Real Baptism

11“I baptize you with^b water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with^c the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12)

Thoughts: Repentance is good, baptism is good, but the most important thing is when the Holy Spirit comes.  We can repent without meaning it from the heart.  We can be baptized and it means very little.  When Jesus comes- everything becomes very. very real.  There is no pretense, there are no fake shows with Jesus.  He knows the heart, sees the heart, affects the heart.  Jesus is the judge who can see what is really right and true.  We can fool each other- and put spin on things, but Jesus is fully discerning.  John was comparing his water baptism to the baptism of the Spirit through Jesus.
     There is a parable about the wheat and tares/weeds that Jesus told recorded in Matthew 13.  There Jesus advises not to separate the wheat and weeds until they are through growing and at the end of time when they are fully grown they are separated.  The weeds are burned up and the wheat is saved.  This is similar to what John is saying.  John the Baptist is saying here that God is coming- and when He comes there is no pretense.  We can fool people and we can fool ourselves.  But there is no fooling God.  When God's presence visits us- and this will happen some time for each of us- we realize the masks and makeup do not hide the real us.  

     If God were to sit with you today at the end of the day, what would you want to change?  Repentance means to turn, but it also means to change our direction, behavior, beliefs, words, and even thoughts.  True repentance is a changing of the priorities of the heart- putting God first.  We do not have to be re-baptized every time we feel the Spirit.  I knew a homeless man who would give up his alcoholism at each church's revival and demand to be re-baptized.  But the Spirit's baptism makes the water baptism in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost real.  We do not need to try to cage the Spirit (that's impossible) by saying things like we have to show some particular of gift to evidence that the Spirit has come to us.  The fruit and the gifts of the Spirit come when our hearts are right with God and the Spirit is in us.
      Real baptism does not depend on how old you are, how much water you have on you, or some formula.  Of course we should respect and use the formulas in the New Testament.  But real baptism is the baptism of the Spirit.  If we are baptized as infants or teens or adults our baptism becomes real when our hearts are right with God.  We can become like the Pharisees if we emphasize the mode or the age and do not emphasize the act itself and the heart.  

Prayer: Lord, come.  Help me to see the uselessness of pretending.with you.  Send your Holy Spirit to quicken my heart and love for you.