"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey."
Today's quote relates the coming of John the Baptist, and expresses John's precise duty to God. John was to "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." John the Baptist was simply to lay the groundwork for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, he was preparing his Jewish Kindred for the coming of Christianity.
There are many who believe, because John baptized the Jews in water, the ritual of water baptism is in some way connected to Christianity or the salvation of the eternal soul. In reality, water baptism has nothing to do with either.
Water baptism was a part of a Jewish ritual dating back to Old Testament law and was intended to prepare any Jew for entering a tabernacle or the temple for the purpose of repenting sins, praying and/or offering sacrifices. It had nothing to do with forgiveness or remission of sin.
This will be demonstrated and fully explained as these lessons progress.~
No comments:
Post a Comment