John the Baptist, the forerunner, was telling
others about Jesus. Being “baptized” with water wasn’t really a new thing since
the Jews had purification rituals established in the book of Leviticus. I think
the idea of being baptized by the Holy Spirit was new since many of these Jews
and Gentiles listening to John may not have known about the Holy Spirit. The
Trinity is not mentioned specifically using that word in any version of the
Bible that I searched, but it is obvious that the concept of the Trinity was
established at the beginning of time. In the beginning…there was God, the
Father; the Word, Jesus the Son; and the Holy Spirit. So now we have John
telling us that Jesus will baptize, assumedly those who repent and believe,
with the Holy Spirit. John himself felt unworthy. The Holy Spirit had taught
him, who was known to be a humble man, that this “One” would be more powerful,
mightier, and greater than any other person. John told his audience there on
the Jordan River that is “One” would baptize them with the Holy Spirit or fire.
The baptism with fire could be for those who did not repent—that doom of the
Lake of Fire. So where are you headed…baptism by the Holy Spirit and live
forever with Jesus…or that unfortunate fate of fire?
Prayer
~ Precious Lord and Savior, we seek Your forgiveness for our careless thoughts,
words and actions that could otherwise doom us to a lifetime away from You.
Fill us anew today with Your Holy Spirit and guide us into a life of holiness…to
be pleasing to You.
© 2015 by Mickey
M. Hunacek. All rights reserved
All
scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise
noted.
Biblical
search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm
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