But if I get the truth - I'm free! I can arise in my spirit, and decree into the spirit powers: power of sin is broken, the life of God is in me; and the law of life, of the spirit in me, overcomes the law of sin and death! Are there struggles? Yes, but you don't win them by struggling trying to overcome sin. You get them by taking your position in the spirit: the work is done, I'm already free, its power is broken. I'll acknowledge that and hold to that!
Water baptism is your declaration to spirit powers, and to the world around you: my old life, living in sin, is over! I am a dead man! Dead men get buried. Now, when I rise up, there's a new person, a new creation full of the Holy Ghost, full of the life of God, ready to advance the kingdom of God; part of a body of people, called the body of Christ, called to advance the kingdom of God in every nation of the earth! What a great truth. What an exciting truth. What an exciting truth!
First two foundational things in the teaching of baptisms: 1) I'm a new person. I'm joined to the living God. 2) The power of sin is broken. I'm a free man, and if I'm free, do I need to be condemned? No! No condemnation to those who are in Christ! Walk after the spirit of life. Why? The old man died. Now he's condemned, not me. I've risen again. I'm part of the body of Christ. I'm joined to Jesus Christ. No condemnation to me, now I'm in Christ! Oh, there might be immaturity; there might be the occasional lapses, and falls, and difficulties, but there's no condemnation! Why? Because I've escaped that in Christ, I now have a new life in Him. What an amazing thing! Well, you do need to embrace those truths - you're a new person. Live like a new person. Think like a new person.
When you get up tomorrow: I'm a new creation in Christ! I'm born again! Spirit of God lives within me, that same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, is quickening my body today - giving me energy and life; quickening my mind, quickening my thoughts, quickening my spirit. I'm joined to the living God, and I'm part of a great body of people, spread throughout the world! It's going to take over the world! The Bible says in the Book of Revelation: “now the kingdoms of this world, have become the kingdoms of our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ - and His Christ, His anointed body, walking under His kingdom”. What a great day we live in! No wonder I need to get water baptised! I need to make it right, smart, clear: I'm out of that old scheme, I'm a new person, I'm getting up new!
See, so water baptism's so powerful - being baptised, placed into Christ, into a body and a family; and buried, the old thing buried so I can step up into the new. I can't wait until next week - to get filled with the Holy Ghost! So next week you want to come along, get filled with the Holy Ghost? We'll pray and lead people through to get filled with the Holy Ghost. Why? It's only the entrance; it's a baptism into a new realm! It's a baptism into a new dimension! It's a baptism into a supernatural life of the kingdom; a life of miracles, where the kingdom of God is advanced through people who believe!
No wonder it says: “all in the body of Christ can prophesy, all of you can move in the gifts”. Why aren't you doing it? Well, probably you've forgotten the truth of baptism - about who you really are. Oh, well I'm just me, and I'm condemned. Listen - that's not who you are. You're an anointed person! You're a person called to carry the life of God! You need to know who you are in Jesus Christ! He says: “child of God”. He says: “born again”. He says: “an ambassador”. He says: “you are blessed with every blessing” - you've got to just start to agree with what He says. That's what this baptism thing's all about. It's about being immersed into the realities of the new creation, and staying there because you believe the truth.