The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood: Difference between revisions
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William Branham never once in all of his sermons uses the wording of 1 John 5:8: "the spirit, and the water, and the blood." He never orders it as the Bible does. For him, the proper order was "water, blood, spirit." | William Branham never once in all of his sermons uses the wording of 1 John 5:8: "the spirit, and the water, and the blood." He never orders it as the Bible does. For him, the proper order was "water, blood, spirit." | ||
As seen in the quotes below, William Branham taught that spiritual birth was in 3 parts: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|+ Natural Birth types the Spiritual | |||
|- | |||
! Natural !! Spiritual | |||
|- | |||
| Water (amniotic fluid) || Justification (water baptism) | |||
|- | |||
| Blood (baby is born) || Sanctification (cleansing from sin) | |||
|- | |||
| Life (baby breathes)|| Baptism of the Holy Spirit (born again) | |||
|} | |||
As a result, William Branham taught there are 3 different classes of Christians: | |||
#Those who have accepted Christ and had been baptized in water (but have not experienced sanctification or baptism in the Holy Spirit). | |||
#Those who have experienced sanctification but have not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit. | |||
#Those who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit (these are the only people who are actually "born again") | |||
For the reasons outlined below, this teaching must be considered false doctrine. | |||
==What the passage actually means== | ==What the passage actually means== |