Spiritual battles are fought on the turf of the human mind. It is not about identifying territorial demons or binding demons or rebuking demons. So are we battling the forces of darkness? Yes, because our ultimate battle is “not against flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12), but no, because we are not called in Scripture to go toe-to-toe engaging in hand-to-hand combat with demonic forces. The war is over the control of human minds. Our aim is to liberate people from demonic strongholds. We are to free the prisoners of war. Our call is to convert not demons, but people. The arena therefore is not mystical, but intellectual. Therefore, according to 2 Corinthians 10:5, we “destroy [intellectual things] raised up against the knowledge of God.” How? We do it with the Word of God. We combat the error that has already been sown in people’s minds with truth. We, verse 5, “are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” This shows that the primary problem is that people have a wrong understanding of Christ.
Randy Smith

Covenant Signs Circumcision A

Covenant Signs Circumcision A Covenant Signs: Circumcision & Baptism by Michael Schiffman

. The symbol of baptism points to that which the community sees as saving, to the sacrificial death of the Messiah. This sacrament is not presented in scripture as saving, but they point to what does save. In I Cor. 1:14-17, Saul teaches that Baptism is not the priority of his ministry, but rather the preaching of the gospel of the atoning death of the Messiah.

. In I Cor. 10:1-12, Saul draws an analogy between the people in the exodus who passed through the waters of the Red Sea but dropped dead in the wilderness, and baptism. His teaching is that sacraments do not save. They only direct people to a greater spiritual reality and believers must partake of the reality to which the sacrament points. This was the understanding of Augustine.

. “If a member is cut off from the body it may still be recognized for what it is, finger, hand, arm, ear. Apart from the body, it has form, but no life. It is the same with a man who is separated from the church. You ask him about the sacrament? You find it there. Baptism? You find it. The creed? You find it. But it is only the form. Unless you live inwardly by the Spirit, it is vain to boast outwardly about the form.” (Sermon 268)

. Messianic believers understand baptism as symbolic of the work of the Messiah, pointing to His death, burial and resurrection, and our being united with Him.

. “We believe that water baptism is based on Jewish ritual immersion but under the New Covenant it symbolizes the work of the Messiah (Rom 6:3-6). The Lord’s supper is based on the Passover Seder and is a memorial of the Messiah’s death until He returns. They are ceremonies of the New Covenant which the Messiah commanded His body to observe.” (Matthew 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:24-26)

. Because baptism is, in one sense, an entrance ritual into the community of faith, some have understood it as a Christian counterpart to circumcision. They understand baptism as analogous to circumcision as the sign of faith, based upon Colossians 2:11-15, and since circumcision is practiced on children, they baptize children. Against this view is the absence of any direct reference to infant baptism. Messianic Jews do not practice infant baptism, nor is baptism seen as analogous to circumcision, in regards to a rite for children. Messianic Jews practice the rite of circumcision on their male offspring, because of the Abrahamic covenant, which preceded the Law of Moses. Circumcision is a birthright of Messianic Jews.

. “My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people. He has broken My covenant.” (Gen. 17:13b-14)

. Baptism is understood to be a powerful symbol of the death and burial of the old person in the Messiah, and going forth in newness of life. It is a sign of the grace of God. Circumcision is a sign of being a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are two different things. They are analogous in that circumcision takes place following birth (on the eighth day). Baptism is practiced following the new birth, both being signs of the covenants they represent. They differ in two main respects: first, circumcision is only for men, while baptism is for all believers. Secondly, it is possible to be a participant in the New Covenant without being baptized, since it is not necessary to salvation, but it is impossible for a man to be a participant in the Abrahamic covenant without circumcision (Gen.17:14). They are different covenants with different meanings. Because this analogy can not be properly made, this calls the concept of infant baptism into question as least on the basis of the circumcision analogy. (It can be seen as a Christian circumcision, but not a replacement of believer’s baptism).

. What do you the reader think? Are you ready to “plunge” into a discussion of this topic?

Computers for Christ – Chicago