"YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN"
Joh 3:1 "There was a man of the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him,
Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God:
for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old?
can he enter the second time into his mother's womb,
and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth
and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth: so is every one
that is born of the Spirit.
Joh 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him,
How can these things be?
Joh 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him,
Art thou a master of Israel,
and knowest not these things?
Joh 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
We speak that we do know,
and testify that we have seen;
and ye receive not our witness.
Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things,
and ye believe not,
how shall ye believe,
if I tell you of
heavenly things?
Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish,
but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son ,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have
everlasting
life."
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And, being
assembled together
With them, commanded them that
They should not depart from Jerusalem,
But wait for the promise of the Father,
Which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
For John truly baptized with water;
But ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
Not many days hence.
(Acts 1:4-5)
But ye shall receive power, after
That the Holy Ghost is come upon
You: and ye shall be witnesses
Unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
All Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto
The uttermost part of the earth.
(Acts 1:8)
And when the day of Pentecost
Was fully come, they were all
With one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound
From heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,
And it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,
And it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak
With other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
(Acts 2:1-4)
Then Peter said unto them,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you,
and to your children, and to all that
are afar off, even to as many as
the Lord our God shall call.
And with many other words
did he testify and exhort, saying,
save yourselves from this untoward generation.
then they that gladly received his word
were baptized: and the same day
there were added unto them
about three thousand souls.
And they continued stedfastly
in the apostles doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking
of bread, and in prayers.
(Acts 2:38-42)
While Peter yet spake these words,
The Holy Ghost fell on all them
Which heard the word.
And they of the circumcision
Which believed were astonished,
As many as came with Peter,
Because that on the Gentiles also
Was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For they heard them speak with tongues,
And magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Can any man forbid water,
that these should not be baptized,
which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
And he commanded them to be baptized
In the name of the Lord. Then prayed they
Him to tarry certain days.
(Acts 11:44-48)
Who shall tell thee words,
Whereby thou and all thy house
Shall be saved.
And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell
On them, as on us at the beginning.
Then remembered I the word of the Lord,
How that he said, John indeed baptized
With water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
(Acts 11:14-16)
And it came to pass that, while
Apollos was at Corinth, Paul
Having passed through the upper
Coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost,
since ye believed? And they said unto him,
we have not so much as heard whether there
be any Holy Ghost.
And he said unto them, Unto
what then were ye baptized? And they said,
unto Johns baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily
baptized with the baptism of repentance,
Saying unto the people,
that they should believe on him
which should come after him,
that is, on Christ Jesus.
when they heard this,
they were baptized
in the name of
the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his
hands upon them, the Holy Ghost
came on them; and they spake with
tongues, and prophesied.
and all the men were
about twelve.
(Acts 19:1-7)
But the Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all
things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said
unto you.
(John 14:26)
Beloved,
when I gave all diligence
To write unto you of the common salvation,
It was needful for me to write unto you,
And exhort you that ye should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered
unto the saints.
( Jude 1:3)
The Mode of Baptism
Sprinkling is not Biblical! The very term baptize has for its root the Greek word baptizo, which means "to dip, plunge, submerge, immerse." According to the Holy Word of God, the proper mode of baptism is by immersion. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water" (Matthew 3:16).
John also was baptizing in Aenon...because there was
MUCH water there" (John 3:23). "And they wend down both INTO the water, both Philip and the eunuch;... and he
baptized him" (Acts 8:38). "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death" (Romans 6:4). When someone dies and is
buried they are covered completely with dirt and buried deep in the ground. When someone dies and are buried they are not sprinkled with a little soil they would start stinking. We must be buried completely with water to wash away our sins or like the dead person that is left unburied we will start to stink with our unwashed away sins.
"And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
(Luke 24:47)
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
(Acts 4:12)
The Archbiship H. Stephanus defines Baptism in his thesaurus
as to submerge, Immerse; to plunge under." Thesaurus, Groecae Linguae (London, 1821, volume III, page 20, 681). According to the World Book Encyclopedia, "At first all baptism was by
complete immersion" (vol. 1, p. 651). We have truthful
evidence that even the Roman Catholic Church
practiced baptism as signified here (by immersion)
up to the time of Revenna Councils in 1311,
when it was officially substituted by
sprinkling (History by Harvey, page 164). This
fact may also be verified by the act of having
constructed beautiful sanctuaries which were
well prepared with a baptismal font or pool
which had dimensions big enough to
practice baptism by immersion.
To this day we can still see baptismal pools in
some chapels in Rome Pisa Italy and in other nations.
And the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "In the early
centuries, all were baptized by immersion in
streams, pools, and baptisteries" (vol. 2, p.263).
Cremer, a Greek Biblical Lexical-Theologist of the
New Testament, defines Baptism
"To immerse, to submerge:"
(English third Edition; Church, 1883).
Immersion was not convenient after the
Catholic church instituted infant baptism;
thus the mode was changed to sprinkling.
(See Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., vol. 3, pp. 365-66.)
The Greek Lexical: English, published by Harper & Bro.
And written by Dr. C.W. Hodge, professor of critical
New Testament theory at the Seminary of Theology
of Princeton, also tells us that the lexical of Liddell & Scott,
is the best Greek classic. He defines the word Baptism:
"Plunge under, to put under the water."
"And John also was baptizing in aenon near to Salim,
because there was MUCH water there:
and they came, and were baptized."
(John 3:23)
The word BAPTIZE (BAPTIZO) is found eighty times in the New Testament; there is no other word to express the act. The word baptizo, means "to dip, plunge, submerge, immerse.
Repentance identifies us with the death of Christ Jesus, and baptism connects us with His burial. We must be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every Biblical account of Baptism was administered in the name of Jesus Christ. He is the one who died for us and his Name is the only name that can wash away our sins.Coming forth from the watery grave of baptism and receiving new life by the baptism of the Holy Ghost identifies us with His resurrection. This is how we apply Jesus Death, Burial,
and Resurrection to our life.
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CHURCH LOCATOR
A Heavenly Place
