This blog entry is the continuation in a series called ‘Six Baptisms.’ The first entry ‘#1 Baptism by Fire,’ which includes an introduction
to this series, can be read at http://mikesmorals.blogspot.com/2014/03/six-baptisms-1-baptism-by-fire.html
As I wrote previously, the Greek word “baptizo” in the New
Testament of God’s Word means to immerse, submerge, and/or cleanse.
It is by God’s special grace through faith in Christ through
which a person receives Christ as Savior, receives the Holy Spirit, receives imputed
righteousness from Christ, and receives the fruit of the Spirit among other
divine blessings. We, unholy sinners, can enter into a current and eternal
relationship with God by His grace through faith in Christ. This is amazing and
this spiritual process of salvation in Christ involves a spiritual baptism sometimes
referred to in Scripture as ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit, ‘baptism into Christ,’
or ‘baptism into one Body.’
I believe these
biblical phrases refer to the same spiritual act of God in the life of a
Christian today. This spiritual immersion and cleansing involves a
spiritual union with and identification with the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ
and His universal Body of believers.
Let’s consider some
Bible verses that refer to this spiritual baptism.
Matthew 3:11 ESV “I baptize you with water for 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.
John 1:33 ESV I myself did not know him, but he who sent
me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and
remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
John the Baptist taught
here that Jesus Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit which is different than
the baptism John the Baptist was providing people before the public ministry of
Jesus Christ. I’ll write more about water baptism and what John was doing in a
later entry.
Galatians 3:26-27 ESV for
in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you
as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
This phrase
‘baptized into Christ’ refers to a spiritual immersion into Christ.
Romans 6:1-11 ESV 1 What
shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin
still live in it? 3 Do you not know
that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? 4 We were buried
therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness
of life. 5 For if we have been
united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his. 6 We know
that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be
brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from
sin. 8 Now if we have died with
Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the
dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once
for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God
in Christ Jesus.
To be baptized into Christ, to be a born-again saved Christ-follower,
means to die to your sins (vs3) and to live a new life through the resurrection
of Christ (1 Pet. 3:21).
What does this look
like for a Christian? Consider Paul’s testimony: Galatians 2:20 ESV I have been crucified with Christ. It is no
longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the
flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
1 Corinthians 6:17
ESV But he who is joined to the
Lord becomes one spirit with him.
1 Corinthians
6:19-20 ESV Or do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your
own, 20 for you were bought with a
price. So glorify God in your body.
Christians are spiritually placed into Christ, in union with
Him, and they have the Holy Spirit within them, and so we should live
accordingly.
In 1 Cor. 12, Paul was dealing with a situation where the Corinthian
church was splitting into factions over the issue of spiritual gifts.
Overemphasis on certain spectacular gifts had led to the attitude that some
people had the most desirable gifts, while others were deficient. In response, Paul
wrote, "We're all one (in Christ)! Don't divide up into cliques!" And
to prove his point, he wrote this to the Corinthian Christians, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 ESV For just as the body is one and has many
members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is
with Christ. For in one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or
free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
What’s his main point here? All true Christ-followers share
the reality of being baptized into Christ by way of the Holy Spirit. The phrase
‘into one body’ here refers to the Body of Christ, not meaning His physical
body, but referring instead to His spiritual body which includes the universal Church
of true Christ-followers in which He is the head.
Titus 3:4-7 ESV 4 But
when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us
in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by his
grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
I believe this
passage refers to the baptism of the Holy Spirit through Christ.
When does this spiritual baptism occur? In modern day
Christianity, I believe that the ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’ and ‘baptism into
Christ’ (& into one Body) occur simultaneously at the salvation conversion
moment in a Christ-follower’s life. There is a spiritual justification
conversion moment in God’s plan of salvation for people today. This is the moment
when the person called by God begins trusting Christ as their personal Savior
and Lord. It is God who declares the person is saved, and that they now have a
position in His heaven, and he or she is reconciled with Him. I believe it is
at this salvation moment that the person is sealed by and indwelt by the Holy
Spirit, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and baptized into Christ and into one Body.
Consider, in addition to the above verses:
Ephesians 1:13 ESV 13 In
him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
Romans 8:9 ESV 9 You,
however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong
to him.
So, for personal example, when I was nine years old I
received Christ into my life as my Savior and Lord. In that spiritual salvation
conversion moment I was baptized by the Holy Spirit and baptized into Christ
(& into one Body).
There are moments in early Christianity when some
individuals received the baptism of the Holy Spirit after a salvation conversion
moment; such as at Pentecost to the original Apostles (Acts 2) and to some
Samaritan believers in Acts 8:14-17. I believe this was just part of the
transition period from the incarnated days of Jesus Christ, to the beginning of
the Christian church, and to the spread of Christianity to Jews, to Samaria and
to the ends of the earth. By the time we get to Acts 10, I think we have the
model for today; personal impact of the Gospel, trusting belief, and receive
the Holy Spirit.
These days, I believe the ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’/’baptism
into Christ’ is a one-time spiritual act by God at the salvation conversion moment
that spiritually identifies a person with God. There doesn’t have to be
miraculous signs and wonders or dramatic recoveries from addictions or other major
things occur at that moment, although salvation itself is miraculous and a big life-transforming
deal! Praise God! If you are a true Christ-follower already you don’t need to
seek a baptism of the Holy Spirit. It already took place.
Each genuine Christ-follower has the Holy Spirit in their
life as God’s gracious gift; however, they are exhorted to be filled with
the Holy Spirit (aka ‘led by’, ‘walk by’ or ‘walk in’, and ‘live by the
Holy Spirit’). This means the individual Christ follower must decide regularly
to ask God to fill him or her with the Holy Spirit, to choose to regularly
yield to/submit to the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 ESV And
do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the
Spirit,
Galatians 5:16-26
ESV But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and
the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each
other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are
not under the law. 19 Now the works
of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife,
jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like
these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will
not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the
flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If
we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
The above passage gives us a glimpse of what it looks like
to be a Holy Spirit-filled Christ-follower in contrast with being characterized
by the immoral works of the flesh. Which do you align more with?
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is part of ‘progressive
sanctification’ in a Christ-follower’s life. This maturing spiritual
sanctification in Christ varies for each believer in their lifetime. There can
be many fillings of the Holy Spirit, all the while the Christ-follower continues
to be indwelt by and sealed by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit-filled life is
characteristic of the Christ-follower who acknowledges their ‘baptism of the
Holy Spirit’/‘baptism into Christ’ and they live accordingly for the glory of
God.
I hope and pray that you have been baptized by the Holy
Spirit and into Christ and are living accordingly. What do you think about this
subject in Scripture and what I’ve written about here?
The next entry in this series will be about ‘baptism by
water.’
Mike
