One of the great privileges of a pastor is to Baptize new members into the faith. This past Sabbath I had the privilege of baptizing my oldest son into the spiritual body of Christ. It was wonderful and humbling at the same time to do that for a child of mine and see our little church grow in wonderful ways.

Baptism is the outward sign that we are passing from death to life into the Body of the spiritual church under Jesus Christ. Often the people I have known and those I have baptized put a lot of thought and reflection into the decision to be baptized. It is something that does change your life and puts you on that road to what awaits us in the end for all believers.

One of the greatest descriptions is what usually and for a good number of people happens around the time of baptism. And that is the sealing of the person with the Holy Spirit. It can happen before, during or after making the physical commitment and it carries a high significance of the progress of a believer to the ultimate goal.

For God and Jesus Christ, it is a downpayment of things to come, a promise of your part in His kingdom.

The book of Ephesians in the Bible is a wonderful account of the way these things work for the believer and this is where we find the mention of this downpayment:

Ephesians 1:11: In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Where the term ‘guarantee’ is in this passage was actually the Greek word ‘Arrabon’ which was typically used as a business term for down payment or guarantee. When typical business transactions occur and the buyer does not have the full amount for the purchase, then like today, there are certain guarantees signed that indicate the full amount for the transaction will be paid. In this case the giving of the Holy Spirit became our guarantee or downpayment of our place in the Kingdom of God. We get this downpayment now with the full payment to come when His Kingdom is fully established. Receiving the Holy Spirit is the same as God saying: “I will give you this now as an indication of what will be fully paid later.” Once we grasp this it is a wonderful realization that we have become His children.

So, with Baptism this is also something that comes with it in God’s time. The best downpayment we could ever want to receive!

In Christ,

Stephan M. Koenig

Lakeshore Fellowship