More than two thousand years ago, a blacksmith was
forging and shaping some iron with his anvil and hammer. It was a father and
son business, not that that mattered. One afternoon, while whacking away on
some hot iron that was being fashioned into a sword, the son placed the
heated end of the iron into a bucket of water to cool it down quickly. Don’t
ask me why he did that, but that’s what he did alright. A few weeks later
a local writer/historian wanted to write a short story on how blacksmiths
work. He went to this father and son business and asked if he could write
about them. They were honored.
When this writer described how the blacksmith would place the tip of this
piece of hot iron into the bucket of water, he did so similarly to the way I
just did above, except he wrote in Greek. In a round-a-bout way, I said that
the iron was ‘placed into’ the bucket, but the Greek guy, when he wrote
about this same procedure, wrote that the iron was “baptized” into the
bucket. This story should give you a good feel for what the word BAPTISMOS
(in English, that’s Baptism) means. It simply means to place one thing into
another. With this in mind, let’s turn to a passage in the New Testament.
1 Cor. 12:13
“For by means of one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether we
are Jews or Greeks or slaves or free we were all made to drink of the one
Spirit.”
This verse draws an incredible picture of what happens to us at the point of
salvation. Known as Positional Truth, this doctrine forms the basis for our
salvation, as well as for every spiritual blessing and asset we will ever
receive. It begins with this Baptism of the Holy Spirit, a baptism that is
reserved for Church Age believers only. This unique event is why we are
called the Bride of Christ. Old Testament believers are not part of this
privileged position to which we have been called by the grace of God. (Just as Gentiles were not part of Israel’s privileged position in the OT.)
Positional Truth is one of Paul’s favorite doctrines and is developed rather
extensively throughout the New Testament. Its implications reach beyond time
and space… literally?!
Hold on as Paul takes us on a ride. Destination: out of this world
)
First, would everyone please get out a sheet of paper. For this article, I
would like to reference a visual aid (if you are real right brainy, you may
be able to envision this without drawing it). On that sheet of paper, draw a
large circle right in the middle. Let’s pretend that this large circle is
completely black inside. That means that you now have a very large, black
ball right smack dab in the middle of your paper. This circle represents the
created universe.
The reason we are pretending (are you still doing that?) that this circle or
ball is completely black is because it represents the domain of Satan. As
Paul tells us in Colossians:
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness”
Or this one in Ephesians:
“we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age”
And concerning Satan, Paul states that he is:
“the god of this world.” (2 Cor. 4:4)
The dark (Satan’s domain) versus light (God’s domain) motif is prominent
throughout Scripture, especially in the writings of John.
Remember, all of creation is groaning (Romans 8:22); the entire created
universe has been affected by sin. And because Satan and this world are
associated with darkness, we have colored the inside of this circle black.
Now, about an inch or two above this black circle draw a relatively tiny
circle. Do not color inside this one, though. What you should have now is a
large, black circle, and somewhere above that a very small “white” circle.
(If this tiny circle is not white, just pretend it is.) This small, outer
circle represents Christ.
Roughly, this is how your paper should look:
o
O
That’s the best I can simulate my visual aid with this word processor.
Sorry. Assume the lower circle is much bigger and black; the one above it is
about the right size and of course is white inside. What separates these two
circles are the same thing that separates this universe from heaven. So, the
little circle is outside time and space, where Christ is currently
(physically) located.
I could actually add a line to separate the two spheres. In fact, I think I
will.
o
--------
O
I like that a little better because now we can “see” the separation between
this world and heaven. Below that line is time and space; in other words,
that’s where we live. Above it, the infinite regions of heaven; this is
where ‘eternity’ exists. And as we all know, that is where Christ is sitting
at the right side of the Father right now.
Now back to Positional Truth. At the moment of salvation, all Church Age
believers are baptized, or placed into, the body of Christ. That is, they
are “spiritually” taken from the lower, black circle and placed into the
circle that is in heaven, where we are said to be “positionally in Christ.”
The phrase most commonly used to express this idea in the New Testament is
“in Christ.”
For example:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”
(Romans 8:1)
That’s the expression we see everywhere throughout the New Testament. Being
“in Christ” is a technical term used to describe our position in Christ
(Positional Truth). By virtue of this position in Christ, our eternal
destiny has already been determined, since nothing in time or space can
affect it. When Paul describes the implications of this, he does so in terms
that at first seem inconceivable.
Briefly, by our position in Christ, we share His righteousness. The
righteousness of God is imputed to us. That’s why this baptism is so
incredible. Let’s continue. Christ is the Son of God, we share sonship with
Christ; hence, we are called sons of God. Christ is holy. We share His
holiness; hence, we are called saints (holy ones). You can see that the
implications of Positional Truth are staggering. It basically explains
salvation.
By the way, Christ is called the Elect (Isa. 42:1, 1 Peter 2:6). By virtue
of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are placed into union with Christ. In
Christ, we share His election; hence, we are called the elect of God. As you
can see, the concept of Positional Truth explains much of Scripture. The
next time you hear someone say that Election is impossible to understand,
just smile.
OK, where were we. Oh yeah, the small, outer circle represents Christ. And
Christ is in heaven. Therefore, the small, outer, white circle is actually
located in heaven. Also, important to note is the fact that this small, outer
circle is unaffected by anything inside the large, black circle. This is why
Positional Truth is so fantastic. Your position in Christ can not be altered
by anything that happens in this life (the large, black circle). Your
eternal destiny was forever settled at the very moment you accepted Christ
as your Savior. Because this baptism removed us from time and space, Paul
draws a conclusion that is beyond incredible.
continued....
forging and shaping some iron with his anvil and hammer. It was a father and
son business, not that that mattered. One afternoon, while whacking away on
some hot iron that was being fashioned into a sword, the son placed the
heated end of the iron into a bucket of water to cool it down quickly. Don’t
ask me why he did that, but that’s what he did alright. A few weeks later
a local writer/historian wanted to write a short story on how blacksmiths
work. He went to this father and son business and asked if he could write
about them. They were honored.
When this writer described how the blacksmith would place the tip of this
piece of hot iron into the bucket of water, he did so similarly to the way I
just did above, except he wrote in Greek. In a round-a-bout way, I said that
the iron was ‘placed into’ the bucket, but the Greek guy, when he wrote
about this same procedure, wrote that the iron was “baptized” into the
bucket. This story should give you a good feel for what the word BAPTISMOS
(in English, that’s Baptism) means. It simply means to place one thing into
another. With this in mind, let’s turn to a passage in the New Testament.
1 Cor. 12:13
“For by means of one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether we
are Jews or Greeks or slaves or free we were all made to drink of the one
Spirit.”
This verse draws an incredible picture of what happens to us at the point of
salvation. Known as Positional Truth, this doctrine forms the basis for our
salvation, as well as for every spiritual blessing and asset we will ever
receive. It begins with this Baptism of the Holy Spirit, a baptism that is
reserved for Church Age believers only. This unique event is why we are
called the Bride of Christ. Old Testament believers are not part of this
privileged position to which we have been called by the grace of God. (Just as Gentiles were not part of Israel’s privileged position in the OT.)
Positional Truth is one of Paul’s favorite doctrines and is developed rather
extensively throughout the New Testament. Its implications reach beyond time
and space… literally?!
Hold on as Paul takes us on a ride. Destination: out of this world
First, would everyone please get out a sheet of paper. For this article, I
would like to reference a visual aid (if you are real right brainy, you may
be able to envision this without drawing it). On that sheet of paper, draw a
large circle right in the middle. Let’s pretend that this large circle is
completely black inside. That means that you now have a very large, black
ball right smack dab in the middle of your paper. This circle represents the
created universe.
The reason we are pretending (are you still doing that?) that this circle or
ball is completely black is because it represents the domain of Satan. As
Paul tells us in Colossians:
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness”
Or this one in Ephesians:
“we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age”
And concerning Satan, Paul states that he is:
“the god of this world.” (2 Cor. 4:4)
The dark (Satan’s domain) versus light (God’s domain) motif is prominent
throughout Scripture, especially in the writings of John.
Remember, all of creation is groaning (Romans 8:22); the entire created
universe has been affected by sin. And because Satan and this world are
associated with darkness, we have colored the inside of this circle black.
Now, about an inch or two above this black circle draw a relatively tiny
circle. Do not color inside this one, though. What you should have now is a
large, black circle, and somewhere above that a very small “white” circle.
(If this tiny circle is not white, just pretend it is.) This small, outer
circle represents Christ.
Roughly, this is how your paper should look:
o
O
That’s the best I can simulate my visual aid with this word processor.
Sorry. Assume the lower circle is much bigger and black; the one above it is
about the right size and of course is white inside. What separates these two
circles are the same thing that separates this universe from heaven. So, the
little circle is outside time and space, where Christ is currently
(physically) located.
I could actually add a line to separate the two spheres. In fact, I think I
will.
o
--------
O
I like that a little better because now we can “see” the separation between
this world and heaven. Below that line is time and space; in other words,
that’s where we live. Above it, the infinite regions of heaven; this is
where ‘eternity’ exists. And as we all know, that is where Christ is sitting
at the right side of the Father right now.
Now back to Positional Truth. At the moment of salvation, all Church Age
believers are baptized, or placed into, the body of Christ. That is, they
are “spiritually” taken from the lower, black circle and placed into the
circle that is in heaven, where we are said to be “positionally in Christ.”
The phrase most commonly used to express this idea in the New Testament is
“in Christ.”
For example:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”
(Romans 8:1)
That’s the expression we see everywhere throughout the New Testament. Being
“in Christ” is a technical term used to describe our position in Christ
(Positional Truth). By virtue of this position in Christ, our eternal
destiny has already been determined, since nothing in time or space can
affect it. When Paul describes the implications of this, he does so in terms
that at first seem inconceivable.
Briefly, by our position in Christ, we share His righteousness. The
righteousness of God is imputed to us. That’s why this baptism is so
incredible. Let’s continue. Christ is the Son of God, we share sonship with
Christ; hence, we are called sons of God. Christ is holy. We share His
holiness; hence, we are called saints (holy ones). You can see that the
implications of Positional Truth are staggering. It basically explains
salvation.
By the way, Christ is called the Elect (Isa. 42:1, 1 Peter 2:6). By virtue
of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are placed into union with Christ. In
Christ, we share His election; hence, we are called the elect of God. As you
can see, the concept of Positional Truth explains much of Scripture. The
next time you hear someone say that Election is impossible to understand,
just smile.
OK, where were we. Oh yeah, the small, outer circle represents Christ. And
Christ is in heaven. Therefore, the small, outer, white circle is actually
located in heaven. Also, important to note is the fact that this small, outer
circle is unaffected by anything inside the large, black circle. This is why
Positional Truth is so fantastic. Your position in Christ can not be altered
by anything that happens in this life (the large, black circle). Your
eternal destiny was forever settled at the very moment you accepted Christ
as your Savior. Because this baptism removed us from time and space, Paul
draws a conclusion that is beyond incredible.
continued....