Chapter 1: Your Spectacular Baptismal Covenant

We do not grasp God the Father’s love deeply enough!

If we truly saw the passion He has for His Spirit-begotten sons—and for the people in this world—it would drive us to our knees in humble gratitude. It would inspire more love and devotion in us to serve Him.

You see that love in the baptismal covenant.

Baptism is the most important, meaningful ceremony in life. It is a glorious, inspiring covenant between a human being and the Almighty God!

When we are baptized, we receive a whole range of promises and blessings from God. It is difficult to fully comprehend the investment God makes in us at that moment.

God does not take this lightly. From that moment, He is committed to our eternal spiritual success in an intense, personal way!

And He is deeply grieved when one of His begotten children breaks that covenant with Him.

Sanctified by the Father

God the Father is the one who calls us. John 6:44 tells us, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him ….” The Father must draw us to Him before we can truly come to know Him and Jesus Christ.

Do you realize how selective God is in calling someone? How much effort He puts into deciding whom to draw?

The first verse in the epistle of Jude gives us insight into this process. This letter is addressed “to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.” That word called is better read as invited. This word is quite different from how it is used in Matthew 22:14, where Christ says that “many are called, but few are chosen.” This is God personally inviting someone to be part of His Family. And this verse shows that before God calls an individual, God the Father sanctifies him or her.

The Father is carefully selective, setting that person apart. He then gives Jesus Christ the job of preserving that person. The individual must be protected from the devil and his demons who seek to destroy him.

During that period, God is evaluating to gauge that person’s likelihood of successfully entering His Family. Surely He is watching to see how he or she reacts to His truth, or to His correction, or to a challenge or trial He allows or sends.

Only after that person has passed such scrutiny does God extend that invitation—the greatest invitation God will ever give for all eternity! This undoubtedly means many who are sanctified are not invited.

When you understand just how special and exalted that calling is—and as you recognize the eternal stakes—the fact that the Father is so careful and selective makes perfect sense.

Every person God works with is super special to Him! He knows and loves that individual profoundly.

And when that individual is baptized into His Family, entering a covenant with God, that increases his or her spiritual stature tremendously!

Begotten by the Father

After baptism, a minister of God lays hands on the person and prays over him. With that prayer, the person receives the greatest gift in the universe. God imparts a small portion of His spiritual power, the Holy Spirit.

That is what makes a person a Christian: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9).

At that moment, the Father begets that person as His own son! That Spirit is like a sperm cell fertilizing an ovum: It is the start of a new spiritual life!

Only the Father begets us—not even Christ does that. How amazing to be begotten by God the Father!

Can you understand how important this is to God? When the Father begets a son, that means everything to Him! That is at the heart of His master plan. That was why He created man! The Father is reproducing Himself in human beings, creating more God beings in His own spiritual character image.

That is why He made the ultimate sacrifice—sending His Son to Earth and allowing Him to die—to offer you the opportunity to be born into His eternal Family!

Zechariah 9:11 mentions “the blood of thy covenant.” The Hebrew shows that this is speaking of a “blood covenant.” Christ, who was God in the flesh, gave His own blood to make this covenant possible! We must see the bloody price that was paid to give us this opportunity and recognize how it shows God’s unparalleled love and devotion. (Read about this in Chapter 7 of my free booklet Zechariah—The Sign of Christ’s Imminent Return.)

There are no accidental sons—like an accidental pregnancy—in God’s Family. God calculates it to the smallest detail!

The Father has yearning love for every individual in whom He has planted His Holy Spirit. We are His Family, and He makes sure we are taken care of if we are loyal to Him. He is not about to let His sons be neglected or mistreated. What love the Father has for us!

God does allow trials in our lives, but even those are blessings: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12). The Father wants to give you a crown of life! This is in stark contrast to the fading flower of this life (verses 10-11). If you love Him—which means you love His law and the government that teaches it—then nobody can break God’s promise of eternal God-life to you!

Do you love God like He loves you? Are you proving that love each day? We cannot afford to answer these questions casually.

Our Burial at Baptism

The Apostle Paul knew that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). He knew there was nothing we could do, by ourselves, to erase that penalty of death. We all need a Savior. By God’s grace, after we repent, He removes the penalty for our sins against God’s law.

Paul was also clear that, after we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we need to live by God’s law. This too requires a miracle.

After explaining in Romans 5 about grace and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Paul says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). Is the law done away because of grace? Paul answers with an emphatic no!

He then explains the inspiring symbolism of the baptismal ceremony. We must understand this symbolism to comprehend why we need the Holy Spirit and why Christ must live in us today.

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (verse 3). Paul says we were baptized into the death of Christ. He pointed out in the preceding chapter that we are justified by Christ’s death and saved by His life (Romans 5:9-10).

At baptism, we are fully plunged under water, which is a symbolic burial (e.g. Matthew 3:16; Acts 8:36-38). The old, carnal man dies with Jesus Christ. Paul explains further: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Now we begin to see the importance of the Holy Spirit and why it is Christ’s life that saves us! Just as Christ was resurrected, or raised from the dead, we arise from that watery grave and proceed to walk in newness of life by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

We agree to bury the old self, and when we are baptized, that old self dies. Paul makes this plain: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (verse 5). Baptism symbolizes both a death and a resurrection. At baptism we die as Jesus Christ did, and when we come up out of that watery grave, we live as He does—not by our own power but by the power of God’s Holy Spirit!

Our sins have been forgiven. But does our baptism excuse sin? Does it cover future sins? Paul continues, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (verse 6). Baptism symbolizes a complete break. It is a line between death and life, between sin and righteousness!

To “walk in newness of life” so that we might “not serve sin,” God gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands immediately after repentance and baptism. Walking in “newness of life” means we are now living a life led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14).

The Holy Spirit by which God begets us as His sons after baptism is the very power by which we begin to overcome sin and actually take on the divine nature of God Himself. It is by that power that the resurrected Jesus Christ lives in us!

Led by the Spirit

Many of you reading this likely made this baptismal covenant because of the teachings of the late Herbert W. Armstrong. Remember what he taught about this.

The down payment of God’s Spirit imparts the mind of God. Mr. Armstrong said in a July 1983 sermon that this means God injects “His life [and] also His mind, also His character, also His attitude of love, of cooperation, of giving, of concern for others just as much as concern for yourself. Selflessness instead of selfishness.”

When we are led by the Holy Spirit, it produces spiritual fruit in our lives that comes straight from God—His love, joy, faith and other qualities (Galatians 5:22-23). That Spirit also gives us spiritual understanding (1 Corinthians 2:9-14). What an unparalleled gift!

1 John 4:2 shows that through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ “is come in the flesh.” The tense of the Greek verb translated is come means is coming. It could read “is come and continuing to come,” or “is now coming.” Christ Himself is dwelling in us in Spirit! And when Christ is living in us, we have life (1 John 5:12). That is an earthshaking truth.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). The very mind of God comes through the Spirit. We must let His mind be in us. He will not force it.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). What a profound statement! If we are to be born as God’s sons, simply having God’s Spirit is not enough: We must be led by that Spirit!

This is a big reason why there are so few in God’s “little flock” (Luke 12:32), His true Church. God leaves it up to you.

If we do not follow the direction of God’s Spirit, we are quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)—and we risk losing it!

The Father wants to lead His sons. He wants us to follow Him the way His Son Jesus Christ does. Christ said, “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). This is one of my favorite scriptures, if not the favorite. What a beautiful attitude Christ had! No wonder the Father called Jesus “my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”! (Matthew 3:17; 17:5).

If we love our Father, we will use His Spirit to keep His commandments willingly and cheerfully (1 John 5:3). That is how we show Him that we love Him.

If we are led by the indwelling Spirit of God, always striving to please our Father, then He will do everything for us! “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 John 3:22). Imagine receiving anything you ask of God! But to obtain that, you must do more than just obey your heavenly Father out of duty. The Apostle John is discussing an attitude of wanting to do anything possible to please your Father! That attitude gets your prayers answered! Of course, you will be asking for the things that please God.

Obviously, God will only give us what is good for us. But this verse shows that we should not put limits on what God could give us—as long as we are obedient and ask Him in a right attitude. That is the formula for success that Christ followed.

Would a father leave a child alone who had such an attitude? No—he would smash a battalion of soldiers to save that son! Take on that attitude, and your heavenly Father will intervene in your life and make splendid things happen for you.

This is the loving family relationship God opens up to us when we enter that baptismal covenant with Him!

Repent and Believe

The Father wants to give these glorious gifts generously, but there are conditions we must first meet.

When the New Testament Church began on Pentecost a.d. 31, the Apostle Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy [Spirit]” (Acts 2:38). Repentance is prerequisite to being baptized and receiving God’s Spirit. And, it must be noted, continued repentance is key for us to keep God’s Spirit (e.g. Psalm 51, especially verse 11).

Before baptism, God leads us to repent of the way we have been living—a life contrary to His law (Romans 2:4). We repent not only for what we have done but for what we are.

Mr. Armstrong wrote that repentance “is a total change of mind and heart and direction of life. It is a change to a new way of life. It is a turning from the self-centered way of vanity, selfishness, greed, hostility to authority, envy, jealousy and unconcern for the good and welfare of others to the God-centered way of obedience, submission to authority, love toward God more than love of self and of love and concern for other humans equal to self-concern” (Just What Do You Mean … Conversion?).

Many misinterpret repentance to mean sorrow. Repentance actually means change. Merriam-Webster defines repent as “to turn from sin ….” Turning from sin—changing your former way of life—means turning to obeying God’s law.

In addition to repentance, we must “believe”—know and accept that Jesus Christ died for us (e.g. Mark 16:15-16; Acts 8:12, 36-38; 16:30-31). This means He paid the death penalty for our past sins (Romans 6:23). This belief, or faith in Jesus Christ’s shed blood as payment for our sins, is outwardly manifested by baptism.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We must have faith in that blood and the fact that He paid the penalty for “sins that are past” (Romans 3:25).

During the baptismal ceremony, God’s minister will ask the potential member of God’s Family the following question: “Have you repented of your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?” After the individual says yes, he is baptized.

Wholehearted Commitment

Baptism is only the starting point of a lifetime of conversion, striving to become more and more like God. It is a commitment to obey God and to replace our carnal thoughts, emotions and desires with the very thoughts of God Himself! We must think like God! That is very difficult to accomplish. We must constantly grow in our conversion. And we must endure to the end. That is all part of our baptismal commitment.

Jesus Christ said, “If any man come to me, and hate not [or love less by comparison] his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27).

Do you understand the seriousness of the commitment you make when you enter this covenant with God? You promise that whatever burden He gives you, you will bear it and follow God no matter the cost. You must be willing to give up anything for this cause, including the closest members of your own family. You may even have to die for it!

God must know that we will never allow anyone or anything to take priority over Him. “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (verse 33). At baptism we tell God that, if necessary, we will give up anything, do anything and go anywhere to obey Him and keep Him first in our life!

You cannot enter that covenant lightly. Before you are baptized, you must count the cost.

God’s part of the covenant is sure. Ephesians 4:30 says that you are “sealed unto the day of redemption.” At baptism, God “seals” you. He will not withdraw His calling. If you are properly led by the Spirit, you are as good as saved—that is how God views it. God “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17).

At baptism, we are “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). It is a “promise” because God’s part is sure! However, we can break that seal by our actions. Nothing is guaranteed until we are born sons—not just begotten.

Covenants can be broken by men. But God’s Word cannot be broken. This is the character we must build to become members of God’s Family. We must uphold our part of that baptismal covenant!

Our Father is dedicated to our success. He would not have chosen us if He didn’t believe we could make it. He yearns to consummate this covenant with us—and He can only do that if we faithfully carry out our part of the agreement.

Kings and Priests

Again, Ephesians 1:13 calls what we receive at baptism “that holy Spirit of promise.” It is a promise from God of something even greater.

Verse 14 calls it “the earnest [meaning pledge or down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” That small measure of Spirit God implants in us at baptism is a down payment of our future inheritance—God giving us the full measure of His Holy Spirit when we become spirit beings—born sons of God!

God gives His Spirit to His sons to empower us to overcome and grow. But that gift represents even more. Our Father has magnificent plans for His sons! When He makes that covenant with us at baptism, He is committing Himself to placing us into supremely exalted offices in His eternal Kingdom!

1 John 2:20 says, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” The New King James translates unction as “anointing.” Receiving the Holy Spirit means you have an anointing from the Holy One, from God Himself!

In the Old Testament, priests and kings were anointed with oil when God put them into that office (e.g. Exodus 30:30; 1 Samuel 16:13). When you are baptized and receive the Spirit—pictured by that oil in those ordination ceremonies—God anoints you as a king and a priest in embryo!

John says “you have an anointing,” present tense—not “you will receive an anointing.” God sees it as though it is complete.

That is why Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 use the present perfect tense when saying that God “hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ….” Once we are baptized, we are there and then consecrated into the highest offices in the World Tomorrow! In His mind we are already kings and priests, though we are yet to assume those offices. Following baptism, we are being trained and prepared to rule this world.

What an honor! At baptism we are like spiritual embryos in the womb, just beginning the process of conversion. How awesome and inspiring that, even at that moment, God places us into that royal priestly office! Then He continues to lovingly shape and mold us into king-priests.

God has such a positive, hope-filled approach to His sons. If we remain faithful, our eternal double-crown as king-priests is assured!

This too shows you just how deeply invested God is in every Spirit-begotten saint. Think of the Father’s emotions in individually choosing each one of us as a member of the royal, priestly Family that will rule the world with Him in the soon-coming Kingdom of God. That is a one-in-a-million opportunity that He does not give carelessly.

Jesus Christ told His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions [or offices]: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3). God has many offices to fill in His future temple in Jerusalem, and He is preparing those offices right now for His firstfruits! These same king-priests will later have offices in new Jerusalem! Revelation 3:12 promises that those who remain faithful to the Philadelphia standard will “go no more out” of God’s temple. We will work from the Father’s house forever!

This destiny ought to stir us far more than anything else in our lives! The reward given to these pillar-priests, the highest-level offices in God’s Kingdom, is magnificent beyond words! And it starts with the spiritual anointing we receive at baptism.

If you can believe it, there is an even more awesome, inspiring aspect of the baptismal covenant.

A Marriage Covenant

Few understand this truth, but the Old Covenant was a marriage covenant. The God of the Old Testament was the Being who later became Jesus Christ. (I explain this doctrine in Chapter 1 of my free book The Eternal Has Chosen Jerusalem.) The covenant God made with ancient Israel on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 and 24 was a marriage agreement. Read Ezekiel 16, which describes God’s marriage to Israel. Verse 8 reads: “… I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine.”

Sadly, Israel broke its “wedding vow,” so to speak. As verse 32 says, it became “as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!” In verses 38-39, Israel is compared to “women that break wedlock.” In Jeremiah 3:14, God pleads, “Turn, O backsliding children … for I am married unto you ….” That history shows how human beings can fail God, even when He offers them such a special and glorious opportunity.

Ezekiel 16 does describe the Old Covenant marriage with ancient Israel, but it is mostly a prophecy about a New Covenant marriage with God’s Church today. That is the focus.

In verse 8, the expression “spread my skirt over thee” is a sign of marriage. God says you became mine—you became my wife. When does that happen? On the individual level, it happens the moment we are baptized.

This is perhaps the most electrifying aspect of the baptismal covenant. At baptism, the firstfruits make a marriage covenant to obey God and be born again as Christ’s wife. We say we will marry Christ and meet all the covenant conditions.

Only the firstfruits—those called before Christ returns—are offered that noble reward! This is the most exalted reward ever offered to any human being at any time! It will not be offered to people baptized in the Millennium and beyond.

Verse 9 says, “Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.” Water and oil are symbols of God’s Holy Spirit, which was never offered as part of the Old Covenant marriage made with ancient Israel. This is describing God’s firstfruits today.

In verse 10, God says, “… I girded thee about with fine linen ….” Exodus 39:27 shows that Aaron and his sons, the highest-ranking priests in the tabernacle, were the ones who wore fine linen. Revelation 19:8 says Christ’s Bride is “arrayed in fine linen,” which represents “the righteousness of saints.” God is clothing His Bride with the fine linen of righteousness.

Even though we are not officially married to Jesus Christ until He returns, God already views the Church today as His wife. Unlike the Old Covenant, we who are under the New Covenant must prove ourselves before the marriage. Nevertheless, Revelation 19:7 says Christ’s “wife hath made herself ready.” The time frame here is during the preparation stage, before our marriage—but it doesn’t use the term bride-to-be or fiancée. Christ sees that fabulous marriage as already being consummated! This lady was His wife while she was getting ready for the marriage. This is what God’s Word says.

To expand His Family, the Father will first give His Son a helpmeet who can assist Him in raising the rest of the Family, those who will be invited during the Millennium and beyond. This invitation is given to only a tiny few—the most selective invitation ever!

This is the best and finest that the Father could ever give us. We must be thankful: We have been invited to be Christ’s only Bride forever! Eternal majesty awaits us! We are the lowly of the world, but we are the elite of God—we will have unequaled stature for all eternity! We are to be married to the Father’s Son forever—no divorce—the most exalted marriage ever!

The more deeply you ponder all these thrilling truths, plainly spelled out in the Bible, the more clearly you see what a spectacular covenant God makes with an individual at baptism!

Think of it! In that moment, He begets you as His own son. He gives you a down payment of His spiritual power, His nature, His mind, His life. He anoints you as a king-priest in embryo. And He draws you into a marriage agreement with His Son Jesus Christ!

God is deeply invested in us! He looks upon us as Christ’s wife, and if we do what He says, that is our destiny. His part of the covenant is absolutely assured, because He is God (e.g. Numbers 23:19; Psalm 119:89-90).

The lesson God is trying to teach us is that a covenant is a promise to keep your word. Our word should never be broken. And if we manifest God’s character, then our word will be fulfilled!

Considering the magnitude of the reward God is offering, isn’t He justified in expecting total, unqualified commitment from us? You would have to say that God is offering us the greatest bargain we could possibly have!

Eternal Life or Eternal Death

God’s part of the covenant is sure—but we must be tested first. In fact, it is very possible for us to fail and never be a part of that wedding!

We must understand that once God gives us His Holy Spirit, then our eternal life is at stake. God holds us to the promise we made to Him. He holds us accountable for what we do with His Spirit and whether we fulfill our calling.

Most people do not realize this, but the Bible clearly shows that this world is not being judged today. God is preparing to offer them salvation after Jesus Christ returns, and His people are going to teach them. That is when all people will be judged.

But God is judging His Spirit-begotten people now! “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17). Once we are baptized, we are under God’s scrutiny in everything we do! Eternal life hangs in the balance. That is why God is so deeply concerned.

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy [Spirit], And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

What incomparably majestic spiritual blessings God’s people receive! We have been enlightened. We have tasted of the heavenly gift, and tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come! We have partaken of the very Spirit and power of God! Once you have experienced these things, God holds you accountable.

Isn’t He justified in doing so? You cannot simply walk away from those glorious gifts without terrifying consequences!

Your baptismal covenant is a life-and-death, eternal decision!

God is trying to reproduce Himself in you—and He keeps every word of every promise. That is what He needs from us. How could He give us eternal life if He couldn’t count on us to honor our word?

When you meditate on all that God the Father has invested in this relationship, and all that He has given to each of His sons, and all that He is offering us—surely you can understand why He has such high expectations of His firstfruits! Surely you can understand why He wants to see wholehearted devotion—total commitment—just like a father wants from his own children, or a husband wants from his one and only wife.

And surely you can see why the Father is so emotionally upset when one of His Spirit-begotten sons treats his calling lightly or neglects his relationship with his Father or turns away from Him!

Yet as this book will show you, we live in an age when the great majority of God’s people have done just that.

The Father Cries Out

Revelation 2 and 3 are a prophecy of seven eras of God’s true Church starting from its founding by Jesus Christ in the first century until His Second Coming just ahead of us. We live in the seventh and final era, right before Christ’s return, called the Laodicean era.

Read Jesus Christ’s heartfelt message to His precious people in this era in Revelation 3:14-22. It is a heartbreaking message. This is a time of horrifying spiritual tragedy—when the vast majority of God’s own people, His very Spirit-begotten sons, have become spiritually lukewarm.

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (verses 15-16). Those are harsh words! Christ would only say such a thing to those of us who should know better and who should be honoring our promise to Him.

Is Christ speaking to you?

In verse 17 He describes how these people have become carnal in their thinking, fixing their minds on physical things, becoming worldly and self-satisfied—and have unwittingly become “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” spiritually! What a disaster!

Sadly, this describes nearly all of God’s people in this lukewarm age. Spiritually, this is the greatest crisis on Earth!

Have you neglected God? Have you allowed the disease of spiritual negligence into your life? As we will see in the next chapter, we are all susceptible to deceiving ourselves. We have to listen carefully to Christ and accept whatever correction He gives us.

You can turn back to God—even at the very end of your life—and finish your race strong. Read the rest of the passage, and again you see the depth of God’s love, even when His people go astray! These are the earnest words of our Husband reaching out to His Bride! He isn’t just criticizing and condemning. He is crying out to remind us of our commitment to Him—to show us how to get back on track—to express His devotion to us—and to make beautiful promises to any individual who will hear and heed!

“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (verse 18). God wants us to be spiritually rich! He wants us to be clothed with righteousness, to be getting ready for that spectacular marriage. He wants us to see where we need to repent and change, to open our eyes to the magnitude of our calling. He wants to give us dazzling spiritual vision!

Every one of us must listen to and heed the cry of our Father to His errant sons.

The Father Corrects in Love

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:19).

Yes, God rebukes those He loves. Our Father chastens us because He loves us. Even the Great Tribulation—the worst suffering in history that is about to befall the whole world—is loving correction from God. This and other passages make clear that most of God’s people will not be protected during the Tribulation.

But God’s “rebuke” is coming now, before the Tribulation! God loves His people and is pleading for repentance now. Anyone who is zealous and repents today will not need the chastening of the Tribulation—God will protect him from it!

Think deeply on your baptismal covenant. Consider it through God the Father’s eyes. Realize just how important every Spirit-begotten son is to Him, and how determined He is to help every last one of us make it into His Family.

Remember the father in Luke 15, who allowed his son to depart and make some bad choices—but who was always searching the horizon for any sign of his return, eager to welcome him back with feasting and rejoicing!

Promises Fulfilled

Christ’s loving message to the Laodiceans continues: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). He is on the outside, beseeching them to let Him into their lives! They are throwing away the most beautiful relationship a person can ever have!

Christ doesn’t want to see anyone go through the Tribulation. But the Laodiceans must “hear His voice.” He is reaching out to them through His human messenger. What more can Christ do? What can you do if, for example, your older teenager goes astray?

God will never let you get into a spiritually fatal situation as long as you are listening to His Spirit.

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (verse 21). What an incredible promise!

God makes so many promises to His precious Family.

Our baptismal covenant is a series of promises. God gives us the Holy Spirit of promise, the down payment of a spectacular inheritance. We can be “confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). God finishes what He starts. Even when we fail Him, He does not give up on us. He rebukes and chastens us when we need it—in an intense effort to turn us around. Thank God for that chastening! He has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

God fulfills His promises. The question is, will you?

Each one of us must remember the promise we made to God when we covenanted with Him at baptism. We each must use the Spirit of God to examine ourselves and to see ourselves honestly.

Think deeply on the profound, passionate love of God our Father and Jesus Christ our Husband—and on all they have done to prove that love for you. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). The more you understand God’s love, the more moved you will be to fulfill your promise to Him—to love Him and serve Him with greater devotion.

If you remain faithful to God and Christ, they are going to consummate that covenant, glorify you, fill you with the Holy Spirit, crown you as a king and priest, and let you share Christ’s throne as His eternal wife!

What spectacular rewards await if we fulfill our baptismal covenant!