Baptized by Jesus

When the apostles and brethren in Jerusalem got word of the Gentiles receiving the baptism of the holy Ghost through the preaching of Peter, they brought him into question regarding the matter. In the process of retelling the experience of how Cornelius and his household believed the Gospel and received the holy Ghost, Peter mentioned the words that Jesus had spoken to him and the other disciples in Acts 1:4,5, just before He ascended to Heaven in their sight: "And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the holy Ghost not many days hence." In thus giving these final instructions to His followers, Jesus was declaring that receiving the baptism of the holy Ghost was the entire point and result of everything that He had come to earth to do. Jesus knew what it was, and is, that man needs in order to have sin taken out of the way; and be reconciled unto God. Sin is the only thing that has ever been wrong between man and God, and the removal of sin is the only reason Jesus came to this world. John the Baptist, the man that was sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus, was sent with a simplistic, to the point message from God: "There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the holy Ghost" (Mk. 1:7,8). Now add to that John's testimony in John 1:32,33: "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." Now that is what GOD had to say about Jesus' purpose for coming! God gave to John a picture perfect symbolic ceremony [water baptism] to demonstrate to the people exactly what Jesus was going to do for them after a spiritual order. Now this was John's message, and he was the only man sent by God to directly introduce Jesus onto the scene, and to tell what He was coming for.

So the gospel message, which began to be preached by John, and was carried on by Jesus and His followers, is all about repentance from sin and faith toward Jesus, with the result of receiving the baptism of the holy Ghost from Jesus for the new testament remission of sins. There is nothing complicated about this unless we try to add to this blessed and pure doctrine established by God. Neither God, or John, or Jesus, or any apostle ever said anything about anyone "getting saved," or "accepting the Lord," or any of the other popular modern traditions which man has come up with; but simply that Jesus would baptize with the holy Ghost. These traditions have in fact caused those who do have the baptism of the Spirit to disesteem the very experience that has taken their sins away; by teaching them that it is a secondary experience for those who are already 'saved.' The baptism of the holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues, is the only new birth experience and remission of sins that God has ever ordained. According to 1 Cor. 12:13 it is the only experience whereby we can be made a member of the body of Christ, which is the only Congregation that God has ever ordained (Eph. 4:4). The beauty of this truth is that no one but Jesus can administer this glorious experience to us. He has also provided a heavenly witness [speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance] to allow us to be certain that the experience has taken place. We don't have to just "take it by faith," or depend on someone else to tell us that we have been born again. And I have to tell you, that is a beautiful and refreshing thing to me! I'm aware that this is not exactly a mainstream message, but when we read the Bible we see that God's truth has never been popular or widely accepted among his people because the traditions of men have always been there to inoculate his people against his word. Jesus ran into the same malady when he was here: "For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye" (Mk. 7:8,13). Nothing has changed, including God's established truth. Amen.