If your life is not in jeopardy
for what you believe, you’re probably on the wrong side!
If you don’t believe Genesis 1-11,
how can you possibly believe John 3:16?
“Indeed, all who want to live a godly
life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.” (2Tim 3:12)
It is what you actually believe that determines how you walk out your faith,
“but avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, quarrels and fights
about the Torah; because they are worthless and futile.” (Titus 3:9)
Please Note: Absolutely nothing on this website should be taken as anti-Church or anti-Rabbinic. I am not anti-anything or anti-anyone. I am only pro-Torah and pro-Truth (see “Philosophy”), but sometimes the Truth upsets our long-held beliefs. I know it certainly upset mine! For example, see “Why Isn’t My Theology Consistent Throughout the Website?”
Developing a
Systematic Messianic Theology
“The purpose of careful theological formulations is not to put barriers in the way of people who are seeking salvation, but to define clearly the truths upon which genuine [Biblical] faith rests, so that people will not be misled by false doctrines.” [Bowman]
“It must be clearly and unequivocally stated that theology cannot save you. Only faith in Messiah Yeshua can save you. Theology can only give you sound doctrine.” [RLS]
Unless otherwise specified, throughout the Theology section of my website I use the term “Torah” in the wider sense of including the entire body of inspired Scripture: both the Tanakh and the Apostolic Writings. I personally do not consder any other so-called “sacred writings” either inspired by God or authoritative for the Believer’s walk of faith. Thus, I do not consider the Mishnah (the “Oral Torah”) as part of Torah. You should make up your own mind.
[Explanations of rabbinic citations are HERE]
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What the Bible Teaches About
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| Contents • Lesson 1 • Lesson 2 • Lesson 3 • Lesson 4 • Appendix | |||
Introduction
One of the most often debated and most misunderstood doctrines of the Church is the doctrine of “Baptism.” This confusion is due, I believe, to the fact that the Church has collectively either lost sight of-- or deliberately chosen to ignore-- the fact that “Christianity,” when properly understood, is a “branch” of Biblical Judaism and should derive its doctrine from what the Jewish Messiah and the Jewish Rabbis who were His disciples actually believed and taught, and not from what the Roman Church teaches and which has been largely “borrowed” from Rome and carried over into the Protestant Church.
A few of the issues regarding baptism that cause division within the Church are:
• Is water baptism essential to “salvation”? That is, does water baptism “save”?
• If water baptism is essential to “salvation” and we want our children to be “saved,” should we baptize our children?
• What is the proper “form” of baptism: immersion, sprinkling, or pouring; or are any of these acceptable?
• When immersing, is the person being baptized supposed to be dipped forward or backward?
• It the person to be immersed once in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or three times-- once for each name?
• Should a person be baptized only once, or each time he/she ”backslides” and repents?
In this series of lessons I have attempted to ignore all the traditional teaching of the Church and focus on what the Scriptures actually teach about what Yeshua and His emissaries believed and taught.
Topics in These Lessons
Lesson One: The Types or Kinds of Baptism in Scripture
Evangelical Christianity’s View of Baptism
The Tevilah of (or by) Ruach HaKodesh
The Tevilah with (or in) Ruach HaKodesh
Lesson Two: The Vocabulary of “Baptism”
How is the baptismal water to be applied?
Into what are we to be baptized?
How often is water baptism to be repeated?
Why should baptism precede membership in the local congregation?
Lesson Three: The Efficacy of Baptism or The “Baptismal Regeneration” Debate
The Argument for Baptismal Regeneration
The Challenge for the Local Assembly
The Challenge for the Unbaptized Believer
Lesson Four: Selected Scriptures Related to Baptism
Appendix: And the Debate Goes On
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20)
Probably Not Even Scripture (Mark 16:16)
Peter’s First Sermon (Acts 2:38-41)
Baptism into Messiah (Romans 6:3-11 and Galatians 3:27)
Baptism Now Saves You ([1 Peter 3:21)
Some Additional Passages for Consideration
• The word “baptism” in the New Testament does not always refer to water baptism.
• The Agency of Messiah’s Baptism is the Holy Spirit
• God the Father has given the Elect to God the Son (John 6:37-40)
• The Elect are Chosen by God the Father and/or God the Son - They Do Not Come by Free Will
• The Philippian jailer and his household were baptized after they believed and were saved.
• The household of Crispus and other Corinthians baptized after they believed and were saved.
• Paul was not commissioned to baptize, but only to preach the gospel.
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