Baptizo With The Holy Spirit

I felt led to read from Acts 1 this morning:

Acts 1:4-9 NIV
[4] "On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. [5] For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
[6] Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” [7] He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
[9] After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight."

As I was reading back through these verses I was reminded of how important the Holy Spirit is to us. This was the last thing Jesus talked about while still on earth in bodily form. We tend to believe that if a person knows they are leaving they will make sure to say that which is most important, that which they want people to remember more than anything else.

In this situation the disciples are asking about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, in other words the end of the Roman occupation, which was at the forefront in their minds, and Jesus redirects their focus to that which is the most important - the Holy Spirit, specifically as He says in verse 5, being baptized with the Holy Spirit.

In my study of this verse I came across this definition of the Greek word used by Luke:

Baptizo: Definition 1. to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk) 2. to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe 3. to overwhelm

"Not to be confused with bapto. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. e.g. Mark 16:16. 'He that believes and is baptised shall be saved'. Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!" Bible Study Magazine, James Montgomery Boice, May 1989.

So, this baptism with the Holy Spirit is meant to change us, inside and out, and is absolutely critical in our lives as Christ's followers. So much so that this is the last thing that Jesus talked about while on earth.

Lord, that I might know this baptism with the Holy Spirit in its fullest form!