668. The fact that baptism has been commanded is abundantly clear from John's baptizing in the river Jordan - all Judea and Jerusalem came there to be baptized (Matthew 3:5-6; Mark 1:4-5). Even the Lord our Savior himself was baptized by John (Matthew 3:13-17). The Lord also commanded his disciples to baptize all the nations (Matthew 28:19).

Surely everyone who is willing to can see that there was some divine purpose in the establishment of this practice - a purpose that has been hidden until now because the Word's spiritual meaning has not been revealed before. Today, however, this spiritual meaning is being revealed because the Christian church in its true essence is now getting underway for the first time. The former church was Christian not in essence or in reality but in name only.

189. Chapter 4: Sacred Scripture, the Word of the Lord{1}

Sacred Scripture, the Word, Is Divine Truth Itself

IT is on everyone's lips that the Word comes from God, is divinely inspired, and is therefore holy. Nonetheless, until now we have not known where the divinity is in the Word. At the literal level the Word seems like poor writing in a strange style, lacking the sublime and lucid quality that modern works seem to have.

There are people who can easily fall into the wrong perspective on the Word and into contempt for it - people who respect nature more than God or as God and who therefore think under the influence of themselves and their own identity rather than the influence of heaven from the Lord. When people like this read the Word they are prone to say to themselves, "What is this? What is that? Is this divine? Would a God who had infinite wisdom be capable of talking this way? Where is its holiness? Where else could the holiness come from except [the reader's] religious attitudes and convictions?"