JUDAIZERS: THE LAW AND CONFUSION:

 

  The Jews continued their intimidation of the new Galatian Christians. It is known from Paul’s letter, that the Law was the reason, and surely the Jews prodded the Gentiles to be circumcised like them. That would mean that they were dedicated to the Law, and not to the grace they had received beforehand. The Law was interfering with their faith. Further persuasion by the Jews would have created much doubt in their minds, and with doubt increased, faith is decreased. The very purpose of Satan is to diminish God by diminishing the faith in His children. They were in danger of apostasy and Judaizers were the cause.

  What is the purpose of the Law? I started to write “was” rather than “is” but the Law still serves a purpose. “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator” (Gal 3:19). Paul called it the “schoolmaster” to bring people to Christ, that they may be justified by faith (Gal 3:24).

  Abraham’s willingness to obey without ever having to follow through when God told him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, was counted to him as faith, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness” (Rom 4:9). “Righteousness” then is not obedience to commandments but a willingness to please God. Abraham’s attitude in honoring God’s bequest was good enough for God. It was not necessary to follow through because in his heart, Abraham, as Zipporrah would say, was willing to do the “dirty deed.”

  Thus, circumcision is much like Abraham’s intended sacrifice. Abraham was willing, but Moses predisposed against it, so Zipporah did what Moses should have done. Abraham had a circumcised heart himself, but Moses would not even circumcise his son, let alone sacrifice himself. Abraham was righteous in his heart for willingness. Moses hesitated and Abraham did not. Moses heard the Law, wrote down all the regulations, and was the enforcer on God’s behalf. Even with that, God still enforced the Law Himself because Moses was not even a priest, let alone God. And then Moses would not even perform the Law to God’s satisfaction!

  Rather than encouraging righteousness, the Law hinders. Why? Because keeping all the Law is futile when even one is broken (Mat 5:19). Every true Christian gets discouraged when he disappoints God. Breaking even one Law is disappointing and encourages Christians to break even more Laws.

  Satan smiles as faith diminishes. Hence, the Law is the schoolmaster for sinners as it teaches righteousness but is a hindrance to those with the Holy Ghost. It is the Holy Ghost who Comforts, not obedience to the Law. How would anyone recognize a Gentile Christian? Because they are full of joy with the Holy Ghost (Acts 13:52). They did not require circumcision because their hearts had changed. Rather than reluctantly obeying the Law, they were thrilled to. They obeyed for right reasons, and hence their foreskins cut away would not be necessary because the foreskins of their hearts had been.

  What was circumcision truly about in the first place? “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked” (Deut 10:16) and “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem… because of the evil of your doings.” (Jer 4:4). All along, it was not the skin God wanted but the spiritual “flesh.” He wanted the inner man, not the outward man!

  What would have happened if the Galatian Christians went ahead with circumcision? They would merely be more hygienic with their flesh. They were with the Holy Ghost and He would keep them clean; why would they need to perform the “dirty deed” just to please Judaizers?

  The Galatians had been baptized not by water, but with the Holy Ghost. That was the baptism of Jesus: “I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” (Mark 1:8). The baptism as with John was no longer necessary as John’s head was “circumcised.” He was “baptized” himself in blood for Jesus. Herod’s soldiers did the “dirty deed” because Herod was as timid as Moses had been. Like Moses, Herod had his wife do the dirty deed because he was unwilling to. At her command, it was done.

  When the Galatians were persuaded, they were baptized with the Holy Ghost. Nothing more was required. However, the Jews tried to force circumcision on them, and surely there were those who pressured them to be baptized. John’s water baptism is allegorical to Jewish circumcision. Just as the knife never cleansed the hearts of the faithful for the Jews, the water never cleansed the hearts of the faithful for the Christians.

  What about Jesus? Was he not baptized? He was once for the sake of all, just as Gershom was baptized for all the Israelites; Jesus to stave off the Devil, and Gershom to stave off the Israelites. It turns out that the Spirit of Jesus defeated the Egyptians and the “Ghost” of Jesus defeated the Devil. Gershom sacrificed his foreskin to ineffectively do the “dirty deed” and Jesus was effectively baptized on behalf of all.

  Again, how so? “And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, ‘Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost” (John 1:33). Paul checked on the Galatians later. The Holy Ghost and joy had remained with them! Their baptism with the Holy Ghost was effective, and they had yet to be immersed in water. Jesus’s own immersion (the water) and His crucifixion (the blood) was enough!

  It is written, “This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6). Of course, the blood of Jesus pouring forth at His death was the ‘blood” in that scripture, and His own baptism by immersion was the water. Jesus received and kept the Holy Spirit. It was the water baptism wherein John prepared Jesus for death. The Holy Spirit came upon Him, and at his death, Jesus “gave up the Ghost” (Mark 15:37). In other words, it is Jesus’s baptism that was the water. Our own baptism is not Jesus’s for He is God, but just as Jesus did.

  People forget that the Holy Spirit came on Jesus for a reason. As one “State” of God, both He and the Father were crucified. Not only was the Person of God crucified but God in three “Persons” (three unified states — Latin, homeostasis — the optimal functioning of the three “states” of God). It was not the water that baptized Jesus but the Holy Spirit; the Spirit that would be the Ghost that left Jesus.

  The Holy Spirit could have come on Jesus without the water, but that was the method that God chose. Whereas the baptism of others for repentance for remission of sins, the baptism of the Holy Ghost is for the remission of sins.

  Jesus took on all the sins of mankind at His crucifixion. At His baptism He took on the remission of sins of others since He had none Himself. His baptism by John was for us, so that the Holy Ghost could come on us as well, not at water baptism like His, but with the remission of sins. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is concurrent with the remission of sins as demonstrated by the Galatian Christians.

  When Paul was persuaded, Ananias wondered, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Act 22:16). With the eunuch, it was made clear that there was plenty of water available, but with the baptism of Jesus of Paul, no mention is made of water. Paul’s baptism was “calling on the Name of the Lord.” Therewith, Jesus baptized Paul and there was a obvious change in his disposition — Jewish Saul became Christian Paul, and it happened without immersion in anything but seeing God face to face, and the Face of God is Jesus.

  Saul was blinded to see his faults, and that persuaded him. Then days later, Saul’s sight was restored and he was baptized, not in water, but in the Light of Jesus!

  As such Paul is not a baptizer… the Holy Ghost of Jesus is: “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect” (1 Cor 1:17). Paul was indicating that if he had baptized it would have made him a Judaizer; “that the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.” Jesus (the Finger of God) had written, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exod 20:7). If it was water that saved, then God’s “Name” (Jesus) would have been vanity. The cross would have been of no effect. Then they may as well have swam in the Molten Sea like the Jews had.

  That water baptism is preserving denigrates the cross and Jesus’s suffering death. Those who require things be done are legalists like the Judaizers who hounded the Galatian Christians to do things their way — the way Jews had always done things, not the Way of Jesus. Water baptism was always a Jewish custom. It was a cleansing ceremony in the Temple, and it remains ceremonial.

  When Joshua (Yeshua) was about to cross the “river of the Garden” (the Jordan River) and enter “paradise” he was given instructions by the Lord. “Jesus’s” instructions to Joshua were: 

⁷ And the Lord said unto Joshua, “This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. ⁸ And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, “When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.” ⁹ And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God. (Jos 3:7-9) 

  Joshua stood still in the Jordan River, maybe the exact place where Jesus was baptized. Joshua and God went into the God’s Holy Water together and were symbolically baptized. Joshua was a type of Jesus and the Ark of the Covenant the Presence of the Lord. The Ark was God’s “footstool” just as the foot support on the cross was the “footstool” of Jesus.

  What happened other than Joshua got wet? The Lord magnified Joshua. He was baptized by the Holy Spirit! The water of the river touched the ark that even the priests could not touch. The Lord and Joshua comingled. The Spirit of the Lord came on Joshua. His identity changed. He became a New Moses, and that is what John’s baptism of Jesus did. Jesus became the New Moses and the original Moses was minimized. Moses came to see his replacement at the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses saw what he knew by faith all along; that Jesus and Yahweh are One God!

  As Joshua stood in the water, the Lord magnified him. It did not make him a new creature but took the old creature and made him like Moses. It was not the water that did the changing, but the Lord magnifying Joshua. The Holy Spirit from the Ark came on Joshua just as the Holy Ghost was upon the Galatians. What did the Hebrews do? They brought God to the heathen nations. What were the Galatians called to do? To bring the gospel of Jesus to the nations, even to the ends of the earth.

  Is water baptism — the Baptism of John — a good or bad thing? It is no substitute for the Baptism with the Holy Ghost by Jesus. Note that the Galatians did not skip the Baptism of Jesus (the Holy Ghost). Neither did they skip repentance and persuasion. If they had not been baptized with the Holy Ghost (represented by living water) baptism with water would have been vanity.

  Furthermore, to the Jews, the Galatians were not true Christians as they had not been circumcised like them. The Jews had failed to realize that when they were persuaded their hearts had been circumcised and when the Holy Ghost was with them, they had been baptized already by the baptism of Jesus. Only later, after they were proven faithful, were they baptized with the baptism of John to testify to the effect of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.

(Picture credit – Look and Learn “The Molten Sea.”)