“You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”
~ Jesus in Matthew 23:24
Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that doesn’t worry about upsetting subscribers who only opted-in for the jokes.
Six months ago, a group of Christians from a certain denomination featured an article of mine to their readers.
The article was 7 pages long, 2,862 words to be exact (but who’s counting?).
The article was about being delivered from the world system and the incredible power of water baptism as understood by the first followers of Jesus. THAT was the topic.
In the article, I made this fleeting statement (out of 2,862 words, ahem):
“Because we are born into this world spiritually dead …”
Immediately, this group couldn’t see straight because of that one line. They pounced on the remark and began to rail against “original sin” and “sending babies to hell.” (Words that were never used in the article. In fact, they never entered my mind.)
Not one person … I’ll repeat, not one person in the group talked about the spiritual implications of the article.
Not one person discussed being delivered from the world system.
Not one person commented on the power of water baptism and the two illustrations from the Old Testament that were unpacked in the article.
They all missed the point of the article because of an obsession with a few words, reading all sorts of things into the brief statement that I don’t even believe (like condemning babies to hell).
This is precisely what legalism does to the human heart.
And it’s why a legalist will never come to know the depths of Christ until they are free from their Pharisaical mind.
“The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,” said one apostle.
My point is this: Even if you don’t believe that all humans are born with a dead human spirit in need of new birth, no problem.
And even if you don’t believe that Jesus’ words, “What’s born of flesh is flesh” and “You must be born from above” applies to everyone (John 3:6-8), no problem.
That wasn’t the point of the article.
But that doesn’t matter to a legalist. The priggish, hyper-punctilious, fastidious, pedantic nature of the legalistic mind isn’t interested in much else except finding fault.
And thus it will always miss Jesus Christ when He’s standing right in front of them.
Yea, Jesus, all we heard in your one-hour talk on God’s kingdom was “blah, blah, blah … I don’t require My disciples to wash their hands before eating. HERESY!!”
Disclaimer: This article was written by a recovering legalist. 🙂
Here’s the article that gave those people a running fit, if you dare read it: Rethinking Water Baptism.
It was originally part of the book Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, but was left out of due to space constraints.
Related: 8 Signs of a Modern-Day Pharisee
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A Farewell to Prayer
I absolutely LOVED this article! Keep on doing and writing what the Lord leads you to do and write. ????????????????????????
I don’t get what legalism does for people. I guess it gives them a sense of control? But don’t most people want to experience spiritual growth and deep faith? Did God not place that within us? He certainly placed the need and desire for relationship with Him and others…
It seems like you are setting a scene for someone to think of the world as having an in-breaking of the kingdom of Christ. This inbreaking found in a repentant life starting with baptism. Which leads to a new life found in Christ. What’s the problem here?
Excellent article! But don’t all Christians believe that we are born spiritually dead and need to be born again?
Thanks. To my mind, the idea that every human is born spiritually dead and is in need of regeneration is Christianity 101. But just like everything else, some disagree.
Here’s a quick riff.
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” Ephesians 2:1
If someone thinks these words of Paul’s are only for the people he’s writing to, think again.
Jesus confirms it in John 3.
The human spirit died with Adam and all his descendants, and it’s only made alive by the Spirit of God.
Jesus was clear about this when he said “that which is born of the flesh IS flesh.”
We are all born flesh. Period.
That’s easy to observe in that the nature of the flesh is selfishness. And we are all selfish from infancy. (Anyone who has crumb-snatchers knows the selfish nature of humans from birth onward. Altruism is unknown.)
Thus we are all in need the new birth – what the Bible calls regeneration – to bring our spirits to life.
So yes, we are all born spiritually dead.
This is precisely what Jesus was trying to get over across to a religious leader who didn’t understand these matters.
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:6-8
But again, even if a person disagrees with all of this and believes that humans are born spiritually alive, good, and righteous (see if you can fit that view into Romans 1-5), that’s not the point of the article on water baptism.
The article is very well written, well thought out and clear. The scriptures are clear and it is refreshing to see them repeating the exact same message over and over. Thanks so much for the article. Well done!
Thanks heaps for your articles. My friends and I so appreciate your insights greatly.
God’s blessings!
Brilliant! The super fire hot wing commercial is hilarious!
Love this, Frank!
Enjoy the humor too always.
Thx. for “getting it.”
LOVED this article!
Continue your writing and speaking. You are helping so many of us Millennials!
Justin
Thanks bro. Yea, the two podcasts are also exploding among 20s and 30s. I’m glad many of the older guard are beginning to intentionally share these deeper things with the younger generation. In the past, they didn’t do that and the body suffered.
Funny to read this today. I joined a particular FB group because it related to a Christian topic of interest. The discussion yesterday deteriorated into a verbal slugfest. I spent the rest of my time on a secular photography group site – much more relaxing!! Sad. We ought to be the safest, most loving group on the planet.
Christian Facebook groups are toxic. That’s why I don’t participate in them. They aren’t places for edification. Many are continuous blood-baths, and most “moderators” just let it happen.
I remember that article and printed it out because I thought it worth revisiting from time to time. That article plus what you wrote about baptism in “Insurgence”, to me, was very insightful.