Beyond the Water

When someone repents, all of heaven rejoices (Luke 15:7, ESV). The next step of baptism is an outward, public expression of an inward, personal commitment to Jesus Christ.

Still, are we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, doing enough to inform new Christ-followers how to activate the power of the Holy Spirit within them?

I was baptized at age nine; however, I didn’t know how to have an intimate relationship with God, put Him first, or utilize the power of the Holy Spirit. But when I made the choice as an adult and fully surrendered my sinful desires to God and asked what He wanted, that is when my life began to change. In Galatians 5, Paul teaches that we need to keep in step with the Holy Spirit and deny works of the flesh to accept the fruits of the Spirit.

We see this distinction throughout Scripture. When John the Baptist was baptizing, he distinctly said it was with water for repentance because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Later in Acts, when Paul met believers who had only received John’s water baptism, he explained Jesus to them, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-6). Even after Pentecost, when the disciples prayed for boldness, Scripture says they were filled with the Spirit again—demonstrating that being filled with the Holy Spirit isn’t just a one-time event, but an ongoing response to prayer.

Believing in Jesus Christ is fantastic and the first step, but we need more than just initial belief. We need to surrender our lives fully to Christ, accept the gift of the Holy Spirit within us, and allow Him to shape our character to be more like Jesus. We need to learn to take all our decisions to God so that real change can begin.

If we still follow the flesh, we may be saved and forgiven, but we’ll not experience the fullness of God’s love and perfect peace until we surrender. We place a heaviness on ourselves and carry guilt and shame if we keep giving in to the desires of the flesh, but as soon as we let go, give it all to God, and go all in, He takes the weight from us and replaces it with an abundance of grace, love, light, and peace. It’s a joy that cannot be explained or measured. After that, the Spirit’s conviction will keep us out of the danger zone if we listen to Him. It’s a process; it doesn’t happen overnight, but it will happen if we’re paying attention.

I didn’t know how to say no most of my life, which led me into dark places; however, after my accident, hitting rock bottom brought me to my knees, and the only place to look was up. Once I surrendered my whole being to God, released control, and asked what He wanted for the first time in my life, I found my voice and began to learn how to let the Holy Spirit’s convictions lead me on the right path.

We talk about the target on the back of someone who takes the step of faith into the waters of baptism, but make no mistake about the power now within the new creation: the gift of the Holy Spirit, which comes with remarkable power to overcome the enemy and his attacks. Speaking the name of Jesus has great authority. We are to put on the whole armor of God to help us fight temptations and attacks from the enemy (Eph. 6:11). We need to use the spiritual weapons we’ve been gifted to keep the wolves at bay and force the enemy to flee (James 4:7). We, as Christ’s family, need to be prayer warriors, fighting not only for ourselves but also for our new sisters and brothers in Christ. It’s about a relationship with the heavenly Father after that. Take time to listen, read His Word, and let the reality of who He says we are as children of God sink into our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.

You’re not your own; you’ve been bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20, ESV). We should be grateful for our rescue and thank Jesus a thousand times every day. Repenting of any known sin before we enter prayer and His Word, and asking God to reveal anything that’s keeping us from experiencing the fullness of the Holy Spirit, will make more room in our hearts for Him. It opens our hearts and minds to receive and hear from Him through His Word.

In With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray writes, “The powers of the eternal world have been placed at prayer’s disposal. …It is the secret power and life not only for ourselves, but for others, for the church, and for the world.” He continues to say that only by the Holy Spirit can we pray with power. We fall so easily into prayer that has no spiritual power, which achieves little. “It [prayer] must be to the glory of God, in full surrender to His will, in full assurance of faith, in the name of Jesus, and with a perseverance that, if need be, refuses to be denied.” But it all needs to be learned. Our teacher is Jesus.

Let’s celebrate with those who give their lives to Christ and are baptized. Still, we should also share the good news of the gift of the Holy Spirit and His power within them to fight the enemy’s attacks, to pray with power, in spirit and in truth, and to listen to the convictions that keep us out of the danger zone—beyond the water.