My Weblog: The Gospel Preacher.

In Leviticus 27:5, it is written, " 5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shek´-els, and for the female ten shek´els. "  In the context of this passage of Scripture, female children are valued less than male children, for example.  As Christians ( see Acts, chapter 11 ( especially verse 26, for example ), for example ), members of the church ( see Romans 12:1-8 ( especially verse 5, for example ); 16:16; and 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 ( especially verses 20 and 27, for example ), for example ), we are all children of God ( see Galatians 3:26, 27, for example ).  What does it mean to be a child of God?  To begin with, a child of God is one who is wearing Christ.  In order to be wearing Christ, one must be Scripturally baptized.  This requires that one be baptized, by immersion in water, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of his or her past sins ( see Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 2:38, 41, and 47; 8:26-40 ( especially verses 36-39, for example ); Romans 3:21-31 ( especially verse 25, for example ); chapter 6 ( especially verses 3, 4, 10, and 22, for example ); and 1 Peter 3:21, for example ).  What does it mean to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ?  In Acts 8:16, it is written ( please read all of this chapter to get the immediate context ), " 16 (For ^aas yet he was fallen upon none of them: only ^bthey were baptized in ^cthe name of the Lord Jesus.) "  Moreover, in Acts 10:48, it is written ( please read this entire chapter to get the immediate context ), " 48 ^aAnd he commanded them to be baptized ^bin the name of the Lord.  Then ¹prayed they him to ²tarry certain days. "  In the first century A.D., the word of God had not yet been completely revealed in written form ( see John 15:15 and 1 Corinthians, chapter 13 ( especially verses 8-10, for example ), for example ).  At this time, it was required to receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of the apostles' hands.  In Acts 8:17, it is written, " 17 Then ^alaid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. "  Again, in Acts 19:1-7, it is written, " 19 And it came to pass, that, while ^aApollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the ^bupper ¹coasts came to Eph´-esus: and finding certain disciples, 2 he said unto them, ¹Have ye received the Holy Ghost ²since ye believed?  And they said unto him, ^aWe have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.  3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized?  And they said, ^aUnto John's baptism.  4 Then said Paul, ^aJohn verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.  5 When they heard this, they were baptized ^ain the name of the Lord Jesus.  6 And when Paul had ^alaid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and ^bthey spake with tongues, and prophesied.  7 And all the men were about twelve. "  From this latter passage of Scripture, we learn that being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus means that one has first believed on Christ Jesus.  Furthermore, a disciple is a learner, for example.  Notice, that in Acts 11:26, it is written, " 26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto An´-ti-och.  And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people.  And the disciples were called Christians first in An´-ti-och. "  This means that the disciples of Jesus were members of the New Testament church, the church of Christ.  Thus, the Bible teaches that anyone who is not a member of the church of Christ is not a Christian, is not saved, and is not following Jesus.  This, in turn, means that anyone who is not a member of the church of Christ has not believed on Christ Jesus and, thus, has not been baptized in His name.  This is another way of observing that denominational baptisms are not acts of obedience to God.  In Acts 5:32, it is written, " 32 And ^awe are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, ^bwhom God hath given to them that obey him. "  Since it has just been established that members of religious denominations, parties, or sects, have not believed on Christ Jesus and, thus, have not been baptized in His name, it follows that these people have not received the Holy Spirit.  During the first century A.D., the apostles laid their hands only on those who had been Scripturally baptized, and after that they received the Holy Spirit.  However, there is an exception to this observation in Acts 10:44-48, where the Holy Spirit fell on all those which heard the word.  In this situation, the Holy Spirit fell on those Gentiles, before they were Scripturally baptized, as a sign that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, for example ( see Ephesians 3:6, for example ).  The level of most of the information that has been covered in this online ministry has been the Bible basics.  As a full-time evangelist, I will be the first to admit that I do not know everything about the Holy Bible ( see Psalm 35:11, for example ).  What is shocking to me is the number of instances, either in public, or on television, for example, where sinners ( see Matthew 26:36-46 ( especially verse 45, for example ), for example ) have repeatedly opened their mouths and demonstrated their ignorance of the Bible basics.  With regard to the Bible, God commands ( see Ecclesiastes 12:13, for example ) that we " leave ^j the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity " ( see Hebrews 6:1; ESV; with inside-margin references ).  Concerning the account of the Gentiles, who received the Holy Spirit, and spoke in tongues, this was an example of miraculous ( of a supernatural nature ) speaking in tongues.  Miracles, and miraculous spiritual gifts ( of a supernatural nature ) ceased to occur when the apostle John finished writing the book of Revelation in A.D. 95-96 ( see John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20 and Revelation 1:1, 4, 9 and 22:8 ).¹  See also the book of Revelation in the English Standard Version ( ESV ) of the Holy Bible, with inside-margin references.²  For a consideration of some of the letters that the apostle Paul wrote, in the order of the significance of the place that he visited, please see the radar chart, below:

The book of Romans consists of thirteen pages.  The book of 1 Corinthians consists of thirteen pages.  The book of 2 Corinthians consists of ten pages.  The book of Galatians consists of five pages.  The book of Ephesians consists of five pages.  These page totals were derived from the third source given in the footnotes, below.³

As children of God, members of the church, we are all one in Christ Jesus, for in Galatians 3:28, it is written, " 28 ^aThere is neither Jew nor Greek, ^bthere is neither ¹bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all ^cone in Christ Jesus. "  However, God says that, in the context of consecration of persons, males and females are not viewed equally.  Please study the Holy Bible. 🕮

1. Holy Bible: Containing The Old and New Testaments, The New King James Version, RED LETTER EDITION, THE NEW OPEN BIBLE® STUDY EDITION, with Read-Along References®, Read-Along Translations®, Topical Index to the Bible, The Christian's Guide to the New Life, Book Introductions and Outlines, Visual Survey of the Bible, Special Study Aids, THOMAS NELSON PUBLISHERS, Nashville, Copyright © 1990, 1985, 1983 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., pp. 1232, 1513.
2. The Holy Bible, ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION: Containing the Old and New Testaments, PERSONAL SIZE REFERENCE BIBLE, CROSSWAY BIBLES, WHEATON, ILLINOIS, The Personal Size Reference Bible, English Standard Version®, Copyright © 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, p. 1339.
3. The Holy Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments, King James Version, REFERENCE EDITION, center-column references, translation notes, concordance, and maps, Words of Christ in Red, THOMAS NELSON PUBLISHERS, Nashville, Copyright © 1989 Thomas Nelson, Inc., pp. 937-980.