Into The River Jordan: And out a flame of fire: Baptism

          John The Baptist, a wild man, preacher, and a Baptizer for the repentence and forgivness of sins ushered in the Kingdom of God, proclaiming the kingdom and the one who came after himself.  John  baptized Jesus the Son of God in the river Jordan and then the whole world changed.
     The kingdom of God appeared on the earth breaking into our sinful and very mortal lives proclaiming new life if we believe in God's only son.   Here was the lamb of God slain before the foundations of the earth was laid, walking out not his will, but his fathers.  And so must we who are called Christ---ians after the one who made it possible for this new life.   Indeed those who go  down into the water baptized in the name of Jesus are a new creation for Jesus said, "behold I make all things new."  New wine into new wine skins that is the work of the Holy Spirit given to us for power and for witness that Jesus was who he said he was.  There can be no middle ground and no gray areas for this belief and no debates that confuse and pit religion against religion and doctrine against doctrine or "endless debates" that the Apostle Paul came up against in his effort to establish what Jesus had given him personally on the way to Damascus.
     Taking up our cross and  following Christ is very personal, individual and necessary in pleasing him or we become as he said "not worthy of me."  So it is in the Baptism that we first learn to die to our self will when we go into his death and come up out of the water more alive than when we went into it.  Likewise it kicked off the ministry of Jesus and led him into the desert for 40 days and nights fasting for the will of God in him to be carried out in three short years.  In physical weakness but in spiritual strength Jesus overcame the Devil's temptations.  Petra the Greek for Peter the rock, in whom Jesus first laid eyes on and called from his boat and his life's work of fishing became indeed a fisher of men.  A different man, one of conviction, strength learned in his denial of Jesus three times and one who eventually did lay his life down for his Lord, all because of repentence and a baptism of fire or tongues of fire poured out on the day of Pentecost celebrating  the 50th day of the law given on Sinai after the Exodus.
     Baptism is real, the Holy Spirit is real, tangible, and our" helper" who leads into all truth, and testifies of Jesus.  So in Church look for the working of the Spirit through men who aptly and wisely lead by it, teaching and proclaiming still that Jesus is alive, the head of his body the Church.  Any other teachings denying the Father and the son or that Christ came in the flesh is another Gospel not to be believed.  Any denial of the Holy Spirit is also a denial of all that Christ died for.  It is unbelief