Posted on Sun 14 Mar 2021 by David Vine

Let us now consider some other Scriptures concerning this great subject.

I think it is really significant that the phrase “baptism in, or with, the Spirit” is recorded in all four gospels and in the first chapter of the book of Acts. (It is well said that the book of the Acts is better described as the Acts of the Holy Spirit rather than the Acts of the Apostles.)

For the rest of this article, I will keep to the phrase “baptism with the Holy Spirit” rather than “in the Holy Spirit”. I believe both to be true with subtleties of emphasis.

In each manuscript the baptism with the Holy Spirit is described as being the main work that Jesus Christ came to do on the earth.

This is a truly staggering statement to make.

That is why this subject is so vital for us to know and experience as the Lord’s people. In view of its importance, it is possible that the enemy of our souls has been active in causing confusion and blinding eyes to such truth.

In each case the Scripture links the ministry of John Baptist with Christ’s ministry of baptism with the Holy Spirit. John is the promised fore runner of Christ, as told prophetically in Malachi, the last writing of the Old Covenant (Testament) era. Following John’s message there was a four-hundred-year silence with no speaking of God to His people. When John Baptist appears on the scene, he makes a dramatic entrance wearing rough clothing, a strange diet and with a strong call to repentance before the long-longed for Messiah would come.

What an entrance! What an impact!

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