That Was Then, This
Is Now!
“Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:1-12)
Today’s Morsel: One of the
things that we often see in the gospels is the encounters that Jesus had with
the religious leaders of His day upon earth. Because the religious
leaders did not understand who Jesus was, they rejected him and desired to kill
him. The religious leaders would often quote from the law by saying,
Moses wrote… And Jesus would say, that was then, but now I say… They
wanted to hold to the law of the sabbath, but Jesus told them that he was the
Lord of the sabbath. He is the Lord of the rest. When it comes to
salvation, some folks like to go back to the old law with the sprinkling of
water and blood, as Moses did when he dedicated the Tabernacle in the
wilderness. But that was then. Now Jesus says, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall
be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents;
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay
hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)
Baptism is not a sprinkling, it is an immersion. Peter wrote, “Which
sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the
days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls
were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save
us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter
3:20-21) Sprinkling was then, immersion is now. Paul said that we
are buried with Christ by baptism. You see no one in the New Testament
being sprinkled for their baptism, they are all immersed in water in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
Sing: Born again there has been a change in
me. Born again just like Jesus said. Born again and all because of
Calvary; I’m so glad that I’ve been born again.
Thought For Today: God is doing a new
thing.
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