The topic of Baptism in the Bible is interesting. As I discussed in an earlier post, I believe there to be four baptisms mentioned in the Bible that we can go through:
- Baptism of the Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ. (1 Cor. 12:13)
- Baptism in water – Humans baptize each other as a sign that they have been regenerated. (Acts 8:12-13)
- Baptism in the Holy Spirit – Christ baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:5)
- Baptism of Fire – Christ baptizes the unbelievers in judgment. (Luke 3:7-17)
I wanted to investigate these four baptisms one at a time. I will address the first today, and then continue to each one in separate blogs.
When someone believes in Jesus, repents of their sins and accepts Him into their hearts, God honors that decision, and sends the Holy Spirit to change that person. This is known as being born again – dying to the natural man, and being born into the spiritual man.
The Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ, and we receive the righteousness of Christ imputed into us. (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 2:20).
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:13 NASB)
In this verse, we see that it is “by one Spirit” that we are baptized. This is definitely not talking about water baptism. When I was baptized in water, it was not a spirit who baptized me, but a human being. It was into one body that we were baptized, no matter who we are or where we are from. It does not say we were baptized into water, but into one body. According to verse 12, that body is Christ.
The word “baptized” is taken from a Greek word that means “to immerse; to overwhelm.” When we are saved, the Spirit immerses us, overwhelms us in the body of Christ. His righteousness is infused into our core being. Every part of us is “dunked” into Christ’s body. Afterwards, He clothes us with Himself (Gal. 3:27). This is simply being wrapped in the essence of Christ – putting on His character. 1 Cor. 6:16 says that “we have the mind of Christ.” How did we get His mind? By being immersed and overwhelmed in His character.
Having the mind of Christ is not a Spiritual brain washing. We still have the thoughts that come from our own human brains. However, now we have the ability to understand Spiritual things. Now we have the ability to see this world and all its temptations through a Spiritual lens.
When we say that we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ, we are simply saying that we have truly repented of our sins and accepted Christ. In turn, the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts and minds so that we reflect Christ to the world around us. Simply put, this means that we have been saved!
Please feel free to voice your agreements or disagreements.
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