Baptism is both a spiritual event and a spiritual way – the way to God.
“And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:” Mark 10:39
The only way for us to be transformed is by a continual spirit (not water) baptism. Baptism means death. Dying to sin, self, and the mosaic law. Our death to Satan and his legal powers’ (the “powers that be”) and their hold on us. It is our death to the world’s order, system and way of doing things: death to our quests for success, our priorities, power, position, prestige, control, pleasure. A death which turns the world upside down. It is our death to the old things, the first, the entire Genesis creation. It brings in a new testament new creation. A new and divine order of living.
Baptism means a death to the political and religious philosophy of ADDITION and an entering into the faith of SUBTRACTION. If you are willing to LOSE and have subtracted from you all the illusions of life, you will gain real life, the life of God which is found only in His Son’s resurrection. A resurrection from the death to these old things into the life new things.
They continually wanted to make Him a king. But He kept on advancing toward the cross, yea even death on a cruel and shameful cross. He then was buried and sank all the way to the bottom of hell in order to lift us up- up, out of hell and all the way to the top of heaven. Eph 2:6.
Notice in Mk 10, the worldly thinking of Jesus’ disciples is like ours. It represents the philosophy of addition. They want to know from Him how to achieve success and promotion. Jesus takes them back to demotion, His and their baptism into a death, a sinking down into God. “Are you willing to be baptized?”. “Are you willing to drink the cup?”
The only way to promotion is by demotion. Are you today seeking a demotion? Do you want Self to be advanced, enhanced, prominent, recognized, satisfied, aggrandized, indulged, promoted, noticed, or applauded? Or do you want Self demoted, crucified and killed to all these worldly things?
We must fall. We must be pushed down by others, shoved, humiliated and fall but we sink into a wonderful resurrection. We fall or die upward. This takes no human effort. Only takes faith, hope and love. We do not seek our right to revenge or vindication. We are willing to just fall. Fall from our pride arrogant independent religious stance and just trust Him as He did His Father. “Father, let this cup pass from Me nevertheless not My will but Thine be done.” That’s the attitude and faith of the Initiate. That is willingness to fall into the nothingness and powerlessness of death. That is giving up control and trusting Someone else.
This how the meek inherit the earth. Not the aggressive, the powerful, the worldly wise, the intellectual. They inherit separation, eternal separation from God and His love. That’s what hell is- separation from God. Heavenly Father, save me from this! Give me Your kind of separation. Separate and kill me now to Self! Bring me more and more into You.
It is not the early bird who gets the worm. It is the lowly worm who gets the early bird. Jacob was a worm. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, . . I will help thee. Is 41. Jacob is the great Bible example of transformation. The caterpillar who was changed to a butterfly!
Jesus, the bird, chose to crawl as the worm (became a baby then absorbed our Sin nature at that last moment on the cross) in order that we worms (we sinners) might become birds (resurrected with the righteousness of God) and fly away. 2 Cor 5:21.
Are you pushed down by sin, self, the law, Satan, the world, the powers that be? Praise God! You have fallen into the position of baptism. Trust and wait on God here and He will raise you up. When they push you like Shadrach into the fiery furnace, your gold metal (or medal) is about to be separated from your impurities, from your dross, from your badge of shame.
Rejoice in your infirmities. Love your enemies. Why? They are taking you to God. They push-usher you into Christ’s death and then His throne room of resurrection and ascension.
Are you a poor beggar? Get ready to be made rich in spirit!
Are we willing? Are we ready for the baptism? Ready to let go and UNDERgo subtraction? Ready to fall upward? To UNDERgo is to OVERcome. This is what faith is. Being willing to be transformed by all these negatives. All things which work together for good (Romans 8:28). We are thereby changed, changed not by a religion of doing but by the faith in/of dying.
Self can still hide in religion and its doing of good deeds, and being viewed as “a nice person.” Even the good old Self must die. The good ole boy in you must go. He must be done away with. This only happens in continual baptism! – Continual humiliation, continual death, continual exposure, the continual bringing into light the darknesses of self deep in your soul.
“Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been (and continue to be) planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be (and continue to be) also in the likeness of His resurrection.” Romans 6:3-5
Travis Bryan III
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