Faith Is, Chapter Twenty
In Acts 10:44 there is a very interesting account of the conversion of the household of Cornelius.
For years now those who want to believe that we are born again when we are baptized in water try to say that this account was just an exception in the Bible of someone being
saved before they were baptized in water. In the first place there is no such thing. We cannot bind God as to what He can do. This is the evidence that God accepts a man when
he believes in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Acts 10:44 says,
"While Peter was still
speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the
message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished
that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the
Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God."
In the last chapter I was talking to you about the importance
of water baptism as to our obedience to the commands of Jesus. I want to make a
very bold statement to those of you who have been taught, as I was, that the
act of water baptism is when we are born again . The act of being baptized in water is not when we are
born again! In the above scripture it is recorded that Cornelius
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit when he heard the gospel presented to
him by the Apostle Peter. He had not yet been baptized in water.
Paul said in Rom. 10: 8-11,
"The word is nigh
thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith,
which we preach; That if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
Cornelius and his people believed in their heart
what Peter was telling them as he was telling them and the Lord baptized them
in His Holy Spirit into the Spiritual Body of Christ and they begin to speak in
tongues and praise the Lord. This was the fulfilling of exactly what the
Apostle Paul talked about in Rom. 10:8!
Why is it that religion always wants to put God in a
box and limit Him to what He can do? Don't you see that the most important
process that we go through in our being born again is what happen to us inside
and not what happens on the outside. Christ does not dwell or live on the
outside of us but He lives in us and through us. Paul said in Col. 1:26-27,
"Even the mystery which hath been hid from
ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory!"
Let me quote to you what Jesus had to say about this
in Luke 17:20,
"The kingdom of God
does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it
is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within
you."
The Apostle Paul in his understanding of what the
Spirit of Christ had taught him went all the way back to Abraham bypassing the
Law of Moses to teach us how to be pleasing to God. He said in Rom. 4:1-25,
(NIV)
"What then shall we say
that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact,
Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What
does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness.” Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a
gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies
the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the
same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits
righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are
forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Is this
blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that
Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what
circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And
he received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was
still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in
order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also
the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in
the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was
circumcised.
It was not through law
that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of
the world, but through the
righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are
heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings
wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so
that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not
only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of
Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made
you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he
believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as
though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the
father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your
offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his
body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s
womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the
promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to
God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had
promised.
This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to
him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will
credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from
the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was
raised to life for our justification.
Paul was talking here to Jews who trusted in
circumcision to save them. He clearly points out that the righteousness that
was credited to Abraham was credited to him before he was circumcised and that
circumcision was a sign of what had happened when he believed the Lord.
In verse 23 Paul says,
"The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him
alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who
believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."
This is the exact thing that occurs with us when we
believe and confess that Jesus is Lord.
For with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
Water baptism is a sign or a seal of what has
happened to us when we believed in our hearts and confessed with our mouth that
Jesus is Lord. It is an outward expression of what has happened on the inside
of us just like communion is a likeness
of partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Is it necessary that we
understand all the implications of communion in order to participate in it? No!
Nor is it necessary that we understand all the implications of water baptism
when we are baptism. All we have to know is that the Lord commands us to do it!
Paul said in Col. 2:9-15,
For in Christ all the
fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given
fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by
the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been
buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power
of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the
uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having
canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that
stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And
having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them by the cross."
If you have not been baptized in water may I
encourage you to do so as an obedient servant of our Lord.