REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED or Perish

Before you can receive the Holy Spirit

of Jesus Christ, you first need to repent and be baptized. We read in
Acts 2 the words of the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost:
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39“For the promise
is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as
the Lord our God will call to Himself.” Acts 2:37,38.

To repent means to feel or express
sincere regret sorrow or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin. Some
people never find repentance, like Esau, who despised his birth right
and lost it. We read in Hebrews 12:15 “See to it that there
be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own
birthright for a single meal. 17For you know that even
afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected,
for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with
tears.” Many people despise the grace of God that leads them to
repentance and later when they wish to repent they do not have the
chance. Some believers never repent, they just keep on asking
forgiveness and keep on going back to the same sins. Their hearts are
hardened and God gives them over to a reprobate mind, because they
love sin and hate righteousness, and so they perish in their sins.
True repentance results in turning from sin and living in holiness.
If a person has not repented it makes no sense to be baptized.

We read in Matthew 3:1 “Now in those
days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
saying,2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Verse 7 “But when
he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he
said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the
wrath to come? 8“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with
repentance; 9and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from
these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.10“The axe
is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that
does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

      11“As
for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming
after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals;
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12“His
winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His
threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Where there is no
fruit of repentance, there was no repentance and it makes no sense to
be baptized.

Jesus commanded that
all those who wish to follow Him be baptized in water. We read in
Mark 16:15:16 Jesus said to His disciples “Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16“He who has
believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has
disbelieved shall be condemned.”

Without repentance
and water baptism there is no salvation, just condemnation. Neither
will such persons receive the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote in
Romans 8:9 “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he
does not belong to Him.”

Many believers think
they have salvation, but they never repented. They are living in sin.
They are not holy. Others were never baptized in water and most never
received the Holy Spirit.

Without the Holy
Spirit, we have no communion with Jesus. Modern Christianity has
Bibles, doctrines and churches but no Spirit, no Jesus.

Have you repented
and been baptized? Did you receive the Holy Spirit? Are you born
again of the Spirit of God and are you living in communion with Him?
Those who are being led by the Spirit of God, they are the children
of God. Are you a child of God.

May Jesus bless you.