After testifying that we need to be in the right position, John’s first point concerning Christ is that He is the Son of God (John 1:34). To testify that Christ is the Son of Man is easy, but to testify that He is the Son of God is not so easy. Immediately, others will begin to ask questions: Is not this man the son of a carpenter? Do we not know his mother, his brothers, and his sisters? And did he not come from Nazareth? It seems that he is merely a man; how could he be the Son of God? Nevertheless, John the Baptist testified that He is the Son of God. This should be the first point in the preaching of the gospel. When we preach the gospel, we need to tell people that Christ is the Son of God, and the Son of God means the expression of God, the manifestation of God. Christ is God manifested, God expressed.
Then John testified that this Christ who is the Son of God is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He is the redeeming One, the Redeemer. When we come to the Lord’s table, our only standing to participate is His redeeming blood. Because we are sinful, the redeeming blood of Christ must be our standing. We should never take this standing of the Lord’s redemption in a light way. We need to realize that we are the redeemed ones. The Lamb of God has taken away all our sins. He is our Redeemer.
John’s third point regarding Christ is that He is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. This means that He is the One who puts us into the Holy Spirit. He takes away our sins, and He also puts us into the Holy Spirit. He is the Lamb, and He is also the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. Today there is much confusion concerning the matter of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.* [*A very helpful booklet on this matter can be ordered from the Living Stream.] We need to forget all the teachings we have received in the past concerning this matter. There is only one thing that we need to know: Christ has accomplished everything! He has accomplished redemption on the cross, taking away our sins. We all believe this. However, He has also accomplished something more. He has baptized all His saints into the Holy Spirit already. If we believe in Christ as our Savior, our believing is a strong proof that we are God’s people. If so, we are included in those whom Christ has baptized into the Holy Spirit.
If we would believe in Christ, we need to believe in these two things: His redemption and His baptism in the Holy Spirit. Christ is the Redeemer, and He is also the Baptizer. He does not redeem us in the past and then baptize us in the future. Both were accomplished in the past. Do we really believe that Christ died for us? I am sure we all do. Then do we also believe that He has baptized us into the Holy Spirit? Yes, we do! He has accomplished everything! However, there is a problem because some will still ask us whether or not we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. The answer to this question is in 1 Corinthians 12:13: “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”
Do we believe that Christ has taken away our sins? Yes, we believe by faith. By faith we say, “Hallelujah! My sins have been taken away.” It is the same with the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We take it by faith. We need to realize the baptism in the Holy Spirit just as we realize redemption. The Bible says that we all have been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus (Heb. 10:22; 9:14). Many times we have praised the Lord for the sprinkling of the blood. However, we need to consider how we are sprinkled by the blood of the Lord Jesus. Do we pray for three days, and then something comes from the heavens to sprinkle us with the Lord’s blood? No, not at all. We simply read in the Word that we have been sprinkled with the Lord’s blood, and we take this matter by faith. Nevertheless, many people today talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit as if we need to fast and pray until something comes out of heaven that we might be baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is not the way of faith.
The sprinkling of the Lord’s blood today is an accomplished fact. It is a matter of faith. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is also an accomplished fact, and it is also a matter of faith. It is not a matter of feeling, but simply a matter of faith. First Corinthians 12:13 says that we were all baptized, or we have all been baptized, in the Spirit. We say amen to the Word, and take it by faith. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an accomplished fact, just as redemption is an accomplished fact.
The church should henceforth testify for Christ that He is not only the Lamb of God, but also the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. He is not only the Redeemer, but also the Baptizer. As the Redeemer, He has accomplished redemption, and as the Baptizer, He has accomplished the baptism in the Holy Spirit. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”—we have said this many times. However, we need to say also, “Behold, the Baptizer who has baptized God’s people and put them into the Holy Spirit!” To share redemption, we need living faith. In the same principle, to realize His baptism in the Holy Spirit, we also need living faith.