Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 2 Study # 10
November 6, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(026)
1901 ASV
7 And he preached, saying, There cometh after me he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
8 I baptized you in water; but he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
- I. John's "Preaching".
- A. The "large" concept in John's "preaching" has been identified as "repentance unto forgiveness".
- 1. Mark summarized the entirety of John's message in 1:4 under the thesis of an "entire person baptism into the thesis of repentance leading to forgiveness of sins".
- a. I call it "an entire person baptism" under the concept presented by Paul in Romans 12:1-2 where he "summons" his readers to "present their bodies" to God in sacrifice. This is, clearly, not a "summons" regarding "bodies alone", but "bodies" and all they "contain" as "earthen vessels". Thus, the summons is to the entire person.
- b. Being an "entire person" issue, John's "baptism in water" is a summons to fully buy into the main thesis: repentance toward God leads to His forgiveness of a person's sins.
- 1) This totally eliminates the "forgiveness based upon some kind of deep loyalty commitment to Jesus/God" approach to the most basic issue of forgiveness of sins, i.e., "lordship salvation".
- 2) But, it also eliminates the "forgiveness based upon some kind of humanly generated faith-profession" approach. A man can not "know" that his profession of faith is acceptable to God, but he can know if he has come to grips with his need for God and his turn to God for the provision of that need. In other words, "I believe" is not nearly as valuable as "I need You and I am placing the need entirely at Your feet". "Faith" is critical, but a profession of faith is not the same thing as "believing". Most of us do not really know what we believe until push comes to shove and, more times than not, "shove" either does not raise its head, or its arrival is so deceptive that we do not even know that we are being "shoved". Who among the Galatians realized that their profession of "faith" in Christ was being severely tested by the teachings of the legalists?
- 2. Therefore, all other "John was preaching" declarations have to be aligned under this primary doctrinal thesis.
- a. Therefore, this current text's declaration that John was announcing the coming of "The-Stronger-Than-I" One is a major sub-thesis of the "repentance unto forgiveness" doctrine.
- b. This makes the announcement of the "Coming One" some form of an explanation of how the "repentance unto forgiveness" thesis is truth. As it turned out, that "Coming One" was going to do the necessary thing under Law to make "forgiveness" possible for a Just God (Romans 3:26).
- B. This principle "sub-thesis" is now being presented.
- 1. He "was preaching" is an imperfect indicative that continues to build a mental video of what John was doing. This was a "constant" in his activities. The focus is upon his "sub-thesis".
- 2. His "sub-thesis".
- a. "The Stronger Than I" is coming after me [I am a forerunner to Him].
- 1) This is Mark's most fundamental thesis: "The John" (definite article preceding the name) is the Isaiah/Malachi prophetic forerunner.
- 2) That the One coming after is classed as "The Stronger than I..." (another definite article preceding the noun) is the argument: John was a "forerunner" of "The Lord".
- a) The word translated "mightier" ("The Stronger") is highly significant because it points directly to "might" or "strength" which has its roots in "essential root attributes". This means "basic glory", or "fundamental characteristics". Since it was Jesus who declared that John was "greater" than any other born of a woman (Matthew 11:11), the only sense John's declaration makes is that "The Stronger" Who is coming after me is "more than" one born of a woman. [Note the bind Jesus put His opponents in with his question in Matthew 22:41-46 that clearly acknowledges the true humanity of David's "son" but also requires a "greater than humanity" identity.]
- b) This is the essence of both prophecy and Gospel: John comes before "The Lord".
- b. His "strength" is "moral": I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals [in spite of being filled with the Spirit from birth]. This is essential superiority, not mere hyperbole.
- c. His "baptism" of you is far greater than mine [But take a lesson from me; this "baptism" will not make you a "moral equivalent to Him"].
- 1) Water baptism is essentially "weak" for one cause: neither baptizer nor baptized can underwrite what it is supposed to signify.
- 2) The entire issue is the "might" involved in what the "baptism" actually accomplishes. For the "baptism" to have legitimacy, it must be backed with "might"/"strength".
