One Baptism

Ephesians 4:1-7 *5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,…

So there is only one baptism that we are to be baptized by.  Only one baptism that will make a difference in our spirit, soul and body. 

What is that Baptism?  It is Jesus’ Baptism of His Holy Spirit: The Father’s Promise and Gift.

So what is the Baptism that Jesus provided?  To see that let’s take a look at John’s baptism and purpose of it.

John’s Baptism… He was sent by the Father to reveal Jesus to Israel. 

John 1:29-31 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.  And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water….

V32-33 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.  And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

V34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

John was under the Law of Sin and Death which was a working of the Flesh. It revealed sin which produced death. Jesus came in under that law as the last Adam to fulfill every jot and tittle of that law according to the flesh.  He was and is God’s Lamb, the eternal sacrifice that fulfilled the debt due and accomplished the working of all Righteousness and Judgment according to the flesh under that law.

Now once Jesus was manifested to Israel, there was no more need for the baptism by John, but Jesus then stepped forward, and John was taken out of the way having fulfilled God’s purpose through him. 

Jesus’ Baptism, which the Father said was to be done, was then in operation.  Jesus began to preach and say repent of your sin, also.  But there was something different in His purpose and ministry.  A change was starting to take place in the land.  A new Priest had stepped in and a new Order was beginning to be manifested, yet only as the old one was being fulfilled and then removed out of the way.  Heaven and Earth were being shaken.

Luke 3:16-17 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

V17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

This He did to that generation, but now He does in us… for He desires for us to be His dwelling place…His body.(Ephesians 1:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12:5, plus many more).

Jesus began speaking and preaching the Words of the Father.  The POWER of God was speaking in the earth!  All that the Father commanded of Him to do.  The baptism was in the Spirit now, not in the literal water.  And fire was included.   He was washing and cleansing them in the words of the Father.  A change was happening.  The earth and heaven was beginning to shake!  (This is huge. There is so much to this that can be declared, but I will do my best to stay focused on His baptism, for today.)

2 Peter 3:10-13  v10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

v11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

v12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

v13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Wow! This fulfilling and removing of the old law and order was shaking heaven and earth!  A new order and Priesthood (Priest and King after the order of Melchisedec) was coming forth and being established! Oh Hallelujah! God’s New Heaven and Earth was about to be revealed and established. 

So this passage in 2 Peter isn’t about a future judgment in our days, but it was about the changing of the order in that generation….A Fulfillment and Removing of the Law of Sin and Death in the working of the Flesh.  And the Establishing of a New Law which is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus which was and is a working of Faith in the Grace of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ.  (Romans 8:1-4)

In the death of Jesus Christ the fulfillment of this law of sin and death was completed. Payment in Full.  Sin removed. Death abolished (2 Timothy 1:10; Romans 8:3; Romans 6:14; and more).

Hebrews 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

V18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

V19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

Christ In You is Your Hope of Glory, Victory, Deliverance, Liberty, Freedom of Death and Sickness, Disease, Lack and decay of any kind.  HE IS LIFE ETERNAL and HE IS GOD (John 5:20).  HE IS OUR BLESSING! We are eternally blessed with His Presence in us, and He desires for us to abide In Him, where He is (John 17:24).  So He has joined with us and is bringing us in to our home and promised land.

John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou has given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Call upon Him and allow Him to bring you into a deeper relationship and working of His Spirit that is holy.  The Lord is a mystery, and only by His Spirit can He be revealed to us. And only by His Holy Spirit within our inner man, can we possibly understand the Lord and behold Him in His Glory.

Colossians 1:26-27 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

You heard the word of God concerning His Salvation and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Your heart acknowledged your sin and repented.  You asked Jesus to come in to your heart as Savior and to wash away your sins. And He did.  Not only to abide in you as your sanctification, but to now wash you, free you, and revive you!.... to raise up your soul and body out of death and sin, and to cause you to enter into His Kingdom which is Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in His Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).  Today is your Day of Salvation. 

Little bit at a time the Lord is releasing you into the Place He has prepared for you …in Himself in the Father.  The Power and Glory of the Lord is too awesome to do this birthing at one time, so He reveals Himself to you a little bit at a time, so you are not overwhelmed in His Presence.

He’s anchored you in His Spirit.  He’s secured you in His Word. His provision of Grace is sufficient for every day’s journey, until you are filled with the fullness of God and come to the end of your Faith (Ephesians 4:19).

So what does all this have to do with baptism?  Everything.  As  you are reading and receiving His words in this message, the Holy Spirit is washing you and cleansing you and freeing you, so that you may go forward into His Kingdom and begin to rule and reign with Him from there.  This is the purpose of Jesus Christ baptizing you with and in His holy Spirit from the Father.  So to be endued with His Power to become sons of God….With Him.

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,…and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

But unless Jesus Christ baptizes you in His Holy Spirit… you cannot be born again. You will still be walking dead.  He can save you, but you will not be able to produce of Him.  Only by His Spirit working in you… His Power… can you enter and abide in the place prepared for you in Himself (John 14: 2-3).  The Spirit has to raise you up… just as He did for Jesus (Romans 8:9-11, 2 Corinthians 4:14 and 5:5, Hebrews 9:14, plus more).

Romans 8:9-11 *11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

2 Corinthians 4:14 and 5:5  v14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

V5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Jesus’ baptism of His Holy Spirit gives you Power to become sons of God.  You are endued with power from the Father (John 1:12-14; Luke 24:49). 

John 1:12-14 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not  of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

His ability abiding and working in you to WASH YOU, CLEANSE YOU, and SET/MAKE YOU FREE.  Causing you to be seated in heavenly places in Christ, even while abiding in the earth.

You’ll be producing after His Spirit, Producing His Fruit/Character.  The new man, the 2^nd man after the image of the Son of God is birthed forth through your soul.  You and the Son have become one, and one with the Father too. 

This process works like this: The Holy Spirit declares Jesus to You from one of God’s anointed ones (ministers). As you sit in His Presence (Holy Spirit) and receive His Word of Salvation which is Jesus Christ, He sends His Holy Spirit into your heart and seals you with His Spirit as His own property.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of your inheritance…

You heard His words and now are sealed with His Holy Spirit. Then the Holy Spirit, which is the Lord continues to declare your salvation to you and reveals Jesus Christ to you.  In the meeting of the Lord in your soul, you are washed, and cleansed and the old garments are being removed and His Righteousness, Peace, Joy are filling your Soul, and the new Garments of Him as Priest and King are covering you.  Your Identity is changing.  Oh Hallelujah!  You are being born from above. 

2 Corinthians 3:17-18  v17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

V18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Jesus Christ is that Spirit.  The Father is that Spirit.  They have made their home in you.  Now time for clean up and putting His house in order.  The Holy Spirit also begins to release in you and through you His Gifts, and the Lord’s Administrations, and God’s Operations begin to flow (1 Corinthians 12).

You and the Son of God have become one, and you are growing up, maturing into the fullness of the character of the Son of God (Ephesians 4:12-16).

Ephesians 4:12-16 *13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:…

Jesus Christ is God’s Word.  His Words are Spirit and Life.  His Word is Judge.  The Blood that Speaks declares His Righteousness within you.  Liberation comes forth in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is that Spirit and where the presence of the Lord is there is Liberty… and we are beholding His Glory and are changed into the same image of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Jesus spoke in that generation and His words were the Father’s words.  They are spirit and life. Jesus’ words were washing that generation then, and even today, the very testimony of the Father concerning the Son, washes and cleanses us, and makes us free….IF we Receive them.

John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

John 6:63-64 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not.

John 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word…

V8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, …

V14 I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world…

V17 Sanctify them through thy truth: they word is truth….

Ephesians 5:26-27 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church,….

Jesus was washing the world before He went to the cross.  He spoke the Father’s Words which are Spirit and Life.  Those that received them reaped of them in LIFE Eternal.  Those that rejected them reaped of them in Fire Eternal.

Now He is baptizing us: washing and cleansing us as the Holy Spirit speaks and declares Jesus Christ and the Father to us daily.  Jesus gave an example to the apostles to wash each other’s feet.  Here I see the preparation of the gospel of peace which we are to put on.  This is part of our armor spoken of in Ephesians 6: 15.

Ephesians 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;…

The Preparation is what Jesus’ does to us when He baptizes us in His Holy Spirit.  He prepares us… equips us for the journey.  So we Walk in His Spirit, and by His Spirit, having Faith in the Grace provided by Jesus Christ.

As you are maturing, you will stand more steadfast and abide in Christ Jesus, as He manifests Himself through you to wash others… as He has instructed (John 13).  Now you are His anointed one WITH HIM.  Without Him you can do Nothing (John 15:3-5*).

So, to be baptized in physical water, without the true baptism of the Word of God whom is Jesus Christ, will profit you little, because it is only a working of the flesh.  Jesus Christ will send and seal you with His Holy Spirit that will never leave you nor forsake you.  This is the Lord having come for you to bring you: spirit, soul, and body, into His kingdom and into the place in Himself in the Father which is prepared just for you.

Romans 8:9-11 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Let the Anointed One abide in you, and you in Jesus Christ God’s Anointed one: God’s Word of Salvation.  Go and Wash One Another.

Amen.