This is a conflation of ideas. I'm not aware of any place in scripture where water baptism is equated with being born. It is always burial.
I am an avid supporter of water baptism and I have baptized many. Discerning people’s hearts and circumstances as Jesus did precludes religious activity for baptisms and their administrations. All the baptisms are important for every believer. However, the manner of their administration depends on the individual’s needs. Discernment of the Spirit is the necessary prerequisite for determining timing of the various baptisms in each person’s life.
Before one can come under Christ’s rule as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, the person must be separated from the identity
in Adam and the enemy’s authority. Repentance precedes water baptism because repentance represents death in this process. Repentance results in a changed mind-set from the individual’s innate desire to control all aspects of his or her own life. Through repentance, the individual turns from the imperatives of self-provision and protection that are the legacy of an identity in Adam. Through repentance, a person migrates from the rule of self and Satan to the rule of Christ and begins the transfer from the “dominion of darkness” into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Water baptism is a testimony of burial that the believer has chosen consciously to come under the rule of Christ:
“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
This salvation is the salvation from the pursuit and accusation from our enemy.
Having repented, been buried, with the promise of resurrection from the dead with the same life Christ was given, a person leaves behind the kingdom of darkness, Satan’s rule, and the state of death that is separation from God. But note; it is repentance from acts that lead to death (an elementary doctrine) that seals the deal, not baptism in water. Just as Jesus dealt with Zacchaeus here:
Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
This is the discernment that I wrote about: Jesus knew that Zacchaeus had repented because of the things he did and said: willing to be ridiculed, repentance from greed and theft, etc. Salvation was already Zacchaeus' even though he had yet to be baptized in water. And, this salvation was from the grip of the Kingdom of Darkness, not simply to go to Heaven. Zacchaeus was now able to receive the kingdom of God as he lived: righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For such a person, I would suggest that they now be baptized in water. Let me be clear: had Zacchaeus died before getting water baptized he would not have had the chance to walk in the economy of God while alive, but he would be with the Lord for eternity.
I am an avid supporter of water baptism and I have baptized many. Discerning people’s hearts and circumstances as Jesus did precludes religious activity for baptisms and their administrations. All the baptisms are important for every believer. However, the manner of their administration depends on the individual’s needs. Discernment of the Spirit is the necessary prerequisite for determining timing of the various baptisms in each person’s life.
Before one can come under Christ’s rule as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, the person must be separated from the identity
in Adam and the enemy’s authority. Repentance precedes water baptism because repentance represents death in this process. Repentance results in a changed mind-set from the individual’s innate desire to control all aspects of his or her own life. Through repentance, the individual turns from the imperatives of self-provision and protection that are the legacy of an identity in Adam. Through repentance, a person migrates from the rule of self and Satan to the rule of Christ and begins the transfer from the “dominion of darkness” into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Water baptism is a testimony of burial that the believer has chosen consciously to come under the rule of Christ:
“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
This salvation is the salvation from the pursuit and accusation from our enemy.
Having repented, been buried, with the promise of resurrection from the dead with the same life Christ was given, a person leaves behind the kingdom of darkness, Satan’s rule, and the state of death that is separation from God. But note; it is repentance from acts that lead to death (an elementary doctrine) that seals the deal, not baptism in water. Just as Jesus dealt with Zacchaeus here:
Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
This is the discernment that I wrote about: Jesus knew that Zacchaeus had repented because of the things he did and said: willing to be ridiculed, repentance from greed and theft, etc. Salvation was already Zacchaeus' even though he had yet to be baptized in water. And, this salvation was from the grip of the Kingdom of Darkness, not simply to go to Heaven. Zacchaeus was now able to receive the kingdom of God as he lived: righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For such a person, I would suggest that they now be baptized in water. Let me be clear: had Zacchaeus died before getting water baptized he would not have had the chance to walk in the economy of God while alive, but he would be with the Lord for eternity.
Maybe I am missing something here.....but, with your work it fits. Have you not heard of BORN AGAIN?
Surly...yes.