Daily devotion – baptism
Just what is Baptism?
Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
A literal translation of this verse is…., “You will be baptized INTO the Holy Spirit.”
In Judaism, a new convert was ceremonially immersed in pure water after attending classes to learn the Hebrew language, study Hebrew history and culture, and most importantly, learn the Law of Moses. After passing an examination, the males were circumcised, and all converts were baptized.
People understood that after baptism into a community, he or she became one with it and, therefore identified with it.
The symbol of baptism became a figurative once-for-all cleansing from sin before entering in the Hebrew covenant community. To be “baptized into” Judaism was to become a “son of the covenant” along with natural-born Jews.
John the Baptizer then gave the rite of Gentile baptism a new application. He called Jews to a baptism of repentance, saying, in effect, “Because of your sin, you are outside of Abraham’s covenant with God – unclean.
Therefore, you must repent like a Gentile and come to God as if for the first time.
According to Jesus, the water baptism administered by John would eventually be followed by a supernatural baptism administered by John would eventually be followed by a supernatural baptism from above.
The disciples of Jesus understood the concept of ‘baptism into’ the Holy Spirit, but they could not have made sense of all its implications.
At least, not yet. To be ‘baptized into the Spirit of God’ means to be made a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and taking on all the rights, benefits, powers, and responsibilities shared within the trinity.
God planned to give His followers the power to carry out all His commands for them as citizens of His kingdom.
What a magnificent life the Christian life is and the blessings of God just continue one after the other.