This lesson is, born again. Jesus Christ said, that we must be born again. So, we are talking today about, the 3 steps of being born again, described by the apostle Paul, in 1st Corinthians, Chapter 15, versus 1 through 4. He stated: -Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein Yee stand; -By which also yee are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless yee have believed in vain. -For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; -And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: Now, we understand that salvation was offered at Calvary. There were 3 steps to Calvary. Like the apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians chapter 15, death, burial, and resurrection. So, if you die you are buried and raised again. That is born again. It makes a lot of sense. That is the reason that Jesus called his plan being born again. However, Jesus said to all of us in John chapter 3, verses 3 through 5. He was talking to Nicodemus at the time, but it applies to all of us. -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. -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? -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. It is a spiritual birth. So we do not have to literally die, literally be buried, and literally raised again. Jesus did that for us. However, we accept his death, burial, and resurrection, through a spiritual death, burial, and resurrection. Let us look at 2nd Corinthians 5 15. The Bible says: -That he, Jesus, died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. So, since we must spiritually die, spiritually be buried, and spiritually be raised again, let us see how do we do that. The 1st step is death. The Bible teaches us that the 1st step to God is repentance. So, Jesus died physically for us. We should then die spiritually for ourselves, and we should not live unto ourselves anymore. We should live unto him who died for us. Now, that is what true repentance is. The 2nd step to being born again is the burial. The Bible says in Romans 6 4: - Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: So when a person is baptized, we are baptized with Christ, that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father, so we also should walk in the newness of life. So, here it says plane in Romans 6 4: we are buried with him in baptism. So we accept his burial by being placed under the water. That is the reason why all baptism in the Bible was done by immersing in his name. This is when we are buried into his burial. We are baptized into Jesus Christ’s baptism. Finally, the 3rd step of being born again, is the resurrection. Romans 8 11 tells us: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. So this tells us that the infilling of the Holy Spirit is the resurrection power. If it abides in you on the day of his 2nd coming, that is the spirit that will transform you from mortal to immortality, and cause you to be caught up and meet Jesus in the air. With this concept of the 3 steps of being born again, there is an interesting Scripture in 1st John 5 and 8: - And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. What do these 3 agree in? In one new birth, in one act of being born again. So, it becomes ever more clear exactly what we must do to be born again. Now, on the day of Pentecost, the 1st day of the new testament church, when the Holy Ghost was poured out for the 1st time, the people cried out to the apostle Peter, when they realized that they had crucified their Messiah. Let us just read it, Acts 2 verses 37 and 38: -Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Now Peter gives them the solution of being born again: - Then Peter said unto them, 1 Repent, that is your spiritual death, 2 be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, that is your spiritual burial, and 3 ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost is the resurrection power. Peter just simply told them that they needed to be born again. Then, he explained to them how to be born again. Okay now, let’s look at it a little further. Here we have these scriptures here side by side. We have, 1st Corinthians chapter number 15, verses 1 through 4. We have 1 John 5 8. Finally, we have Acts 2 38. Here Paul said that the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection. He spoke in the 1st Corinthians passage, of the gospel by which you are saved. He said you arrived at salvation through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is called accepting Christ. You are excepting his death. You are excepting his burial. You are excepting his resurrection. 1st John 5 and 8 which we have already read. There are 3 to bear witness in the earth. The blood, the water, and the spirit. These 3 agree in one act of being born again. Then in acts 2 38, Peter told them how to be saved. He said repent, be baptized, and received the Holy Ghost. So you see how it is his death burial, and resurrection. How it is his blood, water, and spirit; How it is repentance, baptism and Holy Ghost all track perfectly. Peter told them what it really means to be born again. Another interesting thing in the old testament. In the Old Testament God gave Moses the tabernacle plan, and he said to Moses when he gave them this plan. See that you do all things according to the pattern. God was giving him more than in architectural drawing for a tabernacle. He was giving him a foreshadowing of what salvation would be in the new testament. You know that the Bible teaches us that the things of the old testament are types and shadows of new testament realities. They had the type and shadow, and we have the reality. Well, look at the furniture in the tabernacle plan, the pattern of which God gave to Moses. He said do it exactly this way. You will see 1st of all the brazen altar. That is where the blood was shed. The animals were killed. The blood was shed. Then, the blood was taken from the animal and put in a basin. The priest would then carry the basin with him as he continued on through the different steps of the tabernacle. The 2nd step after the tabernacle was the brazen laber, where the priest was to wash. That is where the water was. So you have blood at the brazen altar. You have the water at the brazen labor. That is where the priest would wash. The instruction was given, wash lest you die. So, after the priest washed, now they moved through a vail. When they moved through this veil, everything in the outer court, the brazen altar in the brazen labor, was overlaid with brass. When they went through this veil they moved into a different spiritual dimension. Everything inside their was overlaid with gold. The 1st thing that they did was to take from the fire off of the altar. They would take the fire, in order to light the candle stick. The candlestick was made up of 7 candles, plus there was oil containers that fed the wicks. When the priest went in there he would light these candles. They would burn, so that they would have light to see to minister in the holy place. There were no doors, and there were no windows inside the holy place. Yet, it is interesting that everything in there was overlaid with gold. The Bible talks about how when we are carnal, we are like a sounding brass and a tingling symbol. Yet, when you move into God’s presence, that is when you move into where the gold is. The Spirit of God flows to where it is rich, where it is real, where it is wonderful. Once the candlesticks were lit, there were 2 other pieces of furniture in the holy place. This represents us, after we are born again. This represents our living in the holy place, with Jesus Christ. The 2 pieces of furniture were, number 1 there was a altar of incense in the center. Then there was a table of showbread over at the side. So, you can see that the furniture was shaped in a cross. It was as though, the pattern was in heaven and the light shown down on the earth, and gave them the shadow. The Bible says, that those things were only types and shadows of new testament realities. Now, what is the altar of incense about. That is the praise and worship. The table of showbread was the word of God. The Bible teaches, us that they that worship the father must worship him in spirit and in truth. Praise and worship. The table of showbread was a type of God’s word. Everything that you know about Jesus Christ you will learn through spirit and truth. Jesus told the woman at the well of Samaria, they that worship the father must worship him in spirit and truth. Finally, we go through the veil to the Ark of the Covenant. This was where God’s presence was concentrated. Covering the Ark of the Covenant was the Mercy seat. You and I will never get closer to God than when we are bowing, receiving his mercy. He said, I will have mercy, not sacrifice. I am not after your good works. I want to forgive you freely. I want you to feel the wonderful love and warmth of my forgiveness. So, we can see throughout the Bible this same pattern holds. Here in the tabernacle plan, brazen altar, the blood was shed. That is where the death occurred. The laver, is where the water was applied. Then you go into where the Holy Ghost and all of the fire was. John the Baptist said, there is one coming after me who is mightier than I.. He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. That is the reason why there was oil and fire at the candlestick. Once you receive the Holy Ghost and fire, then you are enlightened to live the Christian life, with the table of showbread, and the altar of incense. That is our praise and worship. That is our word of God. These 2 things make up spirit and truth. That is how we live, following the holy of holies. For we visit from time to time. The Bible says we are changed into the same image from glory to glory. When you get along with God, and it is as if everything else fades in the background. Then it is like you are being pulled into this phase, into this plan. You are right in the promise of God. That is allways in the shape of a cross. Jesus provided every bitter dish, the reality of this to us, when he died on the cross of Calvary. Now, we want to take a closer look at these 3 steps of being born again. Let us look 1st of all at repentance. Now, some people think, repentance is just crying because you are sorry that you have sinned. You are asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins. It is that. Yet, it is a lot more than that. Repentance is the decision that you will make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life. A lot of people say, have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior? It is replied, oh yes. Yet, they never ask the question, have you received him as your personal Lord? Now if you have received Jesus in your life, he must be Lord and Savior. That is because he is Lord and Savior. If you get him you are going to get Lord and Savior. You say, I want him to save me, but I do not want him telling me what to do. Well then, you do not want him in your life. When you truly receive Jesus Christ, it is when you say, I want you as my Savior and my Lord. Now, why would this be? Jeremiah, Chapter 10 verse 23 tells us: -O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. You, I am speaking to many people with tremendous education. Maybe you are a business owner, or maybe you are a mother that raises children, whatever the case may be. There is one thing that none of us can do. We cannot direct our own steps. If you are choosing the course of your own life, according to your own desires, and human ingenuity, you are on your role to failure. The Bible says, it is not in man. When God created us he did not put in us the ability to direct our own steps. The Bible says, the footsteps of a good man are ordered of the Lord. You know, Adam and Eve in the beginning God created them to live as spirit led beings. To walk in fellowship with him. Yet, they rebelled. They decided they would do it their way. God told them do not eat of that one tree of the garden. Yet, they just could not resist. They were deceived and decided that they would not obey God. They decided that, they would do it their way. Well, when they did, the result was that they lost their original status through their disobedience. Since that time, all human beings had been born with a nature of disobedience. So then, what is true repentance? When we truly repent we denounced disobedience to God. We make the decision to live in obedience to him. We make the decision that we will get out of the drivers seat, and we will get over into the passenger seat. We will put him behind the wheel. Lord it is not my will, but yours be done. Now this is true repentance. We renounce self will. We determine to obey God’s will and everything that we do to the best of our ability. We received Jesus as our Lord. Okay now, I want to probe a little bit deeper. There is so much miss-understanding about repentance. If you do not get repentance right, nothing else will work. Now, true repentance is totally dying to self. It is not partially dying to self. If you are going to be a Christian, Jesus said except you hate father, mother, houses, land, sister and brother, even your own life; you are not worthy to be my disciple. Until you are willing to die to self and to allow me to become your Lord, you cannot be saved. You say, I do not want to do that. Really you do, because when Jesus is your Lord he loves you supremely. He is willing to make out of your life, what he originally intended for it to be. When he is done, it will be a masterpiece. However, I do not want to deceive you. It is absolutely essential for you to take this step. It is part of being born again. You must die to self. You must accept the death of Jesus Christ by renouncing self-control and determining that Jesus is the Lord of your life. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to illustrate this to you by way of something that I became aware of as a young Christian. When I was a young Christian, I heard about a man who came through a church preaching Jesus. He stated that he was quoting a reformer. This reformer had said it remains to be seen what God could do with one man totally committed to Jesus Christ. I was a young Christian at the time. I remember thinking wouldn’t that be something. I would love to see somebody like that. Some super Christian that would be absolutely, totally, with no reservations, committed to Jesus Christ. I remember at the time it sort of came to the back of my brain, maybe you could do that. I remember saying, oh no. I could never do that. Well, as time went on it seemed like God dealt with me about this total commitmented man. I was thinking about repentance, and how repentance is dying to self. Yet, you know, that you cannot partially die. You are either dead or you are alive. So maybe this idea of some super Christian being totally committed is not the exception to the rule. It appears to me that in the Scripture that all of us must be totally committed in order to be saved. Maybe, that is a fatal flaw in Christianity today. Maybe we are teaching people, that you can be a Christian but you do not have to totally commit. The longer I thought about this it was almost like God was dealing with my heart. I thought of the place in the Bible about the rich young ruler, you probably know the story. He came to Jesus and said, good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said heed the commandments. Thou shall not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery and down through all the commandments. The young man said these things have I kept from my youth up. The Bible says, Jesus beholding him loved him. This young man was honest enough to realize that he did not have what Jesus had. So, he asked this question. What do I lack yet? Jesus said, well do you really want to know? Yes, I want to know. If you really would be complete, I see that you love your money more than you love God. Therefore, for you to really have a relation with God , to totally repent, go sell what you have. Give it to the poor. Take up what you have, and follow me. The young man dropped his head, turned and walked away rejected. He had much riches. He loved his money. He could not totally commit. Let me tell you what I believe about him. I believe, God was calling him right then to be one of the 12 apostles. I believe today if he would have totally committed, we would have probably two or even 3 books of the Bible bearing his name. Yet, he couldn’t totally commit. Therefore, we do not even know what his name was. Let me say to all of you right now, it is important that you get your repentance right. You say, okay Lord you have me. You have me from the top of my head to the sole of my feet. You have my talents. You have my desires. You have my money. You have my business. You have my family. You have me. I am talking about total commitment. Now, that is true repentance. Yet, what if I want to totally commit, but I cannot do it? Let me help you with that. You cannot do it. It is true. So when you say I cannot do it, if God does not help you, you are not going to be able to do it. Yet, here is what you are committing to when you totally commit. You are committing to do your best. It helped me so much one day when I realized, that I cannot do better than my best. For years I’ve tried to do better than my best. I could not. I lived under guilt all the time. When we do our best, God is going to come along and help us do the rest. He is going to come and minister to your weaknesses. Until some day, the weaknesses that you have now, may become your strengths. I want to make sure that we get this right. You can decide to totally commit today. You are probably thinking, I want to do this, but I am not sure that I can. I am telling you that all that he is asking you is to totally commit, and then do your best. He is going to help you do the rest. I will never forget, when God was dealing with me about all of this. I thought, God I am so weak. Then I found a wonderful Scripture, 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse number 10. -Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: “listen to this”, for when I am weak, then am I strong. I thought, what good news. When I am weak, that means that I am totally reliant on him. That is the way that he wants me anyway. Then am I strong. So, another thing that really hit me is this. God only uses week people. If we think that we are strong then God cannot use us. When we realized that we are weak, and we just put ourselves like a lump of clay on the potters wheel. That is when I am really strong. Then I will submit myself to him and the master Potter can make my lump of clay everything that he intends for me to be. So the good news is, God only uses week people. When I realized that, I said I am in, I can do this. So when we are weak, that is when we are really strong. The bottom line is, whosoever will, let him come drink of the waters of life freely. If you want to you can do it. Anybody can be saved. Whosoever will, let him come. Now there is one more Scripture. In the beginning I did not like the Scripture because I did not understand it. In Matthew 18 verse 21; Peter came to the Lord, he apparently had someone transgressing against him and was getting on his last nerve. -Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? I mean he has already been to me repeatedly, and already approached 7 times. He said, shall I forgive him 7 times. I mean Peter was thinking I am tired of this. If he comes to me one more time I am going to put his lights out. Well, here is what Jesus said. -Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. I am sure Peter said, Lord that is 490 times. Now think about that. I remember thinking about that Scripture when I was younger and I thought that is almost not reasonable. But, one day it dawned on me, that if God expects me to forgive you, 490 times per day, and he is better than I am. That means that he would forgive me 490 times in a day. Now I have had some bad days. Yet, I do not think that I have ever used all 490 times yet. What does this mean? This means that his mercy in Doris forever. The Bible tells us so, many times in the Scripture. That means that I can do this, even if I fall 490 times a day. All I have to do is go to him. If I am doing my best, yet I am so weak. Remember when I am weak then I am strong. Then I can do this. Well, finally one more thing I have to talk to you about while we are on the subject of repentance. This is the key to true repentance. In Matthew 6 14, Jesus said; -For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: -But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. So, in order to be forgiven we must forgive. Let me talk to you about 1st 15 right now. Is there any bitterness? Do you have any grudge against a person? Before you can repent, you must forgive that person. That is your husband. That is your wife. It may be a business partner. It may be a neighbor. I do not know what it is. I am here to tell you, that in order to open the door for forgiveness in your life, you must open the door of forgiveness to everyone else. You must realize that when you are holding those grudges, you are not really hurting them. You are really hurting yourself. Because, hate and bitterness is the cancer of the soul. If you do not get it out it will kill you. So, let me say to all of you right now, if there is something, make up your mind right now, I am going to go to that person and forgive them, with no strings attached. A lot of people will say, if they will come and ask me I will forgive them. If they will grovel a little bit in front of me I will forgive them. No, I am talking about because you want to get it out of your heart. You do not want to retain any bitterness. The Bible says, beware unless any root of bitterness spring up in your heart and they defile many. So, the key to true repentance is forgiveness. Didn’t Jesus say, Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Probably one more question will arise in your mind. How do I know when I am forgiven? I have had a lot of people aske me this question. Well, there is evidence that you are forgiven. It is in the Bible. It is 1st John, chapter 1, verse 9. Here is what it says: -If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, if you confess your sins, the Bible says we are forgiven. He is faithful, he will not turn you away. He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. So, if you sincerely repent of your sins, God has promised that he will instantaneously forgive you. Do you know that the devil torments you and says that you are not forgiven. Satan is a liar. Do not pay any attention to that. Your Bible tells you that, if you sincerely ask for forgiveness, it has been granted. Okay now, repentance is the 1st step of being born again. Repentance is dying to our own will, and accepting Jesus as the Lord of our lives. Now for those of you who would like to do that right now. Maybe you have realized that repentance is total commitment. Maybe you already thought you had repented, but perhaps you haven’t. Nevertheless, even if you think that you have totally repented, I would like to invite everyone listening to this lesson right now, to join me in a prayer of true repentance. I would like to lead you in that prayer of repentance right now. Let us do it together. Dear Lord Jesus, Lord I die to myself right now. I give you my heart. I give you my life. I give you my talents. I am yours. I am clay in your hands. From this day forward Jesus, I give myself to you. I love you. I go wherever you want me to go. I’ll say whatever you want me to say. I live like you want me to live. Lord, whatever you want to do with my life I am clay in your hands. I am yours. Lord take me. Reshape me. Whatever you need, whatever you say to me I will try to do it. So Jesus right now I ask you, from this moment on be the Lord of my life. I love you Jesus. I worship you. I want you to be my Savior, but I also want you to be my Lord. I will do my best from this day forward to walk in your footsteps. I will need you to help me Lord. I may fall short sometimes, but I know that you will be there to lead me. I will never leave you all the days of my life. I have made up my mind that I will serve you all the days of my life. If I fall down 70 times, I will just get right back up. Because, I know that you have told me that you would never leave me or forsake me. Therefore, I am never going to leave you. Lord, thank you for this day. I accept your death on Calvary. I now die to myself from this day forward. You are the Lord of my life. I thank you. I worship you. I praise you. In Jesus name. Amen. Now, that is the 1st step of being born again. Let’s take a look now at the 2nd step of being born again. The 2nd step of being born again is baptism. Now, what does baptism do? You know that in the Bible when they baptized people they immerse them in water every single time. So what does baptism do? 1st Peter 3 21 tells us; The like figure, whereunto even baptism, doth also now save us. That is pretty important. If baptism is now part of our salvation, and it is because Jesus said except a person is born of the water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. So baptism doth now save us. But it goes on to say, it is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh. You do not have to wash your flesh. That is not what saves you. What does it do? But the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We know that when Adam and Eve fell in the garden that they fell under condemnation or guilt. God came day after day talking to them in the cool of the evening, and they were so glad to see him. After they disobeyed, they were not glad to see him. They hid themselves. They were brought under condemnation. Their conscience was the file. The Bible says that baptism is the answer of a good conscience towards God. When you are baptized, biblically your guilt problem is solved for ever. Let me explain. In acts 22 verse 16, Ananias spoke to the apostle Paul and said; -And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Baptism washes your sins away. Never to be remembered against you again. So baptism solves your guilt problem. Baptism solves your sin problem. Furthermore, baptism pays for your sins. In Acts 2 38, we have already talked about that once in this lesson: -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. Now, this word remission, it is not a very familiar word with us today. For the remission of sins, what does it mean? Well, I am sure that you have received these bills in the mail which says when you open them up, please remit by the 10th of the month. That is because they want payment. So baptism is payment for your sins. It is really critical that we understand this, because once you are baptized this is going to be one of the most wonderful experiences of your life. What do you mean, payment for your sins? Let me explain. In Ezekiel 18 4, the Bible introduces us to a thing called the law of sin and death. Listen to it: -Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Okay, there it is. The law of sin and death. It is referred to several times throughout the Scripture. You need to understand, the law of sin and death. It simply is the soul that sinneth it shall die. If you have sinned, you are sentenced to die. It is the law that has ruled the human race from the beginning of humanity until Calvary. It ruled from the time of Adam and Eve right up until the time that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. It was called the law of sin and death. So, all of us have sinned. Therefore, all of us owe the penalty of sin. However, good news, Jesus did not want us to die. He wanted us to have eternal life. So he created a plan whereby we could have eternal life. In Hebrews, Chapter 2, verse 14, it tells us: -Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (Jesus), also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; Satan had the power of death. Yet, somehow through the death of Jesus, Satan was destroyed, and also Satan lost the power of death. How could this be? Well, 1st of all Almighty God said, I will tell you what I am going to do. I am going to become a human being. I am Almighty God, and I have no physical body. Yet, I am going to acquire unto myself a physical body. I will be spirit and I will be flesh. As a man, I am going to overcome all temptation and all sin. I will live a sinless life. Then I am going to trick Satan into killing me illegally. The law of sin and death says the soul that sinneth it shall die. Yet, I am not going to sin. I know Satan. He is going to end up killing me anyway, because that is what he does, because iniquity was found in him. He has come to kill, to steal, and to destroy. So, I am going to trick Satan into killing me. By so doing he is going to break the law of sin and death. He is going to break the contract that had enslaved the human race from Adam and Eve until now. I will die in their place, so they don’t have to die. It is true that day owe the bill, and they should pay. Nevertheless, since I do not owe the bill I will pay it for them. Okay, you know the story of Jesus Christ coming to the earth. He came, and he was tempted in all points like we are. Satan tried to get him to sin. He said to him at one point. You remember the temptations that Jesus went through, after 40 days of fasting. Satan took Jesus to a high pentacle and showed him all the kingdoms of this world. He said the kingdoms of this world are mine, and I give them to whomsoever I will. If you will fall down and worship me, I will give you all the kingdoms of this world. He was offering to make Jesus the one world dictator of his great world government that he was over. Well, Jesus listened to him, and fortunately he said no. He was actually tempting Jesus with the position of the antichrist. Jesus looked at Satan and said, why would I want to be the antichrist, when I can be the real Christ. So, he did not yield to that temptation. Finally, Satan after trying everything on Jesus, Satan said I will just kill him. Then I will work out the details later. I do not know what is going on here, but I am going to kill them. So he did. He nailed him to a cross. The Bible actually says, if the princes of this world had known the mystery, that Jesus was really God manifested in the flesh, he would never have tried to kill him. He would have known that they could not kill God. He did not understand the plan of God. So after Jesus died and was buried, he then rose again. He rose from the grave on the 3rd day. In REVELATION 1 18 he appeared unto John. He says unto John: -I am he that live-eth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Now, Satan had the power of death up until then. Yet, because Satan disobeyed, and transgressed the contract that the soul that sinneth shall die, that contract was broken. It does not have power upon us once we believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus said I have the keys of death and hell now. So, the Bible tells us that when we were baptized in Jesus name, we were baptized in his death. Let me show you. Romans Chapter 6 verse 3 says: -Know yee not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? So, when we are baptized in Jesus name, that is when his death pays our bill. That is the reason why Peter said, we had to be baptized for the remission of sins. That is, to remit, or to pay your bill. When you go down in the name of Jesus Christ for baptism, your bill that you owe, the bill of death is stamped, paid in full by Jesus Christ. That is the reason why ministers say I baptize you in the name of Jesus Christ. That is when his death pays your bill. That is when you’re sin is imputed to Jesus Christ. When you go through this process you pass from a person who has a sentence of death on him, to a person who has eternal life. Isn’t that amazing, that you can repent and then be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ? You go in there owing the penalty of sin which is death. Having death hanging over your head. But when you walk out of that water your sins have been remitted, because you are just now baptized into his death. Let me explain a little bit further. Jesus having no sin paid our penalty. I am not making this up. 2nd Corinthians 5 21 says: -For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. This is almost impossible to believe. It is almost too good to believe. Nevertheless, when you are baptized your sins are imputed to Jesus. His righteousness is imputed to you. Now, when Jesus prayed in the garden. Remember when he sweated drops of blood out in the garden of Gethsemane, just before his crucifixion. He prayed, and he said, oh Lord if it be possible let this cup pass from me. Why was he going through such agony? Was it because he was getting ready to die on the cross? No! Many people have had to die. Many people have died for their cause, and they never went through this kind of agony. That was not what it was all about. Jesus understood that he was getting ready to taste the sin of every person. He was made sin for us. He who knew no sin. The sins of the world, your sins, were all going to be imputed on to him. He had made him to be sin for us. The man Christ Jesus was made to be sin. The Holy Ghost was now going to taste sin. The God, whose number one attribute was Holy, now, he is going to taste sin. Therefore he is struggling. The man Christ Jesus said, if it be possible, let this cup of sin pass from me. Yet, finally he said, nevertheless, not my will but your will be done. Then on the cross, when he is dying there for the sins of the world. The moment came when the sins of the world, your sins, my sins, were imputed to him. The sin of an adulterer, the sin of a murderer who it just now killed his mom more dad. All of that guilt, all of that crud came over Jesus Christ. He screamed my God, my God why has thou forsaken me. You know how you feel, when you have done something wrong, when you disobey God. You feel that God has forsaken you. Now, did God forsake him? Well he couldn’t, he was God manifested in the flesh. Why would God forsake him when he needed him the most. He did not forsake him. He just had the God forsaken feeling that every sinner gets when they know that they have sin directly against God. One more thing about this that we really need to understand. The principal of imputation. 2nd Corinthians 5 19 says it this way:: -To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Do you know what the word reconcile mean? Reconcile means to bring together again. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. We were separated by our guilt. Adam and Eve died because of their sin and their guilt. However, God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Now, here is the secret of how he did it. By not imputing their trespasses unto them. So, once you are in Christ, once you are born again, he says I will take your trespasses away. I will not even impute your trespasses to you. Furthermore, in Romans 4 verse 7 it says: -Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. -Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. So, once you are in Christ Jesus, you are able to live a guilt free life. That is because even if you do something wrong that you did not intend to do, you are overtaken in a moment of weakness. The Bible says that he will not even impute that to you. Now that does not mean that you can just go out and sin. That is willful sin, and we will talk about that in just a moment. The key to reconciliation is that God will not impute your sin to you, because you’re sin was imputed to him. His righteousness was imputed to you. Let’s look at that. In Romans 4 6 it says: -Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Do you realize that not only when you are baptized are your sins imputed to Jesus, but his righteousness is imputed to you. So, he takes our sins, we take his righteousness. You are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. According to the Bible, you become as righteous as Jesus Christ. The Bible says if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. All things pass away. Behold all things become new. About that. It is a wonderful thing to live a guilt free life. If you do fall short, as long as you are doing your best, and as long as you do not renounce your repentance, but you are truly attempting to do your very best. If something does happen it is not even imputed to you. That does not mean that you go out and sin willfully, because that is another situation. Okay, the Bible tells us in Romans 8 1 through 2: -There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. What a way to live, no guilt. You get up in the morning, all day long, no condemnation. That is a wonderful blessing of those who are in Christ Jesus. How do we get in Christ Jesus? To be baptized in Christ and have put on Christ. -Now, no condemnation for them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit Listen to this Scripture this is verse 2. -For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. There is that term again. The law of sin and death. What is the law of sin and death? The soul that sinneth it shall die. Does that apply to you? Not once you are born again. It does not apply to you anymore, because sin is imputed once you are born again. So, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is what applies to you. It is a new law. So, Jesus came to deliver us from the law of sin and death. Now, verse 6 says, the spirit of the law of life in Christ Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death. I do not live under that law anymore. Now this promise is only to those who are born again. Only to those who are in Christ Jesus. Baptism puts us into Christ Jesus. Furthermore, 1st John 1 7 tells us how the blood works. Often as young Christians we think, now okay I did something wrong. I have to get somewhere, I have to pray and dab some of the blood of Jesus on that sin and get rid of it. Then I can be saved again. We live in torment all the time. We think when we do something wrong, before we repent of it what happens to us? We think we will be lost. We live in torment. Then one day while studying the Bible, we find out that that is not even the way that it works. Listen to what the Bible says. 1st John, Chapter 1, verse 7 says: -But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanse-eth us from all sin. Notice the word cleanse-eth. That means continues to cleanse. It is a on going basis. Now let me show you real quickly here how this works. I used to think the blood of Christ was a spot remover. That is not the way it works. It dawned on me one day that my body is made by the same God who made my spiritual man. I have blood flowing through my body continually. And my blood is a cleansing agent. It is continually carrying the impurities that are in my body that are in that Diet Coke that I drink. It is continually cleansing those impurities and casting them out of my body. This is happening when I am not aware that it is happening. It is happening while I am sleeping at night. That is what the Bible says. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins. It is working 24 7, even when you are not aware of it. The blood of Jesus Christ is the continual cleansing that the Christian enjoys. It is one of those wonderful things contributed to us by Jesus Christ at Calvary. Now, could it stop though? Yes! In Hebrews Chapter 10, verse number 25 through 26, the writer writes: -Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. -For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, It is talking about, once you are saved you need to be a part of a Bible Church, because when you take the members of a body, you do not want to detach them and laid them over on the nightstand. It will die. You have to be connected throughout the body. Throughout the New Testament that is the way that the early church functioned. So, you’ll need to be in a good Bible believing church, that preaches being born again correctly. Now the apostle Paul, I think he is the one who wrote Hebrews. That is what most people believe. He said, we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. Now, why should we not do that? It is because when you come and put your self under the sound of a God called preacher, the Bible says, that God uses the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The Bible says, that he that comes to God must believe. How could he believe upon him that he is not heard? How can he hear without a preacher? How can he preach except he be sent? So, you’ll need to be under a God called preacher. Not just any preacher. You need to be under a God called preacher, with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When you do that, that is why the Bible says do not forsake the assembling of your cells together. That is because God has chosen, by preaching he will save them that believes. He said do not forsake the assembling together like a lot of people now have done. Yet, exhorting one another as you see the day approaching, the 2nd coming approaching. For, if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remain it no more sacrifice for sin. So, if after being born again, you make up your mind, that I am not doing this anymore. I am going to go wherever I want to go. I will involve myself in whatever kind of sin that I want to involve myself in. It says, if you make that decision, you have now renounce your repentance. You have now gone back depending on yourself. One of the biggest indicators of that decision is when you quit going to the house of God. You are saying out of my face preacher. I do not want to hear it anymore. I want to do what I want to do. That is the reason that it is so important. As long as we are doing our best to live a Christian life, then we are not sinning willfully. Yet, if we forsake faithful church attendance, and decide we are going to do it our way, then that is when the sacrifice stops. One more thing that we need to fully understand about baptism. Baptism is a marriage ceremony. 2nd Corinthians Chapter 11, verse 2 says: -For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. The Bible teaches that, when we are baptized we are espoused to Jesus Christ. In Bible days, that is when you took the name of the bridegroom. When you take his name you are married to him. Of course there is always a proving. Between the espoused and the confirmation of the marriage, that was to prove the purity and the faithfulness of the virgin unto her husband. That is the way that it is now. When you are baptized from then on you stay faithful to Jesus Christ until he comes back. When he comes back that is when our bridegroom Jesus is going to consummate the marriage to his bride. The church is the bride of Jesus Christ. So since he is our bridegroom that is the reason why we are baptized in his name. We take the name of the bridegroom in baptism. This is just like when a woman marries her husband. She takes his name. It is the same thing. Baptism is a marriage ceremony. The Bible says, when Jesus comes back, he is coming back after a bride that bears his name. One other thing that you need to know about baptism. Baptism is old testament circumcision. It actually replaces old testament circumcision. In Colossians Chapter 2, verse 11 and 12 says: -In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: -Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. In the Old Testament, you had to be circumcised in order to be a part of the nation of Israel. If you were not, they would put you out of the nation. That is replaced, as it says here in Colossians 2, verses 11 and 12, that is replaced by baptism. The Bible says, putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism. That is when you’re old fleshly nature is peeled away. That is when you make up in your mind that you are going to live according to the dictates of Jesus Christ. Okay, who is qualified for baptism? If you have repented from your heart, and made Jesus your Lord, you have qualified for baptism. Baptism is your next step. Acts 22, verse 16 says, and I will conclude with this. -Now, why terryist thou, arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. That is your next step. Straight from the Scripture. Arise, be baptized, and wash away thy sins. Don’t wait. Why terryist thou. Get it done right now.