ONE DOCTRINE

I write this with sadness because so many Christians have been taught the wrong catechism, even as I. On top of that, the Church has many rituals that transcend the simplicity of the gospels.

I have accused some pious people of belonging to a cult. I spoke too harshly. Many traditional Christian groups (denominations) all have differences in doctrine, and they all forget that there is one Lord, one faith, one hope, and one baptism. So, in effect, we all are somewhat cultish but not really of the occult. We all are mistaken on doctrine in some manner or form, including my own church. If I think that only we are doctrinally right, that makes our church arrogant and pompous. We all err, and that must be remembered. If I offend any one group, sometimes the truth is offensive.

Since there is no book of the Bible called, “The Gospel According to Herrin,” I submit that what I write herein is the truth as I understand it, according to the Bible as I understand it. With that said, check it all with scripture. I have endeavored to do that as well.

The problem is that we may understand the same words quite differently. Whether you know it or not, or even accept it, much protestant doctrine was debated and written by councils of the Catholic Church as even the “church fathers” understood things differently. When some offer the idea that only they do it right, according to the early church, I look for vipers, whirlwinds as fire, and such. The early church was the foundation of Catholicism, who by the way, the ardent believe that they are the one true Church (catholic: universal). Even some to this day believe that their body of Christ is the one true Church, and are as such, very “catholic” in doctrine.

I have heard some Baptists brag, “We baptized forty people today!” That is not a bad thing, but I was baptized three times: once by testing of my faith, another by sprinkling, and another by immersion. Respectively, I was then a smart sinner, a damp one, or a very wet sinner, if it was not for grace.

The saving grace in all three is that I trusted Jesus whether I was taught, sprinkled, or dipped. If I took my faith sincerely, then I was “baptized” prior to that by the Holy Ghost. In other words, I learned and sought baptism because I was in Christ already. When was my “birthday”? Whenever it was when I first believed (John 20:8). It was prior to catechism or any other action on my behalf. To tell you the truth, neither who baptized me were God, nor even a “Moses.” In other words, I got wet after I had fully absorbed the Living Water sometimes before!

My own close relative was baptized a sinner and remained a sinner after coming out of the water. Why so? She was not a Christian before she was dipped and came out just as much a sinner. She was looking for God but certainly never found Him in the water!

So, even Methodists and regular Baptists think too highly of water. Some even think that a minister baptized by one directly from John the Baptist must do the baptism (Landmark Baptists). That is very Moses-like for them. John would be their “Moses” figure, the merit of which would be discounted since Moses was at the Transfiguration.

So, in summary, I desire not to offend any individuals for their beliefs, but must do my best to reveal the “one doctrine” that should be the doctrine of every group. Here goes my probably vain attempt:

 

Speaking of Christ, Paul wrote, “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2:9). To be honest, the use of “Godhead” seems impersonal as if God is a structure of some sort, or even an idol. Paul even makes the same point, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device” (Acts 17:29).

Indeed “Godhead” is a theological term translated from the Greek word, theios. The word theos means simply “god.” The added iota in the word theios makes it plural. Hence, the one true God is Gods as well; and from there comes the concept of the Holy Trinity — God in three persons. However, that causes most people confusion — that the One True God is a three-person God with three personalities.

God is neither three bodied nor a multiple personality; God is one Existence of three substances with stability all in dynamic equilibrium; in science, called “homeostasis” — homeo (similar to) stasis (equilibrium between the states or substances). The “Godhead” is the three substances of God that are similar, ostensibly only different in substances. The three substances of God are Mind, Matter, and Spirit; all are similar but different.

“The Great Commission” is to, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them (offspring of the Godhead) in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Mat 28:19). The Great Commission is teaching, not baptizing per se. It is persuading them to follow Jesus. That was always how Paul fulfilled his three journeys out into the world. Paul baptized only two or three in water, “For Christ sent me (Paul) 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). Albeit Paul did not baptize (hardly at all), his converts became Christians. That is how the early Church commenced and was the practice of true Christianity. That should be the same practice for originalists to this day!

Paul preached, or taught, just as the Great Commission required. Who baptized, then? The Name! Jesus, before He arose, said, “…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).

Jesus delineated two types of baptism: (1) the baptism in water like John’s, and (2) baptism with the Holy Ghost. The baptism of John was preparation, or for “repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4). The Holy Ghost is Living Water from the Lamb of God — Jesus, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev 7:17). That recounts God providing “Living Waters” from the rock at Massah that overjoyed the Israelites who thirsted (Exod 17), and of course, the “Rock” is the Body of the Messiah.

Hence, in scripture, the word “baptize” is common to both water baptism and spiritual baptism. So, whenever baptism is mentioned in the Bible, the reader should ask which baptism is meant. Peter told the people, “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” (Acts 2:38). Right then a substitution was made. It seems that with Jesus gone, repentance came not from baptism in water but from the heart. Peter defined true “baptism” — the baptism of the Holy Ghost. No wonder Paul did not come to baptize in water, for that would usurp Jesus, whose “bodily shape,” of the Holy Ghost, would do the true baptism.

So how many baptisms are there? Scripture points to John’s for repentance, but most preachers water baptize after conversion from out of Christ to in Christ. What converts, water or the Holy Ghost? Water only destroys (in scripture) but Living Water revives.

In the days of Noah, water endeavored to perish all mankind. The physical Ark saved eight people. From what? The water. What saved mankind? Noah found grace. God had baptized him in Living Water. Who was on board with Noah? Pre-incarnate Jesus, or the Spirit of Jesus in bodily shape just as He appeared at His baptism in water and at His crucifixion.

God did not die but only His Body experienced death. He remained alive in Mind and Spirit. Jesus felt the Presence of His Father leave Him and those who were astute in the crowd, saw the Holy Ghost in the shape of the Body of Jesus leave Him.

The Body of Jesus was resurrected, and the “Comforter” sent back to Earth (Acts 3) to do what? Comfort those in strive, the very meaning of Massah where the Comforting Water came to remove their stress. It is no coincidence that Massah and Messiah are so closely related, not only in spelling, but meaning. Massah is the strife, and Messiah to Comfort those in strife.

Now back to Massah (Meribah) in the days of Moses. What was the Comfort? Of course, the water quenched their thirst, but God provided the water to quench their strife. It was not the water that was satisfying but the Mind of God that created the water and its Power to overcome the world.

Because Moses got the credit for the water is much like the preacher getting the credit for baptism when the offspring of God are dipped, sprinkled, or poured. The Living Water did the baptizing long before the water was ready. Moses was not the Messiah. The Messiah turned on the water. Moses made sure God would do so by striking it twice. The point made therein is that credit must be given to the One that provided the water. It is God who always does that, and as such one substance of the Godhead is Living Water.

In the Old Testament, in the case of Massah, the Father made the water come forth. His Mind split the rock just as at the crucifixion of Jesus. What was the Father doing when Jesus was sacrificed. He was again opening the earth, this time to take in Living Water as the Holy Ghost left Jesus, for Living Water to spring forth!

What function does the Holy Ghost serve? He persuades sinners to “offspring” or come out of the Living Waters after being immersed in the Comforter. In the absence of the Father and the Son, the Holy Ghost is the medium of baptism. Each Substance acts similarly just as homeostasis implies. Baptism of the Holy Ghost is as efficacious as the Father providing the water at Massah, and just as effective as Jesus baptizing. Jesus always baptized, not with water, but in Spirit. Out of His belly flowed the Living Waters. In His absence, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God in the bodily shape of Jesus is the One baptism.

To credit water for salvation is like crediting Moses. The mode of baptism is missed; it is not the water but the Provider. After the Church was made, whose substance was living souls made by mixing dry bones with Living Water, no longer was water necessary for baptism because the Living Water flowed freely, not just at the Jordan River, but anyplace the offspring of God would flow, like Jesus said it, “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said (as at the rock of Massah), out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

That describes the Great Commission: to pass along the Living Waters. How to do that? By crediting its source — the Name (Jesus) from whose belly was the source; when He was pierced and when the Holy Ghost was poured out.

Jesus poured forth water and blood, but if it was not from Him, then it would mean nothing. In His absence, when the Holy Ghost baptizes, it represents the blood and water of Jesus because the Spirit, the Son, and the Father are One God whose actions are as One regardless of who does the officiating. Moses is not part of that Godhead as the Father rightfully reminded the Israelites when Moses was denied entry into the Promised Land.

So how many baptisms? One as practiced by John, a second practiced by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as one, or a third that is practiced now? I submit that there remains only one efficacious baptism, not the one by the preacher, acting the part of Moses, but the one done by God in three states — Father, Son, or Holy Ghost:

 

⁴ There is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ One Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph 4:4-6)

 

Paul therein confirmed that the Spirit is the Body of Christ with a supra-natural flesh. Hence, the Ghost of Jesus is as efficacious as the Flesh of the man, Jesus. As the Mind in the Godhead, the Father is the “One Hope” because He, as at Massah, offered the ultimate sacrifice. The “One Hope” is the Godhead that includes the Mind, Body, and Spirit of God.

That the Body, Spirit, and Hope are the One God is evident in that passage. Regardless of the form of God, there is only One Lord regardless of how He appears. Jesus is the One Person of God — the “One Lord.” Is is by faith in the One Lord that is the doctrine of Christians. Faith that His blood and water were sufficient — the “one baptism” required of all, “This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood” (1 John 5:6).

Of course, that refers to the effective baptism of Jesus, not for repentance, but for the distribution of the Divine Impulse from his genes, as “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water,” not only for “the propitiation of sins that are past” (Rom 3:25; genetic sins) but all sins: past, present, and future.

Admit it; there is only One Lord in three different substances, and One Faith, as that was always the  same faith in the Messiah (John 1:1-14).

So, how about baptism? Are there one, two, or even three? I submit that there remains one baptism and with John long dead, the “One Baptism” is the baptism with Living Waters, or baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Why then do preachers still baptize since even Paul did not and Peter acknowledged only the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is a formality.

The Jews felt as if they must be dipped in water for the remission of sins and that was practiced wholesale in the “Molten Sea” in the Temple (1 Kings 7:23; 2 Chr 4:2). Jews had to have their water! As scripture says, Jews require a sign” (1 Cor 1:22). Jewish Christians felt the need as well.

Wikpedia says, “The water (of the Molten Sea) was originally supplied by the Gibeonites, but was afterwards brought by a conduit from Solomon's Pools.” God did not supply the water; the Gibeonites did, and later Solomon was the source of the water as they were his pools, even after he was long gone. Not only that, but the priests were baptized in that “Brazen Sea” for the remission of the sins of the Israelites. That it was brass, made the “Sea” the God just as the Serpent of Brass made it the God who Hezekiah had to destroy.

For all practical purposes, for many the “One Faith” has been distorted. Since water is soterial for so many in their false doctrine, then in effect their “god” is Poseidon — the God of water — and is one god of the pantheon of gods of the Greeks and Romans.

By crediting water baptism for salvation, that activity blasphemes the Holy Ghost of Jesus whose baptism is efficacious (Mat 12:31) and whose practice has created another doctrine — their own wherein only they are saved. The restoration movement in the hills of Kentucky created a new faith for only those who are baptized in their church. Alexander Campbell became their “Moses,” and Poseidon as the imaginary image of their “god.”

(picture credit: DeviantArt)

EXCHANGING IMAGES

So, you got saved. Just how did YOU do that?

Today’s commentary is for converts to understand theological terms that may be misleading. Almost all new Christians rattle off their new situation… “I got saved.” Indeed, hopefully, you did find grace, as Noah did (Gen 8:6).

“Converted” is once in sin, afterward in Christ. “Conversion” is a scientific term, meaning to change from one state in equilibrium too another opposite state in equilibrium.

For instance, in the beginning, God converted his energy into things, which is the basis for E=mc². The universe was at first nothing but Energy but afterward it was massive. God converted one state of Existence to another state.

Now consider the conversion from the worldly to the spiritual. Paul, speaking about reigning said, “as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:21). He added, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom 6:1).

“Reigned” therein is basileuo in the Greek and means to have control, usually over a lengthy time period. “Reign” is a period of control wherein the laws are fixed by someone in authority. Kings reign over “states,” so a reign is in a state of equilibrium and under control of a set of laws.

Laws are not meant to be broken. Basic laws, hence basileuo, are in concrete, or in the case of Jesus, in stone! Therefore, the first Law broken was one of authority. Before original sin, God reigned. His Law was the only Law. Basically, the Law of Eden was simple — See all this? I did that, in reference to the LORD GOD.

Lucifer, using the cunning of a Serpent, converted the goodly state of equilibrium in the Garden. Basically, the “Serpent” said with pomp, I AM King (Isa 14:12-14). Everything was converted from one reign to the next, from one state to another — the opposite.  Before the original “conversion” it was the Law of God, and afterward, it was the law of sin. As Paul thanked God, Jesus Christ, he said, “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom 7:25).

There are two laws and two states. The mind of those in Christ serves God even as their flesh serves the law of sin. At one time, Paul’s mind also served the law of sin even while thinking that he was serving the Law of God.

In God is one state and in sin is another state. The mind has one status and the flesh another status. Nobody, at least until now, could change their flesh. It is who they are, and every nuclear cell of the body has the same encoded identification (DNA). Your flesh, until Jesus comes and changes its state (glorify), is fixed. Your flesh will always require the flesh of others because of the “Beast” within you. (That should help even Christians to understand that lust is inborn and can only be extinguished at death.)

The law of sin is genetic: “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom 5:12). Two things are imperative therein: (1) sin is genetic, and all have sinned, and (2) you will die unless you are out of sin.

Grace is that there is a Way out of sin, and that is to be in Christ: “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Rom 5:11). “Atonement” is an exchange — from the law of sin to the Law of God. In Christ is to be converted from the law of sin as the state of existence to the Law of God as the opposite state of existence.

Noting that the flesh cannot be changed but the mind can, “conversion” is Christ exchanging one mind set to another by persuasion. Paul, the tentmaker, “reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks” (Acts 18:4). Persuaded them of what? To be Christians. Given a choice between to be or not to be, they logically chose to be in Christ, and not out of Christ to remain in sin.

In Christ is not part way in, but fully persuaded to be a Christian; “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Rom 14:5). Of course, the flesh can never be persuaded to change because pleasure and pride are overwhelming and genetic as well. Only the mind can be changed, hence Calvary is the place of, not the skull, but the cranium.

In Christ is fully persuaded. The flesh is weak because it has not been changed, but Christ changes the spirit from unwilling to willing to trust God in all things. Abraham exemplified that with his willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son, Isaac. He was willing to sacrifice his own flesh, just as God would do with His son much later, but his willingness was sufficient because Abraham trusted God. (Jesus used the example of the Israelites trusting God over themselves; John 3:14).

Now consider the following passage:

¹⁷ And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. ¹⁸ Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. (1 Cor 15:17-18)

 The “exchange” in that passage is two: (1) raised from death or (2) perished. The transition between the two states is death (“fallen asleep”). No wonder for Paul, who was in Christ, that death was gain (Phil 1:21)! The states are “in your sin” or “in Christ.” The catalyst is logic and reason. You choose which it is! Illogic is choosing eternal death over eternal life — too very different states, each in equilibrium but not harmonious one with the other.

“In your sin” is the genetic component that cannot be changed. It is a characteristic of the flesh that can only be converted at glorification — a return to the state (the image) in which God generated man. The Resurrection is at the rapture and is when the fleshes of those in Christ are glorified — made perfect by God.

You cannot change who you are but only what you think. Thusly, conversion is when theretofore sinners think differently; they think like Christ. Because your genetics are in a state of equilibrium, for preservation of those in Christ, a coat of glorious “skin” is placed upon the convert — the Holy Ghost of Jesus — the bodily shape of the Son of God whose flesh is now glorified since the Resurrection (John 7:29).

“In your sin” is depraved. In scripture, depravity is called “iniquity.” Rather than thoughtful, depravity is entire apathy and even rebellious.

The flesh is instinctual. The biogenetic definition of instinct is “a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason (Merriam-Webster 2021). In sin is acting without reason; doing what is right in your own eyes in about any situation.

The expression, “follow my heart” means to be instinctual. For animals, it is the will to survive in this world and to engage the flesh with impunity. Your “heart” is the faculty of your will; and it contrasts with the Will of God because you are not God. Beasts follow their hearts without logic or reason. They pursue what seems best for them, and often it is pleasure over longevity. Following your heart leads to death; just look at all those who us drugs! Following your heart rather than reason is in sin, “and the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

In Christ is following God’s “Heart” — His Will for you. God stated the inheritance in His “Last Will and Testament,” to wit: “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” (John 3:16).

Love, therein, in the Greek is agape; God has “goodwill” toward all mankind. His goodwill is that “none should perish” but live forever.

If Satan were king that would be written, For the false god so detested God’s creatures, he snatches them away, that whosoever trusts in sin, should perish, and have everlasting death.

Since living in a state of sin is genetic, the genes must be changed to upset the equilibrium. Conversion is the “upset” by God. It is the Divine Impulse to change who you are!

Jesus warned, “Verily I say unto you, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 18:3).

Many say, “I got saved” and others may even say, “I was born again.” However, technically rebirth (regeneration) and salvation are outcomes of conversion. You have not been saved nor regenerated because your genes are the same as before. That is why the flesh remains weak; it is in the genes.

If you are in Christ, your mind has been converted, if it was truly conversion; no longer do you follow your own heart or even those who you admire, you have decided to follow Jesus because you understand that you cannot save yourself. That is because you are your worst enemy since Lucifer got into your mitochondrial genes through Eve, the mother of all living.

“Conversion” therefore is of the mind, and “born again” genetic. Hence born again is not conversion but regeneration — literally engendered from above. Engendering occurs at “glorification” when the old flesh is changed for the new.

Sinners are converted to become Christians by persuasion, and the role of Satan is to change back to the state of unbelief — unpersuaded. Paul’s Great Commission was not only to persuade, but “persuaded them to continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13:43).

Satan somehow exchanged the genes from God to his genes. God was the image of Adam and Eve, but the “Serpent,” literally the changed image. The two were more like the “old creature” Lucifer than the ”new creature” Adam. Hence, in Christ is engendering as a new creature in Christ.

So long as the creature resides on Earth, earthly flesh is imperative for this environment. God changes the flesh from corruptible to incorruptible in another realm away from the world. An exchange of a state of corruptibility to a new state of incorruptible necessitates re-gendering. Engendering from above is required because in this world, even those in Christ still have flesh that was corrupted by Satan.

How did he do that? The fruit offered by Lucifer as the cunning “Serpent” was regenning. The “nature” of man went from the twelve fruits of the spirit to the many rotten fruits of Lucifer, both recounted in Galatians chapter five.

To exist on Earth until regenned in heaven, the nature of the person is changed. They think and act like Jesus even though they wear the degenerate flesh that Lucifer made depraved. It is true, the flesh is totally depraved because it is of the Wicked One. However, because of grace, the mind still has free will, although it is inclined so often toward self-will. Following the heart leads to destruction because it is away from the Will of God. 

The mind can be converted but beware of those who would cunningly convert the genes. “Gene conversion is the process by which one DNA sequence replaces a homologous sequence such that the sequences become identical after the conversion event” (Wikipedia 2001-2022). Gene conversion is by the cutting and splicing by human hands, ostensibly for the common good. Gene conversion by Christ is glorification and by Divine Impulse. Choose wisely and avoid gene tampering. 

Hopefully this commentary delineates between the states of the flesh and the mind. Although, “conversion” is persuaded to choose Christ, “salvation” and “rebirth” are the outcome for those who choose rightly. 

(picture credit: YouTube)