MAX KLEIN BIBLE MINISTRIES
The Seven Baptisms
Written by: Max Klein
Baptism means identification or association:
Introduction:
1. This meaning began in Homer's time. Homer wrote of the one-eyed giant, Cyclops who had trapped Ulysses and his men in a cave and was eating them one at a time. The ingenious Ulysses devised a plan. He had his men sharpen a large log and together they rammed this log into the eye of the one-eyed Cyclops rendering him blind. They identified (baptized) the sharpened log with Cyclops’ eye which changed Cyclops from a seeing giant to a blind giant. Having blinded the Cyclops, they were able to maneuver their way out of the cave. Another example by Homer: Homer's Odyssey, book 9, used baptism for hot metal identified (baptized) with water when a smith dipped a piece of hot iron into water. This is how a blacksmith would temper swords in the ancient world. After this identification, the sword was made stronger and so less likely to bend.
2. Xenophon said that the Spartan military recruits after finishing infantry training would identify (baptize) their spears with pig’s blood. They would run by a barrel of pig’s blood and thrust their spears into this blood. This ritual, identified their spears with killing and the soldier’s readiness for combat with the enemy.
3. Euripides used the word for a ship identified with the bottom of the sea when it sank. Before sinking, the ship was valuable; after sinking it had no value at all.
4. So "baptize" in the classical Greek meant to identify one thing with another so that the characteristics of the original thing were altered. Therefore, the interpretation of the word "baptism" is identification with something that brings about a change.
5. There are a number of cognates related to this Greek word such as bapto, baptizo, baptisma, baptismos, baptistes, and embapto. A few examples follow:
6. John 13:26, “Jesus then answered, ‘That is the one for whom, I shall dip [the future of the Greek word bapto] the morsel and give it to him. So, when he had dipped [the aorist participle of bapto; the sop now takes on a new meaning that of honor] the sop [the morsel], He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.”
To give someone a sop [a special bit of food usually a piece of bread or meat with a tasty sauce] was the highest honor of a banquet. At a banquet a special piece of bread or meat was prepared along with a special sauce for the guest of honor who would then honor someone by giving it to that person. Jesus as the guest of honor took this sop and dipped it into a special sauce and gave it to Judas. In this way, the Lord Jesus Christ honored Judas as a member of the family of God, and for his ministry as an apostle to the Lost Sheep of Israel. This honor should have given Judas second thoughts regarding his plan to betray Jesus to the Sanhedrin.
7. Matthew 3:7, “but when he [John the Baptizer] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism [identification: the Greek word baptisma], he said to them, “You brood of vipers [poisonous snakes], who warned you to flee from the wrath to come [Baptism of Fire: identification with the fire of Torments and then the Lake of Fire]?”
8. Hebrews 6:1-2, “Therefore, leaving behind the elementary teaching about Christ, let us advance to maturity, not laying again the foundation [of the basics such as]: a change of thinking about dead works [just as an unbeliever must have a change of mind about Christ to obtain salvation, so the believer must have a change of mind about legalism (dead works) in order to obtain the spiritual life], and of faith toward God [Faith-Rest Drill], (2) doctrine of baptisms [the Greek word baptismos; a reference to the seven types of baptism as found in Scripture] as well as the laying on of hands [ritual rebound in the age of Israel], and of resurrection from the dead, and of eternal judgment [the Great White Throne Judgment].
9. Matthew 3:1, “In those days John the Baptizer [the Greek word baptistes; when John baptized someone into the Jordan River, the converts were identified with the plan of God and his kingdom.] came proclaiming [as a herald] in the desert of Judea.”
There are two categories of identification in Scripture namely an actual identification or a real baptism and a representative identification or a ritual baptism which uses water.
The four real or actual identifications with something that has significance.
1. The Baptism of Moses: 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 presents the baptism of Moses, "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; (2) and all were baptized [the Greek word baptizo] into Moses in the cloud [the Lord] and in the sea." This was a real identification in which Moses was identified with the Lord and the open path through the Red Sea and the Jews were identified with Moses. By the way, none of the Jews got wet, only Egyptian unbelievers who were immersed in the water as a means of death.
2. The Baptism of the Cross is found in Matthew 20:22, “But Jesus answered [Salome by addressing her sons] and said, “You [plural: a reference to James and John] do not know what you [James and John] ask. Are you [James and John] able to drink of the cup [bear the punishment of all the sins of the world] that I am about to drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism [the sins of the world identified with Christ followed by the Father judging them] that I am baptized with [identified with]?” They [James and John] said to Him, “We are able. [the dumbest statement that James and John ever made]” [I selected the longer text as did Jerome.]
3. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Retroactive Positional Truth and Current Positional Truth) occurs at salvation for Church Age believers only.
Colossians 2:12. Having been buried [aorist participle] with Him [Jesus Christ] by means of the baptism [God the Holy Spirit identified us with the burial of Jesus Christ as part of our salvation] by means of which [Baptism] you have been raised up [main verb] with Him [in union with Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father] through faith [at the point of salvation] in the operational power from the source of God who has raised Him [the humanity of Christ was given a resurrection body] out from the dead [physical death].
Romans 6:3-9:
Romans 6:3: Or do you not know that all of us who [a correlative] have been baptized into [identified with] Christ Jesus [Current Positional Sanctification: we are in union with Christ in his life in heaven], have been baptized into His death [Retroactive Positional Truth and so identified with his substitutionary spiritual death on the cross]?
Positionally, (in union with Christ) we share His righteousness, heirship, priesthood, destiny, election, eternal life, royalty, sonship etc. All these making us a new spiritual species in Christ Jesus. The plural correlative hosoi (ὅσοι) means that if we were identified with Christ in heaven and we were, then also we have been identified with Christ in his substitutionary spiritual death in which he removed the power of sin nature. Thus, the sin nature should not have power over our lives.
A few more points will be noted:
1. Note that the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation enters the believer into union with Christ at the right hand of God the Father which union is called current positional truth.
2. This verse also mentions identification with Christ in His spiritual death on the cross which identification theologians call retroactive positional truth. Retroactive positional truth also includes identification with Christ in His physical death and burial as well.
3. Identification with Christ in His death, then, has a two-fold connotation namely all personal sins were judged at the cross and since that is the case, God the Father is free to provide in grace, the Recovery Procedure. The second connotation is that good and evil were rejected by Jesus on the cross since good and evil are a part of Satan’s policy and plan. On the cross, Jesus relied on the proto-type spiritual life which operated under the two power options namely God’s power system.
4. So, the old sin nature’s ruling power over the Christian has been broken since all sins were judged on the cross and the Recovery Procedure has been provided. So, Retroactive Positional Truth has destroyed the sovereignty of the old sin nature over the life of the Christian.
5. Also, since Jesus rejected the good and evil policy of Satan so should the believer reject Satan’s policy of good and evil as the believer applies Retroactive Positional Truth.
Romans 6:4: Therefore, we have been buried together with Him through the identification [Baptism of the Spirit] into His death [physical], in order that just as Christ has been raised up from the dead [on Resurrection Sunday], through the glory of the Father [through the Father’s power], [So also we, the dead in Christ, will be raised from the dead by the power of the Father, and those alive at the Rapture, by the power of the Holy Spirit.] in this manner we also might walk in newness of life [Experiential sanctification should reflect our future ultimate sanctification.].
Christ had to die physically “and Jesus having shouted clearly with a loud voice said, Father, into your hands I deposit my [human] spirit, and having said this, he exhaled” (Luke 23:46). This last exhale caused His soul and spirit to depart from his mortal body resulting in physical death. Just as Christ had to die physically in order to obtain his resurrection body, so we must depart from our body of corruption, or mortality in order to receive our eternal body called our resurrection body.
The Newness of Life:
1. The newness of life provided through the baptism of the Spirit includes positional freedom from producing good and evil. Not only are we free from the tyranny of good and evil but we are also free from having to produce good and evil.
2. The believer has no obligation to improve the devil’s world through social action, socialism, welfare state, communism, environmentalism, or any social gospel, social action, getting involved, etc.
3. The human race is protected from Satan’s policy of good and evil through the laws of divine establishment which promote freedom instead of improvement at the cost of freedom.
4. In addition to the Laws of Divine Establishment the believer is insulated from good and evil positionally through the baptism of the Spirit.
5. Divorced from the Old Sin Nature positionally and its useless activity of human good and the function of evil, the life of the believer can be devoted to glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ through maximum knowledge and application of Bible doctrine.
Romans 6:5: For if we have become united with Him [Christ, the new husband] in the likeness of His death [the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross], and we have, and not only this, but also, we shall be [united in the likeness] of His resurrection [Current Positional Truth: in union with the resurrected Christ].
Romans 6:6: Be knowing this [through Retroactive Positional Truth], that our old man [our former husband, the sin nature dates back to the Garden] has been crucified together [with Him], in order that the [human] body, with reference to its sin nature, [the sin nature located in the body] might be rendered powerless [when we use Recovery Procedure and the two power options], that we should no longer be slaves to the sin nature.
“Our old man has been crucified with Him” meaning that the power of the sin nature has been broken on the cross. Since the power of the sin nature was broken by the work of the cross, we as believers have no excuse for not executing the spiritual life. We will not be able to say to Christ at our evaluation that our sin nature was too powerful for us to execute the spiritual life.
A few points for further clarification:
1. Retroactive positional truth is that phase of the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation which identifies the believer with Christ in His spiritual death, physical death and his burial.
2. In the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross all the personal sins in human history were imputed to Christ, but at the same time the other two trends of the old sin nature were not imputed for judgment.
3. Good and evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world and the function of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life. In fact, the sin nature functions as the agent of Satan.
4. Good and evil were not imputed for judgment on the cross. Hence, in the spiritual death of Christ on the cross they were rejected to remain an issue in the angelic conflict, rejected to be perpetuated in human history as an issue every believer must face, and either overcome through the intake of doctrine or be entrapped by ignorance of doctrine and therefore lose out in glorifying God in time.
5. We are identified with Christ in His spiritual death, which means that we must understand that our sins have been judged and that good and evil has been rejected.
6. It all adds up to the fact that the sovereignty of the old sin nature over human life has been made powerless through retroactive positional truth.
7. The imputation of all personal sins of the human race to Christ on the cross means that the believer through the rebound technique is instantly forgiven sins, cleansed from all wrong doing which includes Satanic good and evil, restored to fellowship and filled with the Spirit.
Romans 6:7: For we who have died [the Christian is identified with the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ: theologically called Retroactive Positional Truth] have been acquitted [positional deliverance] from [the power of] the sin nature.
A few points for further clarification:
1. A dead person is discharged from the obligations of his former sphere of life. This is why the word “death” is used in this context. It is not a literal, physical death we are discussing but identification with Christ in His death.
2. As unbelievers we were under the authority of Satan as the ruler of this world, and under the authority of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life.
3. Both the power of Satan and the old sin nature have been abrogated through the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation.
4. This passage, then, emphasizes the annulling of the power and the authority of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life.
5. Positionally, the power of the sin nature has been broken. Experientially, the old sin nature controls to the extent that we fail to understand and utilize the provision and support of logistical grace.
Romans 6:8: Now if we have died with Christ, and we have [retroactive positional truth], we also believe that we shall live in association with Him [the instrumental of association; a reference to Current Positional Truth].
In this verse, the 1st Class conditional sentence shows the relationship between Retroactive Positional Truth with Current Positional Truth. The protasis, the ‘if’ clause states the reality of Retroactive Positional Truth and the apodosis, the concluding clause states the doctrinal inference and the reality of Current Positional Truth. While Retroactive Positional Truth presents positional rejection and separation from good and evil as the policy of Satan and the function of the old sin nature, Current Positional Truth relates the believer to the function of the royal family of God. In other words, they have separate functions.
Romans 6:9: Knowing that because Christ has been raised from the dead [He received a resurrection body], no longer can He die; [physical] death is no longer a master over Him.
Analysis:
1. Retroactive positional truth destroys the sovereign authority of the old sin nature over human life. Current positional truth, on the other hand, destroys the limited authority of physical death in human life.
2. Instead of being ruled by the old sin nature located in the cells of the human body and influencing our souls toward sin, good and evil, we now have a new sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are identified with Him in His deaths, in His burial, resurrection, ascension and session.
3. Before salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit our lives were under the absolute rule of Satan who is the ruler of this world and under the rule of the old sin nature which is the ruler of life, and under the limited rule of physical death. All of that, of course, has been changed since salvation.
4. Now both retroactive and current positional truth have abrogated the authority and power of these former rulers. The power of Satan over our lives has been broken through identification with the rejection of good and evil namely Satan’s policy and plan and through our position in union with Christ. The power of the old sin nature is broken through retroactive positional truth and the power of physical death is broken through current positional truth.
5. Therefore, having studied these things by principle and by implication we are now ready for application, verses 12 & 13 specifically.
6. Having been positionally liberated from the sovereignty of the old sin nature as an absolute ruler, and the authority of physical death, we must recognise and apply doctrine for the experiential victory commanded in verses 11-13.
Galatians 3:25-28, “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under the authority of [have need of] a school bus. (26) For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (27) For all of you who were baptized into Christ [identified with Christ through union with Him] have clothed yourselves with Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek [no racial distinction], there is neither slave nor free man [no social or economic distinction], there is neither male nor female [no gender distinction]; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [All Christians have the same privileges and opportunities to execute the spiritual life.]”
Current Positional Truth, Elaborated:
In the Church Age, Current Positional Truth establishes our relationship with Christ as opposed to religion. It refers to the Church Age believer in union with Christ and is the key to understanding the Church Age and how the royal family came into being. Therefore, it is the basis for distinguishing between Christianity and religion. Christianity is a relationship with God without merit whereas religion is a system of works to gain the approbation of God. Never shall the twain meet!
The mechanics of Current Positional Truth is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, whereby the Spirit enters us into union with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For also by agency of the one Spirit we are all baptized [identification resulting in becoming a new spiritual species] into one body [in union with Christ], whether Jews or Greeks [racial distinctions are removed], whether slave or free [class and economic distinctions are removed], even all were made to drink [the aorist passive, the voice of grace] the one Spirit [The Holy Spirit did not ask us whether we wanted to be put into union with Christ or not.].” Ephesians 4:5, “One Lord [becomes our Lord positionally at Salvation]), one faith [faith alone in Christ alone; Acts 16:31], one baptism [Baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at salvation].”
Current Positional truth guarantees that there will be no judgment for believers in eternity, Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Thus, the condemnation which occurred at the first birth was removed at the 2nd birth. As a result of being born with the sin nature and the imputation of Adam’s Original Sin, we were condemned to the Lake of Fire for all eternity, but now that has been removed. Romans 5:12, “For this reason just as through one man [Adam] the sin [nature] entered into the world [procreation], and so spiritual death through the sin [the imputation of Adam’s Original Sin to the sin nature], and so spiritual death spread to all mankind, because all sinned when Adam sinned [since we were all genetically in Adam when he sinned, we will receive Adam’s Original Sin].” However, at our spiritual birth, the 2nd birth, our pre-salvation sins were all forgiven including Adam’s Original Sin. After which, the Spirit entered us into union with Christ where there is now no condemnation (Romans 8:1).
Current Positional truth qualifies the believer to live with God forever. To live with God forever, the believer must have eternal life and God’s perfect righteousness, 1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the deposition [testimony] that the God [the Father] has given to us, eternal life, and this life is in his son [Since we are in union with Christ, we share this life.]. (12) and he who has the son [a relationship with the Son] has the life [eternal life] and the one who does not have the son of God [relationship with the Son] does not have the life [eternal life].” 2 Corinthians 5:21, “And He [the Father] made Him who knew no sin [perfection] to be a sin offering [imputation of sins on the cross] as a substitute for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [current positional truth].” To live with God forever means you must have His life, and you must be as righteous as He is.
Positional truth guarantees the believer’s eternal security, Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death [nothing in death] nor life [nothing in life] nor angels nor principalities [ruling angels] nor powers [human organizations] nor things present nor things to come (39) nor height [nothing in heaven] nor depth [nothing in Hades] nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eternal life in Christ is for all eternity!
Positional truth belongs to all categories of believers whether they be apostate, mature, immature, spiritually adult, or carnal. Since Current Positional Truth occurs at the point of salvation before experience in the Christian life begins, it doesn’t depend on that experience. 1 Corinthians 1:2, “to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus [at salvation], called saints together with all who call upon the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, their [Lord] and ours.” So, even though you may be carnal or in reversionism, you still have positional truth. Being in union with Christ has nothing to do with what you do [experiential righteousness], or don’t do [failure to execute God’s plan]. Current Positional sanctification is completely the work of God the Holy Spirit and so is not based upon our volition, but on the sovereign decision of God. We make the decision to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but we don’t make the decision to enter into union with Christ “all were made to drink the one Spirit” as per 1 Corinthians 12:13. God the Holy Spirit graciously did that for us and so it cannot be undone.
Current Positional truth creates a new spiritual species in Christ as per 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ and he is, he is a new spiritual species. The old things have lost their power; behold, new things have come to pass.” You become a new spiritual species at salvation by being put into union with Christ. It is what God does for you, and therefore it is grace. It is not what you do after salvation, such as the self-righteous works of legalism. The “old things” have to do with spiritual death and those things related to that death; the “new things” refer to things you receive at salvation such as the 40 assets and the unique spiritual life.
Positional truth should motivate the production of divine good and a pattern of life compatible with royalty as per Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his creation, having been created in Christ Jesus [a new spiritual species with many assets] for the purpose of divine good production [via experiential sanctification] which the God [the Father] has prepared in advance [in eternity past, God the Father provided election and predestination as part of our Portfolio of Invisible Assets], that we in the sphere of them [election and predestination] may pattern our lives.”
Even though a Christian may die the Sin on to Death, he will not lose his position in union with Christ (1 John 5:18-20), and so cannot lose his salvation. In order for a believer to lose his position in Christ, he would have to sin in that status, but since the believer cannot sin in union with Christ, he cannot lose his position in Christ and so cannot lose his salvation. Thus, it is comforting and reassuring to a believer to know that even though a loved one may have died the ‘sin on to death’, he has not lost his salvation.
Because we are in union with Christ, we share His:
1. Eternal life, 1 John 5:11, “And this is the deposition [testimony] that the God [the Father] has given to us, eternal life [At salvation, God the Father imputes this life to the human spirit], and this life is in his son [The Christian also shares the life of Christ through union with Him]. (12) and he who has the son [a relationship with the Son] has the life [eternal life] and the one who does not have the son of God [relationship with the Son] does not have the life [eternal life].”
John 14:6, “Jesus said to him [Thomas], ‘I am the way, the truth and the life [eternal life]; no person [in human history] comes face to face with the Father [having an eternal relationship with the Father] except through Me.’”
2. Perfect righteousness, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “And he (God the Father) made him [Jesus] who knew no sin (perfection) to be a sin offering as a substitute for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him [positional truth]. Sharing the righteousness of Christ, we become the objects of God the Father’s love as per Romans 8:39.
3. Election, Ephesians 1:4, “just as He [the Father] has elected us for Himself in Him [Jesus Christ] before the creation of the world [in eternity past], that we may be set apart [experiential sanctification] and blameless [ultimate sanctification] in the presence of Him [Father].”
4. Destiny, Ephesians 1:5, “By means of love, He has predestined us for the purpose of adoption as adult sons to Himself through Christ Jesus our Lord according to the grace purpose of His will.”
5. Sonship, Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
6. Heirship, Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit Himself testifies together [bears witness] with our [human] spirit, that we are the children of God. (17) Now, if we are children and we are, also heirs, on the one hand heirs of God [the Father], and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed [if it is true that], we suffer with Him [pass all three stages of undeserved suffering], that also we might be glorified with Christ.”
7. Sanctification, 1 Corinthians 1:2, “to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints together with all who call upon the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, their [Lord] and ours.”
8. Priesthood, Hebrews 7:12-19, “For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change in the Law also. (13) For the One [the Lord Jesus Christ] concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe [the tribe of Judah] from which no one has officiated at the altar. (14) For it is evident that our Lord has descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests, (15) and this is clearer still, if another priest arises similar to Melchizedek, and there has, (16) who has become a priest not on the basis of physical requirement [a reference to the Levitical Priesthood] but on the basis of indestructible life [the Lord’s priesthood is forever]. (17) For this reason, it is witnessed, ‘You are a priest forever similar to the order of Melchizedek.’” [We are in union with Christ. Therefore, we are royalty and priests forever. We represent ourselves before God as royal priests.] (18) For, on the one hand, there is a rescinding of the former commandment [the Mosaic Law that authorized the Levitical priesthood] because of its weakness and uselessness (19) (for the Law brought nothing to completion), but on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope [the second door of hope for the Church Age believer—a personal sense of destiny—by which we enter the adult spiritual life] through which we draw near to God.”
Hebrews 7:26-28, “For it is fitting that we should have such a high priest, impeccable integrity, the One who cannot do evil, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; (27) Who does not need daily, like those Levitical priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He [Jesus] offered up Himself. (28) For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of His [God the Father’s] oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, who has become perfect forever [Jesus Christ is a perfect high priest].”
9. Royalty, 1 Peter 2:9, “ But you and only you are an elect [elect by God the Father] race [as a new spiritual species], a royal priesthood [since Jesus is a king-priest], a holy nation [God’s entity: a nation of priests: every Christian is a priest], a people for God’s own possession [a protected people], so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him [Christ] who has called [in eternity past] you out of darkness [spiritual death and the Cosmic Systems] into His amazing light [his plan];”
10. New Spiritual Species, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ and he is, he is a new spiritual species. The old things have lost their power [Old Covenant]; behold, new things have come to pass [This would include the New Covenant to the Church.].”
Current Positional Truth changes our relationship with Angels.
1. Through current positional truth the believer is higher than angels positionally.
2. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and so superior to all angels. By virtue of being in union with Christ, every believer is now positionally superior to angels.
3. Positional truth has fulfilled the believer’s triumph with Christ in the angelic conflict. We are victorious with Him already.
4. Furthermore, positional truth demands compatibility with experiential righteousness. Therefore, the believer’s walk on this earth must be compatible with positional truth since we have perfect security in Christ, we have the freedom to choose for Jesus Christ, to love Jesus Christ, to respond to His love, and to fulfill our purpose on this earth.
What positional truth is not?
1. It is not an experience, emotions or ecstasies.
2. It is not progressive; it cannot be improved in time or eternity.
3. It is not related to human merit or ability.
4. It cannot be changed by God, man or angels. It is eternal in nature.
5. It is not obtained gradually as you grow in grace, but in toto at salvation.
6. It is not known apart from the metabolization of doctrine.
7. From understanding the doctrine of positional truth, we progress in our spiritual life, but we cannot improve it since it is perfect at salvation.
8. We are not in Christ because of what we do (execution of the spiritual life) or fail to do (fail to execute the spiritual life), but because of what God has done.
A few points of explanation:
1. The conclusion from positional truth, whether retroactive or current, is that the Christian must apply these doctrines to his spiritual life.
2. In Romans 7:1-4 where we have an illustration of a woman whose first husband has died freeing her to marry another. This is what actually happens to us as believers at salvation. The old sin nature is the husband up to the point of salvation, but at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ positionally the sin nature is dead, as it were, the first husband has died and we have a new husband through union with Christ. Retroactive Positional Truth removes our first husband, the sin nature whereas Current Positional Truth enters us into union with Christ, our new husband.
3. The old sin nature-husband is still around, still seeking to regain his control over his former wife, the believer. But union with the second husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, has broken the first husband’s authority over the former wife.
4. The Baptism of Fire:
Matthew 3:11, “On the one hand I [John the Baptizer] baptize you [believers] by means of water because of a change of thinking [about Christ], but the one coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals I am not worthy to lace [loosen, remove]. He himself will baptize by means of the Holy Spirit [a reference to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age] and by means of fire [a reference to the Baptism of Fire at the 2nd Advent].”
Baptism of Fire: The baptism of fire (identification with fire) is defined as the judgment of unbelievers both Jew and gentile at the Second Advent. They will be removed from the earth and placed in fire for 1000 years until the Last Judgment, Luke 3:16-17; Mathew 25:31, 33. The analogy to the Baptism of Fire is found in Matthew 24:36-41. The one left in the field is the mature believer; the one taken is the unbeliever.
Parables of the Baptism of Fire:
1. The wheat and the tares (the unbelievers), Matthew 13:24-30, 36-40.
2. The good and bad fish (unbelievers), Matthew 13:47-50.
3. The ten virgins: five wise, five foolish (the unbelievers), Matthew 25:1-13.
4. The sheep and the goats (the unbelievers), Mathew 25:31-46.
5. The talent test, Matthew 25:14-30. The one talent man represents the unbeliever.
If Jesus Christ had not been rejected by the Jewish people, then the age of Israel would have continued until its completion (the Tribulation completes the age of Israel). (However, they did reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah and so the client nation was destroyed, and the Church age was intercalated that is inserted before the age of Israel was complete.) After the completion of the age of Israel at the end of the Tribulation, comes the wrath of God namely the Baptism of Fire when the Lord removes both Jewish and gentile unbelievers from the earth and identifies them with fire forever. After which, the Millennial reign begins.
The Three Ritual Baptisms. None are extant at the present time. They are representative identifications in which water is used as a training aid to represent some principle of doctrine.
1. The Baptism of John is found in Matthew 3:2-6, “Saying, ‘Change your thinking [regarding Christ] for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ [The future king was already on the earth] (3) For this is what was communicated through Isaiah, the prophet saying, ‘The voice of one [John the Baptizer] proclaiming loudly in the desert [of Judea]. Prepare [the aorist tense is a one time-decision] the way of the Lord [an idiomatic expression for salvation]. Keep on making upright [the use of the Recovery Procedure followed by the development of experiential righteousness] His paths!’ (Isaiah 40:3) (4) Now, John himself kept on having a garment of camel’s hair [very uncomfortable] and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. (5) Then [after John went where God wanted him to be] Jerusalem kept on going out to him [face to face] and all Judea and all the districts around the Jordan. (6) and they were being baptized [identified with the kingdom] by him [under John’s authority] in the Jordan River [where Israel crossed when they entered the land], and they kept on confessing their sins [post-salvation confession of sins].”
MAX KLEIN BIBLE MINISTRIES
First John: Chapter Four
A verse-by-verse commentary by Max Klein
2 Chronicles 7:14, “And if my people [a client nation] who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven; will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” We need to pray for our president, our military and civilian leaders every day.
Even though we are facing great economic disaster (no manufacturing to speak of, a reserve currency that is being printed out of existence etc.) and social disaster and maybe even civil war (no truth and virtue in the souls of the American people for the most part), we have the greatest and most powerful spiritual life ever given to a group of believers. So, all we have to do is to learn and apply it!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “At all times, have inner happiness. Habitually, pray. In everything, give thanks for this is the will of God [the Father] in Christ Jesus for you.” (Ephesians 5:20 also emphasizes thanksgiving)
Πάντοτε χαίρετε, 17 ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε, 18 ἐν παντὶ εὐχαριστεῖτε· τοῦτο γὰρ θέληµα θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ εἰς ὑµᾶς.
1 John 4:1
Beloved, stop believing every eloquent speaker, but keep analyzing those influential speakers whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out to evangelize on behalf of the cosmic system.
Ἀγαπητοί, µὴ παντὶ πνεύµατι πιστεύετε, ἀλλὰ δοκιµάζετε τὰ πνεύµατα εἰ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν, ὅτι πολλοὶ ψευδοπροφῆται ἐξεληλύθασιν εἰς τὸν κόσµον.
Human ability and intelligence cannot deal with false teachers. Because man is inferior to angels and inherently weak because of sin, good and evil, he must gravitate to a system of power greater than himself. It may be a false system, or it may be a true system. The true system is God’s system of power, and the false system is the cosmic system invented by Satan. The first 6 verses will deal with the challenge of thought testing.
In the early church, Satan attacked the 1st Advent of Christ mainly through Gnosticism. Those Gnostics claimed that the 1st Advent of Christ was an optical illusion. Cerinthus also attacked the incarnation and hypostatic union. So, John used empirical evidence such as what the apostles had heard, seen and touched to refute the claims of Docetic Gnosticism and other arguments to defeat the claims of Cerinthian Gnosticism who claimed that Jesus was a mere man.
1. This passage deals with the eloquence of the Docetic and Cerinthian Gnostics who had the persuasiveness of Demosthenes, a fourth century B.C. Athenian statesman and one of the greatest orators of the past. Some of his quotes are as follows: “All speech is vain and empty unless it be accompanied by action.” “It is not possible to establish a lasting power upon injustice, perjury, and treachery.” “The man who has received a benefit ought always to remember it, but he who has granted it ought to forget the fact at once.”
2. Cerinthus, a Greek lived circa 50-100 AD and was an early Gnostic Christian, who was prominent as a heretic in the view of the early Church Fathers. He denied that the Supreme God made the physical world. In Cerinthus' interpretation, Christ descended upon Jesus at baptism and guided him in ministry and the performing of miracles, but left him at the crucifixion. He also maintained that Jesus was not born of a virgin, but was a mere man, the biological son of Mary and Joseph.
3. Docetism is broadly defined as any teaching that claims that Jesus' body was either absent or an illusion. Christ was so divine that he could not have been human. He only appeared to be a flesh and blood; his body was an illusion or an apparition.
4. Eloquence, a talent is often mistaken for spiritual dynamics; it may be, or it may not be. The issue is not eloquence, but content of message.
5. With the Gnostics their persuasive speaking was false teaching, which constitutes thought testing, one of the great momentum tests which the Christian must pass before reaching spiritual maturity.
6. Eloquence and persuasive preaching can be true or false. Only the believer with maximum doctrine resident in his soul can determine or discern the validity of eloquent and persuasive teaching.
7. The present imperative plus the negative indicates that the believers to whom John writes in this chapter have already flunked this thought test for they have been distracted by the eloquence and the talent of Gnostic speakers.
8. This negative command constitutes a warning to every believer to discern between the talent of speaking, which is not the issue, and the content of the doctrinal message, which is the issue.
9. It is not the man, but the message. A man may be eloquent and dynamic as a speaker, but false and apostate regarding his content. Eloquent error is still error. Talent in teaching does not change false to true or error to doctrine.
10. Discernment verses naivety: Perception of doctrine provides discernment and common sense which eliminates simple stupidity or the naïve appreciation of talent. Naiveness dulls the senses, while discernment from doctrine sharpens both the intellect and the ability to distinguish truth from what is false.
11. Life is made up of analysis. If you cannot properly analyze you cannot make proper application. You can only apply correctly what you understand correctly.
12. The purpose of discernment or analysis is to qualify the eloquent and persuasive teacher, whether he is teaching the truth or not. To fulfill the mandate (analyze), the believer must possess Bible doctrine in his soul, have established correct norms and standards, and have priorities that reflect his advance in the spiritual life.
1 John 4:2
By this, learn to recognize that person who is from God: every person [honorable minister] who acknowledges [communicates] that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is from God.
ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκετε τὸ πνεῦµα τοῦ θεοῦ· πᾶν πνεῦµα ὃ ὁµολογεῖ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν,
John is arguing against Docetic Gnosticism which claimed that Jesus was only an illusion, an apparition or that Jesus was only a mere man according to Cerinthus. However, the Word of God refutes these lies. John 1:14, “And the Word [the deity of Christ] became flesh [true humanity] and tabernacled among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the uniquely born one from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
1 John 4:3
In fact, every persuasive speaker [a reference to the Gnostics] who does not acknowledge [teach] this Jesus, is not from God. Furthermore, this false teaching is the persuasive influence of the antichrist about whom you have heard that he is coming [in the Tribulation] and now [in the Church Age] he is already in the world [of mankind].
καὶ πᾶν πνεῦµα ὃ µὴ ὁµολογεῖ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου, ὃ ἀκηκόατε ὅτι ἔρχεται, καὶ νῦν ἐν τῷ κόσµῳ ἐστὶν ἤδη.
These persuasive teachers at the time of writing had rejected the doctrine of the hypostatic union, the incarnation, impeccability, and the work of Christ on the cross. They were anti-Christ! To them, Jesus Christ was not the God-Man, but a figment of the imagination, an optical illusion and the cross was an hallucination or that Jesus was just a man. These false teachers are the antichrists of the Church Age.
An antichrist is anyone who is against Christ. The Gnostics were antichrists. If a Christian is the “enemy of the cross” as in Philippians 3:18, or “the enemy of God” as per James 4:4, he is an antichrist. These believers are called antichrists in 1 John 2:22, 4:3; 2 John 7 and 1 John 2:18.
There will be a famous antichrist in the Tribulation. He is an unbeliever functioning under the cosmic systems and will become the Gentile ruler of the revived Roman Empire, and the leader of ecumenical religion in the Tribulation. He has many titles such as:
1. "The man of lawlessness (complete rejection of the Laws of Establishment), the son of destruction" as per 2 Thessalonians 2:3 (he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire at the beginning of the Millennium)
2. "The beast from the sea [of nations]," Revelation 13:1-10 (his political title);
3. "The beast on whom the scarlet woman [ecumenical religion] rides" (his religious title), Revelation 17:8-13.
4. "The little horn," Daniel 7:8-9, and subsequent verses 20-25.
5. "The abomination of desolation," Matthew 24:15, 16. A statue of him will be put in the temple of Jerusalem; a sign for all believers to flee to the mountains.
6. "The prince [out from the Roman people] that shall come," Dan 9:26-27
1 John 4:4
You and only you [believers living the spiritual life] are from God, dear children, and you have overcome them [false teachers and others living in the cosmic system] because greater is He who is in you [indwelling of God the Son] than he [Satan] who is in the world [the inventor of the cosmic system].
ὑµεῖς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστε, τεκνία, καὶ νενικήκατε αὐτούς, ὅτι µείζων ἐστὶν ὁ ἐν ὑµῖν ἢ ὁ ἐν τῷ κόσµῳ.
THE INDWELLING OF JESUS CHRIST:
The Prophecy of the Indwelling of Jesus Christ, John 14:19-20, "Before long, the world will see Me no longer, but you will see Me; because I live, you also will live. (20) In that day [Church Age], you shall come to know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."
ἔτι µικρὸν καὶ ὁ κόσµος µε οὐκέτι θεωρεῖ, ὑµεῖς δὲ θεωρεῖτέ µε, ὅτι ἐγὼ ζῶ καὶ ὑµεῖς ζήσετε. 20 ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡµέρᾳ γνώσεσθε ὑµεῖς ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρί µου καὶ ὑµεῖς ἐν ἐµοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν ὑµῖν.
"I am in My Father" is a statement declaring the deity of Christ. These believers would come to know that Jesus Christ was true deity while in Hypostatic Union. “And you in Me," is the prophecy of the baptism of the Spirit, equal privilege under predestination prophesied. "And I in you," is a declaration of the indwelling of Christ in every Church Age believer.
Colossians 1:27, "to whom God [the Father] willed to make known among the gentiles what are the riches of His glory of this mystery [not known in the Old testament] which is Christ in you, the hope of glory;"
οἷς ἠθέλησεν ὁ θεὸς γνωρίσαι τί τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης τοῦ µυστηρίου τούτου ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὅ ἐστιν Χριστὸς ἐν ὑµῖν, ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς δόξης·
Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory indwelt the Tabernacle and Temple not only as a guarantee of Israel's security, but also of their prosperity and blessing. Jesus Christ now indwells you as a guarantee of your security, riches, and fantastic blessings. If Jesus Christ indwelt a building in the age of Israel, how much greater is the indwelling of Christ in the body of every believer in the Church Age?
"The hope of glory" is the mature believer's confidence that at the point of maturity he will receive his escrow blessing which will glorify God both in time and eternity.
The confidence or future expectation of the adult believer who recognizes that the indwelling of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory is the guarantee of greater blessings for time and eternity. The first characteristic of spiritual adulthood is occupation with Christ. Christ indwells us for the purpose of motivation. Knowing He indwells us gives us a strong and powerful motivation to keep advancing through each stage of spiritual adulthood with its accompanying categories of undeserved suffering.
Adult believers who have fellowship with Jesus Christ have a greater power than those who are living in the cosmic system and serving Satan. It is a matter of infinite power verses finite power. Though Satan with great power rules the world, Jesus Christ with omnipotence controls history.
Satan who is the ruler of the world abuses power and so do his minions. So, power is a major issue in life.
1. Power lust and power madness are one of the major tragic flaws of the cosmic system. Satan himself (“I will be like the “Most High God”) was guilty of power lust and was the originator of it.
2. Satan as the ruler of this world has great power which he administers through his cosmic system.
3. Power means control, and control satisfies the arrogance of both man and fallen angel.
4. One of the major forms of pseudo happiness is the control of others through the abuse of power. Many politicians and bureaucrats are power mad and pass many needless and nonsensical laws. One can almost define bureaucrats as someone who waste your money and time.
5. There is legitimate power under the laws of divine establishment, but with this legitimate power, there comes great responsibility which can only be administered properly through maximum integrity.
6. Demagogues seeking power promise redistribution of wealth via the welfare state. The welfare of others cannot be created by legislation or any form of socialism. Only under the Divine Laws of Establishment with emphasis on freedom can the welfare of the common person reach great heights.
7. All legitimate power is related to God and His plan. In the Church Age, this means that all legitimate use of power is related to the three categories of truth: the laws of divine establishment, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Biblical teaching.
Satan who is the ruler of this world does have a system for promoting believers. It is possible to obtain wealth without honour inside the cosmic system. It is possible to obtain success without integrity, promotion without ability or achievement, sex without personal love, fame without virtue, authority without leadership, life without happiness, approbation without happiness. In other words, Satan has developed a tremendous system of giving wealth, success, promotion, approbation, sex, all of the things that people associate with happiness but are not happiness at all. Happiness is only developed from virtue. Virtue is developed inside the divine power system and virtue is happiness. There is no happiness without virtue. So, Satan had to develop some form of duplication, counterfeits, some system to misdirect people from true happiness and capacity for life and give them the accouterments without the happiness.
1 John 4:5
They [false teachers, the Gnostic] are out from the cosmic system; therefore, they teach from the source of the cosmic system, and the [believers and unbelievers involved in the] cosmic system understands them.
αὐτοὶ ἐκ τοῦ κόσµου εἰσίν· διὰ τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ κόσµου λαλοῦσιν καὶ ὁ κόσµος αὐτῶν ἀκούει.
The cosmic system is Satan's strategy as the ruler of this world to control believers as well as unbelievers. Satan's cosmic system is composed of two separate power spheres namely Cosmic 1 and 2. Cosmic One is Satan's exploitation of believers through their own arrogance. Cosmic Two is Satan's propaganda to educate and promote antagonism toward anything related to God, His word or anyone learning or teaching His word. Cosmic one represents Satan's attitude from the time of his prehistoric fall up to the prehistoric angelic trial. Cosmic Two represents Satan's attitude from the time of Adam's fall in the garden to the end of the Millennium. Cosmic One emphasizes arrogance and abnormal preoccupation with self, whereas Cosmic Two emphasizes antagonism and intolerance toward the plan, purpose, and will of God, as well as toward all Christians executing it. Thus, Cosmic One is Satan's philosophy in the prehistoric angelic conflict, whereas Cosmic Two is Satan's philosophy in human history as the ruler of this world.
Rapport in the Cosmic System:
1. Both believer and unbeliever in the cosmic system share the same frame of reference and so both like and even enjoy the false teaching which emanates from that system. This explains why the unbeliever dislikes and even hates hearing about the gospel, and why the believer dislikes and even hates accurate Bible teaching.
2. In the cosmic system, the unbeliever and believer will pursue and learn Satan’s counterfeits to everything in God’s plan. The unbeliever of course will learn the counterfeits related to the gospel, whereas the Christian will learn the counterfeits related to the spiritual life.
3. Therefore, the unbeliever becomes prejudiced and biased against the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Christian becomes prejudiced and biased against true Bible teaching. This becomes a double whammy for them for they are not only learning Satan’s cosmic system, but at the same time are proceeding through the Eight Stages of Reversionism.
1 John 4:6
We and only we [the apostles and others associated with them] are from God; he who knows God, listens to us; he who is not from God, does not listen to us. By this, we know the person of truth and the person of deception.
ἡµεῖς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐσµεν· ὁ γινώσκων τὸν θεὸν ἀκούει ἡµῶν, ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἀκούει ἡµῶν. ἐκ τούτου γινώσκοµεν τὸ πνεῦµα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦµα τῆς πλάνης.
Motivation for the spiritual life does not come from others, but from oneself.
1. Friends can share your enthusiasm, but they cannot live their lives from your motivation. Each person must be self-motivated from truth in the soul.
2. In interacting with other people, social life can be enjoyed and stimulating, and from these personal interactions, friendships are developed.
3. However, social life and friendships should not be used to lure other believers into one’s church. Smiling faces and pseudo friendliness will not make one interested in learning God’s Word.
4. Every believer must be self-motivated, and this self-motivation must come from the communication of Bible doctrine by a faithful pastor-teacher. Unfortunately, only a few Christians are interested in this type of ministry.
5. This teaching of doctrine will do one of two things if it is done properly. Either it will drive the believer away because he is negative, or it will provide him with the self-motivation to continue learning the Word of God which is the environment for virtue and for momentum in the Christian way of life.
Leadership versus Management:
1. The leadership pastor establishes his authority through the teaching of Bible doctrine. He understands that he must earn the respect of the congregation if he expects them to accept his authority. Also, leadership is not petty.
2. Positive volition of the congregation provides motivation for the perception of doctrine. Each person must have his own positive volition.
3. The establishment of discipline in the classroom for the inculcation of doctrine is the foundation of the pastor’s leadership.
4. The leadership-pastor motivates by Bible teaching without interfering with the privacy or the volition of his congregation.
5. Church administration receives its policy from the pastor, but the administration is handled by the board of deacons.
6. The function of the leadership pastor produces both self-motivation and esprit de corps among the members of the congregation. The leadership pastor not only creates self-motivation through faithful doctrinal teaching, but also provides the basis for the manufacture of virtue, happiness, capacity for life, plus the application of honour, and virtue to every circumstance of life.
7. The managerial pastor motivates by giving attention, flattery, recognition, and patronage (dispensing of positions and status).
8. Since managerial pastors have no leadership, they use bureaucracy to control the members of their congregation which can lead to the following: dissatisfaction and conspiracy, disillusion, bickering, legalism, and a general lack of integrity.
1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us [unconditionally, impersonally] love one another because love is from God, and everyone who loves [impersonal] has been born [a reference to spiritual birth] of God and knows God [personal love for the Father provides the motivation for impersonal love].
Ἀγαπητοί, ἀγαπῶµεν ἀλλήλους, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται καὶ γινώσκει τὸν θεόν.
The Love of God is a composition with many components; four of these components are primary components namely omniscience, righteousness, justice and grace and the others are secondary components. Just to give credit to whom credit is due, R. B. Thieme Jr. stated in his Spiritual Dynamic Series that love is a super-attribute. From this super-attribute comes both impersonal and personal love.
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Omniscience (knowledge): To love there must be knowledge.
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Righteousness and Justice: love must have virtue.
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Sovereignty (volition): love makes decisions.
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Eternal life (human life): love has life.
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Omnipotence (human mental and physical power): love must have power.
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Omnipresence (present in one location): love must have presence.
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Immutability (mutable): God’s love never changes; our love does.
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Veracity (we must learn truth): love must be based on truth.
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Grace: Love cannot exist without grace.
Impersonal love is explained in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is not swayed by emotion [is forbearing], love is kind [merciful], love is not jealous, it does not brag [is not shamelessly disrespectful in thought, speech and behavior, insulting, presumptuous], is not inflated with arrogance [the advance stages of arrogance]. (5) does not behave dishonorably [indecently, or unmannerly], is not self-seeking [self-promoting; preoccupied with self, self-indulgent, irrationally ambitious] it is not provoked [does not become irritated, bitter, angry, petty, hypersensitive], does not react to evil [is not mindful of wrongs, does not react to the injustices or wrongs that comes into his life, does not think in terms of retaliation, does not react to hatred or antagonisms], (6) does not rejoice over injustices [violation of truth], but joyfully sides with the truth [rejoices in the truth]. (7) It covers all things [keeps all things confidential: true love respects the privacy of another; it literally means to throw a cloak of silence over all things: avoids gossip, maligning, judging, vilification], always believes [advanced function of the faith-rest drill] always has confident expectation [regarding one’s personal destiny both in time and in eternity], always perseveres [always maintains his relationship with God in a state of happiness under the testing of the three stages of the adult spiritual life],”
1 John 4:8
The one [the Christian] who does not love [impersonally] has not come to know God [does not love God the Father] because God is love.
ὁ µὴ ἀγαπῶν οὐκ ἔγνω τὸν θεόν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν.
Impersonal love in the soul implies personal love for the Father. On the other hand, a lack of impersonal love demonstrates that the Christian in question does not love God the Father. Personal love for the Father is the motivational virtue to apply the functional virtue of impersonal love toward all mankind.
1 John 4:9
By this [demonstration of God’s impersonal love], the love of God [the Father] was manifested in us [for our advantage] that God has sent his uniquely born son into the world [planet earth] so that we might live through him [with virtue].
ἐν τούτῳ ἐφανερώθη ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ἡµῖν, ὅτι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν µονογενῆ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν κόσµον ἵνα ζήσωµεν δι’ αὐτοῦ.
The greatest act of impersonal love is found in John 3:16, “For God loved [impersonally] the world [of unbelievers] so much so that he gave his uniquely born son so that anyone who believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
The final clause, “that we might live through him,” denotes the purpose conceived as the aim or the action of the main verb. This means that God the Father sent His uniquely born Son, not only for our so great salvation, but also to provide what has eluded the greatest people of genius, the cynics, the sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and many others, people who have tried to define the meaning of life in terms of virtue. The only virtue and refreshment in this life is to live in total freedom from entanglement or involvement in the cosmic system invented by the genius of Satan. Therefore the only virtue and refreshment in this life is to live under the two power options of our spiritual life following the precedent of our Lord Jesus Christ who in His humanity and during the first advent fulfilled this wonderful principle of producing perfect virtue inside the prototype power system of the spiritual life.
1 John 4:10
By this, impersonal love exists, not because we ourselves loved God, but because he [God the Father] himself loved us and sent his son, a propitiation for our sins.
ἐν τούτῳ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐχ ὅτι ἡµεῖς ἠγαπήκαµεν τὸν θεόν, ἀλλí ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡµᾶς καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἱλασµὸν περὶ τῶν ἁµαρτιῶν ἡµῶν.
The Ark of the Covenant: Inside the ark were three items namely the tables of the Law which speaks of sin as rebellion against God, the manna, which speaks of sin as rebellion against the provision of God and Aaron's rod that budded, which speaks of sin as rebellion against God’s delegated authority.
On the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies twice, once for himself and for his family and sprinkle the blood of a bull over the Propitiation Seat (Mercy Seat), and entered a second time for the sins of Israel and sprinkle the blood of a goat. The animal blood which was sprinkled over the Propitiation Seat represented the saving work of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
The Ark was made of Acacia wood overlaid with gold. The wood represents the humanity of Christ; the gold represents the deity of Christ. Together, they represent the Hypostatic Union. Over the top of the Ark was a covering which was called the Mercy Seat. There were two golden cherubim over-shadowing this Mercy Seat called the cherubim of glory. These cherubs of glory represented God the Father’s divine glory specifically his righteousness and justice. One angel represented His righteousness and the other His justice. After the high priest had sprinkled the blood on the Mercy Seat, as it were, the angel representing the Father’s righteousness upon looking at the sins of Israel depicted by the Tables of the Law, Aaron’s rod which budded and the pot of Manna demanded that these sins be punished. The justice of God then punished the humanity of Christ on the cross for all the sins of the world depicted by the blood on top of the Mercy Seat. After which, the cherub representing the righteousness of the Father was propitiated.
1 John 4:11
Beloved, if God [the Father] impersonally loved us so much and He did, we also have become obligated to keep on loving each another.
Ἀγαπητοί, εἰ οὕτως ὁ θεὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡµᾶς, καὶ ἡµεῖς ὀφείλοµεν ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν.
Most would say that divine love is one of ten attributes. The remaining nine being righteousness, justice, eternal life, sovereignty, immutability, veracity, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. Then, there is grace which is another attribute or simply the policy of God. If these are all separate and distinct attributes, then each has its own definition. If that is the case, then righteousness, justice, omniscience and grace cannot be used to define love. Thus, love cannot be defined with any meaning or substance. Love by default can only be defined in terms of feelings and emotion.
In order for us to properly understand God’s love, we must realize that love is not one of 10 attributes, but an attribute superior to the others. Only in this manner, can God’s love be understood.
The Components of the Love of God as seen in Scripture:
1. John 3:16, “God loved the world so much” The omniscience of God always (because of eternal life) knew every sin of human history. This information as it were was relayed to His righteousness which then demanded that all these sins be judged. In order to carry out this demand, the sovereignty of God made a decision to give his son “so that He gave [from birth to the cross] his uniquely born son.” On the cross, the justice of God the Father then punished the humanity of Christ for every sin in human history. To accomplish this judgment required the power of the Father’s omnipotence. Because of the work on the cross, His love was able to offer salvation in grace, “so that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” This gospel message is veracity.
2. Psalm 33:5, “He loves righteousness and justice, and the earth is full of His love.” If the earth is full of the love of God, one should be able to see this love. If love is one of ten attributes, love cannot be seen. However, if love has characteristics, then one can see the love of God. For example, when the righteousness of God demands blessing for a particular nation based on the information from his omniscience, the sovereignty of God tells his justice to bless that nation in grace. To put this into operation takes the omnipotence of God. This can be seen. When the righteousness of God demands the destruction of a particular nation or nations, the justice of God executes this judgment. Thus, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah can be seen in history. If one should examine a snowflake through a microscope, he can easily see the beautiful design which comes from God’s omniscience. In God’s grace, he provides for the evil as well as the good etc. The characteristics of God’s love are evident on this earth.
3. Hebrews 12:6 states, “For whom the Lord loves [Omniscience, righteousness, justice, sovereignty, omnipotence and grace are all involved], he punishes [warning discipline] and scourges [intensive discipline] every son whom he receives.” The omniscience of the Lord knows just when to administer corrective discipline to the believer. He knows when to administer warning discipline and when to place the believer under intensive discipline. This information is passed on to the righteousness of God which demands punishment for the failing believer, and what the righteousness of God demands via his sovereignty, the justice of God executes via his omnipotence in grace.
Obligation develops from true love in the soul with emphasis on integrity. The characteristics of God’s love in view here are omniscience, righteousness, justice, and grace. Those four characteristics are needed to produce impersonal love in the believer’s soul (knowledge of course in the place of omniscience). Since God has always loved us and provided a so great salvation, we are obligated to administer impersonal love to others. No true love with emphasis on integrity, no obligation!
1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another [probability: maybe we do], God resides in association with us [fellowship with God the Father] and His love [the Father’s love] has been brought to completion in us [the mature believer has developed great capacity for love].
θεὸν οὐδεὶς πώποτε τεθέαται· ἐὰν ἀγαπῶµεν ἀλλήλους, ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡµῖν µένει καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη αὐτοῦ τετελειωµένη ἐν ἡµῖν ἐστιν.
1 John 4:13
By this [function of impersonal love] we have come to realize that we keep residing in him [fellowship with the Father], and He [the Father] is in association with us because by means of His Spirit [the Filling of the Spirit], He has given to us capacity for impersonal love.
Ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκοµεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ µένοµεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ἡµῖν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πνεύµατος αὐτοῦ δέδωκεν ἡµῖν.
Reciprocal love between God the Father and the Christian, provides the Christian with the integrity, the humility and motivation to apply impersonal love toward all.
1 John 4:14
Indeed, we have perceived, and we keep confirming [bear witness] that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world [of unbelievers].
καὶ ἡµεῖς τεθεάµεθα καὶ µαρτυροῦµεν ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ἀπέσταλκεν τὸν υἱὸν σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσµου.
2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God [When a person believe in Jesus Christ, he receives imputed righteousness from God the Father] in Him [Christ did all the work]. ” 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also died [substitutionary spiritual death] as a substitute for sins once and for all, the righteous [Jesus was without a sin nature, Adam’s sin, personal sin, human good and evil] as a substitute for the unrighteous [the sinful human race] so that he might bring us to God [the Father] having been put to death in the flesh [died physically], but made alive by the Spirit [the Holy Spirit participated in providing a resurrection body for Him.]
The Substitutionary Death of Christ on the Cross:
1. The humanity of Jesus was perfect on the cross: no sin nature and so no imputation of Adam’s sin, and no personal sin.
2. Therefore, Jesus himself did not die spiritually – that would be blasphemous to even suggest such a ridiculous idea.
3. All the while Jesus was on the cross, he was functioning under the two power options namely the Filling of the Holy Spirit and metabolized doctrine in his human soul – not once was He out of fellowship.
4. Before going to the cross, Jesus agreed to accept the punishment of all the sins of the human race, “My Father if it is possible and it is [Jesus had to be willing to go to the cross], let this cup [of the sins of the human race] pass from me, yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39b)
5. On the cross from noon to 3 PM, God the Father punished Jesus for the penalty of every sin of the entire human race (unlimited atonement).
6. Death implies separation. While bearing the penalty of the sins of the world, Jesus had no fellowship with the Father, separation from fellowship with the Father until the work was accomplished on the cross.
7. Thus, on the cross, there was only judgment, not forgiveness. Forgiveness is the result of the judgment of the cross.
8. Forgiveness occurs for the first time, when a person believes in Jesus Christ. At that time, the Father forgives all the person’s pre-salvation’s sins.
9. After salvation, when the Christian sins, he must use the Recovery Procedure as explained in 1 John 1:9.
1 John 4:15
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God [the God-Man], God [the Father] abides in association with him, and he in association with the God [the Father].
ὃς ἐὰν ὁµολογήσῃ ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ µένει καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ θεῷ.
1 John 4:16
And we [John and his congregation] have come to know and have believed the personal love which the God [the Father] keeps on having toward us. God is love in fact, the one who remains in the love [reciprocal love], remains in association with God [love relationship with God the Father] and the God remains in association with him [reciprocal love between the believer and God the Father].
καὶ ἡµεῖς ἐγνώκαµεν καὶ πεπιστεύκαµεν τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχει ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡµῖν. Ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, καὶ ὁ µένων ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἐν τῷ θεῷ µένει καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ µένει.
Since God has always loved us, we should want to reciprocate that love. In eternity past, God has always possessed personal love for you. Time is not a barrier to God. Trillions and trillions of years ago, God knew that you would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thus receive his imputed righteousness (Romans 3:22). Since God has always loved his righteousness, he has always loved you for Psalm 33:5 states, “He [God] loves righteousness [this includes your imputed righteousness] and justice and the earth is full of the steadfast [unfailing, unchanging] love of the Lord. We can only reciprocate that love by advancing in the spiritual life.
1 John 4:17
By this, [reciprocal] love has been brought to completion with us so that we may have confidence in the Day of Evaluation because as He [the humanity of Christ] is [in the prototype spiritual life] so also are we [Church Age believers with this same spiritual life] in this world.
ἐν τούτῳ τετελείωται ἡ ἀγάπη µεθí ἡµῶν, ἵνα παρρησίαν ἔχωµεν ἐν τῇ ἡµέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, ὅτι καθὼς ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν καὶ ἡµεῖς ἐσµεν ἐν τῷ κόσµῳ τούτῳ.
The Greek word krisis can mean the following: power of distinguishing, choice, selection, decision, judgment, a trial in the legal sense, a trial of skill as in archery, the event or issue of a thing to be decided. (Taken from the Liddel & Scott Lexicon)
Personal love for God the Father motivates impersonal love toward all mankind. Since impersonal love follows personal love for the Father, it is an indicator that the believer is a very advanced Christian with maximum virtue. As the humanity of Christ executed His spiritual life, so also the believer must do likewise. If he does, he will have maximum confidence in the Day of Evaluation.
1 John 4:18
Fear does not exist in love, but love drives out fear because fear has its own force of punishment [the law of volitional responsibility and divine discipline]. In fact, the person who fears has not been matured in love.
φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἀλλά ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τὸν φόβον, ὅτι ὁ φόβος κόλασιν ἔχει, ὁ δὲ φοβούµενος οὐ τετελείωται ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ.
The Christian with reciprocal love is very obedient to God’s plan. So, he is consistently in fellowship and is neither experiencing self-induced misery nor divine discipline, and when God’s plan calls for underserved suffering in his live, he has the humility and integrity to meet such suffering without fear.
1. Fear is the enemy of thought. Cowardice in the inability to apply knowledge to a situation. Thus, fear and cowardice can only occur when the believer is out of fellowship with God.
2. Honour, and virtue are secondary components of true love, and so cannot co-exist with worry, fear, and anxiety since these are not virtues.
3. Virtue, and honour produces courage which drives out fear.
4. Virtue eliminates all arrogance which includes fear, jealousy, bitterness, hatred, vindictiveness, implacability, and self-pity.
5. Confidence, a secondary component of love toward God motivates courage toward mankind.
6. Fear indicates that the believer is involved in the cosmic system, and therefore, cannot use any of the problem-solving devices of the spiritual life.
7. Fear, like all mental attitude sins is self-punishing and self-destructive. The presence of fear in the soul overflows into the body as well—psychosomatics.
1 John 4:19
We [the mature believer] and only we love [reciprocating God’s personal love] God because He himself first loved us [in eternity past with personal love].
ἡµεῖς ἀγαπῶµεν, ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡµᾶς.
In Greek, all the verbs have a pronominal ending attached to them. So, it is not necessary to use personal pronouns. When a pronoun is used in addition to the pronominal ending of the verb, it adds intensity or make the subject more emphatic, one must ask why. In this verse, the mature believer is reciprocating God’s eternal love which makes him a hero or heroine in the plan of God. Just as personal pronouns were used of the heroes and heroines of the Greek tragedies, so the Christian becomes a hero when he reciprocates God’s love. When a believer passes Evidence Testing as did Abraham on Mount Moriah, he becomes a super-hero and will receive the fullness of blessing from God.
1 John 4:20
If someone should say, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother, he is a liar for the one who does not impersonally love his fellow believer whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
ἐάν τις εἴπῃ ὅτι Ἀγαπῶ τὸν θεόν, καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ µισῇ, ψεύστης ἐστίν· ὁ γὰρ µὴ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ὃν ἑώρακεν, τὸν θεὸν ὃν οὐχ ἑώρακεν οὐ δύναται ἀγαπᾶν.
1 John 4:21
Furthermore, this commandment we have from Him that the one who loves God personally should love impersonally his fellow believer also.
καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐντολὴν ἔχοµεν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν θεὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ.
Once the Christian has personal love for God, he has the doctrine and motivation to apply impersonal love toward his fellow believers. It is just a matter of using his volition to do so.
Impersonal love implies a great spiritual life
1. Impersonal love is one of the highest virtues of the Christian way of life, the most obvious manifestation of a great spiritual life.
2. Impersonal love is the existence and function of honour, integrity, virtue toward all mankind.
3. Coping with life, demands both the function of impersonal love and the application of principles and doctrines to the problems and pressures of life. So, to cope with life the believer must function from impersonal love, as well as the other virtues, and at the same time he must be able to use doctrines and the doctrinal rationales (the Plan of God rationale, the Essence of God rationale etc).
4. Add to this, a strong social life with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the believer possesses all of the ingredients for being spiritually self-sustaining.
