jordan, and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. Now their sins all relate to their violations of the Mosaic Law, which was the law, it was the rule of life for Israel. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, What? This is not what you know Joel Osteen would say we are supposed to do from the pulpit. We're supposed to preach self-esteem sermons where you just build people up and you never say anything negative. But he literally called them a brood of vipers and asked them who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. The imagery of the viper, you know, this the snake, the serpent in the Bible is traced back to this really bad guy called Satan. You brood of little Satans who warned you of the wrath to come. So you've got the people coming out to get baptized, and they're being baptized, they're confessing their sins under the Mosaic Law. Then you had the leadership of the people coming out, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And he has a different approach to each of these. Because the leadership were really just a brood of vipers. They were not leading them in the path of righteousness. They were leading them in the path of unrighteousness. Because they didn't really keep the law. They'd externalized it all. And the heart was the target of the law, not just external action. So verse 8, therefore he tells them bear fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, if you have a you should really have a change of mind about your understanding of the Mosaic Law Code, because you're not keeping it. Okay. You have an external air about you with all of your fancy dress and all of your gold and all of your high-faluting attitude and behavior, but there's nothing inside of you that is righteous. You are just a brood of vipers. So you need to, of course, repent and then bear fruit in keeping with that repentance. Have a change of mind. And do not suppose, he says, that you can say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father. You know, that's enough. We have Abraham, he's our father, and this is all we need to be right with God. We're Jews. Uh they used to say this that, you know, if that no one who was a descendant of Abraham and the Jewish people could ever see the darkness of Hades. Because there was this place called the gates of Hades up in Caesarea Philippi. And if you go there, Jesus went there. Jesus took his disciples up there. It's where he asked them, Who do the people say that I am? And they say, Well, some say John's, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And he says, But who do you say that I am? And Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Messiah, Son of God. And he says, Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And he blesses him, right? For this proper analysis of his person. Well, this place is known as the gates of Hades. Well, a Jew would not technically be able to pass into Hades simply because he was an offspring of Abraham. And so Jesus says, Don't suppose you can say to yourselves, we've got Abraham for our father, we're in. He says, Because I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. And we learn in the book of Galatians that we can become children of Abraham by faith. For all those who are justified by faith are children of Abraham. Doesn't make us Jews, but uh we are children by faith, spiritual children, right? So then the big issue begins in verse 10, 11, and 12 regarding this baptism, the two baptisms that we have remaining that are both dry and both real and administered by God. First of all, that of fire, verse 10. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees, therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Now that doesn't sound very good, does it? You wouldn't want to be cut down and thrown into the fire. That would be obviously a picture of judgment there in verse 10, and it is. It's a picture of judgment on, in this case, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, if they don't get ready. But it's a picture in the bigger scheme of unbelieving Israel. The axe is already laid at the root of the tree, meaning this judgment that is to come upon them, John says, is right around the corner. And you don't want to be a part of this judgment. It is the baptism of fire. Verse 11. As for me, John says, I baptize you with water for repentance. That's a water baptism we'll look at in a moment. But he who is coming after me, the one who he prepared the way for, right? The Messiah, is mightier than I. And I am not fit to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with A, the Holy Spirit, and B with fire. So two baptisms. We've already seen the one with fire. It's not good. Okay. Verse 12, his winnowing fork is in his hand. He will thoroughly clear his threshing floor. Again, not good. And he will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. So there's two sides, you see. There is the wheat that is gathered into the barn, and there is the chaff that is burned with unquenchable fire. One of these is the baptism of the spirit, and the other is the baptism with fire. If the word baptism means identification, then part of Israel is going to be identified with the Spirit, and the other part is going to be identified with fire. Obviously, those identified with the Spirit are the believing element, what we call the remnant, the believing remnant of Israel. Now, Israel always has a remnant. At this time, they had a remnant. Romans 11, 1 through 10 teaches that there's always a remnant of believing Israel. There are about 30,000 Jews in Israel today who are believers, which is a very, very small proportion. But these are the latest numbers that we have from around 2016. So perhaps more. There's a lot going on in the land of Israel, but there's of course Jewish believers elsewhere in the world, what we call the diaspora outside of the land, in the dispersion. And all these compose the remnant. What John is saying is that when the Messiah comes, he's got these two baptisms to administer. One is the Spirit, and this is the remnant. They are the wheat, they are going to be gathered into the barn. You say, well, what's the barn? Well, what did he say in verse 2? Why do they need to repent? Why do they need to have a change of mind and get ready?
SPEAKER_01Because the kingdom was at hand. That's why.
SPEAKER_02The restoration of the kingdom spoken by all the prophets, ruled and reigned by the son of David, the Messiah, was right around the corner.
SPEAKER_01And it was urgent that they get prepared because previous to that kingdom, that is judgment.
SPEAKER_02Separate the chaff from the weak. Separate the unbelieving, non-remnant of Israel from the believing, the remnant of Israel. So all of this passage looks at the idea that the kingdom could have come in the very first century A.D.
SPEAKER_01And that is what John is preaching to.
SPEAKER_02The generation that saw the forerunner of the king, John the Baptist, and saw the king himself. And they were supposed to prepare room in their hearts for him.
SPEAKER_01And that's what he's trying to get them ready for. And he's warning them when he comes. He's got two baptisms. Which one do you want? You want the fire? You want to be like chaff thrown into unquenchable fire? Or do you want to be brought into that kingdom?
SPEAKER_02So these two baptisms, both dry, meaning very real, both administered by God, the Messiah himself, were projected here in the first century as possibility. Now we know the rest of the story because we studied it in the gospels, but the nation Israel said we don't want to prepare him room. The summary of the gospels is he came to his own and his own received them not.
SPEAKER_01His own being Israel. So the king left. He was crucified, raised, and he ascended. He went away. Right?
SPEAKER_02And that ushers in this thing called the church in the book of Acts, which we'll look at in a minute. But let's finish up some of these. So that's the wet or the fire and the spirit baptism. These go together, they signify a separation in the nation Israel. Some will be identified with fire, that's the non-remnant. Others are identified with the spirit, they'll be saved, that's the remnant. So really, I'll tell you now, these baptisms never happened. They haven't happened yet.
Spirit And Fire In Israel’s Future
SPEAKER_02They are reserved for the second coming. Okay? They're reserved for the second coming. Now there are three dry, okay, so all five of these, just to summarize, all five of these, Noah's, Moses, Christ, which is the cross, the fire, and the spirit, are all dry, all real, and all administered by God. The last three are all ritual. There are three of them. They're ritual, they're wet. So you know, in these, you know, the person being baptized does get wet. And the obvious one is the one we're already looking at here. There's because there's three in this chapter, right? He John was also having his own baptism down by the Jordan River. And that's the first one that's wet. It's a picture that, yes, the kingdom's at hand. Yes, the Messiah. Is about to come. I'm trying to prepare you for him so you'll open your heart and welcome him and so forth. And that's why they would need to repent. Repent meaning, what does that word mean? Change of mind. Metanoia, metanoia, just have a change of mind, a change of thinking, a change of thinking about what? That's what we always have to ask. Well, they were living under the Mosaic law. And if they were doing what the Pharisees and the scribes and Sadducees said, well, they'd just be keeping it externally. They would say things like, Well, it's okay if you lust after someone in your heart. Just don't act on it. You know, it was, it didn't, it would say, it's okay if you hate your brother, just don't murder them. And it was all externals. The heart reality wasn't there. And that was the problem. They needed to repent about that. Pharisees are going around like they never sinned, you know, like they're perfect or something. Of course, they were sinning all the time. And that's why their hearts were blinded and their hearts weren't ready to recognize the Messiah when he came. And Paul says that. Paul says that later. Neither recognizing him nor the prophets who prophesied of him. They didn't even know, I mean, they memorized the Bible, but they didn't even know what was going on. And it's because what sin does is it dulls our senses, it hardens our hearts to the things of God, and then we begin to justify ourselves and rationalize our sin, and we don't, we're not convicted by the scriptures. But, you know, David was very different. He said, Search me, O God, and see if there be any false way in me. That is not a prayer that any of the Pharisees or Sadducees were ever praying. I'm quite confident of that. Um, they were not like that. They were not like, oh, look in my heart, Lord, and see if there be any false way in me. No, they were like, look at us. We're the see how rich we are? That means God's blessing us. No, it means you're illegally taxing the people, you idiots. Um they were they were a problem. They needed to repent, as John is saying here in chapter 3, verse 2, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, meaning it's it's it's it's about to come, it's about to fall. It's hanging overhead, so to speak. And if the nation had prepared for the king, then of course they would have recognized him, they would have received him, they would have uh uh the prophet would have anointed him, and he would have been bringing in the kingdom. But they said no. They said no. So that's delayed for the future. But that was John's John's baptism to prepare the nation Israel for their Messiah, and they didn't get ready. Um, then we have another baptism in the immediately following section, which is probably the most confusing one to people, and it's Jesus' baptism by John. Like, why did Jesus need to repent? Why is he getting baptized? You know, people, you know, get just to a struggle point with this one. So you see this in John 3.13 or Matthew 3.13. Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. And even John, see, he tries to prevent him, saying, I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me. So Jesus answered and said to him, Permit it at this time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. They were in something together. That is what Jesus was saying to John. We are in the same ministry, okay? We carry the same message. So I'm identifying with you in your ministry of righteousness. So what Jesus did at this point was identify with John and his message of the kingdom being at hand. And this would fulfill righteousness because it would clearly put him in the role as the Messiah that John was pointing to. Did Jesus get wet? Yes. And did John baptize him? Yes. It was administered by a human being. So this was for that purpose. And of course, then you have the heavenly voice being pleased with his beloved son there in verse 17. So you have that wet baptism, and then the last one is Christian baptism.
Why Water Baptism Still Matters
SPEAKER_02And that's when we take a Christian, someone who's a believer, and we go to water, and we baptize them. Um this is Romans 6 would not be a passage that's talking about water baptism, but what I'm trying to point up with this passage is that it is a picture. Water baptism is symbolic, it's a ritual. So turn there, Romans chapter 6, to see the significance of what it means. And then next week we're going to focus on spirit baptism. Um, because something happens in Acts 1 that ties back to Matthew 3 and Jesus' baptisms of spirit and fire. So we want to go back and pick that idea up. But we want to finish with this because I knew it was going to be too much. There's just too much about baptism in the Bible to not spend a couple weeks on it. So, Christian baptism is, again, it's a wet baptism, so it's ritual. Nobody is uh being spiritually saved in the water or something like that. It's for people who've already been saved. So let's take a look at Romans 6, 1 through 4. This is really talking about spirit baptism and what spirit baptism does, but water baptism is a picture of that. It's one of the two ordinances Christ left his church, the other one being the Lord's Supper, communion. This one is believers' baptism or Christian baptism. Paul's just got done talking about how grace abounds through the work of Jesus Christ. Now he begins to discuss in chapter 6, verse 1, a question related to that. What are we going to say then? Are we to continue in sin so grace may increase? I mean, in other words, if every time we sin as Christians, it just demonstrates the grace of God, maybe we should go on sinning.
SPEAKER_01I mean, logically, right?
SPEAKER_02I mean, if it puts God's grace on display every time I sin, maybe I should do it more and more and more, right? As a Christian. Well, he's dealing with people who might say that type of thing. And he says, May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it? You know, that's what happened the moment we believed. We died to, this is technically the sin in the Greek language, the sin. It's a reference to our sin nature. We died to that as our master. It's no longer master over us. And he's saying we died to that master, so we shouldn't live according to that master. He says, or do you not know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Now that's what happens the moment you believe. The Spirit baptized you into Christ. And we'll talk about this in detail next week, so we don't need to elaborate too much now. But now you look, your identity is in Christ now.
SPEAKER_01You've been baptized into Christ. That's your identity. Who were you in before? Adam. Adam. In fact, he just got done talking about Romans 5.12.
SPEAKER_02Just as through one man sin entered in the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men. Because who sinned? Adam? No? Not what it says. Because what? Who sinned? All sinned. Well, how did we sin? I thought it was Adam who sinned. Yeah, well, you were in him when he sinned. Seminally. Like the whole human race could be traced back to who? Adam. Including his wife Eve, because she was taken from him. So there is a solitary origin to the human race. It's the one man Adam. But see, when you believe, your identity changes, like Romans 6, 2 is saying, and you are put into Christ. Or three. Into Christ. This is your new identity. The Spirit does that. It's Spirit baptism that does this. So he says, Do you not know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we might what? Walk in newness of life. In other words, this is the goal. The end goal is that we walk in a new way of life, a new path. Now, so here's what happened. When I take people out to do water baptism, right, they'll come out in the water. We'll talk about them, who they are, maybe give their testimony or something like that. And then I'll have them usually stand and cross their arms, right? Because I'm going to administer this baptism, this ritual. And when they are standing there, I'll sometimes have them put their arms out like this. What does this mean? What does this look like? The cross. So what did he say here? You have been crucified with Christ, right? Okay, so when they stand there above the water and put their arms out, it's a picture that they were crucified with Christ. Then what I'll do is I'll put them under the water, right? And if they're really bad, I'll hold them for a long, long time. Okay. No.
SPEAKER_01This is a picture of what?
SPEAKER_02After he died, what did they do with his body? They buried it in a tomb. So it's a picture of the burial, and that's what he says. We've been buried with him. Says it right here in Romans 6. And then, what we'll bring them back up, right? This is a picture of what? The resurrection. The death, the burial, the resurrection. When I go back on the cross. That's what is pictured in water baptism of what the Spirit does the moment you believe in Christ. Now you didn't feel anything. You didn't get wet unless you happen to believe in the shower or swimming or something. But that's what the Holy Spirit does. He changes your identity. That's what his baptizing work does. It judges your old man in Adam, and it gives you a new nature and a new identity in Christ. Now we're not to live like that old man. Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase? May it never be.
SPEAKER_01Do you not know, he says, that you are crucified with Christ, buried with him, raised to live in newness of life?
SPEAKER_02You have a new nature and a new identity, and we're supposed to live that new person that we are. So that's what's going on with spirit baptism, but it's it's pictured in in water baptism. And we should never confuse and say, well, does a person have to get water baptized in order to be saved? Like go to heaven. Well, no, no. Even Paul in 1 Corinthians 1, what does he say?
SPEAKER_01He says, Uh, I was not sent to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Well, why if you have to get baptized, Paul wouldn't you baptize people to be saved?
SPEAKER_02Because you don't have to. That's the whole point. But it is a public uh picture, right? And you're stating before people, hey, what God has done for me by his spirit the moment I believe is he crucified my old man in Adam, he buried that old man, and that old man is done.
SPEAKER_01And we are new people. We are new people. And when God looks at the human race, I tell you now, he only sees two types of people those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ. And Paul says elsewhere, it's an urgent message that we tell people.
SPEAKER_02You know, you you have a creator here who sent his son to pay your sin penalty in
Are You Right With God
SPEAKER_02full. I mean, we have a problem. There's none righteous, no, not one, right? Romans 3. And um we need righteousness from a source outside of ourselves. It's you you can't be good enough.
SPEAKER_01Isaiah says our best stuff is a filthy rag, God. We can't we can't produce perfect holiness. Only his son can do that. That's why he came, that's why he was tempted in all things is weak.
SPEAKER_02And yet, as the text says he was without sin, right? So why is he dying? He said, No one can take my life from me.
SPEAKER_01But I lay it down. See, I lay it down of my own accord. He gave up his life. Nobody could kill him.
SPEAKER_02All the Roman previous pastor where I used to be at when he left, I remember hearing him say, All the Roman armies could not have put Jesus Christ on the cross. That's right. They couldn't. Remember when they came to arrest him, a whole cohort? And he said, I am, and all those soldiers did what? They fell flat on their back, and all their gear is fallen down. Where's my sword and where's my helmet? And they're having to get all back together. You know, why? How how could he do that? Because he's the God of the universe.
SPEAKER_01That's who he is. And the question becomes, Are you right with him? And it's so simple. It's so simple. It's a free gift. For by grace are you saved through faith.
SPEAKER_02That not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, lest any mention of it. You know, we have to say, okay, it's not about anything that I'm bringing to the cross, it's about me just coming to the foot of the cross empty and realizing that he by himself.
SPEAKER_01And in exchange, when I believe in him, he gives me his perfect rights. Do you believe that today? If you do, you're saved. You're free. And now it's just learning to live the Christian life.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.