How the religion of men confuses basic details of God's Word

The following is portions of an article published in an online UK newspaper.

Priest quits after his baptisms found invalid because he said the wrong words

Andres Arango, of the Diocese of Phoenix in Arizona, who has been a pastor since 1998, and has since performed thousands of baptisms, was forced to resign his position. According to the diocese, the priest would say "we baptise you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" instead of "I baptise you…" up until June 2021. Because of that, all of the baptisms that he performed are presumed invalid.

In an announcement, the diocese calls people to check their files for a baptismal certificate, or even photos and videos of the baptism to see if they were baptised by Arango.

And if they can’t find the files, the diocese urges people to contact their parish to look up their certificate and find out whether they need to book for a new baptism.

An announcement read: "It may seem legalistic, but the words that are spoken (the sacramental form), along with the actions that are performed and the materials used (the sacramental matter) are a crucial aspect of every sacrament ... If you change the words, actions, or materials required in any of the sacraments, they are not valid."

Original article here.

This is a sad, and even shocking, state of events. It is heartbreaking to see how far religion has veered away from the truth. Such religion of men is so distorted that it's hard to understand how people can be steered into such fables. It is hard to fathom how clergy can miss the target by the proverbial mile. Then again, I can understand that if the Word is not rightly divided, things like baptism and other ordinances can become misunderstood and terribly misapplied. 

Let's clear up the air and bring proper biblical context to what baptism is all about, and prove that this whole mess presented in the article above is so unnecessary and unbiblical.

What is Water Baptism all about?

The 12 apostles, who oversaw the Jewish church, who were under law and belonged to the Kingdom program, were commanded to baptize converts in water because of the significance of being washed in order to fulfil the office of priest. Jews in the Millennial Kingdom will be priests over the nations and baptism is an important part of this process. However, Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, taught of ONLY ONE baptism, and it was not water baptism. Paul taught that the Holy Spirit baptizes (or immerses) converts of the grace gospel into the Body of Christ at the moment they are saved. For the 12 it was TWO baptisms. The 12 apostles could never separate water baptism from their Kingdom gospel. Consider the instructions and sequence of ordinances in the Kingdom gospel, 

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, (1) Repent, and (2) be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and (3) ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Notice that after a Jew repented, they had to be baptized in water. Water baptism was a requirement in the Kingdom gospel as it was for the cleansing for priesthood (Exo.19:6), something that ALL Jews had to do, 

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 

After water baptism, they could receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit to begin the fulfilment of the new covenant according to Jer.31:31-34 and Ezek.36:24-27. This was ingrafted into the gospel, into the minds and into the teachings of the 12. Now Paul comes along and says that in his gospel and doctrine, water baptism is no longer required and that there is only one baptism,

1 Cor.1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 

Eph.4:4-5 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, ...

Paul teaches that this one baptism is the baptism performed BY the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.12:13) in order to immerse the believer into the Body of Christ. There is no water involved, there is no priest or pastor or elder involved. It is a supernatural event that happens at the moment of salvation. 

Paul says that this is the only baptism necessary for the member of the Body of Christ. Water baptism has no real part in this dispensation because we are not called to be priests and do not need that ordinance to be cleansed for priesthood. Can you see the enormous difference again between the Kingdom and the Grace programs? If you do not recognize these dispensational changes and you try to mix up scripture and practices from the two programs, you end up with a huge mess! No wonder we have such arguments and controversy in the denominations today. Let me again remind you what Paul says about his unique apostleship and authority,

Rom 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 

1 Cor.14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

For a deeper dive into the details of baptism, see here.