"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Today's quote describes the baptism of the Holy Ghost that Jesus had promised to His Church. The Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) is the protecting and preserving power of God that is granted to every child of God through His Church.
Those approximately one hundred and twenty disciples who were present in that house were the very first members of the Church Jesus had assembled during His ministry. This is very important to remember in that later that same day, there would be approximately five thousand souls added to the Church.
We should remember that from the beginning, John the Baptist preached that although he indeed baptized with water, Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost. The events that occurred in today's quote fulfilled John's prophesy.
It also behooves us to note that there is no mention of water in association with the baptism of the Holy Ghost that occurred there at Pentecost. This tells us that the term "baptize", being applied herein to describe an overcoming of the Holy Ghost by the wind, can describe far more that just an immersion in water.
The English word "baptize" was transliterated from the Greek word "baptizo" and should have the same implications in English as baptizo does in Ancient Greek.
To baptize simply means to place a person, or thing, into a substance, or set of circumstances, so as to alter the original characteristics of that person or thing.
When the bible transliteration was made from Greek to English the specific intent of the term "baptize", in each of it's many applications, was not carried forward leaving its intent to be determined strictly by the context within which it is applied.
The failure to explain the many intents of the term "baptize" has led most bible scholars to simply imply that the term "baptize", except when it is applied to the coming of the Holy Ghost, to always suggests water as the medium into which a person is "baptized".
The failure of those early scholars to explain that the English term baptize simply means to place within, or enclose within for the purpose of altering, just as the ancient Greek term baptizo did, has led to a gross misinterpretation of the gospel of Jesus Christ by most modern religious isms and has led many to teach that water baptism is demanded as a step in the process of eternal salvation.
I make note of this discrepancy because as we continue our New Testament study, we will encounter the term "baptize", or one of its' many grammatic variants, many times as we proceed and this knowledge should help determine what the term means within the context it is applied.~
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