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“This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” John 1:33

The word baptize means “to dip, immerse, drench, saturate.” So this speaks of an abundant supply.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God himself, so to be baptized in the Spirit is to be saturated with the life of God (Eph. 3:19). Think about what that would mean: If you were immersed in water there would be a wetness about you. If you were bathed in light, there would be a brightness about you. If you were drenched in sewage, there would be a stink about you.

Whatever you are immersed in will, to some degree, impart its nature to you. Here we are being told something wonderful. Jesus Christ immerses people in the Holy Spirit of God. If you were to be drenched in the Spirit of God, there would be something godly about you.

Christ baptizes (present tense). This is not a one-time thing. It is an ongoing outpouring of the Spirit. This is what our Lord was referring to when he said: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-39). As you look to Christ and believe in him, the life of the Spirit will flow in you.

The ministry of Jesus is to take away sins and to baptize with the Holy Spirit, and he never does the one without the other. He takes away sin and goes on taking it away. He drenches in the Holy Spirit and goes on pouring him out. So in Jesus there is forgiveness for the failings of yesterday, and there is strength for the challenges of today.

Do you want to know God more?