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The Bible Study – Our readings for Friday, Jan. 5 are Isaiah 65:8-25 & Luke 3:1-20. The prophet Isaiah powerfully states God’s Word of judgment and salvation. The Almighty will eternally punish those who won’t listen and reject His salvation in Christ. There is both a present and future spiritual restoration for Christians. By God’s grace, through faith in Christ, believers now receive the salvation of their souls and the blessings of the Christian life, including hope and peace. In Revelation, Chapter 21, the Apostle John will speak of “a new heaven and a new earth,” the paradise of eternal life, and full spiritual and physical restoration in Heaven. Martin Luther would write, Christians are a ‘now and not yet people.’ In our passage from Luke, John the Baptist prepares the way for the Messiah. John is preaching Law before the coming Gospel of Christ. John offered a baptism of repentance for sin. God’s Law shows us our sins, our desperate need of redemption. The Gospel shows us our Saviour, Jesus. God Himself instituted Baptism, for our Lord Jesus commanded His Church to Baptize all nations, all people: adults, children, infants. (Matthew 28:19; Luke 18:15-17; Acts 2:38-39) In this Baptism, God, the Holy Trinity, receives us into communion, into fellowship with Himself. Baptism works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. Baptism is a means of grace. This is God’s work, not our own (Titus 3:5-8). Baptism is a Sacrament, an earthly element, water, included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word. There is no other God-given Baptism today beside the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. (Ephesians 4:5) Matthew 3:11 speaks of baptizing “with water” and also “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” The difference here is not between Sacramental Baptism and some sort of “Spirit Baptism,” but between the preparatory mission and baptism of repentance of John, and the full permanent mission and Baptism of Jesus. John the Baptist pointed forward to the redemptive work of Christ our Saviour. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to His Church. The Spirit, through the Word and Sacrament, freely gives all Christians the most precious gifts: faith in Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. In Apostolic times the Holy Spirit also gave some Christians the gift to perform miraculous signs and wonders, for example, healings and raising the dead. The Bible does not teach, however, that God will necessarily give all Christians in every time and place special miraculous abilities. The Spirit bestows His blessings according to His good pleasure. Today, some denominations that have fallen away from the Bible, term themselves “charismatic.” However, the Greek word, “charisma,” simply means “gift,” and refers, for example, to Christ’s whole work of salvation (Romans 5:15-16) and to eternal life (Romans 6:23). Even the Apostle Paul warned against misapplying ‘speaking in tongues’ in Church (1st Corinthians 14:1-25). According to Paul, no one ought to speak in tongues in the Church unless there be at least two or three interpreters (1 Corinthians 14:27). If there is no one to interpret, the tongues ought not ensue. God, however, doesn’t reveal Himself through individual ecstatic experiences, but through His Word, the Bible. That is how faith is worked in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 10:17). It’s very significant that in the Lord’s sending out of His disciples upon His ascension (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8), no mention is made of miraculous healings, speaking in tongues, and the like. What is mentioned is preaching, the witnessing of the Apostles concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus for the remission of sins (Luke 24). The Holy Spirit, by the Gospel, keeps us in the true faith (Philippians 1:6). The Spirit also calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps believers in the Body of Christ (Ephesians 3:6). Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto http://christlutherantoronto.org/beliefs