by Pastor Mark Downey
August 13, 2012
Scripture Reading: Psalms 4:1-8
As you may have noticed, we are not looking at ordinary light, we looking at biblical light. We first started in Genesis and are going straight through the Scriptures to expand our understanding of this subject as it dovetails with the concept of baptism. I do not mean the denominational ritual of full body immersion in water that corresponds to the practices of ancient pagan cults. I do mean the baptism or full mentality of immersing ourselves in the Word of God as it relates to the shining light of glory. It does not rain on a bright sunny day and neither does the darkness of evil prevail when there is a shining light of God.
In recent years, bottled water with fancy names has become very popular because of apprehensions about tap water containing contaminants. I was watching this gag survey on TV where they devised all these exotic names of bottled water and filled these exotic-shaped bottles with water from a garden hose, and asked people in a ritzy restaurant for their opinions. The results were hilarious; going from one fake label of water to the next. I mention this anecdote because, by the same token, the church doctrine of a type of dunking baptism goes way beyond what the Bible teaches about water and baptism.
The Bible indeed speaks of water baptism, quoting John the Baptist, "I baptize you with water unto repentance" (Mt. 3:11). John was baptizing with water, but the baptism by water was a baptism of repentance… not water. It was for the remission of sins, not getting completely wet. Water is symbolic of God's Word, as we read in Eph. 5:26, "The washing of water by the Word." It is used to clean the spots and wrinkles that defile our lives. The priestcraft would have you believe that the word ‘baptize’ means to immerse. But do we immerse ourselves in water or the Word of God? If it is the Word, then we can proceed to repent, which means to change our lives from sin to righteousness. It is the effect of turning to God and acknowledging our need to move from darkness into His marvelous light. It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention and by the same token God has given our race the creative resources to obey the standards of righteousness in order to be blessed and to be a blessing to others; and that’s really the kind of Paradise I want to live in. We need not be made to feel guilty for not going through the traditions and rituals of man. When we open our eyes and ears to the shining light of glory, we have declared and confessed our need to be washed clean; a new creature in Christ. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of wet Christians who are still in the dark. Why is this?
