#151: Washing Off Adam in Baptism in Jesus Name

Email: hpaulsilas@hotmail.com https://apostolicinternational.com/ Statement of beliefs: https://apostolicinternational.com/statement-of-beliefs The sermon: https://apostolicinternational.com/sermons/WASHING_OFF_ADAM_IN_BAPTISM_IN_JESUS_NAME.pdf

This sermon presents the healing of the man born blind in John 9 as a prophetic picture of baptism in Jesus' name. The preacher argues that the blind man represents all humanity, born in the spiritual blindness inherited from Adam. Jesus' act of making clay from the dust and placing it on the man's eyes symbolizes Adam's fallen nature—the "dust" from which humanity was formed and the condition of sin and spiritual blindness passed down to every person.

The central emphasis is that the clay itself is not the cure but the problem. The blind man remains in darkness until Jesus commands him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. Since John explains that "Siloam" means "Sent," the sermon identifies the pool as a symbol of Jesus Christ, the One sent into the world. Washing in Siloam therefore foreshadows baptism in the name of Jesus, where the old life inherited from Adam is washed away and replaced with new life in Christ.

The sermon connects this theme with Galatians 3:27, which declares, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” The Greek word for “put on” is enduo—to clothe oneself, to sink into a garment as into a new skin. This is not a metaphor. It is a spiritual transplant. The flesh of Adam, which is the clay of the ground, is stripped off in the waters of Siloam. And the flesh of Jesus—the sinless, resurrected, glorifiable flesh of the Sent One - is pulled over those who are baptized in Jesus name like a robe of light. When God looks at the believer after baptism in Jesus’ name, He does not see a reformed Adam. He sees His Son.

Finally, the message places the Pool of Siloam alongside other biblical water events—Noah's flood, the Red Sea, the Jordan River, Naaman's cleansing, Jonah, and others—as a continuing pattern of death, cleansing, and new life. The sermon concludes by urging listeners to obey Christ's command, leave behind the blindness of Adam, and experience the transforming work symbolized by washing in the Pool of Siloam through baptism in Jesus' name.