Is Holy Spirit Baptism the Baptism That Saves

In an article I wrote some time ago, I had a gentleman of the Pentecostal persuasion respond seemingly upset with me over the issue of baptism, as I was emphasizing the importance of water baptism, which he was discounting as being nothing more than a picture of salvation (whatever that means). Of course, his emphasis was on Holy Spirit baptism. In any case, since I said I would respond, I will do so here, thinking I might as well make an article out of my response.

When one reads the gospels, the very first mention of the subject of baptism comes with the introduction of John the Baptist. Mark says, “Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” (Mark 1:5 NKJV) We know Jesus, when baptized by John, “came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.” (Matt. 3:16 NKJV) So our very first introduction to the subject of baptism relates it to water, not the Holy Spirit.

However, John did prophesy of two other baptisms to come. He says, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matt. 3:11 NKJV)

It is very important to note who will be doing the baptizing in the Holy Spirit and fire. Will it be the apostles, will it be man? No, for the text says “He,” a reference to Jesus, which means what? If you are going to receive Holy Spirit baptism it will not be at the hands of men. It will have to come directly from heaven itself. Jesus will be the administrator.

But it means even more. It means it cannot be a command, for it is something Christ does for you. In other words, it is a baptism you cannot obey. It is something you receive, not something you do. Pentecostals ought to keep this in mind because it is going to cause problems down the road. Indeed, it is going to cause problems before one even finishes the book of Matthew.

In the Great Commission of Matt. 28:18-20, Jesus, speaking to the apostles, said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (NKJV) The reader already knows enough from what has been said previously that this is a command for water baptism, for it is the only baptism men can administer. Men could baptize others with water, but not with the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus could do that.

Furthermore, the command of the Great Commission was to teach those they baptized to go out and do the same with others—make disciples and baptize them—thus making the Great Commission a perpetual command for the ages. This means in Eph. 4:5, when Paul said there was “one baptism,” we know which one it was.

Before the time of Paul’s writing of the book of Ephesians, there had been two baptisms—water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism (the baptism of fire being yet future at the Day of Judgment). However, by the time Paul wrote the book of Ephesians, scholars say sometime between 61 and 64 AD, only one baptism remained. This was approximately 30 years after Jesus had ascended back into heaven, and Paul now says, as he writes, there is but one baptism.

This puts Pentecostals in a tight spot. If they say we still have Holy Spirit baptism, then they must deny we have water baptism. If they say we still have both, they make Paul, speaking by the Holy Spirit, out to be a liar, for that makes two baptisms rather than one.

Did Jesus speak about baptizing some in the Holy Spirit? Yes, he did, but to whom? It was to those with whom he met in Luke 24:33-49. It was with those who were to “tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 NKJV) It was to those who would first preach “repentance and remission of sins … in His name … beginning at Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:47 NKJV) Now who did that? Was Peter the first one? Did he preach baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) “beginning at Jerusalem”? Yes, he did.

In the book of John, starting with chapter 13 and going through chapter 17, Jesus is with the apostles he had chosen. Here he again speaks about this select group being baptized with the Holy Spirit or words to that effect (John 14:16-18, 26; 16:13).

Luke, in the book of Acts, speaks of “the apostles whom He had chosen” (Acts 1:2) and then says, “to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” (Acts 1:3-5 NKJV)

Thus the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was only to a select few, not to all Christians. All Christians received the Holy Spirit, but not all received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and there is a difference. Many received spiritual gifts and thus had a measure of the Holy Spirit in that special sense as well, but the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was only to those few Jesus chose. I remind the reader that while Holy Spirit baptism had to come directly from heaven, spiritual gifts could be received by the laying on of the hands of the apostles. “And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given …” (Acts 8:18 NKJV)

Even spiritual gifts were not to last endlessly until the Day of Judgment. Paul says, in Eph. 4:11-14 (NAS), “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.”

Apostles and prophets were obviously men with spiritual gifts. Are there apostles and prophets still with us today? The reader ought to highlight the word “until” in the above passage. Words do have meaning. “Until” places a time limit. Then note the last verse that begins with “As a result.” The result is we will not be carried away “by every wind of doctrine,” thus the earth will still be here when the apostles and prophets are gone.  However, so will every wind of doctrine.  But we will not be carried away with them.

A passage that is even a little clearer is 1 Cor. 13:8-10, “Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge [miraculous spiritual—DS], it will be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.” Some say this refers to Jesus’ second coming. Does it? It is hard to see how you or I need to be told that there will not be prophecy in heaven. Is that not self-evident? Let me tell you what is “perfect” in addition to Jesus—his completed revelation to man in his word, the New Testament itself. Do you doubt the word of God is perfect? See Psalm 19:7.

The one who takes issue with me says, “In John 3:5 water does not refer to Christian baptism in the name of the Lord. Prove that it does.” If you recall, John 3:5 reads as follows, “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’” (NAS) Well, what are the other options? Is it “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’”? That is how this sincere man would have it read, but I think it is readily seen this will not work taken in the context of how the sentence is phrased.

He also argues that Rom. 6:3, Gal. 3:27, and Col. 2:12 all refer to Holy Spirit baptism, not water baptism. I have already shown that since there is only one baptism today, according to Paul, then it is an either/or option—either it is Holy Spirit baptism or water baptism. If it is Holy Spirit baptism, then the baptism Jesus commanded in the Great Commission is of no effect today and you cannot carry out the Great Commission.

In Romans 6:3 Paul says, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” By using the word “us,” Paul includes himself. Let us hear Ananias at the time of Paul’s baptism, Acts 22:16, “‘And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’” It sounds to me like the responsibility is on Paul to “arise and be baptized.” It sounds like it is something Paul can attend to. He can’t if it is Holy Spirit baptism as my critic claims. He will have to wait on Jesus to do that. Thus my critic is in error.

Gal. 3:27 reads as follows, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (NAS) Am I baptized “into Christ” or am I baptized by Christ? Holy Spirit baptism is by Christ, not into Christ. If Christ both baptizes one and puts one into himself (salvation is in Christ—2 Tim. 2:10), then if you are lost it looks like it is his fault since there is something he did not do for you. I can obey the command for water baptism, but I cannot obey Holy Spirit baptism, for Jesus has the responsibility for that. I have not clothed myself with Christ, and cannot do so, if it is out of my hands, which would be the case if this passage refers to Holy Spirit baptism.

Finally, Col. 2:12, which he says is a reference to Holy Spirit baptism, reads as follows, with me including verses 11 and 13 in order to read the text in context. “And in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.” (NAS)

Beginning with Abraham, if a male child was not circumcised the eighth day, he fell out of covenant relationship with God. This remained true on up through the entirety of the Mosaical Era. You can read about it in Gen. 17:12-14. If one is in covenant relationship with God, he is a child of God. He may or may not remain faithful and thus can be lost later, but at the time he becomes a child of God, he is saved.

I have a question. In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, when the first gospel sermon ever preached was preached after Christ’s ascension, after the giving of the Great Commission, when were those gathered there, the three thousand, placed into a covenant relationship with God? Was it before water baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38)? Water baptism was necessary both for the forgiveness of sins and for the reception of the Holy Spirit, and baptism was prior to both. Without the forgiveness of sins first, there was no covenant relationship with God, not under the new covenant.

It would be good, perhaps, to quote Acts 2:38 here: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (NKJV)

Circumcision placed one into covenant relationship with God under the Law of Moses. When were people placed in that relationship in Acts 2—was it before or after the receiving of the gift of the Holy Spirit? One can readily see it was before the receiving of the Holy Spirit but after water baptism. If you have received “remission of sins,” you are saved and in a covenant relationship with God. Circumcision in the covenant of Christ, in Christianity, is baptism from a heart of faith, for the remission of sins in water, not in Holy Spirit baptism. In that act, when based on faith, sins are cut away (removed). Colossians 2:11-13 is a reference to water baptism.

But sometimes it is good to argue against ourselves, so, putting myself in my critic’s shoes, I would come back and say, have you not read Rom. 2:29, “but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God”? (NKJV)

The same Paul who wrote Colossians wrote Romans. We shall tie them together. I remind the reader my critic believes the talk about baptism in Rom. 6, the first several verses, is a reference to baptism in the Holy Spirit. But Paul says in Rom. 6:17-18, “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” There are two points to be made. (1) You cannot obey Holy Spirit baptism; thus his argument fails when he says the baptism of Romans 6 is Holy Spirit baptism. (2) When were they set free from sin according to Paul? Answer—when they obeyed.

This excursion on Romans 6 throws light on Rom. 2:29. As this passage—Rom. 2:29—relates back to Col. 2:12, it shows, when combined with the study of Romans 6, that one cannot divorce faith from obedience. Obedience is from the heart. What is in the heart to produce this obedience? Faith! When understood that obedience is a part of saving faith, that there is no such thing as saving faith apart from obedience, I readily concede that salvation is by faith, that kind of faith. This faith always includes, as an integral part of itself, obedience.

The trouble is the advocates of salvation by faith are generally such as do not define faith this way. Their faith does not necessarily include any ideas of obedience, thus water baptism is just kind of an option if I get to it, if I do it, when I do it, sort of thing. When God says jump, you cannot say, I will if I want to, when I want to, if I decide to. That is neither faith nor obedience; it is rebellion. How can one claim a circumcision of heart and talk of having the Spirit all the while saying it does not matter whether you obey what the Spirit has said, you can be saved whether you obey or do not obey? Jesus, a man full of the Spirit, did not disobey a single commandment, but we do and say it is okay and that we have the Spirit.

If the baptism of the Holy Spirit still exists today, then along with it we must have, as a necessity, those things that accompany it, which include the spiritual gifts of the first century. All Holy Spirit-baptized individuals (the apostles) had miraculous spiritual gifts (2 Cor. 12:11-12). Who ever heard of having the baptism of the Holy Spirit and not having spiritual gifts? Do we have prophets today, do we have miracle workers today, do we still have revelation being given today? Let each reader judge for themselves.

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The Spirit of Christ and Liberalism

As a result of an article I wrote in the past, I was accused of lacking the spirit of Christ in that I opposed adulterous marriages and gay marriage, and the accuser surmised correctly that I also opposed freedom of choice for women as pertains to abortion. It was implied that I was intolerant, unloving, and lacked the spirit of Christ. I determined then to write an article dealing with the spirit of Christ.

There are many people in America today who have built their own Christ. He bears only a vague resemblance to the Christ of the Bible, although those who built him refuse to see it that way. Building one’s own God does have its advantage in that you can design him as you desire and make his character and nature out as best suits your fancy and your own concept of sin and righteousness. The only problem is the obvious one—it is all a facade. A man-made Christ can no more save than could Jeroboam’s two golden calves (see 1 Kings 12:25-33).

It is said Christ loved all people, even those from the worst class of sinners, and that he associated with all. Well, who has ever denied that? Not me. But the idea is, from those who have built a Christ after their own fancy, that with Christ it is okay to continue on in sin as long as you believe in him, love him, and love your fellowman. Christ would and will forgive you anyway, and did not, then or now, demand repentance and reformation of life. He, it is supposed, just accepted people as they were in their sinful state. Really!

Matthew says Jesus began his preaching career preaching repentance. “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matt. 4:17 NKJV) In Matt. 11:20 we read, “Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.” (Matt. 11:20 NKJV) Furthermore, in the next few verses, he warns those cities of what lies ahead on the Day of Judgment for them. To give one example, he says it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for Capernaum, which he says “will be brought down to Hades.” (Matt. 11:23 NKJV)

When Jesus sent the 12 out to preach, what were they sent to preach? Mark says, “So they went out and preached that people should repent.” (Mark 6:12 NKJV) Jesus himself said, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (NKJV) He says this twice, in Luke 13:3 and then in Luke 13:5. Don’t let anyone tell you that the spirit of Christ was such that he would save people while they continued on in an impenitent state, unwilling to repent, unwilling to render obedience to God the Father.

In the very first gospel sermon ever preached after Christ’s ascension, as soon as the crowd was convicted in their hearts, they asked, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37 NKJV) The first word out of Peter’s mouth in reply was “repent.” (Acts 2:38 NKJV) At Athens, Luke records Paul’s preaching there, saying “God…now commands all men everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30 NKJV)

But one must beware of this crowd of people who have made a Jesus who does not require repentance but allows one to live on in sin and yet be saved. Some of them want to make Paul out to be a renegade, a rebel against Christ who preached a different theology, a different gospel than Christ taught. The idea they have is that you can live a life based on what Jesus said and did in the gospel accounts and pay no heed to Paul, who was out there just doing his own thing—so they say and believe.

For them to be right about Paul, several things have to be proven true. (1) It must be proven Paul was a liar—a liar about his conversion experience (see Acts 9, 22, 26), a liar about how he received the gospel (Gal. 1:11-12), a liar about having the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:13, compare Eph. 3:5 with 1 Cor. 15:9 and 2 Cor. 11:5) and not just that he lied about having the Holy Spirit but that Ananias also lied about Paul receiving it (Acts 9:17).

(2) If Paul was uninspired and a rebel against God and Christ, just a man who had his own theology, then it destroys the book of Acts written by Luke for the reason that Luke would then become an unreliable historian, a man no one could believe, because he writes about Paul’s conversion three times as historical fact and mentions that one of the purposes of Ananias’ visit to Paul was that he might be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17) which would be untrue. Paul’s miracles, recorded by Luke, then come into question. If the book of Acts is unreliable history, then what about the book of Luke itself? Why should it be considered reliable? The same man wrote both books.

(3) If Paul was not a Holy Spirit-inspired man but only a rebel against Christ with his own theology, what does this say about Peter, who wrote of Paul saying, “Consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15-16 NKJV) Peter says Paul’s writings are Scripture—“as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”

If Paul’s writings are not from the Holy Spirit, then please tell us how one could twist his writings to their own destruction. If he was uninspired, you could twist his words a thousand different ways and it would have no bearing whatsoever on your salvation. Paul had the spirit of Christ, his detractors to the contrary notwithstanding.

Those who want to pit Paul against Christ and claim that Paul’s teaching was not of Christ will need to delete Luke’s writings from their Bibles, as well as Peter’s and all of Paul’s, and I hope to soon show that they need to get rid of John’s writings also. How?

Have you ever read Gal. 2:9, Paul speaking? “And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” (NKJV) If John gave the right hand of fellowship to Paul, a man who taught falsely about the commands of God, what does that say about John and his writings? If Paul deceived John, how can we believe the things John wrote, for he might have been deceived about those things as well.

Furthermore, if this James, who is mentioned in Gal. 2:9, is, as scholars think, the James who wrote the book of James, then he too was deluded in giving Paul the right hand of fellowship and his writings, as well as John’s, then come into question. I guess, of course, one could say Paul was lying about this since he wrote the book of Galatians, but the book of Acts teaches that Paul was in good standing with the apostles and the church in Jerusalem.

You do see, do you not, where all of this business leads about Paul having his own doctrine separate and apart from the Lord’s? You end up having to delete every book of the New Testament Paul wrote, that Luke wrote, that John wrote, that Peter wrote, and that James wrote. That leaves but little of the New Testament. Only a liberal could believe it.

This liberal crowd that wants to make Christ out as a God made after their own image errs in another way as well. They define love for God the way they so desire rather than the way God has defined it. Here is God’s definition, the definition that they will not accept. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:2-3 NKJV)

Their desire is to override any concern about keeping the commandments of God, thus keeping the door open for continuing on in adulterous marriages, homosexuality, open the door for gay marriage, and keep it open for abortion. This was not the spirit of John the Baptist, “For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. Because John had said to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’” (Mark 6:17-18 NKJV) There had been a divorce and remarriage, but God did not recognize it, for he said through John that Herodias was still Philip’s wife. John was going to break up an adulterous marriage. No need to worry about that among those who have made their own Christ, for their Christ does not demand repentance and reformation of life for salvation.

Their claim is that God is satisfied with adulterous marriages, homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion, etc., because it would be intolerant not to be, and it is an act of love to accept those things in people, accept them without repentance. Passages like 1 Cor. 6:9-10 mean nothing to them (Paul wrote it, after all). “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (NKJV) They do not believe what their eyes read. They claim Christ is on their side, and Paul was a renegade and a rebel. Who do you think had the spirit of Christ? Was it Paul or the modern-day liberal?

Now, how about the spirit of Christ in his own being? Did Christ have the spirit of obedience to the Father or the spirit of disobedience? First, let it be known that Christ was assuredly under commandment from God just as much as you and I are. Jesus said, “This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:18 NKJV) “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” (John 12:49 NKJV) “As the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.” (John 14:31 NKJV) “I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:10 NKJV)

Jesus says, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6:38 NKJV) “I always do those things that please Him.” (John 8:29 NKJV) “I do know Him and keep His word.” (John 8:55 NKJV) Finally, in Rom. 5:19, Paul, speaking of Jesus, said, “So also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (NKJV) One cannot obey unless one has something to obey, a commandment.

Now, I ask again, after quoting these passages, was the spirit of Christ one of obedience to God’s commandments or one of disobedience? Let my liberal friends answer. Let them answer this question also—who gave them the right to decide what commands of God love can override? Are not all of God’s commandments based on love? When a man says this command can be overlooked or ignored (disobeyed), is he not saying that the commandment lacks love? Is he not saying God gave a commandment here that has no love in it, that is, in fact, unloving? Does he really want to stick his neck out on the chopping block like that?

Why does not Mark 7:9 apply to those who so approach the Bible as do these liberals? “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.” (NKJV) As long as I think I know more about sin and righteousness than God does, as long as I believe my love and my way of showing love is purer than God’s way, just that long do I prove myself, not Paul the apostle but myself, the true rebel against God.

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What Is Man

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4 NKJV)

Here we have one of the toughest questions in life to answer—what is man—then the follow-up: that you, God, are mindful of him. There was a time when you and I did not exist. Birth is like wakening a person who has been in a deep, dreamless sleep. Suddenly we are awake. We are thrust into the world; we have no choice in the matter. How did we get here? Why are we here? What is it we are supposed to do or be? All is a mystery, but at that early stage of life, at birth, we are spared from having to think of such things.

We enter the world naked, helpless, in poverty, having no knowledge or understanding, and unless someone has pity upon us and shows us mercy and gives us care and assistance, we can only live briefly. Someone must care for us.

Man comes into the world a frail creature made of flesh and blood and in a body that is destined for only a limited number of years of life on earth at best. “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10 NKJV) Man can no more prevent his death than he could have prevented his birth. This is the story of human life, but the question remains, what is it all about; what is life about?

God made man out of dust (Gen. 2:7). In speaking to Adam, after the fall, God says to him, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:19 NKJV) David, the Psalmist, says, “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14 NKJV)

Yet, God gave to man a spirit, not just a body. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’” (Gen. 1:26 NKJV) “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him.” (Gen. 1:27 NKJV) Jesus said, “God is Spirit.” (John 4:24 NKJV) So man has a spirit in the image of God, or like God, but enclosed in a frame of dust.

In the Psalm at hand, Psalm 8:3-4, David the Psalmist in thinking about man and his frailty could look up into the heavens and stand amazed, awestruck, at what his eyes beheld. Comparatively few people living in America today live in an area where they can get a clear view of the heavens on a cloudless, moonless night. City lights, smog, and just the atmosphere itself obscure what is in the heavens to be seen, but when you do get a chance to see the sky on a perfectly clear night it leaves you speechless. What do you say when you look up and see millions to billions of stars?

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4 NKJV)

What you see is what God meant for you to see—the glory of God declared. The New American Standard Bible (1977) starts Psalm 19 verse 1 as follows: “The heavens are telling of the glory of God.”

On a perfectly clear night (one totally free of clouds, dust, smog, and city lights) when you look up into the night sky how many stars do you see? Here is a report from a website called ESA Space Science:

“Stars are not scattered randomly through space, they are gathered together into vast groups known as galaxies. The Sun belongs to a galaxy called the Milky Way. Astronomers estimate there are about 100 thousand million stars in the Milky Way alone. Outside that, there are millions upon millions of other galaxies also!”

From a site called wiki.answers.com I got this answer when looking for the number of stars that exist:

“The newest estimates gained by the Hubble space telescope places the estimate of 500 billion Galaxies each with about 300 billion stars for each galaxy.”

And yet the Psalmist said of God, their creator, “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.” (Psalm 147:4 NKJV)

David could look up into the night sky and see the stars so vast in number as to overwhelm the mind. It is more than the human mind can take in and comprehend, and we are left awestruck. Figuratively speaking, it brought David to his knees by its magnificence and the glory and might it portrayed—the glory and might of God. What was, what is, man to such a God? God is God Almighty, truly and beyond doubt!

Have the heavens man can see failed in telling the story of the glory of God? No! “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Rom. 1:20 NKJV)

Paul by inspiration in this passage teaches that man knows there is a God, which does not mean, however, that he is willing to admit it or accept it. There are reasons for not accepting the fact that your child is causing problems in school, or that your spouse is cheating on you, or that your smoking may well lead to cancer, or a hundred other things. Likewise, there are many reasons people have for not wanting to believe in God and thus not allowing themselves to do so despite clear evidence of his being. God has shown to man enough evidence to prove his existence so that God has said, “they are without excuse.” (Rom. 1:20 NKJV)

So what is man to such an astounding God? Human reasoning might well conclude that to such a mighty God we would be nothing, no more than the equivalent of a mite on a leaf, but that is not God’s view of the matter. Man is the object of God’s love. This was the thing David was puzzling over. How can such a great and mighty God care about something as lowly as a man? It is a thing we may never understand, but we must come to believe and accept it, and what a wonderful thing it is whether it is understood or not.

God’s love for his creation was such that even before creation he determined that man would have eternal life. “In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.” (Titus 1:2 NKJV) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” (Eph. 1:3-4 NKJV)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NKJV) “The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV) God wants us with him in heaven where “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4 NKJV)

In John 17 Jesus prays. He starts out praying, so it seems, for the apostles, but then he says in verse 20, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” (John 17:20 NKJV) Jesus goes on in prayer, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24 NKJV) God’s desire is that all men be with him in heaven and live there with him throughout eternity. God “desires all men to be saved.” (1 Tim. 2:4 NKJV)

Jesus was sent into the world not to condemn the world but to save the world (John 12:47). Jesus is off now preparing a place for God’s faithful children (John 14:2-3). What we learn from all of this is that God created man, God loves man, and God’s intent or desire is that all men be saved and join with him in heaven for eternity. Who can understand or explain the love of God for man?

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39 NKJV)

Man was made to love and be loved by God, created a spiritual being in a body of flesh with the plan being to transform at the proper time into a heavenly body. “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.” (1 Cor. 15:49 NKJV)

That is the future that God has decreed for those of his human creation who choose of their own free will to follow God and obey his commands by faith. Not only did God create us, but he has also told us why. There are certain things he wants out of us. This may not be an exhaustive list, but it comes close to being a good summary.

God wants man’s love. “‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” (Mark 12:30 NKJV)

God also wants man to love his fellow man. “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mark 12:31 NKJV)

This love that God desires of man demands obedience to God. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15 NKJV) “‘He who does not love Me does not keep My words.’” (John 14:24 NKJV)

God wants man to have faith in him. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6 NKJV)

God desires man’s worship. “‘But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’” (John 4:23-24 NKJV) Note the phrase “the Father is seeking such to worship Him,” thus God desires that of man. “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Matt. 4:10 NKJV)

God desires that man glorify him in both body and spirit. “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20 NKJV) The great sin of the Gentiles that Paul talks about in Romans 1 was that “although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful.” (Rom. 1:21 NKJV)

To glorify God demands that man treat God as God, which means, among other things, reverence, thanksgiving, and giving praise to his name. It demands a holy and reverent life of faithful obedience from a humble and a thankful heart. It has to be from the heart.

Perhaps we could add to this list, but I think for the most part everything that God desires of us could be put in one or the other of the above categories I have listed. God wants our love, our faith, our obedience, our worship, and our reverence or respect. He wants to be treated like God and honored as such.

What is man that God is mindful of him? Man is the creation of God’s love and because of that love, God is mindful of him. If God has loved us so much, should we not reciprocate that love? Does not our heart drive us to do so? I hope we never harden our hearts against the love of God, for that would be cruelty against one who cares for us. In reference to God’s children, the scripture declares “He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV) “He himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Heb. 13:5 NKJV) God is not willing that any perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Who could be so cruel as to harden his heart against such a God, our God? It is a wonderful thing to have someone care about you. God is that one.

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On The Love of Preeminence

In Third John, we read about a man by the name of Diotrephes as follows:

“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.” (3 John vv. 9-10 NKJV)

The English Standard Version reads in 3 John v. 9 as follows:

“I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.”

Diotrephes was a Christian man whose faith failed. In that he had the power to put brethren out of the church, one suspects that he was an elder who had gained preeminence, over time, above the other elders. He had become so emboldened that he would not even accept the apostle John.

The desire for power is one of the ugliest of all the various kinds of lusts mankind is subject to. The desire to be boss, to rule over people, to be seen as top dog, the main man, to set rules and regulations for others, to strut our stuff, and to be bowed down to, is not only a sin but it also turns people against us. It has the exact opposite effect of that desired.

However, once a man gains such power, his power in itself may be such as to shield him from the knowledge of the truth as to how people feel about him and relate to him. We tend to not confront people who have power over us.

If, by chance, such a person does get a hint of the truth about how people feel about him, such power-driven people feel so superior to others that the opinion of others does not matter to them. “Whatever you say makes but little difference to me” seemed to be the attitude of Diotrephes. “I run the show here and I am the man. I know best.” This is the arrogance of power.

Too often we see such attitudes in politicians. They know what is best, you are a nobody, and they are going to take care of you whether you want them to or not. Unfortunately, as in the case of Diotrephes, we sometimes find such men in the church too.

Such men may be elders in the church, preachers, teachers, deacons, or just any member whose desire it is to separate himself from the rest of the brethren. He feels superior to others. He ought to run things for he knows best; he has better insight and understanding.

These men can generally be spotted a mile away but they cannot see themselves.

Such men can rip a church apart. A proud heart, the writer of Proverbs says, “stirs up strife” (Prov. 28:25 NKJV) and that is as true in the church as elsewhere. In the business world, no one wants to work with these kinds of people or for them. They are very capable of destroying their marriages and alienating their families. And it is not just men but women can be guilty as well.

Spend some time around a high school and you will soon learn by observation that this attitude of superiority starts early in life. If you are in the right crowd you are superior to others not in that group.

In Acts, chapter 8, there was a man by the name of Simon who was converted by Philip. Before his conversion he had practiced sorcery in the city of Samaria and had astonished the people of Samaria, the Bible says, “claiming that he was someone great.” (Acts 8:9 NKJV) In verse 10 of Acts 8, the Bible says, speaking of the people of Samaria, with regards to Simon, that they “all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, ‘This man is the great power of God.’” (NKJV)

When Peter and John arrived, Simon saw that the Holy Spirit could be conveyed to others by the apostles laying hands upon them. Simon reverted to the days before his conversion, desired this power, and sought it by means of offering to Peter and John money in exchange for the power they had in doing this. You know the rest of the story. He was condemned for this. Peter says to Simon, “Your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent … and pray … .” (Acts 8:21-22 NKJV)

Simon seemed to have the same problem Diotrephes had, the desire to be seen as special among God’s people, to be the man.

In Acts 20 Paul calls the elders of the church at Ephesus to meet with him and tells them what the future would bring. He says, in part, “Also f+rom among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:30 NKJV) Elders in the church desiring power, the praise of men, desiring their very own flock. Forget about the church being God’s, make it mine. It is MINE! That would be their attitude. History teaches Paul’s prophecy was fulfilled with such an attitude ultimately culminating in the office of the Pope.

What causes men to be this way? Their inability, or unwillingness, to see themselves as frail, feeble human beings dependent on God for even the very breath of life within them, their very next heartbeat.

In talking to Adam, after Adam’s sin, God says to him, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19 NKJV)

In Ecclesiastes 3:18-19 the inspired writer says, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals. For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals … .” (NKJV)

Mankind needs to see and understand his real state of being as delineated in the passages just quoted. If we understand what we are we will not exalt ourselves. The same teaching is found in the following passages.

The Psalmist says, “For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him.” (Psalm 49:17 NKJV) And again, (Psalm 49:20), “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, Is like the beasts that perish.” (NKJV)

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him … .” (Psalm 8:3-4 ESV)

The man who desires preeminence has difficulty seeing himself as he is, a man of sin. He may feign humbleness or humility but does not feel it in his heart. He feels, for all practical purposes, that he has risen above sin, that is, any sin that in his mind is in any way serious. Thank God that he can now show everyone else how to do the same seems to be his attitude.

This is an exceedingly dangerous sin in that it is very difficult for such a person to ever be made aware of it. Who will tell them the truth about themselves? After all, is it not a kind of judgment thing? Who will tell the man or the woman the truth? It may be as clear as it can be that the individual is such a person but who will tell them to their face?

The pride of life is what drives such people. Pride, as any Bible reader knows, is condemned over and over again in the Bible. Since this is common knowledge I will quote only one such passage, Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” (NAS) “God resists the proud.” (1 Peter 5:5 NKJV)

Paul teaches the way we are to live when he says, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” (Rom. 12:10, NKJV) This passage is clearly violated by such people as we have been discussing. What does it mean to be kindly affectionate to one another? Does it mean to lord it over them and make yourself out to be superior to them? Does it mean to belittle them in your heart? I think not. Neither do such people give preference to the other. They give preference to themselves.

Paul again, just a few verses later, says, “Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” (Rom. 12:16 NKJV) The Diotrephes of the world have set their mind on high things. They have become wise in their own opinion.

The Bible, however, teaches that “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 NKJV) The writer of Proverbs says, “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD.” (Prov. 16:5 NKJV)

Peter tells us, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6 NKJV) Jesus was the one who took the towel and washed the disciples’ feet and said we ought to be willing to do the same, that is serve our fellowman and one another.

Jesus said, in speaking to the twelve, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:25-28 NAS)

The message of this article is not that men should flee from taking proper leadership roles in the church, business, education, or any other worthy endeavor. It is a message to consider seriously who and what every man is – a man just like every other man. If we will do that pride will flee.

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14 NKJV) As James says, let us not boast in our arrogance (James 4:16). Rather, let us know that we all can become full of ourselves, we can become people full of pride and arrogance, and let us fight against becoming that with all our might. Let us be the kind of men and women that the righteous love and that God will honor on the last day. Pride can easily overtake us without our being fully aware that it is happening. May we all guard against it.

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