What is the baptism by water all about? Why do we need a good conscience?
The apostle Peter pointed to baptism as a symbol for salvation, as it is meant for a request for a good conscience. Also, John the Baptist called the water baptism a sign for repentance.
1 Peter 3:21… a symbol pointing to baptism, which now saves you. It is not the washing off of bodily dirt, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
John the baptizer came preaching, he was quoting one of the prophets saying, “prepare the way of Jehovah make his ways straight.”
John 1:23-25… He said: “I am a voice of someone crying out in the wilderness, ‘MAKE the way of Jehovah straight,’ just as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now those sent forth were from the Pharisees. So, they questioned him and said to him: “Why, then, do you baptize if you yourself are not the Christ or Elijah or The Prophet?
When John the baptizer was questioned about what he was doing answered the following:
John 1:29-34… The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the One I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’ I didn’t know Him, but I came baptizing with water so He might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him. I didn’t know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on, He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!
John was taking direction from the promised spirit of Elisha that come. That spirit was directed to have John baptize the people in water. He was given further direction that he would see the Lamb of God and the identification mark would be the Holy Spirit coming down upon that person once they were baptized.
To help us understand purpose of the baptism is for us to understand that man is merely the vessel and the spirit that was in man is contaminated from God viewpoint. We need to have our contaminated spirit replaced with a new spirit.
To further illustrate this point: take a cup for example, you had milk in it from the morning but later on that night you wanted to drink wine from it. You would need to wash out the cup by dunking it in water to rinse out the cup.
Just as we wash out a cup that had sour milk in it, before putting wine in the cup. Mankind needed to be cleaned before there was an adding of holy spirit to them.
This is a simple illustration to help us grasp a bigger concept. That sin is a contamination of the spirit.
This illustration is a concept and not necessarily the rule. For in fact others received the Holy Spirit before becoming baptized as in the case of Cornelius when the apostle Peter was present.
This may be your first time of ever hearing that God promised the Holy Spirit to his people, if this is true then the following Scriptures should help clarify this for you. Ezekiel 36:26-29, Isaiah 44:1-3, and Joel 2:28
The point we want to remember is that the people had to be prepared from their heart, they needed to have a repenting attitude, and a willingness to be cleansed of their sins.
Mark 1:3-5… listen! someone is crying out in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah, YOU people, make his roads straight, John the baptizer turned up in the wilderness, preaching baptism (in symbol) of repentance for forgiveness of sins. Consequently all the territory of Judea and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem made their way out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, openly confessing their sins.
To be forgiven of your sins you have to open acknowledge that you have sins and need forgiveness from God. You make that request for a clean conscience to God in prayer.
The baptism that John was providing aloud for the confessing of sins and the forgiveness by God while they were being baptized as symbol of repentance before God. John with the help of spirit of Elijah was preparing a people who can now receive what God promised by means of his Christ the baptism of holy spirit.
Matthew 3:11-12… “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out.”
Notice that the John baptizer said that Christ was coming to baptize with holy spirit and fire, we need to ask what is this all about?
Follow the hyperlink to Teachings on baptisms – Spirit
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