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Subject 8 : The Holy Spirit
[8-18] The Truth That Leads You to the Indwelling Of the Holy Spirit (Joshua 4:23)
(Joshua 4:23)
“For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.”
What does the event of the Jordan River teach us?
It teaches us that Jesus Christ had completely eliminated death caused by sin and subsequent judgment from mankind.
It teaches us that Jesus Christ had completely eliminated death caused by sin and subsequent judgment from mankind.
I would now like to speak about the beautiful gospel of the truth that lets us receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. After the death of Moses, God appointed Joshua as the leader of Israel. Moses was the representative of the law in the Old Testament. If Moses had crossed the Jordan River with the people of Israel and arrived at Canaan, it would not have been necessary for Joshua to become the leader of the people. However, God made Moses reach the area just in front of the land of Canaan and prevented him from entering it.
Our Lord gave us Moses and Joshua
Moses, the representative of the law in the Old Testament, couldn’t take the people of Israel into Canaan. If he had done so while being led by the law, it would have been against God’s plan for our salvation. No one can be free from his sins before the law of God because nobody can keep the law. Because the law is only for the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).
The reason why God gave man the law is to give him the knowledge of sin, to make the law his tutor and lead him to Christ so that he could be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). Since the law was nothing more than a guide to finding Jesus, people needed Jesus, and this is why Jesus had to come into this world. What God directed Joshua to do was to order the people of Israel to cross the Jordan River and enter the land of Canaan.
God led them to enter the land of Canaan with their new leader, Joshua, after the death of Moses. Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess’” (Joshua 1:11).
God ordered Joshua to enter Canaan after it had proven impossible through Moses. God commanded Joshua, saying, “You shall command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’ So Joshua said to the children of Israel, ‘Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.’ And Joshua said, ‘By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites’” (Joshua 3:8-10).
After the death of Moses, God appointed Joshua the leader of Israel and ordered him to enter the land of Canaan with the people of Israel. The name Joshua means “the Savior,” synonymous with “Jesus” or “Hosea.” A servant of God, Joshua ordered the priests to bear the Ark of the Covenant and to cross the Jordan River while leading the people. When the priests bearing the Ark dipped their feet in the water (for the Jordan overflows its banks during the time of the harvest), the waters that came from upstream stood still and rose very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of Arabah, the Salt Sea, were cut off and the people could cross over opposite Jericho (Joshua 3:15-16).
Through this incident, God teaches us that He had completely eliminated death caused by sin and subsequent judgment from mankind. In other words, Jesus Christ our Savior took away all the sins of mankind when He was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified. In this way, He saved mankind from their sins by leading them into the land of Canaan, which stands for the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Jordan River is the place where mankind was purified
The historical events surrounding the crossing of the Jordan River, as recorded in the Old and the New Testaments, were tremendously important events which were to lead to eventual salvation from the curses and judgments arising from the sins of mankind.
The Jordan River was referred to as the river of death, and the terminus of the river is the Dead Sea. The word Jordan means “a river that only flows downward, toward death” or “be immersed, suppress, to force down, fall out.” This clearly indicates the history of humanity’s sins. In this river, Jesus, through His baptism, received all the flow of sins that cannot be ceased by any human being, and later died on the Cross and thereby accepting judgment in humanities’ place for these sins.
Where are we, the descendants of Adam and Eve, headed for? Since all creatures are born with sin, they commit sins, and as the wages of those sins, they march toward death. Throughout the history of humanity, all creatures are heading for destruction from their birth. Even though they try hard to control their sinful nature, they can’t, and that’s why they are moving toward a final judgment for their sins.
However, God cut off the flow of sin and judgment. God led Joshua to take the people of Israel into the land of Canaan by crossing the Jordan River. This was God’s will for Joshua. This story suggests that in order to be freed from sin, we must pay the wages of sins, which is death, and that through this price, we are purified of all our sins and enter Heaven.
In the Old Testament, the flow of the river was stopped, and it was changed into a dry land when the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant dipped their feet in the water. This allowed the people of Israel to cross the river. This was the remission of sin that was given only to those who believed in the beautiful gospel. It was the gospel of the water and the Spirit that paid the wages of sin for mankind, and we have come to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by believing in this beautiful gospel.
General Naaman
Naaman, who appears in chapter 5 of 2 Kings, was a great and honorable commander of the army of Syria who had saved his country from its enemies. He was also a leper who was destined to lose everything because of the curse. But he later heard the beautiful news that he could be rescued from this curse. It was said that he could be cured if he went to see a servant of God who lived in Israel. It was a small girl servant who delivered this news. She said, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:3).
He believed this news and went to Israel. When he arrived at the front of the house of Elisha, Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10). Having expected a miraculous cure, Naaman became furious and decided to return to his home country. However, because of his servant’s eager request, he obeyed Elisha and went down and dipped his whole body seven times in the Jordan. There, his flesh was restored, becoming once more like the skin of a young child.
In the same way, we have come to know that in order to be forgiven for all our sins, we must forsake our own thoughts and accept what is written in the Bible. Then we will be given beautiful blessings. Whoever wants to be saved must obey God’s words and wholly believe in them.
The Bible says that all the sins of the world were washed away by the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and blood. We must not think in the same way as the disobedient Naaman. We can’t be cleansed of our sins without the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, in order to be forgiven for all our sins, we must believe in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit. Just as Naaman became clean by dipping his body seven times in the water, we believe that we can be cleansed of our sins by believing in the beautiful gospel of Jesus’ baptism, crucifixion and resurrection. We must believe in this beautiful gospel as it is.
This miracle in the Jordan River presented all descendants of Adam with a blessing that cut off the flow of all sins and ended the judgment. All of humanity was expelled from the Garden of Eden because Adam and Eve sinned after being tempted by Satan. However, the incident in the Jordan was the beautiful gospel that leads all mankind to return to the Garden of Eden.
The event of the Jordan River
The Bible records the beautiful news that Jesus took away all sin in the Jordan. “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). The Bible states that all sins were passed on to Jesus when He was baptized in the Jordan River. In other words, Jesus’ baptism was the event that cut the chain of sin that bound all of mankind. This is how Jesus put an end to sin and later offered us salvation with His blood on the Cross.
The Jordan was the river of baptism that cleansed all our sins. We were able to fulfill God’s law, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), because Jesus paid the wages by being baptized in the Jordan River and dying on the Cross. This is the beautiful gospel that our Lord gave mankind.
All the sins of mankind continued from Adam, but stopped utterly with Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River and His blood on the Cross. No sin has remained thanks to Jesus’ baptism. What blessed and beautiful news it is. We, by believing in this beautiful gospel, are saved from the swirling flow of sins, are purified of all our sins and become sanctified in the redemptive law of God. As such, Jesus’ baptism and blood on the Cross is the gospel that saves all mankind. We should truly believe in this. “Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23), says the Lord. Likewise, we are blessed only when we believe in this beautiful gospel.
Do you still have sin in your heart despite the fact that all sin was passed on to Jesus when He was baptized by John? Jesus took away all the sins of the world. You should accept what is written in the Bible. Only the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross can blot out your sin and avert you from death and all other curses. To baptize means “to be washed, to be immersed, to be buried, to pass on to, and to be transferred.”
All mankind can be forgiven for their sins by believing in the beautiful gospel given by Jesus. That’s why Jesus called Himself ‘the way to Heaven.’ We can enter Heaven and have eternal life by believing in Him. He is our Lord, who gave us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are exempted from all judgment for our sins by believing in His baptism and blood.
The curse ended and the river turned into dry land because the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant dipped their feet in the water by faith. This was what God had planned, and Jesus’ baptism and His blood accomplished this plan. What a beautiful gospel this is. This was the law of salvation and without this our salvation was impossible. Those who believe in this beautiful gospel can now cross the Jordan River and enter the land of Canaan. That the water dried completely means all the sins of the world were transferred to Jesus and He was judged for us. This is the gospel that gives us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
God, who created mankind, knows that the average person’s IQ is only about 110 to 130 points. Therefore, He can’t complicate this truth of receiving the Holy Spirit. God took away all their sins with Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross. He made it possible to receive the Holy Spirit by believing in the gospel of the water and the Holy Spirit so that all of them would know it. You will also come to realize the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by believing in this beautiful gospel.
According to what is written in the Bible, we can’t receive the Holy Spirit just by praying in repentance. People think that the Holy Spirit is something given when they offer many kinds of prayers. But this is simply not true. The Holy Spirit is given to those who believe in the beautiful gospel, and it is needed to make them God’s children. That is to say, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was a guarantee that a person had become a child of God. God gives the Holy Spirit to those who believe in the beautiful gospel to make sure they are His children.
If people believe in Jesus but don’t know or believe in this gospel, they can’t be confident in the fact that all their sins were passed on to Him. Therefore, all people must know and believe that Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross is the beautiful gospel that blotted out their sins.
Who testifies that Jesus took away all the sins of the world? John the Baptist does. That He was baptized by John and took away all the sins of the world is what God our Father had planned (Leviticus 4:13-21, 16:1-30). Who carried out His plan? Jesus did. Who finally guarantees the fulfillment of this plan? The Holy Spirit does. God in Trinity completed the remission of sin with Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross to make us His children. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and guarantees that we were saved from all our sins when Jesus fulfilled God’s plan.
Do things in this world appear to be breathtakingly complicated? And how confused are your thoughts? One can’t believe in this beautiful gospel unless he gives up his own thoughts. The doctrine of today’s Christianity that many people believe in is that ‘original sin passed away, but actual sins are forgiven when one prays in repentance.’ However, this is far from being the complete truth; it is, in fact, false gospel. If you believe it, you can’t understand the Bible from the beginning to the end, and as time passes you will experience more and more difficulties in following Jesus. That’s why among Christians there are those who believe in different gospels and a different God.
Some people say that they receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by ‘praying.’ It seems plausible, but the Bible states that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove when He was baptized and came out of the water. This is the true gospel and the Holy Spirit comes on those who believe in this gospel.
In addition, some people say they receive the Holy Spirit by offering prayers in repentance. Is the Holy Spirit given when people simply beg for forgiveness? God is righteous. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come just because He takes pity on them. No matter how hard people cry or pray, the Holy Spirit cannot come upon them. He comes upon those who believe that God fulfilled His plan to save them. You must keep in mind that you cannot receive the Holy Spirit no matter how long you cry for God or how hard you pray. The Holy Spirit is independent of man’s will.
Even the historical decisions of mankind in this world can be changed, but the beautiful gospel and the law of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are immutable; that is they can never change. If people don’t understand the beautiful gospel, it’s very hard for them to return to the true practice of faith. It is for this reason that many people can’t receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. How chagrined would you feel if you believed in Jesus but were destroyed just because you didn’t know of the beautiful gospel? The Bible says that for some people the beautiful gospel of Jesus is a stumbling block and a rock of offense.
If you have come to understand the mystery of Jesus’ baptism by John, you can also be forgiven for your sins and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He saved all sinners by being baptized, dying on the Cross and being resurrected. The redemption Jesus gave us was a righteous method of salvation. He became the true Savior of all sinners, and confirmed the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Only if you believe in it!
It is recorded in the Old Testament that when the priests dipped their feet in the Jordan, the river turned into dry land. It is miraculous enough that the water stopped, but more miracles were to follow. What is more incredible is that the river turned into dry land. This incident served as a guarantee of God’s salvation, which led to the remission of sin through Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross. The dry land represented the way that all the sins of the world would be forgiven thanks to Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross. All sins went forth from Adam out to all mankind, but the curse of judgment ended with Jesus’ baptism. Now, all we need to do is to be forgiven for our sins by having faith and receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Do you believe in the beautiful truth that Jesus took away all your sins through His baptism in the Jordan River?
You should believe that Jesus Christ was baptized to take away all the sins of the world. In addition, you should also know, understand and believe how important His baptism was. If the priests hadn’t entered the Jordan, the people of Israel wouldn’t have been able to make a successful entry into the land of Canaan. The very first step for entering Canaan was the crossing of the Jordan River. Therefore, only when we cross the river with the Ark of the Covenant can we enter the land of Canaan. This teaches us that one can be forgiven for his sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The Bible says that Jesus’ baptism was the work of God. This also happened in relation to the priests. Just as the water of the Jordan River stopped when the priests dipped their feet in the water, the people of the world are saved from their sins by believing in this gospel.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is granted based on faith in this beautiful gospel. Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross will lead you to receive the forgiveness of sin and the Holy Spirit. This beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit is indispensable to obtaining the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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