OCTOBER 18

BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE

“John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ.” (Acts 19:4)

In preparation for that was to follow, John the Baptist came “into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin.” (Luke 3:3). True, he used the river Jordan in the outward act, to publicly and openly give demonstration to the people of those who were accepting and purposing to live out his message, but he was not preaching “water,” He was preaching A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE, literally, IMMERSION INTO A CHANGE OF MIND. He preached that these people needed a complete change of mind - if they would be prepared to accept the Christ that was coming after him. He was but preparing the way for the greater, and as a part of the transition process, a definite change of mind was essential. They needed to turn from the minding of sin and self, to the minding of God and righteousness. And if they were truly immersed into this change of mind, then they would begin to live out that change of mind.

With a change of mind they would be able to BELIEVE on Him which should come after John. To BELIEVE is dealing with the mind, and it would require quite a change of mind to turn from their traditions and commandments of men to believe INTO CHRIST JESUS.

So we see how baptism is actually a PROCESS, for one does not change their entire mind all at once, it is quite a battle to “tear down the strongholds, casting down imaginations, and bringing every thought into the obedience of Christ.” We could correctly say that our immersion into a change of mind is still progressively taking place. This needs to encompass more than just our conscious mind, but even the subconscious and the unconscious, until the whole has been immersed into the mind of Christ. This prepares us for all the other inworkings of His Spirit, till we are totally ONE IN HIM.

Ray Prinzing