"..to fulfil all righteousness."

I've spent much of my life correcting religious errors in the lives of believers. For example, many churches make the gospel of the Kingdom simply a gospel of salvation. They say "Have your sins forgiven and when you die you'll go to heaven and not hell." This is a far cry from God's intent to have children in the earth who represent Him; who live in such a way that the goodness and truth of God are seen in their character and lifestyle. This "House of God" (house = family here, like the House of Windsor) is comprised of people who have been called out of the kingdom of darkness and placed into the kingdom of light, into the kingdom of His Beloved Son.

So, any way, let's deal with why Jesus was baptized by John.

Matthew 3:13-15 "At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” “Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.”

When Jesus came to John to be baptized, John said to Him, "I have need to be baptized of You and yet You are coming to me to be baptized?" And Jesus said, "Allow it to be so now for it becomes us to fulfill all of the requirements of righteousness," and John baptized Him.

So, this passage leads to some questions. (Don't worry about questioning the scriptures. If Christ is in you, it was written from the heart of your Father in Heaven. Our Father wants us to know His heart, His ways, and why He chooses what to do and when. It's like when Daniel, after receiving the revelation, asked “How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?" Children can approach their Father with those types of questions.)

Back to the questions: Why did Jesus come to John, who was John that Jesus would come to him, other than an itinerant preacher? John had just declared that Jesus was the Lamb, "Behold the Lamb of God," he had said as Jesus appeared, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Who was John to declare that Jesus was the Lamb of God? We don't think much of it because we have the benefit of the scriptures, we can read ahead. John says "Behold the Lamb of God" and we think "Okay, sure. That's right. Good for John to get it right." However, if we look into this we will find why this declaration by John, at this time, about Jesus, is significant.

John's father was Zachariah, and Zachariah was a priest, and a priest who offered the sacrifices in the temple. He was a Levitical priest who was qualified to offer the sacrifices in the temple. John was naturally qualified just by being born of Elizabeth and Zachariah; he was naturally qualified to be a priest under the law. The only way he would not be a priest under the law, would be if for some physical deformity or some impurity of life he would have disqualified himself. John was fully qualified and we know that John was not morally impure. Why? Because he had taken a vow of the Nazarite, which was almost like the second cut above voluntarily setting himself apart as a man who was ritualistically pure, under the law.

So he was fully qualified to offer the sacrifice under the law and he had just declared that Jesus was the Lamb. Not a coincidence. Priests offer sacrifices. The principle sacrifice that a priest offered under the law was the sacrifice of a lamb. And for the first time in human history a Lamb was not a lamb, but a Man. When Jesus went to John, He went to a Levitical priest. Why would you go to a Levitical priest? There were three specific duties that a priest performed. The first is: the priest was to examine the sacrifice to be offered to make sure that it was a perfect sacrifice; without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. John was doing the first thing that the priest was required to do under the law: to pass judgment on the suitability of the sacrifice to be offered as a sacrifice. He had declared, in that statement, that Jesus was perfect and therefore was a suitable sacrifice.

Having done so, and Jesus being fully cognizant of him doing that, Jesus said to him, "Wash Me." And John said, "I have need to be washed of You, baptize me." and Jesus said, “Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” " Who are the 'us' involved here? Well there’s John, for one, and there’s Jesus; Jesus and John are having this conversation. So the 'us' is Jesus and John. And Jesus says to John, "It is appropriate for you and appropriate for me to do this". Why? "..to fulfill the requirements of righteousness." What was Jesus talking about, what requirements of righteousness? He was talking about the righteous requirements of the Levitical administration, the Levitical law. John counld not operate in any other administration except the Levitical priesthood. To paraphrase, Jesus was saying "I'm coming to offer this sacrifice under the law that is in place. You are the priest, the administrator of this covenant, I am the sacrifice required by this covenant. You have judged Me that I am qualified to be sacrificed. I am without spot, wrinkle, or blemish, now it is necessary for you to fulfill the other requirements of the law."

And immediately afterward we know that God accepted the sacrifice. "Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

Why was Jesus then baptized? He was the sacrifice. He was washed so that He could be sacrificed. But someone might say, “But this is Jesus, He is in a class by Himself. Even if I grant you that He was washed so that He could be sacrificed, as the sacrificial Lamb, that’s never going to be true of any of us. So He is in a class by Himself, we are water baptized so that we can be saved." A class by Himself? That's not what the scriptures say, "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you preset your bodies living sacrifices, holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you'll be able to test and to approve the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."

We are sacrifices, as was Jesus: He was sacrificed for us; we are sacrificed for others. We give up our own lives to allow the Father to live through us. The life we now live, we live by faith in the Son of God. Why? Because we are new creations in Christ Jesus. He was our sacrifice to God and God accepted Him and granted us standing with God. In the same way, we give up our own lives so that others might come to know Christ through us, and it’s not unreasonable. In fact, it is our reasonable service.

Grace and Peace,
Aaron56

This slid to the 2nd page I think because it took over 12 hours to be approved.

On earth, our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It is against powers and principalities in the unseen realm, demons, fallen angels. They have a tremendous advantage over us. First, they are several thousand years old so they understand human behavior. They cannot read our minds but they can predict our state of being through observation. Secondly, they are not constrained by natural laws. They are spirit so they operate in the unseen spiritual realm. They are powerful beings that were originally created to serve the House of God. The point is, we cannot struggle against them in any way physically or mentally and prevail. We cannot leverage psychology against them and prevail. God must provide a way for us to overcome their schemes against us. And, as always, God provides a way.

One such way is baptisms.

There are four baptisms:

If we were properly taught Baptism of the Spirit we would have known that we are born again into a kingdom of Power

If we were properly taught Baptism by the Spirit we would have known that we have purpose and destiny that has been hidden in God before we were born, and that living out those things would be done within one body of Christ, and we would not so readily tolerate divisions within the body like, denominations and clergy & laity.

If we were properly taught the Baptism of Fire would have always known that suffering was assured and that, under the loving hand of Jesus Christ, He will burn out, from our souls, that which hinders our capacity to receive fresh insights from God so that we may possess our place and purpose in the Kingdom.

Let’s talk about Baptism in Water.

You see, the enemy is restrained by what is true; what God has said is true restrains the enemy because, when God says that something is true and we assert that as the truth, the enemy is obligated to pay attention to God because it is the word of God that restrains the enemy. Now what is the word of God concerning water baptism? Water baptism has been variously taught by different groups as being a variety of things. Some groups teach water baptism as being necessary for salvation. Other groups teach water baptism as being necessary for church membership. Other groups teach that it is “an outward sign of an inward grace.” Others teach that it is something that is not necessary and if you ever get around to doing it, that’s great, but if you don’t, that’s fine too. Up and down the spectrum, water baptism has either been exalted as a requirement as a condition to be saved, and from there to the other extreme which is: it is not necessary at all for any particular purpose. If you want to, fine and if you don’t, fine.

Now, water baptism signifies a person’s inclusion into the burial of Jesus. When someone dies, you bury the person. Some say it is death, burial, and resurrection. No. It is simply Christ’s burial that is symbolized. The reason you bring the person out of the water is because he or she cannot breathe under water and homicide is illegal pretty much everywhere. Death comes when we submit our will to the Lord Jesus Christ; we give up our will so that He might live through us. The, once dead, we are included in the burial of Christ through immersion in water. The promise of those two things is that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, will likewise give life to our mortal bodies. This is not life in heaven, this is life that comes from the Living God.

So, baptism is not a death, burial and resurrection; baptism is only a burial. Death has occurred when repentance took place and burial is by baptism; resurrection is by the Holy Spirit. That’s the clear meaning of Scripture. Therefore, baptism in water is not a death, burial and resurrection; it’s a burial. Resurrection is by the Spirit; death is your voluntary will, expressed through repentance. What does this mean? It means that before you come to Christ there is the requirement that you die. Why? The process of our salvation includes adoption; namely that we are adopted into the family of God. Under the law of adoption, as long as someone has natural parents, that person is not available for adoption. Let me unpack that a little bit.

As long as we are found in Adam we are not available for adoption as the sons of God so, to cure the condition of our parentage in Adam, God has ordained that we be brought to death. Death is the decision that we make to cease from governing our lives by our own will. The sign that we have made that decision is that we are willing to be baptized in water. Why do this? Because you have an enemy. When you are baptized in water you are signaling to the heavenlies, to the entire rank and realm of the demonic, that you no longer live, that you have made a decision, as an exercise of your will to repent from the way that you have been all of your life. Now it’s in the way that you’ve been, that the demonic finds its greatest opportunities against you. For example, if you’ve indulged in pornography the enemy will accuse you based on that. If you’ve lived in anger, the spirit of anger will overcome you. If you’ve lived in fear, if you’ve been abandoned, if you’ve been rejected, the enemy will always come and remind you of those things. Now as long as the old creature is alive the enemy can come and bring an accusation against you. And, if you agree with the enemy that his accusations accurately describe you he can harass you without end. If you respond by recognizing the old person, then you have empowered your enemy against you.

Yet, if you have been immersed in water, into the burial of Christ, then that is the signal that you identify with the truth of the scripture that says “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” and furthermore “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” And finally, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”. You may properly say to the enemy, “Your accusations pertain to a person who has died. You heard my repentance and you witnessed my burial. Now, that person no longer lives but I now live in Christ.”

This declaration represents your legal standing according to the word of God. And these truths restrain the enemy. You are actually saved from the pursuit of your enemy, which, by the way, is one of several “salvations” spoken of in the scriptures. You are not saved to go to heaven by being baptized, you are saved from the pursuit of your accuser. The act of water baptism establishes two things: one, that you have died and two, because you have died, you cannot be accused of the things that were true of you at one time.

In closing, If you have already received the Holy Spirit, the sign that you are sealed with Christ, then my recommendation, especially if you are being troubled by thoughts of your past, I recommend that you go back and look at being baptized in water. This will establish you. Baptisms are meant to result in great and significant change.

If we were properly taught the Baptism in Water, we would have known that our old self was buried with Christ and, upon that truth, the enemy could no longer use our past to accuse us.

Bless you.
Aaron56

We need to seriously address this. Our TV and movies are teaching the occult. Starwars is a major film teaching that God is an energy force instead of our God. It gives us an idol to replace he one true God. It teaches that there is a fight between good and evil, instead of against the demons who are the spiritual forces. Eph. 6:12 Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Demons have become powerful in our world, as scripture prophecy tells us. Sex that is major in the kingdom is changed from the "two shall become one" that is a foundation of the family. It is changed to lust. Love that is of God is changed to tolerance of sin. In our churches, living a life that reflects the Lord is changed to making righteousness a matter of personal pride. Family is no longer defined by the Lord but by the world and the world follows demons rather than the Lord.