Tag: #baptism

Beyond the Water

by Angela K. Crow-Mitchell

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.

Red Nail Polish

by Angela K. Crow-Mitchell

At age nine, one Sunday morning after being baptized, I sat on the edge of my bed with the idea of painting my fingernails bright red while wearing my white dress. That went about as well as you can imagine.

Upon reflection, I now realize this was a superb foreshadowing of my sin-stained purity and innocence. It followed me from my teenage years into adulthood—stains only God could restore, at age 47, through the blood-stained lamb of Jesus.

That’s a long time to carry the weight of sins, shame, and guilt without knowing Jesus as I do now. Still, God had plans for me—plans I had no way of seeing at the time. He rescued me from an abusive relationship, spared my life in a tragic accident that took my sister’s life, and showed me a new way to live. For the first time, kneeling, I asked God what He wanted—and the weight lifted immediately. It is never too late to make a U-turn.

Looking back, I see how the grace of God covered me even before those fiery trials. He kept me protected, though I was unaware and naïve to the enemy’s tactics on a path destined for disaster, pain, and heartbreak.

Nevertheless, I was restored to purity, like a water lily—a bloom that emerges from the mud. Only God, in His infinite wisdom, grace, and love, could redeem me and use my testimony for good to fulfill His purpose and bless me by helping others see a different path—a path I didn’t know existed during my hiatus from God—a path shrouded in lies, doubt, and deceit.

The enemy turns up the heat, twisting the truth and convincing us it’s okay to pursue happiness by following our hearts and to seek momentary pleasure by making sinful acts appear pleasant and desirable. At the same time, God wants a better life for us, one marked by joy, peace, freedom, and love, regardless of our circumstances. He desires an intimate relationship with us that makes all our other relationships better. The path to freedom, paved with stones of grace, provides a solid foundation for navigating this life and its many stumbling blocks.

Jesus is our guide through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Him, we have mighty weapons to destroy strongholds, restore peace, and make the devil take a hike, shooting him in the foot before he can get it through the door. With a whisper of Jesus’ name, we can thwart his plans (Eph. 6:12-18).

Friend, if you’ve experienced baptism and called upon Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and to proclaim Him the Son of God, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) and spiritual weapons —use them to fight for your freedom and do not turn back to your old path. I encourage you to pursue a relationship with God that draws you closer and makes Him your first love.

If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Freedom, peace, and forgiveness await you. You don’t have to face this world and its many vices alone. Confess Jesus as Lord, repent of your sins, and let the waters of baptism refresh your soul and wash away the dirt of your past. Believe me, no bar of soap is big enough to do that on our own… Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6, ESV).

The grace of God is big enough to cover all our sins, no matter what they are. If God saved someone as broken as me—He can save you too.

Grace, be with you.

Love God. Love People.

Let God sort out the rest.

“Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

Baptism

by Angela K. Crow-Mitchell

According to The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, the first act of obedience for a new believer in Christ is a public confession of faith through baptism. It is also symbolic of Jesus’ burial and resurrection. We profess to leave the old life behind and embrace the new life with Christ (Romans 6:4, HCSB). It is a key element of our new faith.

Still, the act of baptism itself does not give salvation. Paul explains to the Romans that to be saved, one must confess with their mouth and believe with their heart (Romans 10:9-13). Baptism can never cleanse a person from sin and secure God’s forgiveness (Brand, 172). Salvation is solely implemented by faith based on the grace of God (Rom. 4:3).

In the first century, there was a ritual self-cleansing, so when John the Baptist began baptizing with water, the act was not wholly lost on the Jews. He did, however, announce the need for repentance and belief in Jesus to make the way for Christ. When Jesus asked John to baptize Him, it surprised John since Jesus never sinned and didn’t need to repent. Nevertheless, it was a prophetic fulfillment of God’s Word.

With this came the gift of the Holy Spirit and baptism by fire. The use of one Greek article governs the two nouns, Spirit and Fire. This denotes that only one baptism is in view, and the addition of fire further defines the character of the Messiah’s baptism.  Water temporarily cleanses the outside, but fire permanently purifies the whole person (Brand, 173).

In Acts, we read how Jesus’ promise to the disciples was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 disciples at Pentecost; after that, thousands received the gift of the Spirit when they believed (Acts 2:4-12). The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary explains, “The blessing of the Pentecostal gift is applied to all disciples at the moment of conversion. “…Jesus is the one who baptizes believers, the Spirit is the element into or with which they are baptized, and incorporation into the body of Christ is the result” (Brand, 174).  God orchestrated a public miracle to demonstrate the gift of the Spirit had been given by enabling the 120 disciples to speak the various foreign languages of the pilgrims in Jerusalem that day (Acts 2:4-12; Brand 173).

In short, when we confess and believe in Christ with all our heart and receive the gift of the Spirit, we follow it up with water baptism to publicly and symbolically announce our decision to follow Christ, leave our old life behind, be buried in the waters of baptism, and live for Christ with their new life by the grace of God.  We are now forgiven for our past, present, and future sins. Condemnation no longer exists for those in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).

This is Good News! But don’t stop there. Paul reiterates that it does not give anyone an excuse to continue in sin (Romans 6:1-11). 

A relationship with God is vital. God gives us the strength to overcome temptation and always provides a way out (I Cor. 10:13). The Holy Spirit refines our sanctification through conviction. Finding our identity in Christ – who God says we are – is essential to our self-worth. Learning God’s character comes from personal experience, intentionality, reading the Word, communicating in prayer, and listening to the Holy Spirit.

The most important question I ever asked God was what He wanted for me. It took me a long time and a lot of heartache to get to this point, but when I finally did, I immediately felt the weight lifted from my shoulders. What are you waiting for? God’s arms are open wide.  

“If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation” (Rom. 10:9-11, emphasis added).

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28, emphasis added). “For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:30, emphasis added).