ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM – PART 2
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: EEN HERE EEN GELOOF EEN DOOP – DEEL 2
In my previous writing in this short series of two thoughts from the Word, I shared with you when we receive the Holy Spirit and that when I receive the Holy Spirit there will be changes in my life.
In this second part of the series, I will share with you what the features of those changes in my life will be, by which the people around me as well as me will be able to see that the Holy Spirit resides within me.
Jesus says – and here He is speaking to the Disciples, in other words, you and me, who confess that we accepted Him as our Savior and Redeemer and have been baptized with the one and only baptism, the Christian baptism which includes the Holy Spirit, living inside of us, just as we see in the Word:
MAT 5:13-16
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people [when the walkways are wet and slippery].
14 “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honour and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Can you see?
Where I live, I have to try to live in such a way that, let me put it this way, for the people around me it will have a good taste to live there.
MAT 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth..
When people come into contact with me, they must, not necessarily through my words, but definitely through my life, experience the bright light of Jesus Christ and His Gospel:
MAT 5:14 “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
In other words:
MAT 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honour and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
If I have truly accepted Christ and repented when I was baptized, the Holy Spirit will reside in me and I will bear the fruits that are suitable for a Christian.
MAT 7:16-18
16 By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
17 Even so, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the unhealthy tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
So after I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and I have been baptized according to the Baptism referred to in the Word, and now have the Holy Spirit residing in me, what will the fruits in my life look like?
Our Lord had it written for us in the Word:
GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
GAL 5:23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Naturally a tree will grow, and the fruit of the tree will be better and better.
As such, we also grow and will bear better and better fruit, and one thing is certain, every single Christian will bear the Fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, just this:
Neither you nor I will be perfect Christians here on earth, and we also won’t reach the same levels of Christianity, but we should all try and strive towards being as close as possible to perfect children of God as is humanly possible.
Let us always remind ourselves and try to live according to it as well:
PHIL 3:12-15
12 Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude that too God will make clear to you.
Kind Regards,
Sakkie