Sermons on important subjects by Rev. Paul C. Jong

< 1 John 5:1-12 >

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

1 John 5:1 tells us that the people who are born of God recognize Jesus as the Christ. The Bible frequently calls Jesus by the title Christ. The title Christ also implies the ministry and status of Jesus. It is written, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” And the title ‘Christ’ informs us about the ministries of the Lord Jesus.

1 John 5:2 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.”

The God-given Law was the Law of Truth that made us realize our own sinfulness (Romans 3:20). The Law is holy rather than unjust, distinguishing darkness from the light. Although we really love God, we are unable to keep the God-given Law to the letter. Hence, we have to realize what grave sinners we are before God. In short, we come to realize our sinfulness only through the Law of God (Romans 7:13). In the Law, we can also find the sacrificial system. But, the sacrificial system, which also constituted the Law, was given to the Israelites as the law of salvation. The Law was a shadow of the good things to come (Hebrews 10:1): The Law of the Old Testament was a shadow of the gospel of the water and the Spirit of the New Testament. Therefore, we should recognize that God’s love is also the core theme of the Law (Matthew 22:37-40).

In the first part of 1 John, the Apostle John testifies to the fact that Jesus is God. And now he clarifies that true love towards God begins with our faith that Jesus is Christ. God the Father knows well that we sincerely love the Lord. What the Apostle John is telling us is that the people who love God the Father also love His Son. The people who believe in God as their Savior also love the children of God.

Is there among the righteous anyone who still does not love the other righteous saints? Those people, who do not love the righteous, neither love God. Those who believe in the gospel also love one another. People who love God keep God’s commandments and love the righteous as well as the lost souls of the entire world.

There are some people who purposefully don’t love the righteous. This kind of people doesn’t love God either. As I have often mentioned before, there are people who do not love God. They do not know that the Love of God resides in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and, consequently, do not believe in this gospel.

However, the Apostle John says to all of us, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments” (1 John 5:2). Because all of God’s commandments are appropriate for the righteous, God has commanded us to do so towards one another. It is right for us to love one another.

Let’s have a look at 1 John 5:4. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

If we summarize chapter five of 1 John, it would be “the people who overcome the world are those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” We are able to explain and know the faith that overcomes the world through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

John continues to say that the people who believe in Jesus as the Son of God overcome the world (1 John 5:5). If we are to overcome the world, in other words, we have to possess the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Many people know and profess that Jesus is the Son of God with their lips. However, the problem is that there are very few people who know and believe that Jesus Christ is fundamentally God, who came into this world by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have to believe that Jesus is fundamentally God. We also have to believe in all the works Jesus has performed for the sake of our salvation.

The essential thing for us to know is that Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist at the River Jordan so that He may take the sins of the world onto Himself before He was to be crucified on the Cross. Yet, a big problem is that many people are not aware of this fact. Hence, we have to hold fast that Jesus’ baptism was to take the sins of this world onto Himself at once before He was crucified on the Cross. Knowing and believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior, who came to the world by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, is very important to blot out all our sins.

The flesh, you and I possess, is indeed very weak. The Bible says about the weakness our flesh, “As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more” (Psalms 103:15-16). I and you, my dear fellow believers, are nothing but people who lead their lives like grass, falling and stumbling constantly in our lives only to leave this world when the winter wind comes blowing down.

However, our Lord had mercy on us, and healed our wounds and bruises and putrefying sores (Isaiah 1:6) with His Truth of salvation; “A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth” (Isaiah 42:3). We have to recognize that we are beings like grass before God and believe the gospel of the water and the Spirit with all of our hearts.

Our flesh is absolutely nothing. Could we in such weak flesh possibly overcome the world, all of our sins and God’s judgments? This is impossible with the will of our flesh. But, the faith to stand boldly before God is condensed into the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Thus, people who believe in this gospel Truth can overcome this world with their faith.

Then, what enables us to be assured of our salvation? It is to know Jesus Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we can overcome Satan, the false prophets, and all of one’s own weaknesses. The Lord is our Savior who came to us by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. Who could possibly overcome the world, if it is not through the faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus Christ has given us? No one would be able to overcome the world without the faith in this true gospel.

I surely say to you that no one can overcome the world or the Devil without the faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. To overcome the world implies that we overcome the Devil who reigns in this world. It also means that we overcome all of our sins that oppress us through our faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. Namely, we overcome all oppressions of our sins through the faith in this true gospel.

1 John 5:6 states, “This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”

My dear fellow believers, the Bible testifies as such about the essence of our faith that overcomes the world. Jesus has enabled us to overcome the world when we believe that Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist and was crucified onto the Cross for our sake. Our Lord has given us the true salvation.

John 3:3-5 tells us that we have to be born again of the water and the Spirit in order to see and enter the Kingdom of God. We can overcome all the sins of this world victoriously and receive the eternal life, when we believe in Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. Put differently, we can enter into the Kingdom of God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

God is true and faithful because He helps us believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which has the power to overcome the world, and consequently grants us our salvation and the eternal life. For us to overcome the world means to overcome the problem of sin through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can be delivered from all the sins of this world. But, how many people keep on committing grave sins before God by not believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which God has given to all of us? There was not a single soul who victoriously escaped from all of one’s sins by believing only in the blood Jesus Christ shed on the Cross.

The reason Jesus Christ could be our Savior regardless of our own strength or lack thereof is in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which has delivered us from all the sins of the world and all judgments appropriated to those sins. That’s why we have to receive true salvation from God by believing in the gospel of the water, the blood, and the Spirit. The Lord is Lord and Savior and the King of Truth, who came to this world to deliver all of us sinners from all of our sins. By believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, we are able to become the final champions and overcome the world, our enemies, our own weaknesses, and the judgments for all of our sins.

The Apostle John testifies that Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, is the Savior and God Himself. The essence of his testimony is the Truth of the remission of sin, which belongs to the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit.

In the Bible, “water” signifies the baptism our Lord Jesus received to deliver us from the sins of the world. The whole picture of His salvation is that Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist in order to save the sinners from their sins, bore the sins of this world onto the Cross, where He was crucified to death, but resurrected from the dead to deliver us from the sins of the world once for all. Jesus came to this world and received the baptism from the representative of all humanity, John the Baptist, in order to transfer the sins of this world onto Himself.

Jesus was able to take the sins of this world onto Himself through the baptism He received from John the Baptist. Otherwise, it was impossible to transfer all of our sins onto Jesus Christ. Therefore, when He received the baptism from John the Baptist, Jesus said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

By receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, Jesus most appropriately and most justifiably took the sins of the world onto Himself. It also means that all the righteousness would not have been fulfilled, if Jesus had not received the baptism from John the Baptist to transfer all the sins of the world onto Himself. This was why Jesus said just before His baptism, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Jesus has definitely become our Savior by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, through which method Jesus took the sins of humanity onto Himself at once, and by shedding His blood on the Cross. If Jesus had not done so, we who believe in Jesus as our Savior would not be able to escape from all our sins.

Dear fellow believers, since we are still in our weak flesh, we cannot help but keep sinning until the day we die. There are times when we are pressed by the weight of our guilty conscience because of the sins we have committed in this world. We are inevitably sinners who cannot dare stand boldly before God because our consciences convict us of our guilt. Yet, the gospel of the water and the Spirit delivers us from that situation. If we know and believe in this gospel Truth, we receive the eternal life along with the remission of our sins.

The Apostle John said, “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:5-6).

The Lord is our Savior, who came by the water and the blood. To deliver us from the sins that we did, do, and will commit from our birth till death, Jesus paid the full price for our sins, which is death, by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist and by being crucified on the Cross to death. By doing so, the Lord has saved us completely by becoming the Lamb of God, who carried the sin of the world. And He has given new life and the remission of our sins as free gifts to us who believe in this Truth. Now, we can overcome Satan and his followers by our faith that professes Jesus Christ as our true Savior, who came by the water and the blood.

Dear fellow believers, because we are weak and insufficient, we constantly commit sins in our daily lives. We are so easily affected by the circumstances we are facing. When we pass by a restaurant while we are hungry, we naturally become aware of our desire to eat. When we see on TV a cold drink commercial that may quench our thirst, we become aware of our desire to consume that beverage. Likewise, when a man watches a naked girl on the television, a lewd thought is surely provoked from his heart. What we see directly arouses our appetites and lusts. How much more are we likely to commit sins throughout our lives when we in fact possess the raw materials for sins in our hearts? Every one of us is such a sinful being.

How many sins have you committed in front of God? Dear fellow believers, we are fundamentally made out of dust. If you pour water on dust, the dust absorbs the water. Dust has the quality of absorbing any fluid. Regardless of whether I pour clean water, my urine, my excrement, or dirty water, the dust absorbs all that is poured on it. How much sin do we absorb because of the weakness of our flesh?

We are grave sinners, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, and children who are corrupters (Isaiah 1:4). However, we must recognize that we are able to have the strong faith in our perfect salvation by believing in His Word of Truth. That Word is the Word of God that was spoken through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We can gain a bold faith that overcomes the world with the Word of Truth by believing in Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the blood.

However, we can escape from all of our sins through our faith in our Lord, who came by the water and the blood to deliver us from our sins. We should have gone to hell for all the sins we have committed, but instead we have been led to salvation by the Lord, who had received the baptism and shed His blood on the Cross. Thus, we overcome the sins of the world with our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have to be bold in our hearts as we overcome the world. Then, we will come to praise God, saying, “I praise the Lord for blotting out all my sins, even though I am so insufficient.” We will also come to live in eternal gratefulness by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.

If our Lord had not blotted out all of our sins by the water and the blood, all our profession of Jesus Christ as our Savior would be in vain and we would not be able to receive complete salvation from our sins. I once heard that a person gave all of his clothes, even to his underwear, to a homeless. Even if this story is entirely true, that person cannot be washed as white as snow from his sins by such an act.

Regardless of how many good deeds we perform, we cannot escape from all our sins unless we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit because we cannot but keep committing sins throughout our lives. But God has opened a new and living way that enables us to enter His Kingdom only by faith. God has so determined that we can be washed from our sins only through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We know this by the Word, which states, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

Dear fellows Christians, many people these days are self-declared evangelicals. They believe and insist that the blood Jesus shed on the Cross alone is the Truth that saved all sinners from their sins. Yet, I want to tell them that the true remission of sin by the faith in the gospel Truth is possible only because Jesus the Son of God came to this world as our Savior, receiving the baptism from John the Baptist that transferred the sins of the world onto Him and dying on the Cross while shedding His blood. Therefore, they must first know the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

We continue sinning as long as we are alive. However, through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, all our sins were wiped out for good as they were transferred onto Jesus Christ at once. Although this claim may look contrary to the Truth of God, God accepted us all for eternity because the Lord has blotted out all of our sins.

When we sin, our conscience may agonize because of the sense of guilt. We do not feel exhilarating as long as we keep sinning, although we have received the remission of our sins through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Still, the Lord has given us the Word of Truth that washes our hearts absolutely clean. That gospel Word of Truth is “Jesus came to this world and received the baptism from John the Baptist and shed His blood on the Cross.”

The Bible emphasizes John the Baptist alongside Jesus. Jesus took all the sins of the entire humanity and fulfilled all God’s righteousness by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, the greatest one among those born of women (Matthew 11:11) and the representative of all humanity. What I am saying is that Jesus Christ was able to fulfill all of God’s righteousness by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist and by shedding His blood on the Cross.

When Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist, it is certain that the sins we commit throughout our entire lives were transferred onto Jesus Christ. So, John the Baptist cried out the next day of Jesus’ baptism, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

It is also a certainty that Jesus received the judgments for all the sins of the world by taking them onto Himself through the baptism and by bearing those sins crucified on the Cross as He bled to death. As Jesus was dying on the Cross, He uttered the words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). On the third day, Jesus resurrected from the dead and witnessed His resurrection to people for 40 days. Still alive to this day, Jesus ascended into the Heavens to sit on the right hand of God the Father’s Throne.

The Lord still provides even to this moment the faith to overcome the world to those who believe in Jesus Christ, who has abolished all our sins by the water and the blood. The faith that enables us to overcome all of our own weaknesses and our shameful sins is of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in our hearts, we are free from our sinful past, having received the bold faith to live our lives more empathically. Our Lord has come to this world by the water and the blood in order to blot out all of our sins and complete in us the true salvation.

It is certain that our Lord took all the sins of the entire humanity onto Himself by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist. Therefore, if you rejected God’s love by rejecting the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you would say the following from a heart of denunciation of the Truth: “I don’t need the Truth that John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Believing in the blood is enough for me. I have been forgiven of all my sins by my faith in the blood of the Cross alone. Any sin that I commit in my life can be washed by the blood of Christ.”

Yet, if anyone were as stubborn as this person, that person will not be able to escape God’s judgment for all his sins. Do you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that transferred all of your sins away by the baptism Jesus received from John? How could your conscience be clean if you have not transferred your sins onto Jesus Christ by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Hence, the second half of the verse in 1 Peter 3:21 declares that His baptism is not for “the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.”

Jesus has taken all of our sins once for all by receiving the baptism, which transferred all the sins of the world onto His body. And Jesus accomplished our salvation once for all, by receiving the judgments for all of our sins being crucified on the Cross and shedding His blood unto death. Thus, you and I have to know that we can receive our salvation from all of our sins at once by believing in the baptism Jesus Christ received and the blood He shed on the Cross. If we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we receive our salvation from all of our sins at once and we can approach God boldly with good and pure conscience.

Dear fellow Christians, we should be ashamed if we think about the sins we have committed in front of God. However, since Jesus Christ has received the judgments for our sins on the Cross after our sins were transferred onto Him through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, by believing in His baptism, not only our conscience but also our souls can stand boldly in front of God without any shame. If we have committed a sin in this world, we have committed a sin against God. But, Jesus was crucified on the Cross because He had taken all our sins onto Himself by the baptism He received from John the Baptist. By our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have received our salvation and can stand boldly in front of God with good conscience. Dear fellow believers, do you understand? I hope that you can now believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with your hearts.

Do you think that the Lord did not know that we constantly commit sins in front of Him? He is the omniscient God. Because He knew that we would constantly fall into sins in this world, the Lord has taken all our sins without exception onto Himself by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist. Because we have in us the merits of our just Lord, our God, and because it is certain that He has taken onto Himself even the sins that I will commit in the future, I can approach God the Father boldly with a good conscience. Dear fellow believers, the power to overcome this world lies in the faith in Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the blood. The Lord has not saved us merely by the blood alone.

What we have to know is that we cannot overcome the world or ourselves, if we do not believe in Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the blood. Dear fellow believers, if you wish to overcome the world, you have to believe that your sins were transferred onto Jesus when He received the baptism and that all the judgments of your sins are finished.

If we contemplate all of God’s Word carefully, we realize that the Bible doesn’t record the blood of Jesus alone. However, all of Christian doctrines only talk about the blood on the Cross. Even the hymnals only contain songs that praise the precious blood of Jesus alone.

However, the Bible tells us in Titus 3:5, “Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Similarly, a phrase in Hebrews says, “washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22). In Galatians, the Bible records, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). In Romans 6, it says that we have died with Christ in His baptism and also resurrected along with Christ. Ephesians 4:5 declares the importance of our faith in Jesus’ baptism by saying, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Along with Hebrews 6:1-3, these verses do not even mention the blood of Jesus.

Dear fellow believers, the blood of the Cross is meaningful on the premise of the baptism of Jesus Christ. The baptism Jesus received was the process through which our Lord took all our sins onto Himself, while the precious blood Jesus shed on the Cross was the vicarious receiving of the judgments for all of our sins. Jesus took onto Himself your sins and mine and died on the Cross shedding His blood, through which He received the judgments for all the sins of the entire humanity.

The first event of Jesus’ public ministry was for Him to receive the baptism at the River Jordan. Jesus took onto Himself all the sins of the entire humanity by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist.

Matthew 3:15 records, “For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” The word ‘for thus’ is in Greek, which means ‘just in this way,’ ‘most fitting,’ or ‘there is no other way besides this.’ This word shows that Jesus irreversibly took the sins of humankind onto Him through the baptism He received from John. And ‘All righteousness’ in ancient Greek is which means the fairest state that has no defect at all.

The baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist was the most appropriate method by which the Lord could take our sins onto Himself. Furthermore, by dying on the Cross, Jesus delivered you and me from all of our sins. Dear fellow believers, the faith, which makes us, who are weak, stand boldly and overcome the world, is our faith in Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the blood. By having such faith, we can stand unashamedly in front of God through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Only God could do such work.

You can work before God unashamedly only if your conscience is free of guilt before Him. Therefore, there is not a single person in this world, who can stand boldly before God without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. No one could stand boldly in front of God, if it were not for the baptism Jesus received and the blood of the Cross. This is true unilaterally for the Apostle John, me, and you, my dear fellow believers.

We are not able to devote ourselves to the works of God, if our Lord had not come by the water and the blood. If our Lord had not done so, we would not be able to receive the remission of our sins. Rather, we would receive the eternal condemnation appropriate for our sins. Dear fellow believers, you would not be able to serve the Lord as boldly as you do now, if you had not believed in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. This is inescapably true because we are always weak.

There are many occasions for us to receive stress in this world. There are many times we are saturated with stress beyond the control of our bodies. When we are in a lot of stress, we get a migraine headache and our bodies also ache in pain. If we fall into such a predicament, we lose all passion to do anything, and only seek the ways to serve our flesh. When our bodies are in need of some care, we lose our minds and lose all passion. Thus, to overcome the world for sure, we have to believe in the Lord-given gospel of the water and the Spirit.

We were able to serve the Lord up to now because we believed in Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. Because we believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, we can become the righteous before God, call God “Abba, Father” with good conscience, and pray to the Lord by shouting, “Lord, please help me.” The faith of the Apostle John was in the gospel of the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit.

Even if everyone in the entire world believes in the blood of the Cross alone as the salvation, we will receive the eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the blood, just as the Bible records. We are not dogmatic religionists but have the foundation of our faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit manifested in the Bible. We have to believe based on the Word of Truth as explicated in the Scriptures. During the time of Jesus’ ministries, all of His disciples knew and believed in Jesus Christ, who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

How can we be crucified with Jesus Christ without uniting with Him? How can we unite with Him without having faith in His baptism? Thus, the Apostle Paul says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ”(Galatians 3:27). Again he states, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”(Galatians 2:20).

Dear fellow believers, there are many works in the world that are beyond our ability. I had two young nephews when I was born again. They needed my material assistance, but I neither had the materials to assist them nor the time. If I were to help out my nephews, I had to earn a lot of money. Yet, I had already dedicated my life as God’s servant. I didn’t know what to do in such a situation at that time. I could do nothing else but pray, “Lord, please help my nephews in stead of me. And pour Your abundant blessings on them.” Then, I came to realize the Truth that when I died with Jesus Christ that my old self died along. To live our lives forward toward the Lord, there is no other way but for us to distance ourselves from our old relations.

What do you do, when you fall into such a predicament? Those are the times, when we have to look at Jesus Christ. We can boldly dedicate ourselves to the tasks that are assigned to us by the faith in our Lord. The gospel Word of the water and the Spirit tells us that Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist taking our sins onto Himself, that bearing our sins on Himself Jesus died on the Cross on our behalf receiving the judgments for all of our sins, and that Jesus resurrected from the dead. As such, we can work boldly by our faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit.

What do you do, when you really have to help someone but you can’t? Will you stubbornly do what you cannot in your flesh? At those moments, we have to lift a prayer of request, “Lord, my old self is already dead. It is no longer I who live, but You who live in me. Lord, please help this person in my place. Lord, I am incapable of doing so. I barely have time to serve You, my Lord.”

Dear fellow believers, we can have the faith to die and live again with Jesus Christ because we believe in the baptism of Jesus and the blood on the Cross. If you want to profess that you have no sin not just with your lips but boldly with your clear conscience, you have to believe in the baptism Jesus received and the blood He shed on the Cross. Believe that Jesus took all of our sins onto Himself once for all by receiving the baptism. The Lord definitely told John the Baptist, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

When we believe that all our sins were transferred onto Jesus Christ by His baptism, our conscience is cleared by our faith. We blot out our sins by believing that Jesus took all our sins onto Himself. If, by any chance, our sins were not transferred onto Jesus by the baptism He received, we would still have our sins intact in our hearts. And our sins were not blotted out, no matter how hard we believed in Our Lord’s death on the Cross. Therefore, we must reject the faith of those who believe only in the blood of the Cross without the baptism Jesus received. We are the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. By this faith, we have received all heavenly blessings from God.

The Lord has told us in John 8:32, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” True freedom settles into our hearts, when we know and believe the Truth of salvation, which came by the water and the blood. Since our sins, which we commit throughout our entire lives, were transferred onto Jesus Christ by His baptism, we have the real spiritual freedom in us. We, who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, have received salvation from our sins and are free in our faith in the Truth, because Jesus received the baptism, died on the Cross to receive the judgment for our sins, and resurrected from the dead.

As such, our conscience of faith can become bold by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In our spiritual journey, we should not look back but rather lay all the condemnations and judgments for our sins before the Lord. By doing so, we can live as a new creation in the present now and the future, instead of being tied to our past. This is the power of our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The only way to overcome the world and our own wrongdoings is by the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Thanks to the Lord, we are able to take care of all our sins by believing in Jesus Christ, who has blotted out all of our sins.

The Apostle John has said in 1 John 5:8, “And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and these three agree as one.”

Dear fellow believers, the water, the blood, and the Spirit bear witness to God’s salvation from all our sins. Jesus is our Savior and also our God. Jesus was born of Mary’s body to come to this world in the flesh of man. At the age of 30, He received the baptism to take the sins of humanity onto Himself.

Some people say that the baptism Jesus received was a mere ritual without any real effect. Some others say that He was baptized to show His modesty as an example. Do you also believe that Jesus received the baptism just because He was humble? That would be a very stubborn thought to have.

As the sins were passed onto the sacrifice by the laying of one’s hands on its head in the Old Testament times, the Lord saved us in the New Testament by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, which transferred all the sins of the world onto Jesus. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would lay his hands on the sacrificial offering, transferring all the sins of the Israelites onto the scapegoat. Then, he would cut the throat of the scapegoat to draw its blood, put its blood on the horns of the altar, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat inside the Most Holy Place (Leviticus 16).

What does all of this signify? The Old Testament is the shadow of the New Testament. The New Testament is the realization of the Old Testament. And as there was the laying of the hands in the Old Testament, there is the baptism in the New Testament. Jesus Christ has become our Savior in the New Testament times by coming in this world and receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, the representative of all humanity, bearing the sins of the world onto the Cross, where He was crucified and died, and resurrecting from the dead. This gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth that has delivered us from all of our sins.

I have studied theology for over 10 years. The conclusion I came to after my studies is that, despite the differences in doctrines, every denomination decisively emphasizes only the precious blood Jesus shed on the Cross. Almost all Christians profess in stereotype that they are saved once for all by believing in the blood of the Cross. But honestly speaking, they can’t solve the problem of sin intact in their hearts by such a fake doctrine. Ultimately, in order to attain complete emancipation from all sins, they have to advocate another fake doctrine, the so-called “the doctrine of sanctification.” Yet, these doctrines came out of the human thoughts and were not based on the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit.

Dear fellow believers, have you experienced your personal sins being blotted out by prayers of repentance, as today’s Christians profess? The prayers of repentance can never blot out your sins. Our sins are blotted out by the Word of Truth that Jesus has accomplished by taking all of our worldly sins onto Himself through His baptism and by His bloodshed on the Cross. By believing in Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, our sins and judgments for our sins are annulled. Because our sins were transferred onto Jesus, our souls have come to receive the remission of sin as well as the eternal life.

How could we have blotted out our sins, if our Lord had not received the baptism from John the Baptist, taking the sins of the world onto Himself, and had not died on the Cross? We no longer have sin in us because Jesus, when He received the baptism, took even our yet uncommitted sins of the future onto Himself, which we commit after we have received the remission of our sins. We, who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, are without sins by our faith in this gospel.

John 13 illustrates an episode, where Jesus washed the feet of Peter and the other disciples. As Jesus was going to wash Peter’s feet, Jesus said, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this” (John 13:7).

When the Lord said, “Be still so that I can wash your feet,” Peter replied, “I won’t let you. You can never wash my feet.”

“If I do not wash your feet, you have no part with Me.”

“If that’s so, Lord, wash also my entire body.”

“He who has already bathed need only to wash his feet.”

Thus, Peter presented his feet to Jesus, and the Lord washed his feet.

Shortly after this incident, Jesus was captured by the soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, was handed over to Roman authorities, and was given the death penalty. At that time, Peter with another disciple followed Jesus into the courtyard of the High Priest. Peter had promised to the Lord that he would not deny Jesus even if everyone else did so. Peter was determined to follow Jesus, even if it meant to his death. When the other disciples fled out of fear that they would be recognized as His bandits, Peter followed Jesus into the courtyard of Pilate. Peter was sitting by a fire, worrying about what would happen to the Lord. However, Peter denied Jesus three times whenever he was accused.

Jesus was staring at Peter’s face at the very moment he denied Jesus. Peter remembered Jesus’ words that state, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times” (Matthew 26:34).

Jesus died on the Cross for our stead after crying out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). But He resurrected from the dead on the third day. After His resurrection, Jesus met with Peter and His other disciples. However, Peter took the other disciples to the Sea of Galilee, where he went back to his old occupation of fishing. He returned to his hometown in despair and tried to soothe his heart by fishing.

Peter’s righteousness was all but broken since he could not keep his promise to follow Jesus without denying him, even if that meant his own death. Peter’s heart was heavy because Jesus stared at Peter before He was crucified on the Cross, to die bleeding. Peter had given up on following Jesus and instead was catching fish along with the other disciples, without much success.

At that moment, Jesus stood on the shore and told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find” (John 21:6). As the disciples followed Jesus’ instructions, they caught 153 fish. Since the nets were about to break, I imagine that they must have caught big fish. By this, the disciples were surprised and recognized Jesus. “It is the Lord Jesus.” Peter jumped into the water after putting on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. Jesus Himself had appeared to them after His resurrection. There was no one who doubted Jesus even at the dim light of dawn. The Lord had prepared a fire of coals, where He was roasting fish and bread. As the disciples came out of the water onto the shore, Jesus had them sit by the fire and gave them the fish and the bread.

Then Jesus asked, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” Peter couldn’t help himself but reply, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You” (John 21:15).

The Lord had already taught Peter while washing his feet on Passover by saying, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this” (John 13:7). But, Peter did not realize the true meanings of those words then. This saying meant that all of Peter’s sins would be washed out once for all by the baptism Jesus received. Jesus wanted to teach him that He had blotted out all his sins through His baptism and bloodshed because He knew that Peter and the other disciples would keep sinning after Jesus resurrects from His death and ascends into the Heavens. Because of that, Peter could not but help say his confession as he did: “You know that I love You.”

“Feed My lamb. Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

“Yes. You know that I love You, Lord.”

Jesus asked thrice consecutively and Peter could not but give the same answer three times. The Lord enabled Peter to answer thus by taking all of our sins by the baptism He received from John the Baptist and by washing out our sins with the blood of the Cross. Some theologians try to interpret these verses by finding the Greek words “ (agapao)” and “ (phileo)” in the original text. That remains a possibility.

However, that is not the Lord’s intention. When Jesus asked, “Do you love Me?” Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.” Jesus was reminding Peter of the Truth that Peter had received his salvation as all of his sins were completely blotted out, when Jesus had received the baptism taking all of Peter’s sins onto Himself, and received the judgment for Peter’s sins on the Cross once for all, and resurrected from the dead.

We would not be able to love the Lord, if He had not saved us by the baptism He received and the blood He shed. We did not love the Lord first, but the Lord loved us first by the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” If somehow Jesus did not wholly take all of our sins onto Himself when He received the baptism from John the Baptist, we cannot receive the remission of our sins by believing in the Lord as our Savior.

We are so weak that we cannot help but keep sinning throughout our lives. But, how did our Lord save us from all of our sins, knowing our weaknesses so well? Jesus received the baptism at the age of 30, taking the sins of the world onto Himself at once. Jesus bore all the sins of this world onto the Cross, dying a dreadful death while shedding His blood. By resurrecting from the dead, Jesus has become our complete Savior.

Where do we find the evidence of our salvation from the sins of the world? The Scripture says, “And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood”  (1 John 5:8). First, Jesus is the true God and the Son of God. Second, Jesus received the baptism. And thirdly, Jesus shed His blood on the Cross. We have the evidence of our salvation in these three essentials that God have saved you and me from all of our sins.

We have received our salvation from all our sins by our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Jesus is the Son of God, the Creator who created the universe and all things in it, and our Savior. Through the baptism of the water, Jesus took onto Himself all of our sins. Bearing our sins onto the Cross, Jesus received the judgment for our sins instead of us and died on the Cross. By resurrecting from the dead, Jesus delivered at once from all of our sins.

Hence, by believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have received complete salvation from all of our sins and also have the faith by which we can overcome the world. Although we are weak in our flesh like Peter, we can overcome the world by our faith. Our Lord truly is the real Savior for all of humanity. Although you may be weak and insufficient, you can become the righteous without any sin, if you believe in Jesus as your Savior and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have become God’s own children by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

The Apostle John is telling us that we have received the evidence of our salvation before God and before people. Those people, who have received the remission of their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, have the witness in themselves in front of other people. The witness of God is even greater and more certain. The witness for our salvation by God is great because Jesus Christ, who is God, has saved us from all our sins by the gospel of the water and the blood and the Spirit. We have the most certain evidence, which professes that our Lord Jesus Christ has saved us from our sins through the gospel of the water, the blood, and the Spirit.

The Apostle John says in 1 John 5:10, “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself.” What does it mean ‘to have the witness in oneself’? This means that a believer has the faith in the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit in himself. Do you have in your heart the faith in the baptism Jesus received and the blood He shed on the Cross? Do you believe that Jesus is the true God? Do you have this whole Truth in your heart?

He who believes in the Son of God has in himself the Word of evidence, which witnesses to his salvation. What is this Word of evidence? The Word of the water and the Spirit is the evidence to every true believer. More concretely, the evidence of your salvation lies in your faith in the Word of the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. We the true believers possess the faith in the Word of God, which washes away all our sins. It is recorded in the Word of God that we have been delivered from our sins.

We are able to surely know and believe that all of our sins were transferred onto the Lord, when He received the baptism from John the Baptist. We have the evidence of our salvation in our concrete confession that the Lord has born the sins of the world as the Lamb of God, when He received the baptism from John the Baptist, and that He bore the sins of the world onto the Cross, where He shed His blood and uttered, “It is finished.” We also have the evidence of the resurrection of our bodies by believing in the Word that Jesus resurrected from the dead.

Romans 8:1-3 records, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.”

God the Father transferred our sins onto His own Son Jesus through the baptism. Since we were unable to keep the Law due to our weakness in the flesh, God the Father saved you and me by having His Son take our sins onto His own body. Those people, who still cannot accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit with faith, lack the evidence of faith in the Truth of salvation. However, in the hearts of those who have received the remission of their sins, the gospel of the water and the Spirit exists as the evidence of the Word of Truth.

The evidence of our true salvation does not lie in our good deeds, speaking in other tongues or miracles. We, who are made into the righteous through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, are not especially perfect in our behaviors. Rather, because we are honest, pure, and not presumptuous, we are happy when we are treated well, and we complain easily if the situation is unfavorable for us. Although our behaviors may be full of flaws, our hearts have surely received the salvation from all sins by God’s Word of the water and the Spirit. Thus, we have the evidence of the Word of salvation in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have been born again by the faith in this true gospel.

The gospel of the water and the Spirit has become the evidence of our salvation in our hearts. All of us believe in the Lord as our Savior, who in order to save us from our sins has come to this world, receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, shedding His blood on the Cross, and resurrecting from the dead. I believe that the Lord has come to this world for me, that He received the baptism for me, that He shed His blood on the Cross for me, and that He resurrected from the dead and still lives sitting on the right hand of God’s Throne. I confess my faith in this Truth daily.

It is written in Hebrews 10:18, “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.” Our Lord has personally completed the task, which was impossible through the Law, by receiving the baptism and by shedding His blood. God the Father had His Son take on all the sins of the world by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist. And God had His Son receive the judgments for our sins by bearing the sins of the world onto the Cross, where He was nailed to it. And God the Father raised His Son back alive from the dead. God the Father has saved everyone, who believes in Jesus Christ as one’s Savior. Furthermore, the Lord has given us the faith to overcome the world, to become God’s children, to become the righteous, and to receive the eternal life.

The Lord-given gospel of the water and the Spirit has given us the bold faith to overcome the world. Although Satan the Devil attacks us ever so viciously and we are a bundle of sins, we can stand boldly against Satan because the Lord has completed our salvation by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, by dying on the Cross, and because He has become our perfect Savior by resurrecting from the dead.

Satan the Devil incessantly tries to bring us accusations. Satan the Devil makes accusations based on the smallest of wrongs we have committed, but we can overcome those accusations by our faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. God, who has saved us, is greater than Satan.

Dear fellow believers, you and I were able to obtain the faith to overcome the world because we knew and believed in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. The Apostle John and the other Apostles and disciples were able to keep the faith to overcome the world till the Lord has called them back from this world. Likewise, we are able to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit and overcome the world because we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit. You and I also possess the evidence of our salvation by believing in the Lord-given gospel of the water and the Spirit.

Our fleshly authority is of no use when it comes to doing the works of God. What is there to be arrogant about being a main preacher? Whenever I go to a revival meeting as a main preacher, I only need to believe in the Word of the baptism and the blood of the Cross and share the Truth of the remission of sin. I just preach according to my faith that confesses Jesus as God and the Son of God, and the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit is within me. Because I have believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and have no sin, I can lead revival meetings and preach the Word of God.

You can declare yourselves the righteous and also serve the gospel in union with God’s Church because you have no sin since you believed in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. And we can also praise and testify Him owing to this true gospel. If we did not have in our hearts the Word of Truth of the water and the Spirit, it would be no use to pretend to believe. If we do not hold onto Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, we are attacked by Satan and eventually will become preys to Satan.

Let me tell you my story of being possessed by an evil spirit. Before I knew the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I had committed a sin even after believing in Jesus. Then, the accusations came to me from Satan. We cannot see demons. However, the demons whispered into my ears. “I know when you did commit which sin.” I was so burdened by this that I could neither sleep nor work. At that time, I only believed in the blood of the Cross without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If the demons were visible, I would have thumped them once. But they were not visible. The demons followed me wherever I went, whispering in my ears, “You did sin, didn’t you? I know you did.” They followed me to the living room, to the sleeping room, and even to the bathroom.

However, I had no way of overcoming the accusations by Satan the Devil, because I did not now the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But, ever since I have realized the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, I have been completely freed from all my sins and accusations thereof. From then on, along with my coworkers, I have been able to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit all over the world through Christian literature ministries.

What does the Bible tell us about our salvation from our sins? It says that the salvation lies in Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the blood (1 John 5:3-7). Dear fellow believers, did you get your salvation by the blood of the Cross alone? In order to have faith that enables us to overcome the world, we have to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, because sin and Satan reign over this world. Only when you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can you escape from all your weaknesses, overcoming yourselves and your weaknesses. Then, you would receive the remission of sin before God and be able to live your lives unashamedly. We can also deliver the souls that are dying in the sins of the world by the faith in this true gospel.

Dear fellow believers, is church a place of fund raising? Absolutely not. Yet, many people pay the most attention at offerings and tithing at church. But if I could share this gospel Truth with even one other person, I would rather do it till the end of the world

I once started a new church in a small city after being born again of water and the Spirit. Not a single person came for two months after I have rented a worship room and furnished it with a cross and a pulpit. Every Sunday, I preached on the pulpit regardless of this fact.

I preached, “My beloved neighbors, how are you doing? It’s time for us to share the Word of the Lord. Today is the Lord’s Day, and this morning we have come to offer our worship. Today’s Scripture passage, which we are going to share, is 1 John chapter 5. Here, the Bible says that whoever is born of God overcomes the world. I would like to share with you what this passage means….”

After preaching a sermon, I ended the worship with a prayer and a hymn. Even though there was not a single person except me for every worship service, I did everything in my belief in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. By my faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and my yearning to share that gospel, I worshipped and prayed to God as if all of the citizens from this city were present at the sanctuary: “God save everyone in the whole wide world from their sins.”

At that time, since there was not a single person in the congregation, I would have looked ridiculous to the landlord of the room. The place, where I ministered in the startup church, was by the shore, and the strong wind constantly blew the sand into the sanctuary. The church building was made with wood, and it sounded squeaky at every step. I cleaned the sanctuary by myself. When I saw the dirty mop from cleaning the sanctuary floor, I prayed, “Lord, clean the lost souls, dirty like this mop, as white as snow by granting them the faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit so as to bring them to You.” I mopped the floor, offering this prayer. No matter how often I mopped the floor, the sand never seemed to disappear.

Every time I saw the dirty mop as I cleaned the floor, I offered a prayer similar to this one: “You have made me into this clean bride by the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. My Lord! Now, I want to preach this gospel to the whole world. Lord, if it is even one person, in my ministry, I will make sinless and flawless perfect saints by sharing the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Lord, permit me to do the works of transforming sinners into the sinless.” Since then, God has blessed me with precious coworkers and other souls to do the works of God together in cooperation.

What you have to know is that we have the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist in the New Testament, as there was the laying on of the hands in the Old Testament sacrificial system. What does the “baptism” signify? To baptize, ‘baptizo’ in Greek, means to immerse or to submerge under water to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one’s self, bathe and to overwhelm. It also contains the spiritual meanings of “being buried, and transferring.”

Today’s evangelicals have to know the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist correctly. As the sins of the Israelites were transferred onto the scapegoat by the laying on of the hands, the sins of the world were transferred onto Jesus when He received the baptism from John the Baptist. The sins of the Israelites were transferred onto the head of the scapegoat when the High Priest laid his hands on the sacrifice and confessed their sins (Leviticus 16:21).

Who is the scapegoat of atonement in the New Testament times? Jesus is the Lamb of God. That is why Jesus came to this world and received the baptism from John the Baptist, the representative of all humanity who is also the descendant of Aaron.

John the Baptist was the last High Priest of the age of the Law. Hence, the Lord said, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). Jesus Christ automatically took the sins of the world by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist. Then, by dying on the Cross and shedding His blood, Jesus delivered us from the sins of the world. Thus, the Kingdom of God has suffered violence since the times of John the Baptist. What this Scripture passage is explicating is that, using the baptism by John the Baptist as a marker, the believers have since received the remission of sin because Jesus took the sins of the world once for all by receiving the baptism. The gate to the Kingdom of God was opened in full scale to the true believers in Jesus since Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist, died on the Cross, and resurrected from the dead.

As the people in the Old Testament times received the remission of sin by transferring their sins onto the scapegoat through the laying on of the hands and by shedding its blood through cutting its throat, we receive the remission of sin by believing Jesus Christ, who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

Jesus is indeed our Savior. He came to this world some 2,000 years ago, and at the age of 30 received the baptism from John the Baptist, by which He took the sins of the world onto Himself. He shed His blood dying on the Cross so that you and I may receive our salvation. We receive salvation from all of our sins by knowing and believing Jesus Christ who came by the water and the blood. Therefore, our remission of sin is in the past perfect tense. How did we come to know and believe in Jesus Christ?

God made us born again and know Him by giving us the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, the Apostle John states, “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son” (1 John 5:10). He, who believes in the Son of God as his true Savior, has the evidence of his salvation by believing in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. He, who does not believe in God’s righteousness, really makes God into a liar.

Dear fellow believers, is what I am sharing with you the Word of God or my own thought? It is neither my doctrine nor thought but the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. There are many people in the world who criticize the gospel of the water and the Spirit without even recognizing it. The Lord said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The Truth of salvation is one. There cannot be two Truth of salvation. The Truth from God is exclusive and cannot be two.

We have to believe in Jesus by knowing correctly the Word of the Bible. Let’s suppose we are to take a multiple-choice exam, with five different choices per question on our knowledge and faith in Jesus as our Savior. Then, we have to know the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to answer the question correctly. I hope you do not say that the blood of the Cross by itself is the sufficient answer just because many other people believe in it to be the sole source of salvation. The right answer to a multiple-choice question is not decided by majority vote. Thus, to answer correctly, we have to know the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, as written in the Bible.

You should never turn God into a liar. Jesus has certainly blotted out all of our sins by the baptism He received from John the Baptist and by the blood He shed on the Cross. He took onto Himself the sins of the world once for all by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist.

In order for our faith in Him to be approved by God, we have to know and believe why Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist and why He was crucified on the Cross. If we are to believe in Jesus as our Savior, in other words, we have to know the reason why Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist. If you don’t do so and rather believe in the blood of the Cross alone, you also cannot but doubt your own faith. Dear fellow believers, only if you know gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit manifested in God’s Word can you answer correctly and be acknowledged of your faith by God.

When Jesus turned 30, He went from Galilee to the River Jordan in order to receive the baptism from John the Baptist. The River Jordan is not only where Jesus received the baptism but also is known as the river of death. All lives should cross the river of death at one point or another. Jesus was determined to receive the baptism from John the Baptist at the Jordan River in order to take all our sins onto Himself.

At first, John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” In response, Jesus commands John the Baptist to baptize Him, saying, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

Here, I would like to introduce an interesting thing to you. As you may know Chinese letters are hieroglyphic characters. The Chinese character which means ‘righteousness’ is composed of (lamb) and (my self). How can I be righteous? It is when I rely on the Lamb of God that I can be approved to be righteous before God. We are made sinless and into the righteous by our own faith in the baptism, which transferred all of our sins onto the Lamb of God.

Dear fellow believers, do you know why Jesus received the baptism? It was to transfer onto Jesus once for all the sins of the humanity, including the sins you and I commit throughout our lives from our mothers’ wombs to our graves. This was the fulfillment of all of God’s righteousness. As Jesus spoke to John the Baptist, John the Baptist baptized Jesus to fulfill God’s righteousness. Jesus submerged into the water after receiving the baptism from John the Baptist and then emerged from the water. At that moment, the heavens were open to Jesus, and God the Father spoke to His Son, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

God the Father testified, “This is My own beloved Son, who has just received the baptism from John the Baptist.” Why did God personally testify from above that Jesus is His Son? Why did God the Father say about Jesus that Jesus is God the Father’s beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased?

Although Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus obediently came to this world in the flesh of man according to the will of the Father. Because God had planned to save the entire humanity from their sins through His own Son, Jesus Christ took all the sins of the world by receiving the baptism and fulfilled the will of God by shedding His blood to death on the Cross and by resurrecting from the dead. Jesus fully obeyed the will of God. Dear fellow believers, you should know that Jesus Christ, although He was the Son of God, pleased God the Father’s Heart, by being obedient in receiving the baptism from John the Baptist to take the sins of the humanity once for all.

Dear fellow believers, I am sure that each one of us can spiritually overcome Satan and our own weaknesses by believing in the baptism Jesus received and the blood He shed on the Cross. If you believe only in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross, you cannot overcome the world with that kind of faith. That’s why the Apostle John has explicated in detail the faith that overcomes the world in 1 John 5. He has said that it is the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which delivered us from all our sins (1 John 5:6-8).

God grants the eternal life to the sinless who are born again by the water and the Holy Spirit. In other words, the eternal life was given to those who believe in Jesus Christ, whom God had sent to us, as their Savior. Those people who believe in Jesus Christ receive the eternal life and the salvation from their sins, for the Lord has come to this world by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit and expunged all of our sins. Therefore, the Bible records, “This life is in His Son”   (1 John 5:11). We have received the salvation from our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is in Jesus. Our salvation from the sins of the world lies in the baptism Jesus received and the blood He shed on the Cross.

Some people say that you can receive the salvation by shouting “Jesus,” while holding onto a pine tree. However, that is far from the truth. You cannot be saved just by believing in Jesus as your Savior somehow without first knowing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus gave us. It is your delusion if you believe that you will receive the remission of sin and the eternal life by believing in Jesus as your Savior any way you deem appropriate. Look at the Word of the Bible. The baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross, in short, the gospel of the water and the Spirit is clearly written in the Bible.

It is very easy to see things only from your own perspective. But you should not interpret the Word of God from your own perspective. We have to believe that we have received the eternal life by believing in Jesus, who delivers us from our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Also, we have to believe that this salvation giving life is in the Son. Therefore, those who have the Son of God, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, in their hearts have life, and those who don’t have the Son do not have life.

Who does the Son of God designate? The Son is Jesus Christ, who came to this world by the water and the blood. Those who believe that Jesus has saved us from our sins have in their hearts the Word of the water and the blood. However, those who do not have the Son can never have the life. We surely have to know what it means to know and believe in Jesus correctly. Also, we have to know how we can overcome the world.

Dear fellow believers, we feel insufficient living in this world. How weak and insufficient are we? Definitely, we can see our insufficiencies by looking at ourselves. Not by looking at others but by looking at ourselves, we realize how insufficient we are. However, thanks to our faith in Jesus Christ the Savior who came by the water and the blood, we can stand fast and boldly do the works of God, overcome the Devil by boldly standing up against it, and deliver the dying souls from their sins. That faith is by which we overcome the world.

Surely, we have to possess the faith that overcomes the world by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We fall short each day because of our weaknesses. Then, which faith enables us to right ourselves time after times like a tumbling doll? We Christians fall if we do not possess this true gospel, which enables us to overcome the world. Especially in these last times, how can we overcome our weaknesses? Each of us has to possess personal faith in the true gospel of the water and the blood, if we are to overcome the world. Our faith in Jesus Christ, who came by the water and the blood, enables us to overcome the world, overcome our own weaknesses, and stand as firm as a young lion.

We should never believe in Jesus based on our own thoughts or by our own standards. We should not look only at ourselves in despair, but believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, as it is recorded in the Word. No matter what others say, we are saved not by the blood the Lord shed on the Cross alone but by the water and the blood of Jesus Christ. We have to know and believe that our Lord took onto Himself all the sins the entire humanity has committed and will commit once for all by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist at the River Jordan. And you and I should also believe that Jesus received the judgment for our sins on our behalf by being crucified on the Cross after He received the baptism. By believing so, we are delivered from our sins and are able to overcome the world.

This is how you, who believe in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, can keep your faith before God and stand fast and do the works of God. And this is how you can live as a worker of God’s righteousness, although you may still have your weaknesses. If you exclude the baptism Jesus received and believe only in the blood He shed on the Cross to receive the remission of your sins, you will not be able to overcome the world. Hence, the gospel of the water and the Spirit has to be believed in an individual basis.

The sin of these times has reached its full measure, hasn’t it? This is why I urge you to possess the real faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is imperative for you to have the faith, which enables you to overcome the world.

Most Christians say with their lips that they have been saved through their faith in Jesus. Some of them even dare to declare that they have no sin owing to the blood of Jesus. Yet, what do many people think of the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist? Don’t they treat it as a mere accessory or an unnecessary description in the Bible?

Dear fellow believers, the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist is not optional when it comes to saving us from our sins. It is an absolute necessity. If Jesus had not received the baptism from John the Baptist, the blood He shed would have been in vain. Thus, Jesus’ disciples like the Apostle Paul talked about both the baptism of Jesus and His Cross.

You may be curious why the Apostle Paul emphasized the blood of the Cross so much in his Epistles. Because the Apostle Paul thought of the Cross as a direct consequence of the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist, he said in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Because Jesus took the sins of the world onto the Cross by receiving the baptism, he was trying to emphasize on the blood of the Cross to show us God’s completion of the remission of sin.

The baptism Jesus received is not a noncommittal affair. Jesus necessarily had to receive the baptism in order to blot out all the sins of the humanity. Only by receiving the baptism could Jesus accomplish the remission of sin for us. For your and my salvation, it was essential for Jesus to receive the baptism, by which He took our sins onto Himself, and to die on the Cross shedding His blood. It was the most appropriate means for our Lord to grant us the remission of sin. He came into this world, received the baptism, and died on the Cross.

Jesus did not receive the baptism from John the Baptist merely to manifest His humility. Yet, there are too many theologians who speak thus. Christianity these days may have many denominations, but all of them consistently advocate the importance of sanctification and believe in the blood of the Cross alone. It is nonsense to say that a person is sanctified incrementally over time after accepting Jesus.

How could a person possessing a body of flesh not sin merely because he has aged? The Ecclesiastes concludes, “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Where does a righteous who does not sin exist? We show our temper when the service at a restaurant is slow. Likewise, we complain when the food tastes bad. We show our temper when things are not going as expected. And we possess weak bodies of flesh, resenting others if they say things we hate.

Surely, you and I can only receive the condemnation from our sins. You and I should only die buried in the sins of the world. Weren’t you destined to receive the condemnation because of the sins you committed yourselves? No matter how strong our will has been, were we not people who would have eventually abandoned Jesus?

For such as us, Jesus came to this world in the flesh of man out of His love for us, receiving the baptism and dying on the Cross crucified. By doing so, He has completely delivered us from the judgments of sins and enabled us to overcome the world and our own weaknesses. Regardless of our weakness, He has enabled us to live a victorious religious life by our faith in the Word of the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. The Lord enabled us to carry out the righteous task of preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

Dear fellow believers, it’s been more than 30 years since I first believed in Jesus. Still, for the first 10 years, I believed in Jesus mistakenly because I believed only in the blood Jesus shed on the Cross. With such faith, I was unable to blot out all my sins. In the meanwhile, the Lord mercifully made me realize the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and I was able to receive the whole remission of sin through my faith in this gospel Truth.

People had many misunderstandings about me as I shared the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Some evangelicals have said, “Hmm, that’s different from what I believe,” after hearing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When I first heard one of my coworkers say this, I thought he was just joking. As I become more aware, I realized that the gospel he believed was different from the gospel of the water and the Spirit that I believed and preached.

Sharing the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with numerous people, I have witnessed people receiving the whole remission of sin when they really believed this gospel with their hearts. If a person believes the Bible to be the written Word of God, how can he say that he still has sin when the Scripture clearly says that all the sins were transferred onto Jesus Christ’s head through His baptism? How can he say not to have received salvation, if he believes that Jesus took all the sins onto Himself once for all by the baptism He received from John the Baptist and completed all our salvation by dying crucified on the Cross?

The Lord has said in Isaiah 1:18, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” The Lord has delivered us completely from the sins of the world by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Even though I am weak, our Lord is strong. Although you may be weak, our Lord has perfectly delivered you from your sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

We are spreading this gospel of the water and the Spirit to all Christians throughout the world. We will say, “What is the gospel you have shared till these days? What is the outcome of such sharing? You cannot but remain sinners because of the teachings of the false prophets, who say that you need to believe only in the blood of the Cross.” Someone critically said that countless Christians have gone to hell through the chairs of churches after listening to so many sermons of untruth. We will rebuke the false teachers for their lies. We will enlighten them on the true gospel.

What is the true gospel of the water and the Spirit? The Apostle Paul has testified for it. The Apostle Peter and John also did so. This is the gospel of Truth that has delivered us from all our sins. The Bible declares to us that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the only Truth of salvation.

Dear fellow believers, we are personally very weak. We cannot even overcome ourselves. How could we overcome the world with our own strengths then? Yet, the Lord has given us the Truth to overcome ourselves. The Lord has delivered us completely from our sins, enabled us to overcome the world, the Devil, and the false prophets. The Lord has delivered us completely with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord has blotted out the sins of those who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Indisputably, we have received the remission of sin and come to live righteously by our faith in the Lord. I give thanks to the Lord.

Want to read more sermons on the First Epistle of John? Please click the banner below to get your free book on the First Epistle of John.

We are fundamentally weak, but our Lord is fundamentally perfect. He is more than able to deliver us from our sins. The Lord has made you and I whole before God by delivering us through the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the only Truth that is written in the Bible. By the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Lord has granted us the privilege to call God, “Abba, Father.” How then can you say that this true gospel is merely a man-made doctrine?

We have become without sin by believing in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and fundamentally God to us, who delivered us from our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We believe in the Triune God—the Lord Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit—as our God. Now, we have received the true eternal life and have become the children of God by the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We should be grateful to our Lord who made us born again by presenting us with the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

I am once again reminded of the love of the Lord by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I want to share the gospel of the water and the Spirit along with my coworkers to every soul all around the world. I firmly believe that the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit will be preached throughout the world, and that countless souls will be delivered from their sins by this true gospel. We give eternal thanks to God, who has delivered us from all our sins. Hallelujah! I praise the Lord, who has delivered us from all the sins of the world.

Back