Exposing the End-Time Apostasy: False Baptisms in the Christian Church. #7

Exposing the End-Time Apostasy: False Baptisms in the Christian Church. #7 Before we begin this chapter, let's take a few moments to pray, so that it is the Lord who gives all of us wisdom, discernment, and understanding, and who ensures that the word we receive today is not stolen by the unclean birds. May the word grow and bear fruit in each person's heart. […]

Before we begin this chapter, let's take a few moments to pray, so that it is the Lord who gives all of us wisdom, discernment, and understanding, and who ensures that the word we receive today is not stolen by the unclean birds. May the word grow and bear fruit in each person's heart.

Prayer.

Heavenly Father, we come before your presence in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for this opportunity you give us to share your word, for this opportunity to be gathered in your name seeking your presence. Your word says that where two or three are gathered in your name, there you are. So, Lord, we thank you for being in our midst.

Be the one, Lord, who gives us understanding and discernment, and who puts words in my mouth according to your will. And be the one, Lord, who causes those who read to receive this word, and who makes it grow, flourish, and take root in their hearts.

May your name be exalted, Lord, and glorified in our lives. We know, Lord, that by carnal understanding we cannot truly grasp spiritual things. That is why we come to you, Lord, with humility, asking you to give us wisdom, understanding, and revelation of your word.

Because we desire to know you, we desire to understand and know your perfect will, so that we may do it. Let your kingdom come into the life of each one of us, and let your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Also, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we bind every power of darkness that puts up hindrances, that blocks and tries to make it difficult for these teachings to be accessed online, for people to come in person to our church, or that, if they listen, they cannot understand.

Every demon that steals understanding and revelation, we bind it, in the name of Jesus. Let fire fall on every person listening to me, and even on their devices. And every power of darkness that seeks to disrupt those devices, to put up opposition and obstacles so that people cannot listen, let them all catch fire and burn, in the name of Jesus.

I cover the mind, the conscience, the heart, and the understanding of every person listening to this teaching with the blood of Jesus Christ. Let there be fire and light in each one of you, in the name of Jesus.

Every spiritual device being used to cause interference, let it catch fire and explode in the name of Jesus. Every power of darkness sent to hinder, to put obstacles in the way of what they are about to hear in this teaching, let the heart and the head of those powers of darkness explode in the name of Jesus Christ.

There is power in the name of Jesus. The gates of Hades will not prevail against the church of God. He who is with us is greater than he who is in the world.

False Baptisms in the Christian Church.

The subject of this chapter is an important one. It is very important, because we are in the great apostasy. And in this time there are many false doctrines.

It is no secret to any of us that our adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, and he disguises himself as an angel of light. In other words, he has a counterfeit for everything that is true. It is important to be baptized according to the commandment the Lord gave his disciples. But the devil creates a counterfeit, a false baptism. Why does he do this? To deceive. Because if someone is baptized falsely, the baptism is not real. Therefore, there is no salvation.

Some of the points we will be highlighting today, which I want you to pay attention to and keep in your hearts, are these: it is important to be baptized — it is a commandment of God. It is also possible to be baptized without being filled with the Holy Spirit. But it is also possible to be filled with the Holy Spirit without having been baptized in water.

I will also mention several types of false baptisms. There are various false baptisms practiced today. I will also highlight in what name everyone who was baptized in the Bible was baptized. And finally, it is important to be baptized again if you were baptized falsely. If you received a false baptism, it is not only necessary to be rebaptized — it is necessary even to repent, because a false baptism is a baptism into darkness.

1) Why we are baptized.

It is good to understand — and we must be careful about what we listen to — that the word of God is being fulfilled, or has been fulfilled, even in this area. The word says that in this time of apostasy there would be men who would deny even the Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you have the opportunity to speak honestly with people out there, you will realize that the devil truly has souls tightly bound, and that we are already in the end time. They truly deny even the Lord. This week I spoke with a young woman who supposedly believes she is saved, but she said that Kundalini and Jesus Christ are the same person.

She said she doesn't need to read the Bible to find God, because she can find God on her own. And this is a person who considers herself a Christian. But the devil has now infiltrated the church with teachings that mix occultism, supposedly, with Christianity.

It is a kind of New Age thinking. It's not that I can find God even in the forest — if I don't have a Bible, how can I think I'll be saved without one? "I don't read the Bible because I know God and I am a daughter of God." In other words: "I don't know Jesus Christ, and to be saved I don't need Jesus Christ." The word has been fulfilled. It says that in this time there will be those who deny even the Lord who saved us.

And obviously, if they deny Jesus Christ and say he isn't necessary, then how much more will they say that baptism isn't necessary? To enter the kingdom of God, according to them, you don't need to be baptized. But that is a lie.

Let's look at what the word of God says. The word tells us in Luke 3:16:

"John answered, saying to all, 'I indeed baptize you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.'"

But then the word says in John 3:5:

"Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.'"

Here the Lord is speaking to a man who was a teacher in the church, a leader — but he was of the church, not a disciple; he was one of the Pharisees. The Lord told him that whoever is not born of water and the Spirit cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. There are two important things we have to do. In order to be saved, we have to be baptized, and we also have to receive the Holy Spirit.

The word says in 1 Peter 3:21:

"There is also an antitype which now saves us — baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Here the word tells us more clearly why we are baptized. We are baptized not to wash the body, but for the cleansing of the soul.

Through baptism, the Lord cleanses our conscience. If the Lord cleanses us through baptism, we are already clean — our sins are washed away, we are spiritually cleansed, when we are baptized in faith, according to the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to his word. Mark also tells us very clearly, in Mark 16:16:

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved, and he who does not believe will be condemned." In other words, you must believe, and after believing, you are baptized. So when a person believes and is baptized, salvation comes — salvation is received. Why are we baptized? Out of obedience, because it is a command of the Lord, and through obedience in faith, we are saved. Baptism is necessary if we want to be saved.

We are living in very, very ugly times. There are people who worship themselves, who think they are gods — and it's not just one or two, in many areas, from baptism to doctrine. The more you grow firm in the faith and become a disciple, and the more you talk with people out there, the more you'll encounter every kind of person. Some of them will be your own family, who will argue with you and call you crazy because you quote what the Word of God says.

The devil now makes people invent a god according to their own lust, according to their own desires. In other words, the devil makes people invent a god that justifies the sin they live in. If they are fornicators, drunkards, homosexuals, liars, fruitless, if they live a life of rebellion against the Word of God — even if they don't know the Word of God — they say they are saved because they invent an excuse to justify their salvation.

But it is the devil who plants those excuses in their hearts, so that they have no fear of God, so that they do not repent, so that they don't understand that this is the narrow path that leads to salvation, and that if they don't turn from evil, they will be lost. So the devil gives them a false assurance of salvation.

2) Being baptized in water without being filled with the Holy Spirit.

In reality, the fullness of the Holy Spirit and baptism are two different events. It is possible to be baptized without being filled with the Holy Spirit.

3) Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit without being baptized in water.

For example, in Acts 8:16, the word says:

"For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

Here Philip preached in Samaria, and many believed — women and men believed, and they were baptized by Philip. Philip was filled with the Holy Spirit and power. He was an evangelist — to the point that, just by his preaching, demons, the word says, came out screaming from many people.

Even a sorcerer, upon seeing the spiritual authority with which Philip preached and how the demons came out, even that sorcerer believed — Simon the Magician. But then, the word says, when the apostles heard that Samaria had received the Lord Jesus, several of the apostles went so that the people would receive the Holy Spirit. Even though Philip, an evangelist filled with the Holy Spirit, prayed and preached, and many repented and had already been baptized, they had not received the Holy Spirit.

And that is why the word says in Acts 8:16:

"For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

Do you understand? They had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but they had not received the Holy Spirit.

But what happened? How did those who had been baptized by the evangelist Philip receive the Holy Spirit? The word says that when the apostles came to Samaria, they laid hands on them, and when the apostles laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. So much so that Simon offered the apostles money so they would give him that power, because he saw that Philip walked in power — he healed, he delivered, and the demons screamed — but he did not have the power to give people the Holy Spirit. When the apostles came and laid hands on the people, then they received the Holy Spirit. Simon wanted to offer them money too, to have that same power.

So it is possible to be baptized and not be filled with the Holy Spirit. And it is possible, without being baptized, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now let's look at another scripture, Acts 10:47:

"Then Peter answered, 'Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?'"

This is when the Lord sends Peter, and Peter preaches. And while Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit filled all who were listening. Here we see that with just one of the apostles preaching, those who listened attentively and believed in their hearts were filled with the Holy Spirit.

So Peter says, "Can anyone forbid the water for those who have already been filled with the Holy Spirit?" In other words, Peter was simply preaching to them, but while he preached, they were already filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, they were baptized. You see the contrast here: they had not yet been baptized in water, but they had already been filled with the Holy Spirit.

That's not what happened with Philip; Philip had preached to them, they had been baptized, and they had not received the Holy Spirit. Here we see something — it's a bit outside this topic, but at the same time related, because it's part of the apostasy. This is one reason apostles are rejected today, because supposedly apostles no longer exist.

Here we see two Scriptures where clearly, through the laying on of hands by the apostles, those who had not yet received the Holy Spirit received it, even though they had already received miracles and wonders through Philip, but not the Holy Spirit. Through the laying on of hands by the apostles, the Holy Spirit is given. We also see that, through the preaching of the apostles, people can be filled with the Holy Spirit.

This is one reason why most churches in apostasy say that apostles do not exist — but that is a lie of the devil speaking through them. Because if they reject us, they are rejecting the Holy Spirit. The word says, "He who rejects you rejects me," says the Lord; "he who rejects you, my disciples, my apostles, rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects the One who sent me." In other words, the devil makes many churches today, which are part of the apostasy, reject the apostles, saying they don't exist. But it is Satan speaking through them; it is a doctrine of demons, a way of being anti-Christ, a way of rejecting the opportunity to be truly saved, to be free, and — more importantly — to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

We also see in Acts 2:1-4, the word says:

"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Here, at Pentecost, many of them had already been baptized, but the point is that, baptized or not, they had not received the Holy Spirit. This was a different event; while they were all gathered together, the Holy Spirit came upon them. So we see that in many cases, people are baptized and are not filled with the Holy Spirit. The fullness of the Holy Spirit comes in a different event, a different moment.

4) The devil is a liar.

He seeks to deceive at any cost. He has a counterfeit for everything that is true. There is a true baptism and there is a false baptism. This is very important. The vast majority have received a false baptism, especially among Latinos. In this time, there are many sects and other churches that, through deception, perform baptisms that are theoretically correct in practice, but because of the deception — since the tree is bad — they are in apostasy. Unfortunately, there are also problems with baptism itself.

The truth is there is so much deception out there now that, if you start to search and dig deeper regarding the different denominations — of which there are more than 22,000 in the world today, according to Google — in most of them the baptism is similar, but if you dig deeper, you'll see that some perform rituals and things so strange that you have to see it to believe it, because they're bizarre.

Types of baptisms.

The most common false baptisms are the following:

Baptism in the Trinity: That is, the baptism performed in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is mistaken. It is incorrect. Many who do it this way are sincere, but they are sincerely wrong. We will see further ahead why this is a false baptism.

Baptism into death: There are churches, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, that baptize into death. There are other churches out there that do this too, but the Jehovah's Witnesses are the best known for it — they baptize into death. It is a completely false baptism. Death is the last enemy that will be destroyed.

Adventist rebaptism: Another mistaken, apostate, and false baptism practice. We will talk more about this further ahead.

Baptism by sprinkling: Some are baptized only by being sprinkled with water, like Catholics. They just pour a little water, and according to them they are already baptized. This baptism is not in accordance with the word of God; it is false. God is a God of order, and he is indeed jealous. To him obedience is very important — doing things the way he commands. That is very important.

Infant baptism: Many churches, including the Catholic Church, baptize infants. This baptism is false.

No baptism: There are doctrines out there, supposedly Christian, that claim you don't need to be baptized. Other churches believe in water baptism, but say that the baptism of the Holy Spirit doesn't exist, that it was only for back then. That is false. They also say that God no longer dwells in people. There are so many strange doctrines out there.

We clearly know that the Holy Spirit is received through the laying on of hands by the apostles, and also when the apostles preach. The word says that whoever is not born again of water and the Spirit cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. The word also says, "And you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." If we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we do not have the power of God.

As I mentioned some of the false baptisms, it's obvious there are many baptism doctrines out there — but according to the word of God, there is only one true baptism. The word says in Ephesians 4:5-6:

"One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

There is only one faith. There are not many faiths; there is one faith. There are not seven hundred different churches with different true faiths. There is one faith. There are not twenty-two thousand different doctrines in the Bible, even though there are twenty-two thousand denominations right now. There is one faith, one baptism, one God. There are not many gods. There are not many paths, as they claim out there.

The word says that the way that leads to salvation is narrow, and few find it. That narrow way is the Lord Jesus Christ. But to enter through that way, you must keep his word — not according to however you want to interpret it or live it, but according to how he commanded us to keep it. Because if anyone says he knows him and does not keep his word, that person is a liar.

Baptism in the Trinity.

Trinitarian baptism, or the baptism of those who are baptized in the name of the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), is justified mainly by Matthew 28:19-20 — that is used to justify that this is the correct baptism. This is how Catholics, Trinitarian Pentecostals, and many other denominations out there baptize, in the name of the Trinity.

In the love of Christ, I invite you to pay attention to the word of God as we read it, and also to read it for yourselves. You urgently need to repent of having received a false baptism, and you need to be baptized again in a true church, where you are truly a disciple of the Lord, if you truly want to enter through the narrow gate.

The word says in Matthew 28:19-20, which is the passage used to justify that baptism:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen."

Here the Lord says: "go and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

If we interpret it literally, it makes sense to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But if you pay attention to the teaching we already covered previously (chapter 6 of this series), Jesus Christ is the Father, he is the Son, and he is the Holy Spirit. The whole fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, once again, is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when he says "be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," he is saying "be baptized in my name" — that is, be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whoever is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But whoever is baptized in the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit doesn't know in whose name they are being baptized.

For example, you have a body, a soul, and a spirit. And say I want to give you a gift of 100 dollars, so I say: "Deposit those 100 dollars in the name of the body, the soul, and the spirit of so-and-so," but I don't mention your name. I just say: "These 100 dollars are for the body, the soul, and the spirit." Who am I referring to? There are 8 billion people, and we all have a body, a soul, and a spirit — with the exception of a handful who are already hybrids and who have no soul, only spirit and body. But the vast majority of us who are human have a body, a soul, and a spirit.

Going back to the example: if I say, "Deposit it to the body, the soul, and the spirit," who is that for? Now, if your name is Patricia Mariela, and I say, "Deposit those 100 dollars to Patricia Mariela," with the last name, then it's clear who I mean.

If we want to be baptized to be saved, there is only one narrow gate that leads to salvation; it is Jesus Christ. Baptism is for salvation. If Jesus Christ is the narrow gate, then only in the name of Jesus Christ can we be saved — the word of God says this clearly. If we are being baptized for salvation, we have to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. If we are baptized for salvation, the baptism has to be in the name of Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the narrow gate. Baptism has to be in the name of Jesus Christ.

Once again, the word says: "Be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." But as I shared with you earlier in chapter 6: Jesus Christ is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The whole fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Jesus Christ. Just as we are a trinity — we have a body, a soul, and a spirit — but we are one single person.

I have a body, a soul, and a spirit, but I am Francisco Gómez. You have a body, a soul, and a spirit, and you are you — your own name. So Jesus Christ: he is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, because he is one. There is one God, not two gods, not three gods — there is one God. Jesus Christ is God.

Baptism into death

Another of the false baptisms is baptism into death. Some churches baptize into death. The word tells us clearly that death will be the last enemy to be destroyed.

It is completely wrong to be baptized into death. That is not something that happens today. Even going back to antiquity, some of the verses used to justify this practice of baptizing into death, like 1 Corinthians 15:29, say:

"Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?"

Obviously, Paul is using this passage here to explain something, but Satan, who is a liar, causes the situation to be twisted; people misinterpret it and assume it is commanding baptism on behalf of the dead.

There are churches, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, that baptize into death. Another practice of some churches is to be baptized in the name of someone who has already died. For example, if a family member died, they supposedly baptize themselves in that name, and that is completely wrong.

A bit further ahead we will see the last point of this teaching, where we'll see in what name those who were baptized in the Bible were baptized. But also, from the scriptures we have already read, we know that baptism is in the name of Jesus Christ.

Baptism into death is completely wrong; it is a blasphemy of the devil, because it is a lie. Jesus Christ is the way, he is the narrow gate, there is one mediator between God and men, and that is Jesus Christ. As we have read, baptism is for salvation. If salvation is only through Jesus Christ, and baptism is for salvation, then baptism has to be in the name of Jesus Christ, which is the only name in which we can be saved. There is no other name by which we can be saved. Only in the name of Jesus Christ is there salvation.

Adventist rebaptism

There is another false-baptism doctrine, which is rebaptism. I say this in quotation marks, because there is a way in which it is indeed correct to be rebaptized, but the way in which they practice rebaptism here is incorrect. At the end I'll also talk about the way in which rebaptism is correct.

They use a passage to justify rebaptizing. This practice is primarily used by one church in particular: the Adventist Church. They use the passage in Acts 19:1-7 to justify baptizing members of their church repeatedly.

I have known people from the Adventist Church who have been baptized four times in that church. For example, if they go and fornicate, and go back into the world and commit sins, they come to church and get baptized again. It is wrong to be baptized this way.

The word does not command us to be baptized five times every time we sin. In reality, they do it as if it were supposedly a way to repent. Certainly, if we sin, we have to repent.

In fact, as I've said before, even if we believe we haven't sinned, it's still good practice to ask for forgiveness and say: "Lord, forgive us for all the sins we may commit unknowingly, in ignorance." I often tell people it's better for us to be like the tax collector, because in the temple there was a Pharisee and a tax collector, the word says. The Pharisee looked at the tax collector as he approached.

The tax collector didn't even want to go into the temple. He stayed outside, because he said: "Lord, I am a sinner. I am not worthy to be in your presence."

He didn't want to go into the temple, and he was repentant. But the Pharisee prayed with himself. The word says: "How good that I am not like that man. How good that I do this, that I do that, that I do the other." The word says: "Truly I tell you, the tax collector who repented and acknowledged his sin, who acknowledged that he was a sinful man, was going to be justified far more easily than the one who was in the temple and thought himself perfect."

So it is better for us to learn from the tax collector. It is better that, like him, we beat our chest and say: "Lord, I am not worthy of your presence. I am a sinful man." And the women, "I am not worthy of your presence, Lord. I am a sinful woman." If we are like the tax collector, we have a better chance of being justified.

Whoever thinks himself perfect, and has nothing to repent of, may suddenly end up being rejected by God, unlike the tax collector. Here the word says, in Acts 19:1-7, where the apostle Paul recommends that a group of believers who had previously received John's baptism — which was a baptism of repentance — be baptized again. In Acts 19:4-6, Paul said:

"Then Paul said, 'John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.' When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied."

So here the Adventist Church uses this scripture to justify being baptized more than once. Indeed, this scripture does justify being baptized more than once — but not in the way they interpret it. The reason Paul and those who heard his preaching felt the urgency to be baptized again is that when they heard Paul, they didn't even know about Jesus Christ yet. They had first been baptized with John's baptism, which was not a false baptism, but a baptism unto repentance, because after John came the Lord.

So John's baptism was for repentance, but Jesus Christ's baptism is for salvation. The baptism they had received was correct — it wasn't wrong, as happens in many cases today — but it was incomplete.

These men that Paul preached to hadn't even heard about the Holy Spirit. They didn't yet know the Lord Jesus Christ, they hadn't heard the teaching, and they didn't even know that the Holy Spirit existed. So when Paul preached to them, they realized that what they had received was true, but incomplete — that their gospel wasn't complete, that there was more.

When they heard Paul, and Paul preached to them that they had to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they felt the urgency and were baptized again. They had already been baptized by John, but they were baptized again, now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they also received the Holy Spirit. In that context, it is correct to be baptized again if, for example, you were baptized in the Jehovah's Witnesses church, baptized into death.

Now, if you read a teaching like this one and come to believe that doctrine was wrong, that it was mistaken, and you have the conviction that your baptism was incorrect, and that the church is a cult and is in apostasy — then yes, it is correct to be baptized again in a church where you truly become a disciple of the Lord. In that context, rebaptism is correct.

But in the case of the Adventists, who are baptized in the Adventist Church, and the following month, after committing sins, go back and get baptized again, and then again — that is incorrect. It's a false doctrine, an incorrect way of leading people to repentance. They do it with the idea of leading the person to repentance, but that isn't the correct way.

If there is a life of sin, if there is a vicious cycle where a person goes up and down, up and down, there are demonic chains at work. For there to be true stability, they first need to hear the truth and repent from the heart of the sin. And ideally, someone anointed by God should minister deliverance to break those chains, whether they be addiction, fornication, adultery, or whatever is causing the person to fall. When the chains are broken and the person is repentant in their heart, then they will stand firm.

But if they are simply baptized again without breaking those chains, those chains will remain. Those chains are broken by the power of the Holy Spirit — through prayer, through fasting, with a contrite heart, with repentance. When there is a conviction that the wages of sin is death, it is easier to receive the Lord's help, his strength, and to have a genuine desire to resist temptation.

Baptism by sprinkling

Another false baptism is the baptism done by sprinkling with water, as Catholics do.

There are different types of baptism, but there are churches that do not submerge the person in water — they only sprinkle them with water. This is incorrect, because it does not conform to how the Lord Jesus Christ himself was baptized, and it is not how he commands us to do it. The Lord Jesus Christ is a God of order; he is a jealous God.

Above all things, he seeks obedience. If we do something — whatever it may be — and we do it in disobedience, he does not accept it. Many go wrong, for example, with the account of the Lord telling a blind man to wash his face after putting mud on his eyes, or when Elisha told Naaman to dip himself seven times in the river to be healed of leprosy.

People attribute the power to the act of bathing in the river or to the mud. But it wasn't the mud that healed, nor the river that healed the leper. What healed the leper was his obedience to the command of God's prophet. God seeks obedience.

The power to heal comes from God. It is the Lord who does these things. But what he wants from us is obedience. Salvation comes from God, but it arrives through obedience.

The Lord wants obedience — that we do things as he commands, not as we think best. If God tells us to submerge ourselves in water, we cannot decide that we only want a few drops sprinkled on us and consider ourselves baptized. No — the Lord does not accept that. The Lord wants obedience from our hearts. He wants us to do things as he commands, not as we please.

There is much more behind baptism. It is something far deeper. In Matthew 3:13-16, the word says:

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?' But Jesus answered and said to him, 'Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him."

The Lord was baptized in the Jordan. What is the Jordan? It is a river. The Lord was submerged in water, in the river.

In another scripture, we see that John baptized many people in the Jordan. He did not use a little pitcher to pour water on them — people went to the river where John was, and he submerged them.

In John 3:23, it is mentioned that John was also baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was much water there, and people came and were baptized. This shows that people went to where there was abundant water — to rivers — and were baptized there by John.

In Acts 8:38, we find the account of the eunuch's baptism. It says:

"So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him."

Here it speaks of an Ethiopian eunuch who was found by Philip, who had been carried there by the Spirit from Samaria. Philip shared the word with the eunuch, who believed in Jesus Christ. When they saw a body of water, the eunuch asked, "What hinders me from being baptized?" and Philip told him that nothing would hinder him if he believed with all his heart. Philip had barely shared the word with the eunuch, but the eunuch believed — then they saw water, and Philip baptized him in it.

Different scriptures show that baptism was carried out in rivers. There are churches that say: "No, baptism in a river is false!" But in the word of God, we see that even the Lord was baptized in a river. John the Baptist clearly baptized in the river.

So there are many false doctrines out there, but all that's required so that no one can trip us up with deception is simply to study the word of God. In the word of God, baptism is clear: the baptisms were in the river. Therefore, whoever says it is incorrect to be baptized in a river is mistaken, or their church is mistaken. Because if Jesus Christ was baptized in the river, John the Baptist baptized in the river, and the eunuch was baptized in the river by Philip — these biblical references make it clear that baptism in a river, submerged in the water, is correct.

Infant baptism

Another incorrect practice is the baptism of infants. Many churches baptize newborns — babies one, two, or three months old. But why is infant baptism incorrect? Because baptism is for salvation, but it must be preceded by repentance.

If there is no repentance, there is no salvation. A newborn baby cannot repent, because it does not understand what sin is. For there to be salvation, and for baptism to be valid, it must be performed on an adult or someone of age who has enough understanding to grasp what sin is, why God hates sin, and its consequences. If the person already has the capacity to understand the consequences of sin, and upon hearing the word repents, saying: "Lord, forgive me because I have sinned against you, but I don't want to do it anymore. I understand that if I sin it separates me from you, that sin is a barrier between you and me, but I want to be with you" — if the person has the understanding to repent of sin, then that person can indeed be baptized.

We see in the word that when the apostles preached, saying: "Repent, each of you, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 2:38). The first step before baptism must be repentance. If there is no repentance, it doesn't matter who is baptized — be it the neighbor, the uncle, the cousin, the mother, or the father — if they were baptized without repentance, then that baptism is false. For baptism to be genuine and to bear the desired fruit, for there to be a regeneration of the soul, it must be preceded by repentance. This applies to anyone who is baptized without repentance; that baptism has no validity.

The Lord did say, "let the little children come to me," and he blessed them, because to enter the kingdom of heaven we must be like them. The Lord laid hands on the children and blessed them. It is necessary, and a commandment of God, to pray for children and raise them in the way of God — but baptizing them without their having the capacity to understand and repent is incorrect.

I heard a story about an adult, around 40 years old, who didn't know whether he had been baptized, and said he'd have to ask his mother, because he wasn't sure. In other words, he was probably baptized as a baby, but he doesn't even know for certain. Salvation does not come through your mother — it is for each individual. The Lord says: "The soul who sins shall die." Certainly, a mother can be an influence toward our salvation and guide us along God's path, but even if she repented and was baptized, that doesn't change the fact that a person can still be lost.

No baptism

Another false doctrine regarding baptism is no baptism at all. We are in a massive apostasy. In these times, if you talk with many people out there, you'll find all kinds of people, and they'll argue with you. Some will tell you: "You don't need to be baptized. I'm already saved. God is good. And if I believe in God, I'm already saved, I'm already safe — I don't have to read the Bible."

At one point I met someone like this, supposedly a Christian. She said she didn't need to seek God in the word of God, that she could find God in the forest, in the countryside — and there are so many doctrines like this. Many doctrines claim there's no more need to repent, or no more need to be baptized — you'll find every kind of thing out there. But every doctrine, regardless of what they add to it or dress it up with, if it says "no baptism," that it isn't necessary — they are lying.

The word clearly says that we must repent and that baptism is for salvation, and that no one can enter the kingdom of heaven unless they are born of water and the Spirit. The word clearly says, in many scriptures, that baptism is important, that it is necessary, that it is a commandment of God. There is one exception many use — the passage about one of the criminals who was crucified alongside the Lord, to whom the Lord said: "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." And they use that to justify that baptism isn't necessary.

Certainly, it is possible to be saved, by the mercy of God, without baptism. But in a case like that one — a thief who, in the very last moment of his life, repented and believed in the true one — he no longer had the opportunity to be baptized. He wasn't baptized, not because he didn't believe, because he did believe in the Lord. If he had been down there and the Lord tells him, "You have believed in me" — but if that man, having believed as he did, had had the opportunity, had he not already been at the point of death, I am certain he would have been baptized.

Only if there is no other alternative — because it's the very last minute, as in that case — or there's a legitimate reason why there is no true pastor of God nearby, since there are so many false churches around, and someone, knowing the truth, doesn't want to go be baptized into death or into a false church — those are among the few justifications for not being baptized and still receiving mercy before God. But if it's simply because of false doctrine, saying: "I don't have to be baptized, because I'm already saved" — yet there's a true church nearby and we don't do it — that is a soul whose destination is uncertain. The Word clearly commands that we be baptized, and it even tells us how to do it.

In the case of the Trinitarians, the confusion comes because the Word says: "baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Very importantly, I am not a Unitarian either. In an earlier chapter, we read about why both doctrines — Trinitarian and Unitarian — are mistaken. Because indeed, God is one, but he is a trinity. He is composed of three parts, and they are not three persons, as many claim. Trinitarians claim there are three different persons — practically three gods, and not one God. I won't go into much more detail here, since in the teaching of chapter 6, I clearly explained why both doctrines are mistaken.

God is a trinity, but he is one. He is composed of three parts, but he is one God. Just as we are composed of three parts, but we are one single person. We have a body, a soul, and a spirit, but we are one person — not three gods, we are not three persons. I don't have three IDs, three identifications, or three passports. I have one single passport.

The whole fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Jesus Christ, says the Word of God. But if we read through the Word of God, in what name were people baptized? I will only read a few verses, but if you search the entire Word of God, you'll see in what name everyone in the Bible was baptized — with the exception of John's baptism. In what name were they all baptized?

Let's look at Galatians 3:26-27:

"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

Those who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. It clearly says here that those who were baptized into Christ — who is Christ? Jesus Christ.

In Acts 22:16, this word was for Paul. Paul had scales fall from his eyes after his encounter with the Lord. When the disciple went and laid hands on him, the scales fell. And the disciple said to Paul: "And now what are you waiting for? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name." Which name? The name of Jesus Christ. Paul was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul, who was used to write 15 books of the Bible, was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

We also read in Romans 6:3:

"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?"

All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus. If you look at every single one of these passages, with the exception of the one they use for baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, every single one clearly indicates that we were baptized in the name of Christ Jesus, in the name of Jesus Christ. Because everyone was baptized this way — Paul was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

In Acts 2:36-38, it says:

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

Here the procedure for baptism is clearly described. Repent — what I just said. First, for baptism to be genuine, there must be repentance.

If a person has no conviction of sin, even if they are baptized, that person keeps sinning, because there is no conviction of sin, and no true new birth has taken place. For repentance to bear fruit, for baptism to bring the fruits of renewal, of restoration, of a new birth, there must be repentance. But then it says here, repent and be baptized, each one — in what name? In the name of the Trinity? No — in the name of Jesus Christ.

I understand this passage is confusing for many, especially when someone grew up in a church, or was formed in a church, that says: "We hold to sound doctrine, and baptism must be in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — and if you're not baptized that way, it's false."

It's difficult, because behind that — as you can clearly see in the videos where I minister to people live — unclean spirits manifest. There are powers of darkness that enter and now control the mind, creating a diabolical stronghold that makes it very difficult to think or understand.

That's what happens, for example, with Catholics, or with any false religion. For example, if you tell them: "Idols are not from God," they'll respond: "But I have to have Saint Michael, Saint Peter, whoever else, and the Virgin." Even if you explain what the word says, and lay out all the scriptures explaining why, they can't understand you. It's like talking to a rock, and they'll get angry with you.

We don't want them to remain in sin, because we love them and we don't want their souls to be lost. But they get angry with you, since they can't understand you. Because what's happening is that behind those idols there are demonic powers binding their minds. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. For them to be able to understand, we first have to overcome, we have to tear down those demons that have their minds bound.

But that happens in false churches too, even ones that aren't Catholic. It happens in every church. In the case of the Mormons, they baptize into death. But even if you tell them: "Look, the word says you have to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ," they'll say: "No, no, no. Moroni told us we have to be baptized into death." They're like zombies, unable to understand you. But what makes them angry is a diabolical stronghold.

That is why in this church we pray a great deal — we pray hard and we're waging a real war against those mental demons. If we truly want salvation for our loved ones, if we want salvation in our community, then we first have to fight in the spirit. Those demons holding the mind in chains have to be released, they have to be destroyed. Then, once the mind is freed, they can finally listen to us.

What do I mean by this? Humility. God gives grace to the humble. If we are not humble, we can fall into error, just like what I just mentioned about Catholics, or the Jehovah's Witnesses, or the Pharisees in the Bible, whom the Lord Jesus Christ himself came to and preached to. And they said: "No, we are children of Abraham. We are not children of fornication — we're practically already saved."

We need humility, because God gives grace to the humble. We could be wrong, couldn't we? And just as I mentioned that the devil creates diabolical strongholds, that even if you explain things in the simplest possible way, people can't understand them — what if we ourselves are one of those people? What if the devil managed to build a stronghold in our own minds, has a certain area of it blocked, so that even if someone comes and preaches the truth to us in love, we simply cannot understand it? That is the problem that causes many souls to be lost. That's why so many get angry — specifically those who are most clearly living in sin.

There are people who believe in Buddha, and if you preach the word to them, they reject you and get angry. But they lack humility — they act that way because they are under that diabolical influence. Buddha represents a demon. Behind every idol, every deception, there is a demon operating through it. Those who are part of the church, and who often come into the private prayer room — do you know what I'm talking about? Because they see every day how that kind of demon manifests, deceiving people and keeping their minds blocked. And it's not until those demons are cast out that people wake up. They say: "Wow, now I see everything differently, Pastor. Now I really understand, Pastor."

Those demons had their minds blocked. But if there is humility, even if someone doesn't understand, they can say: "Lord, have mercy on me. If I am deceived, if there is some mental block, something keeping me from understanding this word, from understanding what the Pastor is telling me, Lord, have mercy on me."

If we are humble, God gives grace to the humble. He helps us. Even without deliverance, if we are humble, the Lord helps us so that, even though those demons are still out there, they can no longer block the mind so completely. But when someone hardens their heart, and already believes they know it all, that's when there's a problem. In that situation, a person is practically helping the enemy build a barrier that resists the Holy Spirit.

And finally, to conclude this teaching — in cases like this, it is indeed correct to be baptized again. I mentioned some of the most common types of false baptism, though not all of them. I tell you, we are in the end time, and if you go digging, out there you'll find so many strange baptisms that you'll be amazed.

But if you were baptized as an infant and don't even know when you were baptized, or if you were baptized in the past in what appeared to be the correct way, but there was no repentance, and no one ever preached to you that the wages of sin is death…

For example, someone I recently ministered to — a transvestite. He wanted to be healed of certain things, but he didn't think being a transvestite was a sin, and he considered himself a Christian. He was a worshiper — he sang, he worshiped — while living as a transvestite. And when I preached to him, and when I talked with him, he was confused. He thought that even if a person had been baptized in a supposedly true church — and I say "supposedly," because I don't know how they could baptize someone without repentance — but supposing he had indeed been correctly baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, but without repentance, since he still didn't know or understand, because no one had ever taken the time to clearly tell him that homosexuality, being a transvestite, that effeminate men, or men who lie with other men, will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

If no one clearly preached the word to him, and he never understood it, then even if he was baptized, that baptism is false. Why is it false? Because there was no repentance — no one preached to him the consequence of sin, so he never repented, and without repentance there is no salvation.

So if people were baptized incorrectly, because they were not preached to correctly, or they didn't understand many things, or the church preaches to them a watered-down gospel, saying: "No, just come to church and say: 'I receive you, Lord.' And then go fornicate, commit adultery, lie, steal. You're already saved, you've already received the Lord."

Practically, in some churches, that is the gospel they preach: that if you come to church and you tithe, it doesn't matter what you do — go and do whatever you want. And that is not reality; we know very well that reality is found in the word of God. What the Lord says, that is what it is — as simple as that.

Now, we don't overcome sin by our own strength; if we try to overcome sin through our own effort, that's a kind of legalism, and in reality it's also impossible to do that way. Only through the Lord — when there is a true new birth, when we are led by his Holy Spirit — does doing what pleases God stop being a barrier, stop being tedious, stop being an effort. It becomes something that is truly in our hearts, something we now want to do. When we truly have that encounter with the Lord, and the Lord sets us free and breaks those chains, what we used to love, we now hate. It's no longer an effort, no longer something you force yourself to do — it's simply what you do, because it's what you want to do.

So, as in this case, in Acts 19:4-6, where Paul baptized again those who had been baptized by John, he did so because their baptism was incomplete. For example, if you were baptized as an infant, if you were baptized into death…

I was baptized in the Catholic Church, so I had to be baptized again. You have to repent of that baptism — if you were baptized in the name of the Trinity, the baptism for salvation has to be in the name of Jesus Christ. That is a genuine justification for being baptized again.

If we understand this teaching, and the ones we've already covered, we'll realize that the tree is bad — that is, that the church where you first came to know the Lord was in apostasy. If the tree is bad, the fruit is bad. If the Lord already gives you the conviction in your heart that the church you believed held the truth, where you supposedly came to know the Lord, was actually in apostasy — that it was not truly made up of disciples of God, even though they spoke of the Word like every other church…

All Christian churches speak the Word — Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, and so on. They all use the Bible, even though some have made certain changes to it, but they still use the Bible. Most of the words are the same. But if you realize that the church is wrong, that it is truly a cult, that they are not true disciples of God, that their doctrine is mistaken — then that is a genuine justification to be baptized again.

Only when there is conviction of sin, only when there is conviction that the previous church or the previous baptism was mistaken, was incomplete, only then can you be baptized again.

This is the word I had to share with you. Now let's take a moment and pray. Let's rebuke, because our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

And as I mentioned, behind even false baptisms there are powers of darkness. Those powers put spiritual chains in place through that baptism; they put up barriers that block a person from understanding, from grasping it when someone preaches to them. That is the reason, once again, why so many of our loved ones — even when we preach to them, even when we speak as clearly and simply as we can, even when we explain the sins they're committing — cannot understand us.

Let's rebuke those spirits, because they are demons. So I invite everyone reading this: please stand up, and let's pray.

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Pastor Francisco Gomez

Thank you for reading our posts. It is our greatest desire that you be edified and blessed. We greet you in the name of our whole congregation, Jesus King of Kings.

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