God shows His plan of salvation in blood, water, and Spirit all throughout the Bible. Teaching us how absolutely important it is for us to repent, and be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. This is the plan of salvation that God has established and ordained.
In The Story of Exodus:
In Exodus, blood was applied to the door posts on each side and on top. This is a picture of the cross of Jesus, where the blood is at. We go to the cross in repentance. So that's where the blood is applied in our life.
Then the people of Israel was led through the Red Sea by Moses, where Pharaoh and his army was drowned and swept away by the water when they tried to pass through to go after the Israelites. This is a picture of baptism, where our sins are washed away, just like the Egyptians were washed away by the waters of the Red Sea.
1 Corinthians 10:1 - 4,
1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
So in Exodus, there's the picture of the blood and cross of Jesus, the water of the Red Sea which was baptism of water, and the cloud which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the water from the rock which is also the Holy Spirit that they drank and were filled with. There was also the spritual meat they ate, which represents the word of God.
The Tabernacle:
And in the tabernacle, there's the altar where the sacrifices were made and the blood was shed, which again, was the death and blood of Jesus Christ, and where we go to in repentance and have the blood applied to our life, being crucified and die with Christ. After that was the laver of washing, where the priests had to wash, which is a picture of water baptism. Then they entered the Holy Place, which is the Holy Spirit. The priest had to offer sacrifices and wash at the laver before they could enter into the Holy Place. If they tried to skip either one of those steps, then God would have struck them dead when they tried to enter.
The Earth:
God also uses the earth itself as an example of the new birth by blood, water, and fire. The earth representing man. Fire representing the Holy Spirit for us in salvation.
In the story of Noah, the earth was flooded with water, and the Bible says that this was symbolic of water baptism, where 8 souls were saved by water. And the earth itself was baptized, being completely covered in water. This is where water is applied to the earth.
In
Revelation 14;20, "And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs." This is where blood is applied to the earth.
And
2 Peter 3;10 - 13, says,
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Revelation 21;21, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away."
Both the earth and heaven that exists now will be burned up, and there will be a new earth and a new heaven. The fire here represents the fire of the Holy Spirit for us in the new birth. In
Matthew 3;11, John the baptist says, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
And the earth doesn't become a new earth until all three elements are fulfilled in it, blood, water, and fire.
2 Corinthians 5;17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
This is a well known verse, but many professing Christians misunderstand the new birth, and misapply this verse. We are born again by following the message of
Acts 2;38. And just like the earth doesn't become a new earth, a new creation, until all three elements are fulfilled in it, we also aren't born again and become a new creation in Christ until we have all three elements fulfilled in us, blood, water, and Spirit.
So God shows us all through the Bible how His plan of salvation is made up of the three elements of blood, water, and Spirit. And these are applied to our life by repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• Adding It All Up
When we add up all three steps in God's plan of salvation, which are done by faith in Jesus, of course, along with the elements that are applied to our life by them, this is what it shows.
Repentance, Baptism, Holy Spirit
Death, Burial, Resurrection
Blood, Water, Spirit
Justified, Washed, Sanctified
Repentance = Death, Blood, Justified
Baptism = Burial, Water, Washed
Holy Spirit = Resurrection, Spirit, Sanctified
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