DAVEH: > With who do you think was Jesus making a covenant? With the Father in heaven. John the Baptist was a forerunner of the new convenant that would come through Jesus. His baptism prepared the way by helping people understand the elements of entering into this new covenant. Therefore, his stewardship had an authority which the Father expected all men to parake of. Jesus, as a man, partook of it also, that he might fulfill all righteousness. He aligned himself with the testimony and ministry of John that came from the Father above, and that is a covenant.
DAVEH: > With Jesus' baptism, was the reason not the primary > reason to fulfill righteousness? Yes, and I view my comments as details concerning that phrase, "to fulfill all righteousness." It created a public testimony of alignment and participation of the covenant that comes through John for all who would heed the preaching of the gospel to repent, because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Of course, the covenant of Christ far superseded John's covenant, coming with it the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. John's covenant was temporary, making way for a more perfect one through Jesus Christ. In regards to baptism, it seems to me that you perceive the authority of the one who does the baptizing as being very important. I see it to be more important that the one being baptized has faith. One who has faith in baptism causes the miracle of the new birth as a result of faith being applied. However, if one is baptized and does not really have faith, but only mental assent, then he does not experience the new birth, even if the authority of the one baptizing him was from God. Does this properly characterize our differences about baptism from your perspective? David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
