12 Aug (Luke 3:1-22; Matt 3; John 1:19-34)

The Gospels: John the Baptist Baptizes Jesus

Three of the four gospels document that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the coming of Elijah, where he was the voice crying out in the Wilderness for all to repent. Isa 40:3

In order for the people to be ready for the Messiah to come, they had to realize their sinful ways. We need to do this as well before we accept Christ into our lives. If one says the sinner's prayer for the sake of having "God on their side" is not proper...we need to come to the point of realization that we are doomed to hell in our sins, unless we have a way out. That way out was God Himself, coming to earth in the flesh, living a sinless life and fulfilling the Law, and being our payment for sin.

Once people realize that they can't earn their salvation...God had to do it for us...then we are ready to accept Christ and His Spirit to guide our lives.

I stress to my kids that John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God...this is very Jewish! If we know our Old Testament, then we understand our New Testament better. Jesus was our Passover Lamb, that was sacrificed for our sins. John knew this from the start, and called Jesus the Lamb of God. John 1:29

We know that Jesus is the Lamb of God, for in Revelation 5 we see Him as He was slain. Rev 5:6

We see one of many instances of the Trinity here...Jesus is baptized...the Holy Spirit descends from heaven in the form of a dove...and the Father speaks from heaven. God is one, but He has three aspects or persons to Him. We often use the example of water, where it can be observed in three ways: liquid, ice or steam. Any one of those is still water, but in a different form. The one thing we need to try to make clear, is that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct beings, but together they are complete...YHWH...Yahweh...Elohim...God!

Baptism is sometimes a great source of debate amongst certain Christian denominations. Some see it as essential towards our salvation. On the other extreme, some see it as just a ritual that Christians do. I believe the truth is in the middle...Baptism DOES NOT SAVE US, for the thief on the cross was saved by the testimony of Jesus Himself, and that thief was never baptized. Luke 23:39-43

But, baptism should never be taken lightly. I believe if we look at the early Church, we see that when someone accepted Christ, they were baptized to show their faith and allegiance to Christ. They were already justified and saved, but by doing the act of baptism, they show publicly their faith.

I have been baptised three times...as a newborn infant, when I accepted Christ as a teenager, and when my oldest daughter was baptized a few years ago...I did it with her to support her, and renew my faith in Christ.