Part 2: How to Get Empowered With God's Power Today
While the sealing of the Holy Spirit is God’s part of the New Testament covenant with you, your part of the agreement comes when you get baptized by full immersion in water. (The Greek word baptizo means “to make whelmed or fully wet.”) Despite what many religious organizations might say, it’s not necessary to be baptized in so-called “holy water.” The Bible doesn’t elevate one type of water over another. Baptism simply necessitates sufficient water so the requirement of full body immersion can be fulfilled – the idea being that you’re agreeing to “bury” your old life and then live a new life according to Jesus’ ways.
God says (see below) you’re being baptized into Jesus’ death – you’re sharing the death experience with Him (and your rebirth – or being raised from the dead as Jesus once was – occurs when you’re made alive through the infilling of the Holy Spirit). Essentially, water baptism equates to pledging allegiance to Jesus and His ways, and Holy Spirit baptism equates to being nationalized and receiving the official citizenship certificate. Baptism can take place in a large bathtub, hot tub, pool, lake, river, etc. In Papua New Guinea, the natives often dig a large hole in the muddy ground and fill it with water!
Wherever you are in the world, we highly recommend being baptized by someone who is an active member of the Body of Christ. We’re here to help, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us! : )
The person baptizing you should ask you to repeat a confession of faith, something along the lines of the following:
“I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus Christ – that He is God who came in the flesh as the Son, who was crucified, resurrected, and ascended. I believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that salvation is found in no other name. I repent of my sins and commit my loyalty to Jesus, my Lord and Savior.”
Then, the person baptizing you can say, “Upon confession of your faith, I baptize you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins.”
After your confession, you should be gently lowered into the water, making sure all parts of your body are at least briefly covered by water. After rising from the waters of baptism, it’s good to pray in tongues together for a time, to give glory unto God.
If you haven’t yet been filled with the Holy Spirit at this point, then this is an ideal opportunity to seek the Lord. Some people receive the Holy Spirit before baptism, some as they come up out of the waters of baptism, some as they pray after being baptized, some after drying off and having some more prayer, and yet others are anointed a while after their baptism. Everyone’s situation is different, but common to all must be the determination not to give up, and believing in the anointing experience as the Lord’s promise.
The following is an important note to those who have previously been baptized without a full understanding of the biblical salvation message:
While you may have previously been baptized by full immersion in water somewhere else, you should seriously consider being re-baptized now that you’re fully aware of God’s salvation requirements through Jesus Christ. Many people who are baptized in the broad, weak stream of today’s churchianity (full of falsities and compromises) have a limited or incorrect understanding of what they’re doing.
Some of these people have a vague concept of being baptized into an automatic place in heaven. However, this is unscriptural. The Bible tells us that when we’re water-baptized, we are baptized into Jesus’ death, our old man/flesh being buried with our sins washed away by Jesus’ blood sacrifice on our behalf.
Romans 6:3, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”
Romans 6:4, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:…”
Acts 22:16, “‘And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’”
Revelation 1:5, “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood…”
Some people are even water baptized into their church organization versus into Jesus Christ. This strays even further from scriptural instruction, and it creates a dangerous precedent – of commitment to group membership as opposed to where their loyalty should wholly lie (in Jesus and His ways alone).
We should all be baptized in water with an expectation that just as Jesus was raised to life, we also should experience newness of life, quickened (livened) by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. It’s only until this anointing experience when the power of God comes to dwell inside of us that we can hope for life eternal in God’s kingdom:
1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”
1 John 4:13, “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (Here, Paul was writing to born-again members of the Church – the Body of Christ, as were the authors of the other scriptures referenced in this section.)
Ephesians 2:18, “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
When we are baptized in water, we should be baptized with the correct scriptural understanding of what we’re doing; we should know the meaning of the physical act and what to expect thereafter. So, if there’s any doubt regarding your previous baptism, we recommend that you be properly baptized for the first time.