Willingness, Desire and Baptism

In the New Testament, water baptism follows a basic pattern of personal willingness coupled with personal desire.  This is one reason why many Christian churches require the individual being baptised to have an understanding of the spiritual significance of water baptism after being born again by the Gospel.  Being baptised is symbolic that as Jesus died, was buried and rose again from the dead, we who were once dead in sins have now been raised to new, everlasting life by the power of the Gospel.  We are baptised in water in obedience to Christ, for identification with Christ and as a public testimony we have chosen to follow Christ.  Our salvation hinges upon our personal choice to repent and trust in Jesus, and the decision to be baptised in water is also a personal choice that requires our willingness.

I see a connection between our willingness to submit ourselves to God in receiving the Gospel to be saved from our sins (for God will not force forgiveness or salvation upon anyone), and the necessity of our willingness to submit to water baptism as well as submission before God to be baptised with the Holy Spirit.  Now when I came to faith in Jesus as a child, I did not know anything about being baptised in water.  It was only after several years I learned that Christians were called to make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to observe all Jesus had commanded.  Once I understood Jesus had called me to be baptised as His disciple--and that I was to follow His example of being baptised Himself--I went forward at a church baptism in Mission Bay in San Diego to be baptised by another Christian.

Another thing I did not realise when I came to faith in Jesus is I could be baptised with the Holy Spirit--the birthright of every Christian.  During my youth and into adulthood, I was like the believers Paul met in Ephesus in Acts 19:1-2:  "And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples ² he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."  I did not realise this spiritual baptism Peter identified as "the promise of the Father" to curious onlookers in Acts 2 was for me.  When I first heard about the Holy Spirit coming upon believers to empower them to be His witnesses, I was uncomfortable with the idea.  My pastor asked a question God used to soften my heart:  "Don't you want all God has for you?  If God has a spiritual gift to give you, wouldn't you desire it?"  In time I decided I did desire and and would welcome any spiritual gift He would give me.  Convinced it was God's will for me to be baptised with the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:14-15), I asked and God baptised me.

Water baptism and baptism with the Holy Spirit for Christians both involve personal desire and willing submission, these always involve another person.  No one is baptised in water by themselves, and no one is baptised without the Person of the Holy Spirit.  When Philip shared the Gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch, the eunuch immediately asked if he could be baptised, and this correlates with someone who receives baptism with the Holy Spirit at the same time as conversion.  In my case, I had no idea about the Holy Spirit or the baptism Peter experienced and spoke of, and it was only at a later time I learned of it and was brought to a place of willing submission to God, to ask and receive that baptism by faith in Jesus and God's promise.  What R.A. Torrey said is true about baptism with the Holy Spirit rings true of water baptism:  everyone baptised knows that have been, when it happened, and that it was not gradual.  Praise the LORD for the gracious blessing of the Holy Spirit given beyond measure to fill us day by day.

Why the Enemy Flees

The Bible is full of encouragement for those who trust in God, and sometimes it is found in unexpected places.  This morning I was blessed by a pattern I considered that sprang from reading Genesis 36:6:  "Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob."  After decades of living in Haran, Jacob returned to the land of Canaan a wealthy man with a huge family.  Esau was a wealthy and powerful man in his own right, having 400 men who followed him when he greeted Jacob upon his return.  Yet there was no power play between them for the land of Canaan:  when their flocks and herds became too many for the land to support, Esau voluntarily chose to leave.

I found this very encouraging.  From the beginning, God is established as Creator and sovereign over all things.  When Adam sinned, God drove him out from the Garden of Eden.  After Cain killed Abel his brother, Cain went out from the presence of the LORD.  God directed Abraham to leave his family and go to the land God would show him, and when Abraham and his nephew Lot's beasts were too many, Abraham gave Lot the choice of where to settle.  It was Lot who departed from Abraham, and God affirmed all the land Abraham could see or his foot would tread He had given to Abraham and his descendants.  God is, and those He establishes by faith in Him are also strengthened to remain steadfast where God would have them be.

A similar pattern occurred when Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil.  Luke 4:13 says, "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time."  Jesus did not avoid the wilderness to escape from the devil or his temptation, but resisted Satan and it was the devil who departed.  This aligns with what the Scripture says is true for the believer in James 4:6-7:  "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." ⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."  Spiritually speaking, by faith in Jesus our lives are established like houses built upon the rock, and thus we are enabled to stand resolute in obedience to God's Word:  "Be strong in the LORD and the power of His might; put on the whole armour of God and stand therefore!" (Eph. 6:10-20)

I love how Esau chose to depart from Jacob without violence:  though he had 400 men to support and aid him, Jacob, his wives and little children were protected, provided for and prospered by Jacob's great God.  Jacob was established in the land of Canaan, and God had a place set aside for Esau too.  It was not for Jacob to run for the hills to hide from his brother, but to remain in the place God called him to be by faith.  Spiritually speaking for Christians this is also true.  We do not need to concern ourselves with violent forays into enemy territory or lay siege to the wisdom of the world spouted in our culture:  our LORD and Saviour Jesus is the KING OF KINGS Who will subdue all to Himself.  We are called to submit ourselves to God in faith joyfully with obedience and stand.  This is how we battle the enemy, and this is how the fight is won because Jesus has overcome.  Resist the temptations of the enemy to give up or give in, hold the ground God has given you, and the enemy will flee.

Sold and Bought

In the Bible we see tragic examples of people being sold.  Rather than kill their brother Joseph, Judah suggested he and his brothers sell him to Ishmaelite traders who were heading to Egypt.  Esther said she and her people were "sold" to be killed by Haman's wicked decree.  God exposed the moral decay among His people in Joel 3:3:  "They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink."  During Paul's missionary journey to Philippi we read of a slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination who brought much financial gain to her masters, having evidently been bought or acquired previously by them.

There are times recorded in scripture when God delivered His own people into the hands of their enemies in response to their rejection of Him and departure from Him.  Judges 2:14 tells us, "And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies."  God was gracious to raise up judges who delivered the Israelites from their enemies--even though it seemed only a matter of time before they went back to idolatry.  It is hard to imagine what it would be like to be literally sold by your parents for a bottle of wine or sold by God into the hands of enemies all around.

The reality was the people were responsible in situations like this, for they sold themselves in exchange for choosing sin and idols that could not save.  God said through the prophet in Isaiah 52:1-3:  "Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. ² Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! ³ For thus says the LORD: "You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money."  God who allowed the Hebrews and all people to sell themselves for nothing intended all along to provide atonement and purchase lost souls enslaved to sin with His own blood--the blood of Jesus shed on Calvary (Acts 20:28).

It is the one who realises they are no longer their own, enslaved to sin and doomed without hope, who rejoice to be redeemed by the power of the Gospel and claimed as God's adopted child.  There is hope for those like Paul who realised his natural condition was carnal (of flesh) and sold under sin (Romans 7:14).  By faith in Jesus Christ lost souls are found and accepted in the beloved, cleansed from sin, and know we have a new Master and KING OF KINGS Jesus.  How blessed we are to be bought and paid once for all by the precious blood of Christ, and we have received the Holy Spirit as a down payment of our eternal inheritance (Ephesians 1:14).  Having been bought by God our Good Shepherd, we are sheep of His pasture that are protected, provided for and guided by Him forever.  Why sell ourselves for nothing when we have been bought by God Who loves us?

Time Marches On

A refrain in a rock song goes, "Time is on my side, yes it is."  The background of the story in the tune is the singer felt no time-pressure about his girlfriend leaving him, because it was only a matter of time before she would be back and knocking at his door.  He was confident the constant, relentless march of time would result in his relational struggles and separation being resolved.  I cannot say I share Mick Jagger's view on this, for time never feels like it is on my side.  The ticking away of every seconds is a force we must yield to, like it or not.  Things we dread edge ever closer, and favourite seasons pass us by.  The passage of time is an unescapable, unavoidable reality of life as the earth rotates around the sun according to God's design.

It is because God created the heavens and earth governed by time we must say, "All good times come to an end."  No matter how wonderful the current or future season is, we know they cannot last perpetually under the sun that rises and falls daily.  The time each of us have on earth will someday come to an end--likely before we have lost the pleasure of living out our days, weeks, months and years.  There is a good side to this reality, for feelings of loss come from profound enjoyment and love we never could have had on our own.  Lamenting what we have lost can be replaced with the appreciation and joy that comes from God who gave us time with people we love and activities we enjoy.

At a funeral today the thought came to mind how seasons shared with loved ones feel over too soon because we treasure and enjoy them so much.  It is also good to consider it could very well be our lives that reach an end before we know it.  With this in mind, as we enjoy the many blessings God grants us by His grace, we are moved to worship God the Giver rather than the gift itself.  Rather than idolising a person or the time we gladly spent with others in joyous relationship, we can praise God all our times are in His hands.  Every lament of loss and sorrowful feeling is evidence God has truly been good to us.  He hasn't stopped being good because one season has drawn to a close and another begins, for God makes everything beautiful in its time.  Faith in God allows us to accept this and draw close to Him.

A day is coming that will last forever, a day when we will rejoice perpetually in a never-ending season of light, love and liberty in God's presence free of sin, sorrow, pain and death.  God has provided us lives full of good things we would never choose to be without, yet God in His wisdom and grace has plans of a glorious future with Him and His redeemed people worth looking forward to.  We can rest knowing we will always be safe in His care and will see His goodness in the land of the living.  I guess in this sense time IS on our side, for the march of time brings our joyous entry into eternal glory closer by the second. :)