"The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
This is He of whom I said, After me comes a Man who is preferred before me: for He was before me.
And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him.
And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which Baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." John 1:29-34
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a controversial subject, to say the least. And good reason for this I think. For the Scriptures are not pure and simple with this truth of the Bible. It's a deep subject of Scripture, and so I thought I'd address it over the next few posts.
[El Greco, The Pentecost (1596-1600)]
First, let me say, that I believe Jesus does baptize sinners in the Holy Spirit, those sinners who are His elect. In fact the baptizm of the Holy Spirit is the way the Lord Jesus Christ brings a sinner into His kingdom, and so the sinner is washed and quickened from his deadness in sin, and becomes a member in the Body of Christ, and is "made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13).
Jesus died for these same sinners, and He loved them before the foundation of the world; where Jesus was "the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).
And so Jesus, the Good Shepherd, comes to seek His lost sheep, and save His lost sheep, by laying down His precious life for them, and so gives them eternal life, and the guarantee of this eternal life is the Holy Spirit, whom He gives into our hearts (II Cor. 1:21-22).
This is a very short explanation of a deep subject. If anyone has any thoughts on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and would like to share, I'd be very appreciative. And may the authority of Scripture rule our hearts and minds as we study any truth of God. And forbid it Lord that we would add to Your truth, nor take away from it as well. Amen.
5 comments:
I thought you did a great job explaining baptism in this post.
Christ centered, God doing the action, giving the promises, saving the sinner in baptism.
Just awesome!
Thank you!
- Steve Martin San Clemente, CA
PS- We were dicussing the same issue recently (some still are) over at 'the old Adam lives' blog (my blog)
http://theoldadam.wordpress.com/
I'll have to drop by. Thanks.
Let me borrow Steve's phrase, and I hope this does not come across as critical of him. I don't know him. It just happens to be a convenient phrase for what I want to say.
On that day, I am counting on the Heavenly Father recognizing His elect, seeing the seal of the Holy Spirit and a covering of Christ's righteousness. But those are things that God alone sees, and I believe there is a reason we don't see the Bible giving us phrases like: "saving the sinner in baptism." Yes, there is an inner working from the person of the Holy Spirit that is all-important if we are to be genuinely saved. But I would be cautious in that we can see the Spirit's fruit after He has done his work, and so I would not urge anyone to "be baptized in the Holy Spirit." Unless I am mistaken, Scripture is saying, "This is what is going to happen to you," not "this is what you need to do." That baptism is a mongergistic work, and a person cannot perform the action of "being baptized" in the Spirit. As I said, it is more a state of being, and not a human activity. I would rather say believe, trust, obey. Afterwards, seeing the fruit that comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I might interpret the evidence, and speculate that a person has been baptized in the Spirit. The primary evidence I would look for is love, obedience and the fruit as listed in Galatians 5.
That's a lot more words than I usually throw back for a comment. Am I making any sense, or did it just come out as rambling?
"Unless I am mistaken, Scripture is saying, "This is what is going to happen to you," not "this is what you need to do."
I agree completely Craver.
Jesus says those who love the Messiah, these will be the ones who the Father and Jesus come to abide with through the Holy Spirit (John 14:24).
How does a sinner, dead in sin love God? He can't.
But we can love Christ, because He first loved us, and died for us, and gives to us eternal life.
The Father draws us to the Son (John 6:44), and the Son reveals the Father to us (Matt. 11:27), and the Father reveals the Christ (Matt. 16:17). This all happens through the Holy Spirit, who comes and baptizes us into the Body of Christ, and makes us drink of the same Spirit of Christ.
It is a salvation, from start to finish, of the Lord. The Triune God os the universe saves sinners by His sovereign grace, thrugh His sovereign Spirit, who sovereignly baptizes His children into the body of Christ, and sovereignly (1 Cor. 12:11).
Thanks for the input Craver.
""..who sovereignly baptizes His children into the body of Christ, and sovereignly (1 Cor. 12:11)."
"..and sovereignly assigns, or divides, gifts to each member, as He wills."
Forgot a few words. Whoops.
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