"And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us."
Today's lesson relates Paul's encounter with a woman named Lydia in Thyatira. She was apparently a believer in God even before Paul preached the gospel there.
As the text implies, Lydia was saved after she had accepted and; "attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul."
This particular text does not include "those things" that were said to Lydia, "which were spoken of by Paul". However, we do know from Paul's sermon to the Jews recorded in Romans 3:20-26 et al, that his continuous message was salvation by grace through faith in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Romans 3:20-26. NOTE" Water baptism was on of the "deeds of the law" Paul spoke of in that sermon.
After Lydia had "attended to those things" she was saved by the grace of God, and according to verse 15 of today's quote, "baptized".
The vast majority of all "Christian" denominations contend that the term baptized as it is applied in this quote refers to a water immersion or "baptism", probably because there is mention of a river in the text. However, the overall context of the gospel of Christ does not allow for that scenario, at all.
Therefore, I believe that, in this instance, the term "baptized" should be interpreted to mean sanctified in Christ. After all, we know, according Galatians 3:26-27 that we receive salvation by being immersed (baptized) into Christ, NOT water; "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
Note here that it is not the ones whom have been "baptized" into water that have put on the righteousness of Christ, but those whom have put on the perfection that is in Jesus Christ Himself.
Therefore we can conclude that Lydia, instead of being immersed into water, had been immersed into, and had"put on Christ".~
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