There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). He is the creator of heaven and earth, and of all living beings. He has revealed Himself to humanity as the Father (Creator), in the son (Savior), and as the Holy Ghost (indwelling Spirit).

Jesus is the Son of God according to the flesh (Romans 1:3) and the very God Himself according to the Spirit (Matthew 1:23). Jesus is God manifested in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16). It took shedding of blood for the remission of the sins of the world (Hebrews 9:22), but God the Father was a Spirit and had no blood to shed. Thus He prepared a body of flesh and blood (Hebrews 10:5) and came to earth as a man in order to save us, for in Isaiah 43:11 He said, "Beside me there is no Saviour." When He came in flesh the angels sang, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).

Sin is the transgression of the law, or commandments of God (I John 3:4). The guilt of sin has fallen upon all humanity from Adam until now (Romans 3:23). The wages of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:14) to all those who refuse to accept salvation as set forth in the Word of God.

There are two kinds of sin: the act of sin and original sin. The act of sin is the transgression I do willfully. Original sin is the one most people don't know about. It is the sin nature I was born into. There is nothing I can do about it... or is there?

The tragic alternative to repentance is eternal perdition (Luke 13:5). In view of this fact, it is extremely important that everyone knows what repentance is and how it is accomplished.

Repentance is more than reformation. To reform is to "improve one's character or conduct; to behave better; to make better by removing faults or defects." And certainly this is to be desired. However, reformation falls short in at least one vital particular - it does nothing about the past. Consequently, it leaves the sinner still under the sentence of death.

So what is repentance? It is turning away from all sin and further involves turning to God, in believing prayer, for forgiveness and cleasning from all sin. Such prayer is not necessarily vocal, but it usually is. The repentant person confesses to God that he is a sinner and asks for forgiveness. If I obey the gospel, I can rest assured that God will forgive me. And that's a promise (1 John 1:9).

How is genuine repentance brought about? Paul explained, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation" (2 Corinthians 7:10). Before I can repent, I must feel sorrow for my sins. And this must be godly sorrow. For me to be sorry merely because trouble has been brought upon me, is not enough. I must be sorry because I have broken the commandments of God, rejected His gospel, and thereby grieved Him days without number. Such godly sorrow is the only motivating force for real repentance.

First, I must be repented. I cannot receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost if I have not repented or while I am repenting.

Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." I must let my attitude revert to that of a child. Like a child, I must freely believe and obey.

As the spiritual transformation begins, my lips will tremble, my voice will intensify, and my hands will extend, as a child reaching out for the strong arms of his Heavenly Father.

I must open my mouth wide so God can fill it (Psalms 81:10). God cannot fill a closed mouth. I must surrender my tongue to the Spirit's control.

As a new-born child of God, my first feat is learning to talk! Speaking in the Father's language often resembles the babblings of a baby. But soon a clear, heavenly language will emerge.

There are two major evidences of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The initial, outward evidence is speaking with tongues, which means speaking miraculously in languages I do not know.

Speaking with other tongues has been connected with Spirit baptism since the beginning of the church age. On the birthday of the New Testament church, the Day of Pentecost after Christ's ascension, approximately 120 disciples of Christ were flooded by the Spirit of God and "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4). The household of an Italian centurion received the same spiritual experience, which the Jewish Christian onlookers readily identified, "for they heard them speak with tongues" (Acts 10:44-48). In Acts 19:1-6, a group of John the Baptist's disciples heard about the Holy Ghost from the Apostle Paul; they too were filled with the Spirit, "and they spake with tongues."

I cannot adequately express with my own words the ecstasy experienced in the baptism of the Spirit. Only through unaccustomed words of heavenly rationality can we utter what my soul would express.

There are perhaps several other reasons why God chose speaking in tongues as the initial evidence of this spiritual baptism. It is an objective, external evidence that recipients and onlookers can both identify with certainty (Acts 10:46). It is a uniform evidence-all the disciples on Pentecost, all the household of Cornelius, and all the believers in Ephesus spoke in tongues. "So is everyone that is born of the Spirit" are the words of Jesus in His description of this spiritual new birth (John 3:8). 

Speaking in tongues also indicates the complete control of the Spirit over my human will. The tongue is the most unruly member of the body (James 3:8), and its being tamed by God is evidence of His complete control.

Further evidence of the Spirit's abiding presence in my life is the fruit of the Spirit, which Paul mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

Jesus commanded His disciples to "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). He did not command them to use these words as a formula, but He commanded them to baptize in "the name." The word name is used here in the singular, and it is the focal point of the baptismal command. The titles Father, Son, and Holy Ghost describe God's relationships to humanity and are not the supreme, saving name described here, which is Jesus. "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Luke 24:45-47 records that just before His ascension, Jesus opened the disciples' understanding. It was necessary that their understanding be opened, and many today need this same operation in order to understand the Scriptures. Then Jesus said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." The disciples had their understanding opened so that they could grasp the vast importance of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Verse 47 describes the commission that Jesus then gave: "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations [Jews and Gentiles], beginning at Jerusalem."

Peter was one of that number to whom Jesus had spoken and whose understanding had been opened. After having listened to these instructions, a few days later he was inspired by the Holy Ghost to preach on the Day of Pentecost. The hearts of the hearers were pierced and, feeling condemned, they cried out to Peter and the other apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37). Peter did not hesitate but boldly answered, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38)." Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41).

The Holy Spirit is God. "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). "There is . . . one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:4). To become a subject in the kingdom of God, Jesus said a person must be "born again," or "born of water and of the Spirit" (John 3:3-5). The birth of the Spirit and the baptism of the Spirit are identical terms. The Apostle Peter understood this truth as he spoke to the multitude in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). This experience was received by the Jews on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), the Samaritans (Acts 8:15-17), and the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-48), plainly indicating that it was meant for all people, regardless of race, creed, color, or station in life. The new birth or rebirth, consisting of water and Spirit, was never set forth as being optional or unessential. "Ye must be born again" are the words of Jesus in John 3:7. Until I am born of the Spirit, I cannot be called a "son" of God. Until I am born of water, I cannot receive remission of sins.

When I am baptized in water, I AM IN JESUS. When I am baptized with the Holy Ghost, JESUS IS IN ME. (John 14:20)