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Positional Truth
POSITIONAL TRUTH: DOCTRINE OF
1. At the moment of faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit places the believer in union with Christ. This is the baptism by the Holy Spirit.
A. The baptism by the Holy Spirit:
1) Identifies the Church Age believer with the strategic victory of Christ in the Angelic Conflict.
2) Did not occur in the Old Testament or in any prior dispensation and is unique to the Church Age in which we live; it separates and distinguishes us from every other dispensation in human history.
3) While regeneration makes the believer a member of the Family of God, the baptism by the Spirit makes him a member of the Royal Family of God by bringing him into union with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
1 Corinthians 12:13
13 For by one Spirit [Holy Spirit] we [Church Age believers] were all [none excluded] baptized into [identified with forever, at the moment of salvation] one body [Body of Christ], whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we [Church Age believers] were all [none excluded] made to drink of one Spirit.[a reference to the eternal indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is another factor that is unique to the Dispensation of the Church] (Expanded Translation)
B. Historical usage of the word "baptized" prior to the Koine Greek.
1) The English word "baptized" is not a translation but a transliteration of the Greek verb baptizw (baptizo)- the basic meaning of which is to identify or identification with. This word was used by Greek poets, dramatists, and historians to connote the identification of one object with a second so that the nature or characteristic of the first object is changed.
2) This word is used in the Classical Greek of a blacksmith who immerses a piece of hot iron in water, tempering it. Also, of Greek soldiers placing the points of their swords, and barbarians, the points of their spears in a vat of blood. For example, Xenophon in the fourth century B.C. tells of Spartan soldiers dipping their spears into pig's blood before going into battle. By identifying the spears with blood, the nature of the spear was transformed from a hunting tool to an instrument of warfare.
3) Euripides, one of the three greatest composers of Greek tragedy, used baptizw (baptizo) in the fifth century B.C. to describe a sinking ship. As it sank, the character or nature of the ship was thoroughly changed: it was so identified with the water that it could no longer float and before long was entirely submerged.
4) The usage of baptizw (baptizo) in the preceding examples resolves itself into this technical definition: the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with something else so as to alter permanently its condition or relationship to its former environment.
C. The verbal phrase "were all baptized" is the 1st person plural, aorist passive indicative of baptizw (baptizo)- to identify.
1) The indicative mood declares the verbal action of the sentence to be a reality.
2) The passive voice indicates that believers in the Church Age are baptized into Christ (never to be taken out again) by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the agent of this specific baptism, the Church Age believer is the recipient, and Jesus Christ is the medium into which the believer is eternally identified.
3) The aorist tense denotes action which occurs at a point in time-- faith in Christ, and may be used to express a "once and for all" idea. That is precisely the manner in which it is used in our passage. The constative aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety, gathering it into a single whole.
Conclusion: This particular use of the constative aorist in 1 Corinthians 12:13 cannot be repeated and excludes emotional or ecstatic experience of any kind.
Principle: The idea of a so-called "second blessing" or "second work of grace", as it relates the Spirit's baptism to a time subsequent to salvation, is foreign to the Word of God!
2. Union with Christ belongs to every believer forevermore, regardless of their spiritual status.
1 Corinthians 1:2, 30
2 to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their {Lord} and ours:
30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, (NAS)
3. The believer's union with Christ exempts him from divine judgment in eternity.
Romans 8:1
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
(NAS)
4. The believer's position in Christ qualifies him to live with God forever. The believer shares the following with Christ:
A. Eternal life.
1 John 5:11-12
11 And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. (NAS)
B. Imputation of God's righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 He [God/Father] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin {to be} sin on our behalf [as a substitute for us], that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.[Jesus Christ] (Expanded Translation)
C. Election.
Ephesians 1:4
4 just as He [God/Father] chose us in Him [Jesus Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. (Expanded Translation)
D. Destiny.
Ephesians 1:5
5 In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, (NAS)
E. Sonship.
John 1:12
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, {even} to those who believe in His name, (NAS)
Galatians 3:26
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (NAS)
F. Heirship.
Romans 8:16-17
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with {Him} in order that we may also be glorified with {Him.} (NAS)
G. Sanctification.
1 Corinthians 1:2, 30
2 to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their {Lord} and ours:
30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, (NAS)
H. Kingdom.
2 Peter 1:11
11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. (NAS)
I. Priesthood.
1 Peter 2:5, 9
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for {God's} own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
(NAS)
5. When a person is placed in union with Christ he becomes a new spiritual species.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, {he is} a new creature [creation]; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (NAS)
Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (NAS)
6. Union with Christ guarantees the eternal security of the believer.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 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. (NAS)
7. The characteristics of our position in Christ:
A. Known only through the Word of God;
B. Obtained at the moment of salvation;
C. Eternal in nature and cannot be changed by God, angels, or mankind;
D. Not an emotional or ecstatic experience;
E. Not related to human merit, ability, or human good;
F. Not progressive and cannot be improved in time or eternity.
8. Our position in Christ removes the problem of our position in Adam.
1 Corinthians 15:22
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. (NAS)