Baptism in the Bible

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And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.  Genesis 6: 1-13

Often the things that are the most familiar to us are the things we most ignore. Messiah said that Moses was His witness and as such it is a grievous error to relegate those things taught in Genesis to myths and children’s stories.

The writing of Genesis is apologetic in nature. YHWH through Moses has laid out the truth by which the fables of gods, creation myths, and historic fictions of the surrounding nations would be revealed as embellishments of man. While this is true the believer must remember that this was not YHWH’s purpose for recording these things.

The purpose is to be a witness of the person, truth, purpose, and necessity of the promised Messiah; Yeshua the first born among many brethren. When the believer comes into covenant with YHWH through Messiah the scripture becomes a witness of both that within them from Adam who must be left in the death of the cross and the life of YHWH which is the being of both Messiah and ourselves within us.

The witness of evils consumption of pre-flood man is a truth which should cut through the deception of good works. Mankind is a mirror of every man. Even that which begins as benevolence from a source of man, given the generation of time, becomes selfish and twisted from its original intent. Wickedness (a twisted way) brings forth evil which like a cancer spreads until all becomes cancerous.   

 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh:

Noah found grace by which he was just and upright in his generation. Was this by random selection from YHWH? YHWH does not change and is no respecter of persons therefore when He says we are saved by grace through faith and that the just shall live by faith we know these things to also be true in the witness of Noah. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Romans 6: 4-10

The flood of Noah is a baptism of mankind. A baptism is a burial not a murder. What is buried is already dead. We often can see that a surgeon’s act of removing cancer, while violent, is a benevolent act of preserving life. YHWH on the other hand, despite His longsuffering that waits till all possible hope of recovery is exhausted, is confused as being nefarious when He preserves life.

More bible verses about baptism

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God John 3: 17-18

The story of Noah’s salvation is the story of our own death, burial, resurrection, and expectation of life.

As a closing note the providence of new life for Noah did not make him without sin but served as a lesson of the true resurrection when all men stand before YHWH. On that day the consuming fire of holiness from His presence will purify those who have His life in them and destroy those without His life forever.

The way of Cain: why was Cain's sacrifice rejected?

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Genesis 4:1-7

The two sons that came forth from Adam are not his children alone. Now please do not think that I am giving any credence to the fable of the serpent seed story but instead we must keep in mind that we are all born after the “kind” of Adam. This being true what came forth from Adam comes forth from us also.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 4:12

I believe that these stories are literal yet they were not given to us for the sake of literal facts but instead as examples. they bring those with open eyes and ears to knowledge of themselves, of their creator, of their redeemer, and of their redemption.

The why of given scripture is the understanding that affects beyond our thoughts to our being. A mental and analytic determination of the facts may change what we believe to be acceptable or unacceptable.This acceptance could lead a man to attempt to act as he should. Understanding of why leads us to a place where the only decision is to be different; which we come to know can only be effected by something beyond ourselves through faith.

So what is the why of Genesis? The word of YHWH is a living word but it was necessary to write down a witness of that word so that it could not be changed; which Moses began at Sinai. 
If left to men the how becomes very muddled. We see this at the tower of babel when men first organized an apostate religion; spreading out from that central access point to be embellished by the many groups to form the pagan worship system. 
Moses gives at the outset a debunking of the multitude of creation myths and the pantheon of gods they birthed. There is one creator, one giver of life, wisdom, and might and YHWH is one.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons Genesis 3:7

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 2 Corinthians 11:4

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11

We see in Cain the beginnings of building on his father Adams failed man devised foundation. Cain’s god of his own making retains YHWH’s name and his ordinance of sacrifice but is shaped to Cain’s own way of right and wrong instead of life and death.

Decades before YHWH took a skin and replaced the fig leaf aprons of Adam’s design with a covering for man’s nakedness of His own making. This began the age of mercy when as Paul puts it YHWH winked at sin.
 It was a time bringing us to grace; when the blood of bulls and goats covered sin, just as their skins covered the nakedness of men. 
In the same way that the coat could not change the man within it so also the covering blood could not take away the guilt of its offeror.

These things being established then why did YHWH institute such a grisly ordinance of blood and death if it had no power to take away sin? If it was the faith in YHWH’s promised redemption that has always brought salvation then why the ordinance? The answer is that mental assent of a truth is the deception of man that he dwells in that truth just as actions performed are the deception that he is righteous.

The sacrificial system was the killing of living innocent lambs not to take our sin but a lived out parable teaching us of the horror of sin and the magnitude of the price involved to redeem us.
 Sin is deceptively easy and small until we come face to face with the cost to ourselves and those who we care about.

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. Hebrews 9: 22

So is YHWH callous; caring nothing for lambs that are slaughtered just to teach us a lesson? If one would ask this question then consider have any of us ever made a lamb? 
YHWH spoke them into existence and as such they are from the abundance of his heart. However His children are His greatest treasure and at a gruesome cost to himself He has laid put forth a way that goes beyond teaching us what to do and teaches us what we must trust Him to make us become.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1: 29

The understanding of the why we are given the witness of Cain and Able is tied directly to the why of Cain’s sacrifice not being accepted. In the relationship of our being made the righteousness of YHWH we are shown that we offer Cain’s sacrifice much more readily that Abel’s. 
Abel in this story is almost seemingly secondary. Cain is the main character. When the sacrifice is offered we do not see YHWH lavishing attention on Abel but it is instead Cain with whom YHWH spends His time; pleading with Him to understand his need to be given redemption in the way that had been established, offering a chance to be redeemed, and warning him of the results of following after his own way.

What made Cain’s sacrifice unacceptable? Some have suggested that Cain offered those vegetables and fruit that he thought to be subpar; however if this had been the case then shame or guilt should have been the reaction. 
Cain’s murder of passion was an act of anger. If YHWH had rejected something Cain had placed no value in then Cain would have saw the rejection as being for the inferior fruit alone.
 Cain took this rejection all the way to the core of his being.

It is likely Cain worked the soil, seed, plant and fruit with meticulous care and concern and then from them picked the very best. It should be obvious from His reaction that he expected to be accepted and lifted up.
 This way of Cain is still practiced today by most that claim faith in Messiah.
 We decide what we should do for YHWH, the way we will make ourselves pleasing to Him, and what will manifest His blessings in our life; all of these things we take shore up with scripture. Yet they are a facade and a manipulation used that we may be conformed to our perception of right.
We forget (or ignore) that only YHWH is our Elohim (creator) and that as we give up on ourselves and trust Him He makes us what we should be…one with Him.

It is a redemption that must be possessed but can never be paid for. It is offered to all men as grace but that infuriates those who wish to be recognized for the work they have done and the sacrifices they have made to a place of hate and destruction for any who accept it.

  

Fellowship of the brethern honors the Father

I believe the most important thing for born again brethren to do is to have fellowship.
We are born of the same womb from heaven if we have entrusted our self to YHWH's life given by union with His Messiah Yeshua and His death and resurrection.
I have recently added to the bottom of each post buttons where anyone can share their opinions with a quick click. As always I encourage you to leave any comment you might have whether you agree, have questions, corrections, or think I am wrong.
Only when we dwell in fellowship and desire for the living truth, despite any differences, will we come to the fullness of what YHWH has for us in this life.
That being said fellowship is not you asking me for money to support you.
 I believe in giving alms, but alms are for those with no ability to support themselves.
If you are healthy then thank YHWH for this and honor your heavenly Father by trusting Him to provide you with the way to work and have provision.
I also believe in giving to ministry but such giving only comes from fellowship first.
True giving does not come from someone asking for help but from what is upon the givers heart and spirit to give.
A man looking at another man to receive or worse to try to manipulate a man to receive from him will not be helped by silver or gold. Only in the name of Yeshua can men rise up and find true provision.
I pray that I never shame a man by encouraging him to look to men but instead that I can honor all men and the Father by encouraging all faith be placed in YHWH.
Fellowship is when we share with each other those things that YHWH has or is forming in us.
I am not trying to be lifted up from among my brethren and set as some great minister for we are all ministers and when YHWH works His works through us we are all great.
All this being said I would be honored with any interaction to anything I share here.

Life and Death: are we born guilty

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun Ecclesiastes 1:9

We are often quite harsh on those who in the New Testament assumed Messiah was wrong and the traditions handed down by their fathers where correct. However do we ever stop and ensure that we are not doing the same thing.

The traditions were the conclusions of the Jewish forefathers as to how the law was to be honored and lived out. For instance the law stated to do no work on the Sabbath for it was a day of rest. The traditions of the Fathers attempted to define what work was and what was inclusive of rest.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: Exodus 20:8-10

 Yeshua is, at times, seen taking part in the traditions (John 8:6) and at other times He challenges them vehemently (Matthew 15:1-10). His opponents had so accepted the traditions that they had changed from a way to stitch the scripture together and became a form in which the scriptures where forced to fit.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican Luke 18:11

While we thank YHWH for His grace that we are not blind as those poor men we at the same time force scripture into the accepted understanding of our denominations and fellowships. We certainly dismiss any discussion of those things which have been established since Constantine; doctrines such as these are so sacred that anyone who questions them is a heretic for like the Pharisees before us we have made our fathers understanding above question even from the scripture.    

I ask you please don’t assume I am some rebel. I have great respect for the church Fathers and others who have tried to make clear the greatness of our Messiah and the redemption price paid by both our Heavenly Father and His only begotten Son.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him James 1:5

 My course, and yours, is to know Him and the power of His resurrection it is not to learn others opinions of it.

If teachers born from the same womb as Messiah missed some key understandings of scripture; leading to incorrect expectations of who Messiah was and what His ministry consisted of. These misunderstandings accepted as truth throughout the entire nation engrained in the minds of His own disciples, who had heard him and touched Him and been witness to the Shekinah coming forth from Him, that even after His death, burial, and resurrection asked “will you now restore the Kingdom to Israel?”

The power of assumed perceptions is to make one blind to the truth plainly spoken. If we see that the scholars and lawyers of the first century then we must allow for the same misunderstanding in the theologians that followed. I have said all of this so that we might seek the truth revealed in scripture with open eyes and with careful consideration of its meaning. So with these things in mind we come to the subject of original sin.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12

The perception of men that confuses the issue starts in the garden. Original sin says in its most basic explanation that we were in Adam when he sinned thereby either directly or by hereditary the sin guilt and nature passed to us. The problem is the focus on the sin as an end result and not as it truly is as a seed of death. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not a tree whose fruit brings sin it is a tree that brings death.  An apple is not a tree it is a fruit…but that seed is what brings forth the tree. When that tree is present it brings a harvest of a multitude of apples.

And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9

To be clear the focus on sin and righteousness, clean and unclean, holy and defiled is the result of the duel nature of good and evil. This focus blinds us to true understanding of these two trees. The tree of (which brings) life and the tree of (which brings) death go beyond action, will, and motive to the very core of being; it is not what you do but what you are.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live Deutoronomy 30:19

When Adam became a tree of death then his seed could only bring forth seed after his kind. This nature of death is deceptive in that it experiences doing both good and evil. This nature is not capable of only doing one of the two for both are its makeup. So it sets out to make the scale balance in such a way that the good is greater than the evil. Of course this whole system depends on consciences of what good and evil consist of. It is this driving force in man that has brought forth religion, culture, philosophy and social structure. It is this same nature that reads the scripture and sees actions to be taken instead of a nature that must be changed. It is not original sin that has passed to us but the dual nature of death.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: Deuteronomy 6:4-6

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people Jeremiah 30:33

The tree of life is one nature; it is the life of YHWH breathed into Adam. Yeshua prayed that we might be one as He and the Father are one for YHWH is one. In the cross our old natural man is crucified in Messiah and the Holy Spirit that gave Him life makes alive even our mortal bodies.

Adam was born into the union of YHWH’s life and given a choice to remain or make his own way. This choice came with a warning that his way would bring death. Adam brought death to us all. Yet despite being born alone into a world of men who are each alone no matter the size of a crowd YHWH has still loved us and extended Himself to us that we might have life and union in Him.

We must let go of trying to do right and trust Him to make us right; which will bring us to our next subject of Cain and Able.

 

 

The beginning of redemption

I have a desire to write a book that will help believers, especially new believers, to possess fundamental understandings of the foundation which they have in Messiah.  When the need for such a project began to percolate in my soul the question of where to begin became primary.

 It seemed an obvious answer at first that I should begin at repentance from dead works and faith toward YHWH. This is the place of the divine spark when men are born again from above and where men become disciples of Messiah. However as I prayed and sought what YHWH would have me say it became obvious that it was needful to go back further.

After all when the scripture speaks of our salvation it states that Messiah was slain before the foundation of the world. This understanding of where we came from to understand where we are going is not without its difficulties. For one many a great mind has tried unsuccessfully to give a definitive explanation of man’s inception and though I love to think and study my mind is an amateur by comparison. A second hindrance is the combination of perception of me and my reader as to what is true about will, fate, and sovereignty on an all-inclusive scale.

These considerations, though they are unarguable, have been trumped. To the first YHWH has responded that it is to be no longer I who am working but Messiah in me so my life is not my own but His shared in me. To the second it has always been those with ears to hear who have heard, and it is YHWH who is the teacher not the mouth speaking. So I will begin…

YHWH uses the name ELOHIM when He speaks of being the creator. A lot of speculation has been had over the nature of this name being plural; think of Him saying we instead of I. John in His commentary beginning his gospel says “In the beginning was the word and the word was with YHWH and the word was YHWH” this statement is meant to give additional understanding to the statement of Moses which it echoes “In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.”

Understanding Elohim is not as complex as theologians, historians, and YouTube would make it out to be. It is not a word left from a time before monotheism; to quote Moses “YHWH is our Elohim, YHWH is one”. Often in scripture we see parables used to convey understandings so let’s use ourselves to understand since we are made in His image.

 You are a three part being body, soul, and spirit.

•Body-that part of you consisting of matter by which you affect the physical and are affected

•Soul-that part of you we call consciousness (mind & heart) thought, will, and emotions

•spirit-that part of you called life: vitality, energy, force, presence

You however are one being.

At this point I would understand if the mind begins to drift to the various beliefs on the nature of the Godhead but I would ask that such thoughts be suspended for the time being. Our goal is to understand only at this time how redemption begins before “in the beginning”.  In the witness of the apostles we see YHWH revealed as the Father (generator), the Son (the physical body of the living word), and the Spirit (the Fathers life within the Messiah before death and bringing forth the resurrection).  When we take this understanding back to before anything existed other than YHWH we arrive at Elohim.

Let us return to the example of ourselves. If we determine to make a new work; then we will first in our mind determine its design, purpose, and limitations. With said work completed in our mind we use our energy to use our body to bring the work into physical existence. This example of course is flawed because I am finite causing me to not foresee problems, have limited energy, and limited skill.

So at the start of creation before anything except YHWH exist   

•The Father conceives His work of creation within Himself

•The Spirit (breath) begins to move so as to energize the word

•The Son (living word) forms substance as it is given substance

*It should be said that the breath and the word are not created for they have always been the Father; they are simply revealed.

Since the lamb was slain before the foundations of the earth we know that YHWH made salvation before there was transgression; not only this but He knew all who. The question has been posed many times “why did YHWH make Adam in such a way that He could fail?”

I do not pretend to have a complete answer but perhaps a starting point of consideration.

Everything that Elohim spoke into existence was a reflection of Him in some way; after all everything that He spoke had its source in Him and from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Adam was not spoken into existence but was formed of the creation and YHWH breathed into Him and he became a living soul. This means Adam was the first physical creature to be one with the Father.

If we can extract from our thinking the fable of Adam and Eve being childlike, naive, and unwitting then it becomes possible to understand that their temptation was much different than we have assumed. It has long been propagated that Adams temptation was akin to a child being deceived by the promise of candy only to find their selves taken captive by an evil taskmaster. The temptation of Messiah as a mature, capable, and adult participant is the true way to consider Adam.

Yeshua was not without the ability to choose to do things His own way; however He instead chose to trust, depend, and expect the Father to live and work through Him. YHWH choses to be who He is and as such those in His image also can chose to be who YHWH is or choose to seek after a self who is separate from the life of Him.

•temptation of body

 Adam & Eve in a lush garden saw a fruit that was edible and chose it over YHWH’s provision

Yeshua in a barren wilderness and a starvation state chose to trust in YHWH to provide for life

•temptation of the soul

Adam and Eve found the fruit appealing and chose it over what they had been taught.

Yeshua when tempted to obtain recognition of himself as Messiah chose to depend on YHWH

•temptation of the spirit

Adam and Eve chose to define and generate for themselves good and evil over knowing YHWH as their maker.

Yeshua tempted to obtain the whole earth which He came to redeem by his own actions; He chose to expect YHWH to do the work through Him.

Men tend to see that everything was perfect and man ruined it and that now YHWH is doing damage control. With this perspective they see the time of man as rocketing toward an end. Perhaps YHWH provided grace before transgression so that which He had formed and breathed into would have a certain eternity.

This redemption is given to those who repent of Adam’s self-reliance and place faith in YHWH’s salvation. Next we discuss the mistake of "original sin".