The One Baptism

I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. - Mark 1:8

Baptism by natural course renders the person or persons immersed in and thereby subject to the nature of that which he or she is being baptized in.  If you are baptized in water, you take on the nature of water. If you are baptized in fire you take on the nature of fire. The immersion inherently makes you apart of the nature; you become it, it does not become you.  This is the essences of baptism.

The Jews through the law would have understood water being a symbol for ritual cleansing, and they would recognize the use of water in rite and ceremony.  When John came preaching repentance, baptizing in water. It would not have been a great leap for them to recognize the significance of this. Jon’s baptism of repentance was a turning away from your sin and water baptism represented the cleanse of the old and the immersion into the new.  The religious leaders of that day had starved the people of access to Almighty God and used their knowledge and position to exalt themselves. When John the Baptist came preaching repentance from sin, the people were hungry to hear it; and they did hear it. However, John was faithful to his calling and recognized that he was the forerunner of Christ.  He did not exalt himself but instead confessed that “he must increase, and I must decrease.” How much better off would we all be if we confessed the same? The baptism that we were ultimately to be baptize with, the entire message, the hallmark of God’s glorious plan of salvation to fallen man, was and always will be the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This baptism was always meant to be the primary baptism that we all were to be baptized with.  It was coupled with the use of water, but not subject to it. However, let us take instruction from this rite. Consider the act of baptizing in water. First, the person to be baptized must commit themselves to the waters keeping.  Then they are destined to put on the very nature of the water itself. The immersion is a nature change. This is the allegory to everyone that would be, and should be baptized by the Holy Ghost.  A complete surrender to the call of Christ, total abandonment of yourself, and full immersion into belief of Jesus Christ. By which you take on the very nature of Christ through the Holy Spirit. As Paul says in Galatians 3:27 “for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

The Bible tells us that there is one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism.  The Lord is Jesus, the Faith is His faith, and the Baptism is His baptism.  The baptism of the Holy Ghost. The baptism that makes Holy. Have you received this baptism?