Advent 2025: Thu 4 Dec
Mark 1.8 The Promise
8 ‘I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’
John has prophesied the coming of the Messiah. He is calling people to repentance and baptism in water for forgiveness, but this is only a preparation. It is nothing to what the Messiah will do.
I find it interesting that Jesus is not recorded as having baptised anyone during his ministry on earth, in water or in any other way. He called people to repent, but he did not offer a water baptism as a sign of their repentance. This was something his followers did only after Jesus had gone back to heaven. When they baptised people there was a second baptism that happened – baptism in the Holy Spirit. New converts were not only claimed by Christ Jesus as they gave themselves to him, but they were also equipped by God’s Holy Spirit to continue the work Jesus did as they spread the Gospel message around the world.
The Church’s teaching on the Holy Spirit can vary both across and within denominations. He might be anything from a comforting presence to an empowering force. Much depends on our desire and willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through our lives.
Is water baptism something that every Christian has to go through?
Is Holy Spirit baptism optional, or is he part of the whole baptism package?
Can a Christian live in a relationship with Christ without the Holy Spirit’s involvement?
Father God, if this prophecy of John regarding Jesus has not yet been fulfilled in me, I pray that you will open the pathway to allow Jesus to live in me in Holy Spirit power. Amen.
A simple song that picks up the prophecy from Isaiah and looks to the future return of Christ.
Paul