The Triune Man
The above illustration is a visual depiction of the three components that make up a person. We are made in the image and likeness of God. This means that just as God is a three-in-one being, so are we. All humans consist of a physical body that houses a soul and a spirit.Our body is the connection we have with the physical world we live in. Our body communicates with this world through our five senses.
Our soul is the connection we make emotionally and intellectually. Our soul is also called our heart in the Bible.
Our spirit is the connection we have with God. It is the primary way we communicate with Him. When we are born into this world, our spirit is dead to God. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, we receive a new spirit that is alive to God and able to communicate with Him.
God has provided a way for us to be fully restored to Him through the complete born- again experience, and in this booklet we will explore how this happens, and how important water baptism is in this process.
Introduction: Born Again
Water baptism is the second key given to us to enter a new life in the Kingdom of God. We learned about being born of the Spirit at salvation; in water baptism we are born of the water. By taking these two keys and using them we are born again.
Acts 2:38 KJV Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
How Are We Born Again?
John 3:1-5 KJV There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 4. Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus defines being born again as requiring baptism both in water and the Spirit.
He is saying that you cannot perceive what the Kingdom of God really is or enter into it unless you are born of the Spirit, which happens at salvation, and born of the water, which happens in water baptism.
What is the definition of the word baptize? It is important to note the meaning of this word because it gives a clearer understanding of the process and the function of water baptism. The following definitions show that water baptism is full immersion in water.
- Strong’s Concordance: to immerse, submerge; to make overwhelmed (i.e. fully wet)
- Thayer’s Concordance: to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water; metaphorically, to overwhelm
The Scriptures support this in their description of actual baptisms.
∙ Mark 1:9, 10 NASB In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him . . .
∙ Acts 8:38, 39 NASB And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.
What is Water Baptism?
Water baptism is not just an outward show of an inward work. It is an experience that has real functions. There is an operation that God does and you are changed, really changed, in your soul, and ultimately in your body. This occurs through your faith in the operation of God.
∙ Col 2:12 NKJV buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
What are the Four Functions of Water Baptism?
There are four functions of water baptism. Understanding these basic truths does not limit further revelation, but understanding them is vital to an overcoming walk as a Christian. If you were baptized before and any of these truths are new to you, you can partake of them. Being baptized again, after learning more about water baptism, is supported in the Word of God.
Acts 19:1-5 NASB It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism." 4 Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Function #1: Burial into His death
By appropriating for ourselves the sacrifice of Christ, the body of the sins of our flesh is left in the waters of baptism. Our old man, the person we were before we received Christ, is dead. We are putting him and the influence of the world system into the waters of baptism (which is symbolic of the grave) and burying them both. The old man will no longer have power over us because he is dead. Water baptism is a complete separation between our past and us.
∙ Col.3:3 NKJV For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
We are dead to sin. By accepting the sacrifice of Christ and identifying with his death, burial and resurrection, we come out of the waters of baptism into a new life. We are born again, just like when the waters break in a mother’s womb and a new little baby is born.
Death is the result of sin. We can choose to die and go to hell, or we can believe in Jesus, be baptized, and rise to walk in newness of life.
∙ Rom 6:3-4 NASB Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
∙ Col 2:10-12 KJV And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Function #2: Cutting covenant with our God by the circumcision of the heart and receiving a new mind/heart
Water baptism is a covenant with God. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a covenant is an agreement made between two parties for mutual benefit. It is a binding agreement, a compact. In the law, it is a formal, sealed agreement or contract.
The sign of the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants is physical male circumcision. The sign of the new covenant in Christ Jesus is also circumcision, but it is spiritual. It is a circumcision made without hands, an operation that God performs when the body of the sins of the flesh is cut away in the waters of baptism.
∙ Col.2:11-12 NKJV In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
∙ Gen 17:9-11 NASB God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10"This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 "And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.”
∙ Deut 30:6 NASB Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
∙ Ez 36:26-28 NASB I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Our mind, which is our soul, receives the Word of God by communicating with our new spirit. In the Bible, heart usually refers to the mind or soul. The human heart is sin sick before we are born again; it is at war with God. It must be cut away and replaced with a new heart of flesh that is tender towards God and able to receive His Word. This is the circumcision made without hands and is the seal of the new covenant.
∙ Heb 8:10 KJV For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, And on their heart also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people.
The writer of Hebrews is referring to the word of Jeremiah, the prophet, hundreds of years before as he spoke of God’s promise of a new covenant.
∙ God gives us a new heart, a new mind, which is the mind of Christ!
Jer.31:31-33 NKJV Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
∙ 1 Cor 2:16 NASB But we have the mind of Christ.
Function #3: Receiving the family name of God, the Lord Jesus Christ
We are baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ.
∙ Matt 28:19 NASB "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit . . .”
∙ Acts 2:38 NKJV 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 . . .”
When a baby is born into a family, he receives the family name and becomes an heir. Likewise when a woman marries, she takes on the name of her husband and the right to his property. We are born into God’s family (John 3:3), and we are also called Christ’s bride. (2 Cor 11:2)
∙ John 3:3 NKJV Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
∙ 2 Cor 11:2 NKJV For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Just as our names represent who we are and our family connection, so does the name “Lord Jesus Christ” represent who God is, His person and all He is. And His name represents all He possesses, including His power and authority. So when you are baptized in His name, you become a part of His family; you take on that name and all it represents! You have all the rights and privileges of a son or daughter.
Function #4: Resurrection into newness of life
When we are water baptized we accept Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as our own. We are completely identified with Him and come out of the waters of baptism a new person.
∙ We enter into Christ’s death when we accept Him as Lord and Savior.
∙ We enter into His burial when the old person we used to be is laid to rest in the waters of baptism.
∙ We arise out of the waters of baptism into a new life, partakers of His resurrection and His divine nature, living in the same relationship as a son that Jesus has with the Father.
∙ 2 Peter 1:4 NKJV by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
The Bible makes clear that we are raised by the power of God into a new life. Not only that, but we are given the power to walk in the new life we have been given.
∙ Col 2:12 NIV . . . having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
∙ Rom 6:4-5 NASB Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
∙ John 11:25 KJV Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
What is Born Again?
When you are born of the Spirit at salvation and born of the water in water baptism you are born again. When you accept Jesus Christ’s offer to be freed from sin, He does that for you and His life is conceived in you. He gives you a new spirit. When you come up out of the waters of baptism, you are a newborn baby, just as when a mother’s water breaks and a baby is born at a natural birth. The new life that was conceived in you at salvation now comes forth. Rising out of the water you are a new son or daughter of God.
Although just a baby, dependent on the Body of Christ for care and feeding in spiritual things, you are a child of God with the fullness of the Godhead within you. You are born again. And as a child of God you have the capacity to grow up into the image of your Father, into the fullness of the stature of Christ who is the first of many sons. You can enjoy the satisfaction of relationship with your Father and the family of God.
When you come to Christ and give your life completely to Him, you accept His death, burial and resurrection as your own. The life you are born into is a life you have never known before because you are now in God’s Kingdom. Through the new birth He has given you what you need to live in His Kingdom and enjoy life with Him forever.
What does it mean to Walk in the Newness of Life?
Being born again makes sin a choice instead of a part of our nature and character. Before being born again, sin was a part of your nature and character, but now you can choose not to sin because sin no longer has dominion, or power over you. You are free to be like Jesus because you have a new nature, which is His nature. When you choose not to sin you are walking in newness of life. You are experiencing life for the first time. You are alive for the first time because you are alive to God, and no longer dead in sin.
Rom 6:6-14 NASB 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin bu alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you.
The death you experience in the waters of baptism may be the only death you ever know. Death is the result of sin. Where there is no sin there is no death. There will be a company of mature sons who walk in the reality of the new life Christ has procured for them. They will know Him and the power of His resurrection.
Paul knew why Jesus had apprehended him.
Phil. 3:12-14 KJV That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him . . . 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
This is the high calling of God, manifested in Christ Jesus. He came to deliver us from sin and its power. We were born into this world separated from God and already dead because of sin. Life begins when we are born of God and begin to walk in communion with Him. We begin to know Him, and if we follow on to know Him we will experience complete fullness of joy in His presence, the same communion with the Father that Jesus knows. He made it possible for us to grow up and be like Him in all we are and in all we do. This is true life, and without Him there is no life.
What is the Kingdom of God?
The Kingdom of God is where God is King and has complete authority, power and dominion! The Father wants us to be like Jesus, to be conformed to His image, to have and exercise the same dominion He has, not just for miracles, but to overcome sin.
What is the Kingdom of God? In Scripture, the Kingdom of Heaven is the same as the Kingdom of God. It is not the same as heaven. We must be careful in our perceptions of what the Kingdom of God is. His Kingdom rules over heaven and earth, and His purpose is that His Kingdom come, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That depends on us. We are saved by grace to do good works.
∙ Titus 2:11-14 NKJV For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
The Kingdom of God is the realm in which the eternal Ancient of Days reigns supreme. More than anything else, it is the realm of the infinite and the eternal. He and His Kingdom are without any limitation of time and space and power. We have the tendency to try to understand His infiniteness with our finite minds, and His limitlessness with our limited perspectives.
We don not know it all! Though we are born again and have the ability, or potential, to see or perceive the Kingdom, we are still learning. We have to be careful not to try to pound the Kingdom of God into our little, finite, analytical box. When we are born again we can begin discerning things by the Spirit of God because He is in communion with our new spirit.
∙ 1 Cor 2:14 KJV . . . the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
∙ Rom 14:17 KJV For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
∙ Rom 14:17 NLT For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The definition of the word kingdom:
∙ Strong’s Concordance: royalty, i.e. rule, or a realm: KJV – kingdom, reign ∙ Thayer’s Concordance: royal power, kingship, dominion, rule
The Kingdom of God is:
∙ The realm or domain of the King, where His authority reigns supreme
∙ Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit
∙ Within you.
The Kingdom of God is where He reigns supreme, so in your personal life, living in the Kingdom of God means being governed by God the Holy Spirit. It means experiencing the righteousness, peace and joy of the Father in your life because of submitting to Him and trusting Him. When you are born of God, the Kingdom of God is within you because God is within you and you are in Him.
The definition of the word dominion:
∙ Strong’s Concordance: to rule; KJV – exercise lordship over, be lord of
∙ Webster’s Concordance: the power to govern, sovereign authority; the act or fact of ruling, domination; the territory subject to the control of a single ruler or government
There are clearly areas that we have dominion over according to the Word of God.
The main area of dominion we have is over sin in our lives. Sin no longer has dominion over us; we have dominion over sin. We have not only been freed from sin and forgiven for our sins, but we have also been freed from the power of sin, and from the dominion of satan who had the power of death.
If we are free from sin and sin causes death, then the cause and effect principle teaches us that ultimately we will be free from death; our bodies will be fully redeemed.
Ro 5:17 NKJV For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom of God is the manifestation of the internal (what God has done within us), not the imposition of the external (what we religiously try to impose upon ourselves). It is a manifestation of what is inside of us – righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
This is the good news, the Gospel of the Kingdom. Yes, God’s Kingdom is coming, but the big part of the good news is that it is available to us now . . . today! By receiving and using the keys of the Kingdom, we are set free from sin and given power to walk according to God’s ways.
We are now qualified by the love, mercy, and blood of Jesus to be conformed to the image of Jesus, if we want.
God demands nothing less than perfection in your life. A terrifying thought until you recall that (the) perfection He demands has already been supplied in the perfect life of the One who indwells you. Your responsibility is not to earn that life, but to give evidence of it each day. It’s progressive by faith and we are to prod people to press onward. – Oswald Chambers