Passage of the Day - April 25, 2013

John 1:29-34

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ³¹ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” ³² John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

The phrase “for He existed before me” is telling because we know that John the Baptist was born before Jesus was.

The phrase “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.” Shows that Jesus was one, through whom, God was going to work and therefore had godly authority.

John the Baptist also differentiated between his baptism in water and Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit.  As we have seen, John’s baptism in water is the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 

Did John have the authority to remit sins?  Did baptism itself remit sins?  Or was God using the prophet (and more than a prophet) John the Baptist to bestow a washing away of sins through the act of baptism?  Through the water baptism, the people were cleansed from the dirt and grime of life on the outside by the water and the stain of sin on the inside by the grace of God.

This washing inside and out prepared the way into people’s hearts for Christ’s ministry of penetrating the peoples hearts with the Truth of God’s Word; the Gospel of God’s Love shown through God sacrifice of His Son on the cross, the crushing of Satan’s head, and victory over the grave; and the Faith, Hope, Wisdom, and Power of the Holy Spirit.

This is why the Church practices one baptism.  These two ministries are now united in the one baptism we receive.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)