Baptism

What is the purpose of being baptized?  It is the outward expression of an inward change.  It is a witness that we identify ourselves with Jesus to the world.  I see it as a picture of the Lord’s crucifixion, death and resurrection.  It is like we are crucified with Christ, going under the water represents Jesus’ death and coming up out of the water is like rising to new life in Christ.  We are relating to what Jesus did for us, praise the Lord!

Does baptism save anyone?  No, baptism doesn’t save a person or cleanse sins.  Only the blood of Jesus can purify anyone of sins, and only through His crucifixion, death and resurrection can anyone be saved.  If we could contribute anything to this, it could be considered good works.

The Word says this about our good works in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Why should a believer be baptized?  Because Jesus set the example by being baptized and we should follow His example.

Water baptism was very important and we as believers know it is and Jesus made it very clear while He spoke to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 saying this, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”   

So, what about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and why is that so important?  This is what John the Baptist said about the Holy Spirit baptism in Matthew 3:11, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

This is what Jesus taught about the Holy Spirit in John 16:7-11,

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

At another time Jesus breathed on His disciples and said this in John 20:21-23, “So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”   I think that was their first experience with the Holy Spirit but it wouldn’t be their last and this lets us know that they were all believers at the time.

Then in Acts 1:4-8 Jesus said this to them about the Holy Spirit, “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’”

Then Jesus was taken from them in a cloud.  As they tarried and waited in one accord for the promise, it happened, they were baptized with the Holy Spirit as John the Baptist said.  

It says this about the events in Acts 2:1-13, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.’ So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘Whatever could this mean?’

Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine.’”

What an amazing event this was, they were empowered to witness, they were able to speak in many different tongues so they could be even more effective in witnessing, speaking in other languages and dialects because there were so many people from all over the world.  The disciples were never the same from that day on.  Peter seemed kind of wishy, washy before this event, even denying the Lord three times, but after this experience he was willing to die for the Lord, Peter would serve Jesus no matter what the cost.

I wonder why this isn’t taught more, if the disciples needed this experience so does every believer.  If you seem to lack power in your Christian walk, pray and ask the Lord to baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire. Something to think about!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may all of you have a super day!!  PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord.