I indeed baptize you with
water…but He…will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. —Matthew 3:11
{CHAMBERS} “Have I ever come to the point in my life where I can
say, “I indeed…but He…”? Until that moment comes, I will never know what the
baptism of the Holy Spirit means. I indeed am at the end, and I cannot do
anything more— but He begins right there— He does the things that no one else
can ever do. […] Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of
inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely
helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His
sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly
trying to defend my actions? […] “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
fire.” John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an
experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. “He will baptize you….””
{ELGIN} (John 3:3-7) “Now
there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish
ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you
are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are
doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can
see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?”
Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s
womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the
kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth
to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at
my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” I
am amazed at the intensity of effort that people go through to know their genealogy.
Ancestry.com based in Utah, started by
the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) [1000 of the 1400 employees are in
Utah], has promoted an interest worldwide, but particularly in the United
States, in people knowing their genetic roots.
Nicodemus depended upon his roots, his natural birth, to somehow ensure
his access to heaven. Jesus told him, “you
must be born again [spiritually]” So
must we all. It is not very helpful to
know that you are “genetic soup”. We are
all sons and daughters of Adam, genetically connected to Adam through Noah and
his sons. There I just saved you some
time and money! But we want to know more
because our flesh has a passion to trust in itself. But Jesus said …that is not good enough. You must be born by the Spirit. (2
Corinthians 5:17) You have a new,
spiritual DNA, and because of that, you have gained entrance to the throne room
of grace and have a place in heaven.
I could expound on the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. Certainly
there are denominations that have risen up because of what some believe that
means. But, unless you understand your
new nature and are walking in submission to the leading of the Spirit, the more
sensational beliefs, not embraced by me by the way, are nothing more than curiosities
.. intellectual gymnastics. Most of us
have a hard enough time just grasping the necessity and the implications of our
new birth. It might be interesting to
know who the father of my father of his father of his father ……. Go back to
Adam if you like … was, but what is more important to realize who your Father
in heaven is and what that means in terms of how you live this live forward. If
you do anything do this one thing. (Philippians 3:13-14) “Brothers and
sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what
is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win
the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
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