Let us ponder this for a moment: what does immersion in the Word of God look like? In our daily lives, we know that there are many ways to learn a new language or a new skill, but most would agree that “total immersion” is the best approach. So, the best way to learn Spanish is to immerse yourself in it: speak only Spanish, listen only to Spanish, read and write only Spanish.
Similarly, when it comes time to learn and change and grow in the Lord, there is no greater need than to be totally immersed in Christ—His Word applied by His Spirit.
The following passage speaks of John the Baptist who was speaking to his followers. Notice what he said about Jesus:
I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Matthew 3:11 NLT
Did you notice that one of the things Jesus Christ does is baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire? What does that mean for us in this study today?
To be baptized means to be immersed. So Jesus’ mission is to totally immerse us in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit immerses us in Jesus, both at the will of God the Father! And it is the most exquisite experience to be immersed in Jesus Christ, to be consumed in Him and to be filled with Him!
Please pause for a moment and see Jesus who was put to death on the cross so that the Holy Spirit might flow out of His death for you. See this precious, thirst-quenching Spirit-river flow straight from Calvary to you and may it be the satisfaction of your heart, washing and renewing your life. Please worship with these new gospel believers in the following video, who are immersed in water, even as Christ was buried after death, and then they rise showing that they have been made “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17) even as Christ was raised to life on the third day.
And then Matthew 3:11 says He will baptize us with fire. You’ve probably heard the phrase “purified by fire.” This is what Jesus does in us spiritually. He works in our hearts to burn away everything in our lives that isn’t glorifying to God or good for us.
So believers become, over time, totally immersed in Jesus, baptized in Him, consumed in Him, and cleansed and purified by Him. Going through various trials and the purification by the Spirit will result in great joy and praise. This will end in an entirely enjoyable experience, though there may be stress from the trials and testings we go through. The result is that Jesus begins to take over every aspect of our lives, filling our hearts with love, giving us a joy that can’t even be put into words.
This is what we were designed for: to be filled with Christ.
So, how do we go about being immersed and filled up? We are to purposefully put Jesus into our lives, and watch Him begin to consume us and purify us. We might think that the primary way to be relieved of our depression is to actively take despair out of our lives. To pull up our socks and to will ourselves to be happy and look happy. However, God’s way of healing is to put Jesus, the “substance” (Colossians 2:17 AMP) into our hearts and this will move despair out of our lives.
There is a powerful illustration of this in 2 Kings 4:38-41, where people gathered wild gourds and made stew out of it, but discovered it was poisonous. There was “death in the pot”. So what did God tell them to do? Not take out the poison, for it had worked its way all through the pot. No, rather the solution was to add substance, flour, into the pot. And that substance then gathered all the poison to itself, leaving nothing but healthy stew for the men to eat.
Dear friend, God looked down on this earth two thousand years ago and saw that the earth was poisoned by sin, there was “death on the earth.” And what did He do? He sent His Son, the Substance, to this earth, and Jesus went to the cross and drew to Himself all our sins, and He died under their weight, thereby removing them from us. Now there is nothing but life and health for us!
Now, because of what Jesus did on the cross, we should not be so much about stopping certain behaviors as we are about walking in and by the Spirit. You might think of it like this: a brownish, stagnant, low level river will be made new again when the spring rains come and flow through in torrents to bring clear fresh water downstream.
On the cross, Jesus took all our sins on Himself, drew all the darkness out of us and took us to be His very own. “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, removed from sins, might live for righteousness. “By His wounds, you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24 NIV). In taking all our sins, He left eternal life and joy for all who believe.
So how can we be transformed by renewing our minds?
We can read our Bibles through applications on our phones or tablets,
study through lessons at Setting Captives Free,
Watch YouTube videos of gospel-centered sermons or worship music,
Go to gospel promoting websites,
Attend a gospel-preaching church, or
Blog, chat, or tweet with others about the gospel.
We should look to apply everything we read, asking the Holy Spirit to convict us, illuminate us, help us to apply the passage, change us, encourage us, lift us up and so forth. Some might say: “I read the Bible but it seems at times to just be words on a page; it does not transform me or really even affect me very much. How can I get that popcorn-like explosion where grace and love overwhelm me and my thoughts become entirely different?”
Dear friend, to be transformed is costly, requiring time, energy and effort. It does not come easily, but only to those willing to invest the effort and force the time. Popcorn might pop in two and half minutes, but we Christians take much longer. “Buy the truth, and do not sell it” (Proverbs 23:23).
If we want to experience transformation by the renewing of our minds, we should study God’s Word in this way:
In humility. We should approach God’s Word acknowledging our sinfulness and God’s solution for us at the cross. Without a proper understanding of the cross, we will never read the Scriptures in humility. We should also acknowledge that we can do nothing apart from Christ (John 15). We should read our Bible seeking to conform ourselves to God’s will as revealed in His Word. This is the humility we need when reading. “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word“ (Isaiah 66:2 ESV).
In total immersion. Consider how, when we lived our lives in despair, we became immersed in it. Our thoughts, over time, became consumed with sadness. Our sorrow was our “language.” Now, in repentance, we want the water of God’s Word to wash us clean, put new thoughts and images of the gospel in our minds; we want to be more consumed in Christ. If we want to speak the language of the gospel, to live the gospel, then total immersion is the best way to learn it. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night…” (Joshua 1:8 ESV).
Looking for the gospel. As we study, we should not be content until we’ve seen the gospel in the passage we are reading. For it is seeing Jesus and His finished work at the cross that affects our hearts, draws us to Him, enables us to lay down our lives, our wills, our desires in submission to Him. “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.’” (Luke 24:26-27 ESV)
We will study how we can look for the gospel in exciting ways in the next lesson. After you are finished with this lesson today, I encourage you to take just a minute and read through Psalm chapter 22. If you don’t have a Bible, you can go to Bible Gateway or Blue Letter Bible or Bible Hub or listen to Psalm 22 on YouTube. As you read or listen to this Psalm, see what God reveals to you about Jesus. Question 4. What is God speaking to you through His Word in this lesson today?
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