After Jesus was resurrected and was preparing to return to the Father, he was sitting one day and eating with his disciples. He had told them previously that he would send the Holy Spirit, but now he told them to make sure and stay there in Jerusalem to wait for the gift that was to come, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist had also spoken about this very same thing. He had told his disciples that he wasn’t even worthy to untie the laces of the sandles of the Messiah because he only baptized with water, but true power was on the way:
“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
John 1:26-27
Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
John 1:32-34
John saw it. He knew what was happening. He understood who Jesus truly was, which put him in the place of understanding who he truly was. Yes, people from all over Judea were coming to him to repent and be baptized, but he knew that he himself was actually nothing in comparison to the real power that came from heaven, the real power that will be given by God’s Chosen One, the Messiah, Jesus Christ himself.
John knew that this is what counted. Yes, from a human perspective, we can take the action of walking into water and being baptized by others. This happens in the physical world such that we can see it. It becomes a testimony of the decision that we have made. A sign of the change that has happened within us as a result of God’s work in our life.
But as we stand before God, what truly counts is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are made alive before God. No longer spiritually dead, we are instead now given new life! We are spiritually resurrected and made to be a new creation before the Lord. This is who we are and the new identity that he has given to us.
So Jesus confirms what John had said to his disciples. He tells his disciples:
Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:4-5
The Holy Spirit will change everything. It will be the release of the power of God, first upon the disciples, and then upon all believers in Christ. It is a gift that God will continue to give to others Jews who believe as well, now also, to the Gentiles.
The Holy Spirit will completely change the people in whom he comes to dwell. He will move the disciples from timidity to amazing boldness. He will change them from prejudice against the Gentiles to acceptance and love, and he will help them to leave their lives driven by the flesh to instead live lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These things, and so much more will be the marks of the change that the Holy Spirit will bring upon the lives of the disciples who will receive him.
And as we stand before God, the Holy Spirit is what makes the difference. God “marks” us with the Holy Spirit, sealing us within his kingdom, as part of his people. This is how God knows, and we know, that we are his, that we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and we are walking according to the Spirit, no longer according to our flesh because Jesus has baptized us with his Holy Spirit.