Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 3 Study # 2
Lincolnton, NC
April 9, 2006

• I. John's Testimony Concerning the Christ.
  • A. Is set against the contrast of his own actions.
    • 1. He claims to have baptized them "with water".
    • 2. This "baptism" was an affirmation of the teaching that forgiveness is given by God to all who "repent".
      • a. This "baptism" was fundamentally restricted in both its reality and impact.
        • 1) The "reality" of water baptism was dependent upon the unseen factors of the heart, and, thus, no "guarantee" that the recipient either understood or believed the doctrine it represented.
        • 2) The "impact" was fundamentally restricted in that the best it could do was affirm the doctrine in the hearts of those that did understand and believe. It could not "guarantee" the "forgiveness" offered because it could not guarantee the "repentance" of the recipient.
      • b. It is the nature of all things that have their roots in the external, material world that they have no power beyond "illustration".
        • 1) External things have absolutely no guarantee of internal realities in the sense that the internal is not created by the external. The reverse is true: the internal creates the external. The "heart" issues produce the speech of the mouth; the speech of the mouth does not create the "heart" issues. And, since the "heart" is not "pure", what it produces cannot be trusted.
          • a) Paul acknowledged that one could "give the body to be burned" without "love" (1 Corinthians 13:3).
          • b) By this acknowledgment, he taught that what the outer man does may not be properly motivated by the inner man.
          • c) And, Paul acknowledged that no one could be absolutely sure of the inner motivations (1 Corinthians 4:4) -- not even an apostle.
          • d) Thus, the outward indications do not guarantee the inward truth, and this makes "water baptism" a very impotent action.
        • 2) However, that said, it is yet true that "illustrations" are not totally impotent. They have no power to create reality, but they do have the power to illustrate it.
          • a) This means that the one in whom regeneration is a fact of true reality is "built up in the faith" by the power of the illustration.
          • b) This means that what God is willing to do within will find cooperation in the illustration that is without. If God grants the repentance that leads to life (Acts 11:18), the "baptism with water" will "affirm" the reality of His forgiveness even though it has nothing to do with generating it.
          • c) It is the condition of man that he both needs, and profits from, the process of external confirmations of internal realities. When faith exists in the heart, it is affirmed and buttressed by the external illustrations. When it does not exist in the heart, the external illustrations simply remain an enigma to those exposed to them.
  • B. Is a claim that The Ischuroteros is coming.
    • 1. An Ischuroteros is One Who is inherently powerful.
    • 2. John's designation of Him as The Ischuroteros (there is a definite article before this term in John's actual statement) reveals that the coming One is unique.
      • a. John, being filled by God's Spirit from conception, was, by that Spirit, a very potent person.
      • b. But, the filling by that Spirit is fundamentally a non-inherent reality -- the Spirit is not inherently a part of John; He is an addition to him from the outside.
      • c. The only way anyone could be more potent would be for the same power that the Spirit possessed to be an inherent aspect of the more potent Person. In other words, The Ischuroteros must be equal to, or superior to, the Spirit in power, and He must be powerful in His own right, not because He possesses the same Spirit which indwelt John.
      • d. The Ischuroteros would, therefore, have to be deity. None but God can possess a power equal to the Spirit of God.
  • C. Is a claim that The Ischuroteros is significantly more "moral" than John, who was filled by God's Spirit from conception.
    • 1. There is no way to understand John's claim to be "unworthy" except in moral terms.
    • 2. Thus, the superiority of the coming Ischuroteros is a moral superiority.
    • 3. And, the degree of superiority is so great that John's "morality" does not qualify him even to the degree that he could legitimately release the thongs of the sandals of the Coming One.
  • D. Is a claim that The Ischuroteros is "capable" of two significant accomplishments.
    • 1. On the one hand, He can "baptize with the Holy Spirit".
      • a. This means that He has "authority" equal to the Spirit's so that the Spirit is willing to be subject to Him. [This is the "authority" of love, not coercion].
      • b. This also means that we must understand what it means to be "baptized" by the Holy Spirit.
        • 1) There are two complementary issues to help us: water and fire.
        • 2) John baptized people "into" water and a "baptism by fire" is most likely to be an immersion "into" fire.
        • 3) It would be remarkable indeed if the "baptism" with the Spirit does not have a significant parallel to the water and the fire.
        • 4) Thus, the claim seems to be that The Ischuroteros will place those who trust Him into the Spirit.
          • a) Paul picks up on this in 1 Corinthians 12:13 and seems to add to it. In that text, the Spirit baptizes "us" into the Body of Christ. But, also in that text, we all "drink" into that Spirit. With John's "baptism" people held their breath and kept their mouths closed so that the water did not gag them. With our baptism into the Spirit, we both breathe in the Spirit Who comes as the Breath of God and drink Him into our inner being as the Water of Life Who becomes within us a Spring of Water Who floods us with Life (John 4:14 compared with 7:38-39).
          • b) The Ischuroteros puts those who trust in the message of repentance unto forgiveness into the Spirit so that they "inhale" and "drink" this New Environment into which they have been placed so that not only are they in Him, He is also in them.
        • 5) But, that The Ischuroteros can actually do this -- put men into the Spirit of God -- indicates that He is deity with a direct ability to impact the Spirit.
      • c. The question is this: to what "point" does the Ischuroteros "baptize into the Spirit" if, over a lifetime of "filling" by that Spirit, the one so filled has not come to a condition where he is legitimately capable of loosing the thongs of His sandals?
        • 1) We simply must understand the difference between being empowered to do what is right and being made inherently "strong" to do what is right.
          • a) It is inherent strength that "qualifies" one to be considered "moral in his/her own right".
          • b) Derived strength to do what is right does not permit this consideration. It does not signal any inability to do; it simply signals the inescapable reality of derived ability. This is never going to change. Even in the final regeneration, men, though having the power of sin removed from them, do not have an independent power of righteousness imparted to them.
          • c) It has ever been the deception of the Rebel that creatures have certain "independent powers" that empower them to compete with The Exerciser of Power successfully. The future is not one of "independently powerful persons running around doing good"; it is, rather, one of "dependently powerful persons running around doing good." Instead of a scenario of multiplied "deities" choosing to cooperate with one another, the future is a scenario of God and men being so tightly "connected" that relational Life is experienced to the uttermost. Instead of "freedom from others", the scenario of the Eternal Now is one of an "enormously profound union to others." In this regard, the Future is the Past. Before "freedom" was set upon the throne, Father, Son, and Spirit lived in perfect inter-relational harmony, serving One Another. Once "freedom" has finally been dethroned, Father, Son, Spirit and all other spirits will finally live again in perfect inter-relational harmony, serving one another.
        • 2. On the other hand, He can "baptize with fire".
          • a. This appears to be the "other side of the coin". The Ischuroteros can impart a very great blessing (baptizing into the Spirit), but He can also effect a very great disaster (baptizing into fire).
          • b. This understanding of the "fire" is heavily influenced by John's next words regarding The Ischuroteros' burning of the chaff with unquenchable fire.
          • c. The "final" issue in this baptism is the permanent elimination of all who would be "free".