Christianity 101: Baptism of the Holy Spirit I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Luke 3:16 Baptism of the Holy Spirit involves the Holy Spirit doing at least three things: 1) Applying salvation to the believer 2) Giving the believer gifts that are to be used to serve others 3) Bringing the believer into the family of God 1) Applying salvation to the believer When we come to Christ for forgiveness the Holy Spirit “credits” His sacrifice to our account. This means that when God looks upon us He sees Christ’s perfection and not our imperfection. We find the Holy Spirit applying salvation to the believer in 1 Corinthians 6:11: You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. And again in Ephesians 1:13-14: You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance. 2) Giving the believer gifts Baptism of the Holy Spirit also involves giving spiritual gifts to the believer which are to be used to serve one another. We find this in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7: There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 3) Bringing the believer into the family of God Finally Baptism of the Holy Spirit involves being brought into the family of God. We find this in 1 Cor 12:13: By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 02:30:13 +0000
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