God Without Religion_ Can It Really Be This Simple_ - Andrew Farley [49]
Sound absurd? Large groups of Christians around the world adhere to a religion that teaches exactly that. It may be a misunderstanding of this statement by Jesus that got it all started:
Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John 3:5–6 TNIV)
Some interpret this passage to mean there’s no salvation without baptism in water. But is this really what Jesus meant?
Jesus is talking about two births, one natural and one spiritual. Anyone who’s ever had a baby knows the first sign that labor has begun in earnest is when the sac of water encasing the baby breaks. This is why Jesus describes our natural birth as being “born of water.” He then contrasts it with a second, spiritual birth that is being “born of the Spirit.” To drive this point home, he then says, “flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:6).
All humans are born of water. For most of us, this requirement is met shortly after our mother reaches the hospital. To meet Jesus’s second requirement, all that’s needed is a spiritual birth. Water comes into play at our first (physical) birth. At the second birth, it’s the Spirit himself, nothing physical, that brings our newness.
God is about what happens on the inside. As Peter shows us, getting wet for sixty seconds is not what saves us:
Baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. (1 Pet. 3:21–22 NASB).
Notice that two types of baptism are being contrasted here. There is a baptism that saves, but it is not the kind with water that removes dirt from your body. It is another type of baptism. Baptism into the resurrection of Jesus Christ changes us forever.
Now that’s something to celebrate publicly and for eternity!
22
In 2008, the global economy suffered a massive blow. The US mortgage crisis was threatening millions of households and the stock market. The government eventually stepped in and approved a national mortgage bailout plan. This plan allowed some homeowners to be relieved of the responsibility of their mortgage loan.
But rest assured, the banks got paid. Whether it was paid to them by the homeowner or by the government, the banks received their money. That’s just the way the world operates.
Prior to the government bailout, I’m sure that thousands of homeowners found themselves down at the bank apologizing and begging for mercy. They may have shed tears, pleaded their case, and even made offers to pay the bank another way.
But one thing is for sure: the banks didn’t care. Why not? Because any debts incurred in our country’s financial sector are paid back with one type of currency: money. Not apologies. Not explanations.
Money.
We’ve got a money-based economy.
God’s Blood-Based Economy
When it comes to forgiveness, God has always endorsed a blood-based economy. Under the old covenant, it was blood that brought atonement, yearly. Under the new, it is blood that brought us our forgiveness, once for all:
The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Heb. 9:22)
God’s blood currency appears in both the old and the new. The difference between the two comes down to one question: How many times was blood shed? Under the old, blood was shed over and over. Under the new, Jesus’s blood was shed only once:
Unlike the other high priests, [Christ] does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and