Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices.
Acts of the Apostles 19:18 NLT
What if I told you there are multiple baptisms in the life of the true believer?
Would you believe?
Would you want to know more?
Would you be willing to learn by experience?
Baptism in water is a sign. It’s an external sign that you have confessed all of your sins and have chosen to repent of living a life of sin. Sin is disobedience of God’s will.
When we believe in God, we believe that Jesus is Lord. Now, because Jesus is Lord, and we believe that, we live our lives for Him, and Him alone.
We no longer live for ourselves or any of the false gods we formerly worshipped and served. False gods include materialism, consumerism, lust, greed, envy, worry, fear, anxiety, political leanings, selfish motives, and anything else that is contrary to the life of God, modelled for us by the Lord Jesus Christ.
False gods cannot save us. Only Jesus saves.
We are now followers of the Way.
That is called living the new life. Old things pass away. Old ways go by the wayside. We become a new creation in Christ.
But that’s not all there is. There’s more. There’s the power of God. There’s the fellowship with God. There’s the transformation that takes place within us. There’s the molding and making of us into the image and likeness of God.
There’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire.
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.
“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
“Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.
And they replied, “The baptism of John.”
Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”
As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
Acts of the Apostles 19:2-6 NLT
John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. Once you do that, you are symbolically washed in water.
Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit and fire. Are you ready to live in power, love and a sound mind? Pray for God’s will to be done in your life.
Lord God in Heaven, deliver us from false doctrine. Rescue us from religion that is not based on the truth of Your Word. We want to experience all that You have promised us. Baptize us afresh. Baptize us in water as we repent from disobedience. Baptize us in the Holy Spirit so that we become fully alive in You and You in us. Baptize us in fire, as You sanctify Us in the furnace of Your Love, purifying us from all unrighteousness. Let us be the true, living, loving Body of Christ. Fill our hearts with Yours today, in Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.
So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.
Acts of the Apostles 19:20 NLT
Recommended reading: Acts 19 and Romans 5.
Igniter Ministries 