The Spirit of the Truth

Every true Christian is awarded the Holy Spirit through a ceremony of baptism. Jesus Christ said unto Nicodemus: “Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again” (John 3:7) to enter the gates of heaven. The birth of flesh cannot equate or negate the birth of the spirit through the baptism of the soul and water. Jesus spoke the words: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” John (15:15). Through our rebirth, we become the sons and daughters of Christ.

Baptism is a sacred rite of passage for every Christian. On one of his journeys, He met with a Samarian woman and asked for a drink of water from a well. She was taken aback because Jewish people never associated with her kind. In His infinite wisdom, He said: “Woman, […] believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” (John 4:21), “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23), and “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Baptism is another womb that we must pass through to enter the world. St. Paul preached baptism in his words: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:27). The Holy Spirit graces the souls of those enter the cycle of rebirth. It also comforts us in ways that defy our understanding: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26). When we embrace our holy spirit, we embrace

 

the word of Jesus we live the word of God in the light of his divinity. Abandoning it is alienating ourselves from God and plunging into the darkness. St. Paul wisely proclaimed: “…for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (Corinthian 3:6). There we find freedom and peace; freedom is the key to our earthly existence and the gateway to eternal happiness.

Going back to John’s Bible, we find the wisdom of truth in: “This is the one who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth” (John 5:6). It is the Holy Spirit that speaks for us and testifies the truth in heaven. The trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the truth; the soul, the water and the blood are also one. How can a true believer accept the testimony of oral mortals and deny that of God for baptism is God’s testimony to His Son? The world is in the abyss of darkness and very few glimpses this light. They do not accept what they cannot see; they are blinded to the truth by their own lies. Lucifer is always referred to as a liar and deceiver, and it is through lies that we shun away the light of the Spirit. Jesus preached: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The Holy Trinity teaches us the truth and the path for salvation. Jesus came to testify for His Father for: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). Jesus teaches us that God is our Father after we have been accustomed to viewing God as the Creator and Holiness. Jesus wants us to know that His Father would never abandon His children and sacrificed His only Son on the cross to absolve our sins and rebirth us as His true children.

 

Faith is more than empty sacraments and rituals; it must be reflected in our everyday life. Redemption is not philosophical verses that we repeat. All of Jesus’s

teachings came from real situations, and his apostles learned the way by observing the way with which He interacted with others. It was His kindness to the sinful that makes Him divine. It is compassion with the poor that makes Him holy. It is in His blood on the cross: “But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!” (Luke 12:50). There is no greater love than anyone giving up their lives for those who they love, and that is how Jesus loved us. We must believe that Jesus is the Lord’s son and our savior, and the Holy Spirit testifies the truth of our Savior: “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.” (Mathew 3:17). The Holy Spirit came and consoled the apostles hovering around the cross making them aware that there is another pass to the Father and Son.

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). We have to strive to follow the footsteps of St. Charbel and believe in the power of prayers that allow us to rebirth in the Holy Spirit and earn redemption on earth. God’s mercy and love are strengthened through prayer. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Our baptism is our guidance into loving life and embracing the light. Our baptism is our salvation and a blessing for us to follow the pathways of Jesus into the embrace of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.