Saturday 4/18/26 Baptism Saves

 Throughout the New Testament, water baptism is linked to salvation as an expression of the “obedience of faith.” 

• New Testament faith is not merely intellectual assent; it includes active obedience to the message preached by John the Baptist, Jesus, and his apostles. 
• This is because Jesus became “the source of the salvation of the age to come” for all those who obey him (Heb. 5:9).

READ: Mark 1:1-8

• John came “preaching a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4). 
• He also pointed forward to the one coming after him, “more powerful” than he was, who would baptize in holy spirit (Mark 1:7-8). 
• This helps explain Jesus’ words in Mark 16:16: 

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

• In other words, belief and water baptism are joined together in the salvation process.

READ: John 3:24; 4:1-2

• Jesus himself taught the necessity of being “born from water and spirit”:

“On the authority of God I tell you that unless a person is born from water and spirit, he will be unable to enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

• Entry into the Kingdom is therefore linked to responding obediently to the Gospel of God.
• Addendum: John 3:22 says that Jesus “was baptizing,” while John 4:2 clarifies that “Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were.” 

This reflects the biblical principle of agency: what Jesus’ authorized disciples did under his direction could rightly be attributed to Jesus himself.

READ: Acts 2:14-21

• At Pentecost, when the people asked what they should do to be saved, Peter answered: 

“Repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of holy spirit” (Acts 2:38).

• Peter then continued urging them: 

“Save yourselves from this crooked society!” (Acts 2:40).

• The point is that repentance and baptism mark a person’s break with the present evil age.

Apostolic SOP

Church of Acts 

• 8:12 Philip baptized both men and women;
• 8:36-39 Phillip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch
• Acts 9:16 Paul himself was baptized in water (Acts 9:16) to have his sins washed away (Acts 22:16). 
• Acts 10:44-48 Peter baptized the Gentiles of the house of Cornelius, after receiving the holy spirit gift of speaking foreign languages.
• Acts 16:14-15 Paul baptized Lydia and her household in Philippi.
• Acts 16:32-34 Paul baptized the jailer and his household.
• Acts 18.8 Paul baptised some people in Corinth.
• Acts 19 Paul baptized followers of John.

READ: 1 Peter 3:18-21

• Peter repeats this same emphasis later in his first letter. 
• 1 Peter 3:21 says that “baptism now saves you,” not as a mere outward washing, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience.
• As the Amplified Bible puts it:

“Baptism [which is an expression of a believer’s new life in Christ] now saves you, not by removing dirt from the body, but by an appeal to God for a good (clear) conscience, [demonstrating what you believe].”

• Peter’s point, again, is that baptism is part of the saving response to the gospel.

Apostle Paul

• Paul also connects salvation with washing and renewal: God “saved us . . . through the washing of rebirth and renewal of holy spirit” (Titus 3:5).
• Paul repeatedly ties baptism to the death and resurrection of Messiah. 

Colossians 2:12:

“You were buried with him when you were baptized in water, and with him you were also raised from death, so to speak, through belief in the creative energy of God, the One who raised him from the dead.”

Romans 6:3-4:

“Do you not understand that all of us who were baptized into Messiah Jesus were baptized into his death? So then we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Messiah was resurrected from the dead through the glory of the Father, we also can live a new life.”

• Baptism, then, is not optional symbolism only. 
• Baptism is the God-ordained act that identifies the convert with Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Salvation in the NT

• This does not cancel the New Testament teaching that salvation is spoken of in three tenses:

1. we have been saved,
2. we are being saved,
3. we will be saved.

• Still, baptism belongs to the beginning of that saving journey as the expected response of faith.

Summary

• AB, Acts 8:38

Water baptism is of course one of the easiest and most fundamental practices of NT Christianity. It is simply a matter of obedience to Jesus, who was himself baptized and who baptized others using his agents. Water baptism is mandated in the Great Commission until the end of the age (Mt. 28:19-20). Today many decide to get rebaptized when they come to understand that God is one Person, that Jesus is the Son of God as defined by Luke 1:35 and that the Gospel involves a firm, clear belief in the Kingdom of God as well as the substitutionary death of Jesus for our sins (Mk. 10:45) and his resurrection on the Sunday following his Friday crucifixion.

• As Dan Gill wrote "Water Baptism in Jesus’ Name: From Heaven or from Men?"

https://focusonthekingdom.org/Water%20Baptism.pdf

“No one today can say that he is being faithful to the kingdom message preached by the apostles if he is not preaching that same water baptism.”

• The overall New Testament pattern is clear:
• hear the gospel,
• repent,
• believe,
• be baptized,
• receive holy spirit,
• walk in newness of life.
• The normal apostolic pattern is that Christians are baptized.

Addendum: What About? 

Questions about exceptional cases, such as someone dying before baptism (for example, the thief on the cross), should be treated as just that: exceptions, not the rule.

These theoretical questions are distracting and take away from the clear New Testament teaching on baptism and the conversion process. Christians should not build doctrine on imaginary “what about” or “what if” scenarios. Focusing on rare exceptions instead of the normal New Testament pattern of baptism distorts biblical teaching.

Simply put, in the New Testament, a person generally could not be considered fully converted to Christianity apart from baptism.

Come Out of Her, My People!

Disclaimer: The following is not a partisan claim, but a simple reminder of the teachings of Jesus and his apostles.

Martin Luther, “the father of Protestantism,” wrote regarding governmental authority:

“You ask whether a Christian, too, may bear the temporal sword and punish the wicked, since Christ’s words, ‘Do not resist evil,’ are so clear and definite. This is why some say that you cannot bear it among Christians or hold it over them, for they do not need it. The question, therefore, must be referred to the other group—the non-Christians—and whether you may bear it there in a Christian manner.”

Luther then argues that such roles are beneficial and necessary for society and for one’s neighbor. Therefore, if there is a lack of executioners, police, judges, or politicians, and you, as a Christian, are qualified, you should offer your services so that governmental authority may not be despised, weakened, or disappear altogether.

This view lies behind much “Kingdom Now” theology, which argues that the church—and therefore Christians—should participate in the political, military, and judicial systems of this world in order to exercise Christian influence over the present evil age.

Kingdom Now theology treats the present world as somehow entwined with God’s future Kingdom. The preservation of life in this age becomes a bridge toward the renewal of the world when Jesus returns. In this framework, the Kingdom of God is treated as something Christians are spreading, creating, or building now through institutions such as government, the military, and the courts.

Evangelical Christians in the United States often appeal to the so-called “founding fathers” as examples of this revised Kingdom vision. Yet one of them, John Jay, said:

“It is true that even just war is attended with evils, and so likewise is the administration of government and justice. But is that a good reason for abolishing either of them? They are means by which greater evils are averted. To prevent the incursion or continuance of evils, we must submit to the use of those means, whether agreeable or otherwise.”

This is a remarkably honest statement. If Christians enter the political and military machinery of nation-building, they will eventually be required, as John Jay admitted, to use evil in order to overcome greater evils. But the so-called “lesser of two evils” still requires evil.

This way of thinking produces a kind of civil religion. Christians are pressured to choose between natural law—the law of the world, as it were—and divine law as revealed in Scripture.

American psychologist Jonathan Haidt summarized this well when he described the U.S. president as the high priest of what sociologist Robert Bellah called “the American civil religion.” The president must invoke the name of God, though not Jesus; glorify America’s political and military heroes; quote its sacred texts, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; and perform the transubstantiation of E pluribus unum—turning many different citizens into one obedient citizenry.

This is the logical product of Luther’s political theology.

By contrast, the Bible identifies this age as “the present evil age.” For Christians, Satan is presently “the prince of the power of the air” and “the god of this world.” Therefore, Christians do not fight against human beings, but “against the authorities, against the powers, against the cosmic rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

Note the plural Greek word kosmokratores—evil demonic “kosmocrats,” forces headed by the Devil himself. This aligns with Revelation, where Satan is depicted as deceiving the nations.

Yet even within this evil age, God remains sovereign. Paul’s command in Romans 13 to submit to governing authorities follows the Old Testament principle that God removes and sets up kings, as seen in Daniel 2 and Proverbs 8.

But Christian submission is not absolute, because the state often stands opposed to the church. There is a time to submit, and there is also a time to refuse, as Daniel’s three companions did when commanded to bow. Yet such refusal must never contradict the clear nonviolent teachings of Jesus and his apostles.

John MacArthur, in his aptly titled Why Government Can’t Save You: An Alternative to Political Activism, rightly noted:

“Over the past several centuries, people have mistakenly linked democracy and political freedom to Christianity. That’s why many contemporary evangelicals believe the American Revolution was completely justified, both politically and scripturally. They follow the argumentation of the Declaration of Independence, which declares that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are divinely endowed rights. Therefore those believers say such rights are part of a Christian worldview, worth attaining and defending at all costs, including military insurrection at times. But such a position is contrary to the clear teachings and commands of Romans 13:1–7. So the United States was actually born out of a violation of New Testament principles, and any blessings that God has bestowed on America have come in spite of that disobedience by the Founding Fathers.”

Christians, then, are “in the world but not of it.” The present age is evil, the gods of the nations are ultimately demonized (Ps. 95:5 LXX), and yet God remains sovereign over all nations.

This is why Christians are called to live as foreigners, exiles, and strangers, as Jesus and his apostles teach. Some governments may rule justly and enact “good laws,” but all nations must finally submit to the Messiah at his parousia. That is the great Christian hope: the gospel of the coming Kingdom, as seen in Daniel 7, Psalm 2, Isaiah 19, and elsewhere.

Therefore, the idea of a “Christian nation” today is a myth, as Greg Boyd argues in The Myth of a Christian Nation and in his article “Satan, Government, and Christian Anarchy”:

“Just to be clear, this obviously doesn’t mean that all leaders in earthly governments are under Satan’s rule. Many leaders are God-loving people who are sincerely trying to serve their society and the world. But these passages suggest that the whole power-over system that constitutes human government is under Satan’s oppressive influence. I see no way around this conclusion.”

Given the New Testament witness, followers of Jesus must seriously question their view of government and any allegiance—direct or indirect—to the political-military-industrial complex.

Bible-believing Christians must obey the divine command to “come out of her, my people,” (Rev. 18:4) so that when Jesus comes, he does not find them sharing in her sins.

Did Jesus Claim to be God?

The Jewish leaders replied, "We are not going to stone you for a good deed but for blasphemy, because you, a man, are claiming to be God." John 10:33, NET

To many readers, John 10:33 seems to show that the Jews understood Jesus to be claiming he was God. But a closer reading, especially in context and in light of the biblical concept of agency, points in another direction. The issue is not that Jesus claimed to be Yahweh Himself, but that he, “being a man,” claimed a status and authority his fellow Jews believed he had no right to claim.

Context is King

Throughout John’s Gospel, the conflict is not about Jesus claiming deity in the later Trinitarian sense. The real issue is whether Jesus was truly God’s agent or just another religious upstart, a messianic pretender seeking honor for himself. From their point of view, such a man was a false prophet and worthy of death under the Law (Deut. 13). The controversy, then, was not about later metaphysical speculation, but about legitimacy: Was Jesus truly the Messiah and Son sent by God, or was he exalting himself?

That distinction matters because the Jews already knew from Scripture that God could appoint human beings as His representatives and invest them with His authority. Moses, for example, is called “god” in Exodus 4:16 and 7:1. Israel’s judges are also called “gods” in Exodus 22:8 and Psalm 82:6. Yet no one imagined that Moses or the judges were literally Yahweh. They were called “god” in a subordinate, functional sense because they represented God, spoke for Him, and acted on His behalf. Indeed, Moses and several of the prophets sometimes even spoke as God in the first person, which was accepted language of divine representation (Deut. 11:14; 29:6; Isa. 3:4; 34:5; 53:11-12; Hos. 5:10-12, 14-15; 6:4-6, 11-7:2; Hab. 1:5-6; Zech. 14:2).

That background is essential for understanding John 10.

Jesus’ opponents say, “you, being a man...” Their objection was not that Jesus was making himself God alongside the one God of Israel. Rather, it was that this man was claiming a divine authority and commission they believed he neither possessed nor could possess. In their eyes, Jesus was making himself out to be a legitimate agent of God when he was no such thing.

For that reason, the sense of John 10:33 may be better captured by translating theos as “a god” rather than simply as “God.” That fits the context more naturally, and Jesus’ own reply supports it.

In John 10:34, Jesus answers:

“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?”

That appeal to Psalm 82:6 is decisive. Jesus reaches back to a passage in which certain human beings, recipients of God’s word, are called “gods.” He is not appealing to a text about Yahweh becoming a man. He is appealing to a recognized biblical category in which human agents of God can bear divine titles in a subordinate sense.

He continues:

“If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came...” (John 10:35)

Son of God not "God the Son"

Then comes the heart of his defense:

“Do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:36)

This is crucial. Jesus does not answer by saying, “I am God.” Instead, he clarifies his claim in biblical language: “I am the Son of God.”

That is the actual claim under dispute.

Jesus presents himself as the one sanctified, sent, and authorized by the Father. This is the language of mission and agency, not a claim to be the one God Himself.

He then appeals to his works:

“If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me” (John 10:37).

And then:

“But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father” (John 10:38).

Again, the emphasis is not on metaphysical essence or ontology, but on unity of purpose, action, and commission. Jesus points to the evidence that the Father is working through him. This fits the biblical principle of agency: the one sent represents the sender so fully that his words and actions carry the sender’s authority. In that sense, such an agent may bear divine designations without being God in the absolute sense.

That is how Jesus presents himself throughout John’s Gospel. He is the one whom the Father has sent. He speaks the Father’s words, does the Father’s works, and seeks the Father’s glory, not his own.

Trinitarian Concessions

What makes this reading even more significant is that some Trinitarian sources acknowledge its legitimacy. The New English Bible notes:

“Thus, purely on the basis of the Greek text, it is possible to translate John 10:33 as ‘a god,’ rather than to translate it ‘God.’”

Similarly, the ESV Study Bible says:

“Jesus’ point in quoting Ps. 82:6 is that if human judges (Ps. 82:2–4) can in some sense be called gods (in light of their role as representatives of God), this designation is even more appropriate for the one who truly is the Son of God (John 10:33, 35–36).”

This matters because it shows that the representative reading is not a non-Trinitarian invention. It arises naturally from the biblical context and from Jesus’ own defense.

The Jews, then, charged Jesus with being “a mere man” who was illegitimately exalting himself into a position of divine authority. In their eyes, he was a false claimant to divine agency. The irony is that Jesus was exactly who he said he was all along: the unique human Son of God, the one sanctified and sent by the Father, the promised Messiah.

This same accusation appears again in John 19:7, which helps interpret John 10:33:

“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself Son of God.”

Conclusion

That was the point his enemies found intolerable. Modern readers often miss this by reading later Trinitarian categories back into the text. Jesus’ opponents accused him of making himself more than “a mere man,” but that does not mean he was claiming to be the one God Himself. Their objection was that he claimed to be God’s uniquely authorized Son, the expected Jewish Messiah.

That is the real force of John 10:33. Far from teaching that Jesus claimed to be God Himself, the passage shows him defending his God-given mission in categories his Jewish audience should have recognized from their own Scriptures.

Saturday study 4/4/26 Kingdom-Christian Living

 READ: Acts 8:14-40

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was heralding the Gospel about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus the Messiah, they were being baptized, both men and women.

Acts 8:35-38 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the gospel of Jesus…The eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

AB footnote, Acts 8:35.

In the NT [the gospel of Jesus] always means both the Gospel of the Kingdom as Jesus preached it and the facts about the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

Talking Points

• To get baptized you must have heard, understood the gospel of (not just about) Jesus;
• This all starts with the parable of the sower in order to be “born again,” from above.
• Then ask yourself at least these 2 key questions:

1. What does the NT mean by the Gospel?
2. What does the Bible as a whole mean by the Kingdom of God? 

• Anything else = "another Jesus,” I.e., “God-man”; “another gospel," e.g., Past (preterist), 
• Present (Millennial Kingdom Now), “Already Not Yet" (most Postmill)! 
• Readings: Dan 2;7; Ps 2; Isa 11;

Introduction

• Jesus Purpose Driven Life (Luke 4:43) was not sent/commissioned to preach: “the kingdom is under construction”; “the kingdom is spiritual,” in your heart; “the kingdom is your country,” “one nation under God”; or “the kingdom of God is” here or spreading.
• Jesus did not change the fundamental definition of the kingdom as envisioned, proclaimed, warned about and promised by the OT prophets: i.e., the restoration of Israel, the throne of David, and the people of God ruling the nations, ultimate peace on earth. 

READ: Dan 2:37-45; 7; Ps 2; Isa. 11.

• The prophecies define the kingdom as the worldwide government of God, ruled by a glorified human person, the son of man = His unique, anointed Son.
• The kingdom comes suddenly, abruptly not in stages let alone human effort, USA or UN.
• Jesus in Luke 17:22-36 and Paul in 1 Thess. 5:1-10, stress that the kingdom arrives like lightning, flood, fire, or a stone crushing the kingdoms of this world—not like some long, drawn out building project.

Christian/Kingdom Living Now

• Christian or Kingdom Living now, must not be confused with the future Kingdom on earth;
• Jesus and the apostles consistently, primarily talk about the Kingdom as yet future to us, e.g., we enter, inherit, that is possess the kingdom at the parousia.

Matthew 25:34 

“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, and inherit the Kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

1 Corinthians 15:50 

Now I say this to you, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; the perishable does not inherit the imperishable. 

• Jesus taught us to pray, “May Your Kingdom come,” not, “May Your Kingdom keep growing in our hearts” or in this present evil age, Matthew 6:10;
• Galatians 1:3 Grace and peace to you from God who is the Father and from our lord Jesus Messiah, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

(Matt. 19:28; Mark 9:47; Luke 22:18; Luke 22:29-30; Acts 1:6-7; Acts 3:21; Acts 14:22; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:21; 2 Tim. 4:1; Jas. 2:5; 2 Pet. 1:11; Rev. 5:10; Rev. 20:4-6).

What About?

• The few texts that speak of the Kingdom in a present sense, such as Col. 1:13 and Rom. 14:17, must be understood in their wider prophetic context. 
• Paul’s point is that Christians have already been rescued from this present evil age so they live now as kingdom people now.
• Romans 14:17 likewise describes the same Christian living for those who expect to inherit that coming Kingdom.
• The Kingdom itself remains future, to be established at Jesus’ return, when judgment, peace, and the reign of the saints over the nations will become reality. Until then, believers endure trials as they await entry into that Kingdom.
• The NT also sometimes uses what is called a futuristic or prophetic present, speaking of an event so certain that it is regarded as already in the process of coming to pass. This is similar to the more familiar prophetic past, where future events are spoken of in the past tense because they are certain to occur.
• For example, in his communion service (Matt. 26:28, Jesus says, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins”;
• The future judgment (Matt. 3:10, where John the Baptist says, “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”); 
• And in Matt. 23:13 Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees for shutting the Kingdom of heaven in people’s faces, not allowing “those entering to go in,” cp. Luke 16:16; Heb. 6:5.
• For more 2022 kogmissions conference:  https://youtu.be/A6Oa2M53Ffo?si=elbX80o6FGWcX6w_
• Right now we have the foretaste, firstfruits, and spirit as down payment but we do not yet possess the Kingdom itself in its concrete, prophetic form.

Ephesians 1:13 In him, when you heard the word of the truth — the Gospel of your salvation — you believed it and were sealed in him with the holy spirit of the promise, 14 which is a down-payment on our inheritance, until we acquire possession of that inheritance, to the praise of His glory.

Hebrews 2:7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, 8 and You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But at present we do not yet see all things subjected to him. (Rom. 8:23; 2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5; Col. 1:13). 

• Therefore, we are waiting to inherit the Kingdom and rule with Jesus at the parousia and resurrection, when all things will finally be subjected under God’s appointed Messiah.

1 Corinthians 15:28 And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.

2 Timothy 2:12 If we endure, we will reign as kings with him. If we renounce him, he will renounce us. 

(Dan. 7:27; Matt. 24:30-31; Luke 19:11-12, 15; Heb. 2:5; Rev. 2:26-27; Rev. 11:15; Rev. 20:4-6).

Acts 14:22: “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” 

• Recommended Readings

The word “until” – Kingdom Gospel

Historicism vs. Futurism (Daniel 9:24-27) – Kingdom Gospel