THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS

Foundation Principles Series - Part III

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.  And this will we do, if God permit” (Hebrews 6:1-3).

In the above verses, we find six concepts that St. Paul refers to as “the principles of the doctrine of Christ,” and, in chapter 5 of Hebrews he calls them, “the first principles of the oracles of God.”  We have explored the first two principles, Repentance from Dead Works and Faith Toward God, in earlier messages; now, let’s consider the third principle, “The Doctrine of Baptisms.” 

You will notice that Paul uses the plural “baptisms” rather than just “baptism;” but in Ephesians 4:5 he states that there is but “one baptism.”  This is because while there is truly just one baptism, that one baptism has a number of different aspects to it which make it easy to think of them as separate when, in fact, they are all part of the whole.  These aspects include water baptism (the one John the Baptist introduced, and also what Jesus and His apostles practiced), the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and the baptism of fire.  There is also a baptism that Jesus mentioned when He told the apostles, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” (Luke 12:50).  If God permits, we will try to explain the importance of each aspect of baptism and how it is part of God’s overall plan for His children. 

WATER BAPTISM

According to Strong’s Greek Lexicon, the word “baptize,” which appears in the original Greek text as “baptizo,” means “to immerse, to submerge, to cleanse by submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash oneself, to bathe.”  This definition clearly indicates an object, in this case the person being baptized, being fully placed under the water and thus fully bathed.  An early Greek text written by Nicander, who was a poet and physician around 200 B.C., illustrates the use of the word “baptizo.”  He uses the words “baptizo” and “bapto” in describing the making of pickles.  According to Nicander, the cucumber is first dipped (bapto) in boiling water, and then baptized (baptizo) in a vinegar solution.  As the vegetable is completely bathed in and submerged in the solution, it is transformed: the cucumber becomes a pickle.  In the case of baptism, the sinner emerges from baptism to newness of life. 

When John the Baptist came preaching the Word of God in the wilderness of Judea, he would baptize those who received his words and repented of their deeds in the river Jordan.  His baptism was for the remission of sins and represented a cleansing of those sins, an acceptance of John’s message, and a return to purity.  It was a public act that openly acknowledged repentance and a change of heart.  John made it plain to all who came to him, however, that there was One coming Who was greater than he was.  John told them, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11).  Of course, John was referring to Jesus, the Messiah, Who had not yet begun His earthly ministry.  John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.  John was called the Prophet of the Highest and he was the Messenger who God would send in the spirit of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers and to the wisdom of the just.  Soon after John’s birth, his father prophesied concerning his ministry saying, “…for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79).  John was literally preparing the hearts of the people to receive the message of the gospel that Jesus would preach and teach, and those who were baptized by John were publicly announcing the change in their own hearts, their departure from past errors, and their willingness to return to the Lord. 

When Jesus came to John to be baptized by him in Jordan, John immediately recognized Him as the Messiah, and did not think himself worthy to baptize the Christ.  Jesus’ words to John, though, revealed the importance that He placed on water baptism.  He said, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).  Immediately after He was baptized by John, scripture says that the Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove and God spoke from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” thus revealing the link between water baptism and the Spirit’s baptism.   Later, after Jesus had called His disciples, He instructed them to baptize the new disciples in water also (John 4:1, 2). 

It is clear that John’s baptism was incomplete compared to what Christ would ultimately fulfill.  It was Jesus Who would usher in the fullness of the gospel and reveal all of the hidden aspects of the one true baptism that had remained a mystery up until the time of John.  Something very different and very profound was taking place.  A new dispensation of grace was dawning, and a new covenant was being introduced. 

Water baptism was meant to remain a sacrament of the church.  Jesus did not dispense with it in favor of something more “spiritual.”  After repentance, baptism was an important and necessary step in the progression of every believer.  Jesus commissioned His disciples before He was taken into heaven saying, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…” (Matthew 28:18,19).  Though Jesus did not personally baptize, He instructed His disciples to do so (John 4:1-3).  After Jesus ascension, and even after the Holy Ghost was poured out on the day of Pentecost, His disciples continued to baptize believers.  Peter baptized the house of Cornelius after preaching the gospel to them (Acts 10:48).  Phillip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch after the man confessed his faith in Christ (Acts8:36-38).  Paul also baptized in water (1 Corinthians 1:14-16). 

St. Peter outlines the natural progression of events necessary for new believers in the second chapter of Acts.  After he preaches the gospel to a crowd of people, they ask him, “What shall we do?”  His answer was, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,” (Acts 2:38).  So, repentance, water baptism into Christ, and baptism in the Holy Spirit, are the normal steps experienced by a new believer. 

Many get hung up on the words that are spoken over a new believer when they are baptized.  Some say it must be “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost” while others insist that it be “in Jesus’ name,” but I believe that even if no words are spoken at all, but the believer is baptized in Jesus’ name, meaning by the power and authority of Christ, and in His stead, they will come up from the water in newness of life.  Like a policeman who has the power to arrest someone “in the name of the law,” the minister of the gospel has the power to preach, to teach, to heal, and to baptize “in the name of Jesus.”  The power does not lay in them, but in the power of the One in Whose name and authority they are operating and has commissioned them to do so.  When I baptize, I personally choose to say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; and this I do in the name of, and by the power and authority of Jesus Christ.”  This way, I can “cover the board” so to speak, and hopefully not offend any of my more sensitive brothers and sisters!

In the Old Testament, the brazen laver (or basin) which sat in the temple of God typifies both the inward and outward cleansing aspects of baptism.  The priests and those that ministered inside the Jewish tabernacle, and later the temple at Jerusalem, were to wash their hands and feet at the laver before performing any service for the Lord.  Without this cleansing, they were considered by God to be unfit to serve.  When the priest would enter the outer court of the temple, he would first encounter the altar of burnt offering.  This is where all of the various sacrifices would take place.  After that, between the altar and the door of the Holy Place, was the laver.  The priests would offer a sacrifice for their own sins first, and then wash at the laver before proceeding to the Tabernacle to minister before the Lord.  The altar speaks of the sacrifice of the blood and body of the Lord Jesus which atones for our sin, and the laver speaks in part of the washing of the water of the Word of God (Ephesians 5:25-27).  Scripture strengthens the connection by revealing that the brazen laver was actually made from polished brass vanity mirrors that the Jewish women had spoiled from the Egyptians when God delivered them from that country.  These were donated by the women of Israel and then melted down to create the brazen laver.  “And he [Moses] made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the looking glasses [mirrors] of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Exodus 38:8).  James compares the Word of God to a mirror when he writes, “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass [mirror]: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty [the Word of grace], and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:23-25).  When we look into the Word of God, it is like looking into a mirror that reveals an honest image of ourselves.  It does not flatter, it does not gloss over; but it reflects a true likeness with all its blemishes and flaws.  We then have a choice of accepting that image and changing it with the help of the Lord’s mercy and grace, or we reject it and soon forget the revelation that we’ve been given.  Indeed, as the priests would approach the laver and peer into the water, they would see their own image staring back at them from the water which was just another reminder that even they had to deal with the man in the mirror before God could really use them.  So, this laver represents both the cleansing and revealing elements of baptism, and also the need to let go of our vanities altogether and step into the light of truth.  “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass [mirror] the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Water baptism was not just symbolic; it was meant to produce a very real transformation in the heart of the believer.  It identifies the Christian convert with the death and resurrection of the Lord, and places him spiritually “in Christ.”  In fact, Paul refers to it as being baptized into Christ.  “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). We are “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead,” (Colossians 2:12).  “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” (Galatians 3:27).  The power behind the act of baptism is not so much in the ritual as it is faith in the operation of God.  God performs an operation on us that transforms us into something new and quickens us spiritually.  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  In baptism we identify ourselves by faith with the death and resurrection of the Lord.  Just as surely as our history has been identified “in Adam” and we have all been partakers of the sin nature through his experience; we now have been placed “in Christ” through baptism and can partake of the new life that is in the Lord.

Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection…” (Romans 6:4,5).  Baptism is not just about cleansing: it is also about dying and being buried, but also about being resurrected to a new life.  It is being identified with Christ’s burial and resurrection.  When one dies and is buried in the ground, he/she is covered over with six feet of dirt and left there.  There is no need to dig them back up to make sure they’re really dead.  Once they’re buried, it’s a done deal!  The same applies to our spiritual death in Christ.  Once we are buried in the waters of baptism, there is no need ever to question whether or not we’re really dead – it’s a done deal!  “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).  We must by faith consider and account (reckon) ourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God.  It does not matter how much our old nature wants to “kick up dirt” and act like he’s very much alive.  By faith we must remind ourselves that he was buried and he is dead.  We can point with confidence at the day we were baptized and say, “I am dead to my old life!  I am no longer in bondage!  I am set free from sin!  I am a new man in Christ Jesus my Lord!”  “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?  Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life,” (Romans 6:3, 4). 

Too many Christians treat water baptism as merely a ritualistic act that they take part in shortly after they are saved and then don’t think much more about it the rest of their lives.  This is not meant to be.  If we understood the power and purpose of baptism to affect real lasting deliverance in our lives, we would be thinking and talking about it constantly.  God told Israel, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).  After God delivered Israel from Egypt, He was constantly telling the Israelites to remember, think about, and talk about the fact that they were bondmen and bondwomen there; but that He had delivered them out of that bondage once and for all and they were never to go back to it or any other similar bondage again.  God had set them free! 

This lesson must not lose its urgency for us today, although I fear that it very much has.  The pattern is laid out for us so plainly in the story of Moses and the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.  Pharaoh is an archetype of Satan in this story.  He hated God and God’s people: mostly because of the potential power that they could wield against him if they chose to as they continued to grow and multiply.  Pharaoh was considered a god in Egypt just as Satan is referred to as the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4).  In both cases theirs was a worldly system that was fashioned to bring the people into captivity and bondage, keeping them distracted from God’s purpose and plan. 

Moses is a picture of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who God sent to Pharaoh/Satan to demand that he release His people from bondage: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let My people go, that they may serve Me” (Exodus 8:1).  God couldn’t have made this connection any more obvious than when He spoke to Moses concerning the Messiah and said, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:18,19). 

Of course Pharaoh hardened his heart against God and was not willing to release the Israelites, so God sent a series of plagues upon Egypt to convince him that he must do so.  There are many plagues that are coming upon the world in these last days also.  They are foretold in the Book of Revelations.  The objective is similar, though:  God wants to bring judgment on a system that has been controlled by Satan for far too long.  Satan sought to destroy the Son of God using the religious leaders of the time as his instruments; and when that didn’t work, he turned his hand against God’s children to seek to destroy them.  We must be very wary in these last days not to be influenced by the religious traditions and doctrines of man; but instead to be guided by the Spirit of truth and the Word of God. 

God ultimately told Moses that He would send a Death Angel that would destroy all the firstborn children in every household, but that the Jews would be saved if they followed His instructions.  Each household was to slay a lamb, perfect and without blemish, and apply its blood to the doorposts and lintel of their homes.  God said, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13).  The lamb is another picture of the Lord Jesus: the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.  He is without spot or blemish, but is perfect, holy, and innocent.  He was sent by His Father in heaven to be the sacrifice for sin and for death that would save His people forever.   His shed blood cleanses us from all sin and redeems us from its wages (Romans 6:23).  All of the Israelites (and any Egyptians) who believed and followed what God told them were untouched when the Angel passed over Egypt.  Those who refused to believe, however, suffered the consequences of that decision.

Although Israel was now redeemed by the blood, they still needed delivered from Egypt, and from the system that held them captive.  Therefore, God led them to the Red Sea and there performed a miracle that delivered them once and for all from their bondage, and separated them altogether from the life that they once knew.  The water, which at first appeared as a barrier to their escape, and certain death, became the means of their deliverance.  Once they passed over the sea, they were then dead to Egypt, and Egypt was dead to them.  Paul makes it clear that this Red Sea crossing was a type and shadow of modern baptism when he writes, “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; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea,” (1 Corinthians 10:1, 2).  The Jews were faced with a dilemma.  They needed to cross the sea in order to escape the bondage of Pharaoh, but they would drown if they tried to cross the sea.  They needed to somehow pass through death and still come out on the other side to a new life of freedom.  This was impossible for mere mortals to accomplish, but it wasn’t too hard for God!  He instructed Moses to lift his rod over the sea, and when he did, God divided the waters so that the Israelites could pass through on dry ground.  When Pharaoh saw what was happening, he pursued with his chariots into the seabed, but God brought the waters back in their place again and drowned Pharaoh’s host. 

In this story God has given us an astounding example of all that our salvation should encompass as Christians.  We must not short change ourselves when it comes to following God, but believe and accept all that He has provided for our victory in this life and in the life to come.  It is not just about having our past sins forgiven, it is even more importantly about setting us free from the power that holds us in sin and death.  “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He [Jesus] also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14, 15). 

In Genesis, chapter 7, there is another picture of baptism in the story of Noah and his wonderful ark.  In Noah’s day, the wickedness of the people was so great that it grieved God that He had made man.  Noah, however, found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  So, God instructed Noah to build an ark to His specifications that would eventually become the instrument of Noah’s salvation.  Noah obeyed God and set to work on the ark, all the time preaching and warning his neighbors, and those who came to witness this spectacle, of their impending doom.  He offered the invitation to all to join him and his family on the ark when the time came to enter inside, but not one would believe his message of salvation.  There came that day, though, when the ark was complete, and all animals and provisions were on board, that God commanded Noah and his family to enter in.  When they did, God Himself shut the door, removing from Noah the temptation to open it to the cries of those who were without.  In that same day, God sent the flood to cover the earth and destroy all those who refused His mercy during the days when Noah offered them a chance at redemption.  The same water that represented death to the world inhabitants, became the very thing that lifted Noah up above the world and provided his deliverance.  In a similar way, Christ, our Ark of Safety, delivers us through death into a glorious new life.  Like Noah, who, when the door of the ark was finally opened, entered into a brand new world that was cleansed from the corruption of the past, so also have we now emerged into a new life in Christ.  “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water .  The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” (1 Peter 3:18-21).

Water baptism is essential to our spiritual walk with God.  It is the very thing that provides our deliverance from the chains of corruption that held us in our former lives.  It is one thing to have our sins forgiven and washed away by the blood of Jesus, but it is another matter altogether to be delivered from our sinful nature.  Without such deliverance, we will return to the bondage of our selfish habits.  Make no mistake, Christianity is all about becoming like Christ, and this is only possible through identifying ourselves with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and freely receiving His grace in order to become overcomers.  This is the only way that we can truly walk in newness of life, but God has provided even more to His children to secure their success.

BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST AND OF FIRE

As John the Baptist proclaimed all during his ministry, Jesus the Messiah would come and baptize believers with the Holy Ghost and with fire.  This was not meant to replace water baptism, as is evidenced by the fact that water baptism continued to be practiced; but to add another essential element to the one true baptism without which salvation would be incomplete.  We see no evidence of the Holy Spirit being poured out in any significant way, however, until the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out on Jesus’ disciples who were waiting for the promise of the Father in the upper room.  This was in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy and Jesus’ own words (Joel 2:28,29; Acts 1:8).  You see, the Father could not send the Spirit to the believers until Jesus was ascended into heaven and glorified.  Jesus had told His disciples, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you” (John 16:7).  As long as Jesus was with them He could teach them and lead them in truth, but once He left them He knew they were going to need some extra help.  He was very clear about the coming of the Spirit when He said, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26).  After the day of Pentecost, it became normal for those who repented, believed, and were baptized in water to be filled with the Holy Ghost also (Acts 2:38). 

There were some prominent exceptions to this general rule that occurred later when the gospel was expanded to include the Samaritans and then the gentiles, but we will address those later in this message.

There is a beautiful prophecy in the book of Malachi that foretells the ministry of both John the Baptist and Jesus the Savior.  “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me:…” This is referring to John, and the Lord declares here that He will send John ahead to prepare the Lord’s way.  “…and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”  This refers to Jesus Himself, the Messenger of the Covenant Who would introduce the new testament, or new covenant to Israel.  The old covenant was based on the Law and works, while the new covenant was based on grace and truth.  “But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth?  for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness” (Malachi 3:1-3).  Here the prophecy refers to the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire and its purpose in our lives as God’s children.  The Spirit’s presence in our lives is all about refining and instruction.  The Holy Spirit acts as both a Comforter to encourage and to lead us, but also as an intense fire that heats and melts us in order to reveal the impurities in our character that we can’t see until we are uncomfortable.  Peter reminds us in his general letter, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you…” (1 Peter 4:12).  Tribulation not only works patience in us, but many other good things as well.  Salvation is a process that we work through day by day on our road to spiritual maturity, and no Christian is exempt from the Spirit’s work.  The Lord blesses whom He loves, but He also chastens whom He loves.

In the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, the next thing that happened to them after they were baptized in the Red Sea was that they were brought into the wilderness.  This was to be their proving ground.  It was there that God brought the fire to bear upon them, but He also provided the Spirit’s guidance as they journeyed.  A pillar of cloud led them through each day, and a pillar of fire guided them by night.  The cloud stood watch over them when they were camped, and went before them when they traveled.  This is a picture of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire.  Concerning this experience, God told the Jews, “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.  And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.  Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.  Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee” (Deuteronomy 8:3-5).

SOME EXCEPTIONS IN SCRIPTURE

Jesus had said to His disciples that when the Spirit came to them they would receive power to be witnesses of the Lord and of the gospel message.  Like a pebble dropped in the water, their influence would radiate out into the world starting first at Jerusalem, and then spreading to Samaria, and finally to the uttermost parts of the earth which would include all of the Gentile nations (Acts 1:8).  This was fulfilled by the church in Jerusalem as they ventured out to preach the message of hope.  It accelerated greatly when the believers in Jerusalem began to be persecuted and even martyred.  Then many Christians left Jerusalem to find safer places to live.  “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

During this time Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to the people there.  Many were converted through faith in the words that he spoke and he baptized every one of them in the name of Jesus, but the Spirit had not yet come upon them.  You see, the Samaritans were considered outsiders and castaways from the Jewish faith.  They had a connection to Israel because in the beginning they were part of the twelve original tribes, but they had strayed from God, intermarried with gentiles, and worshipped some of the heathen idols.  With a very few exceptions, Jesus hadn’t even taken His message to the Samaritans, although some had been converted by His ministry.  So, for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit the same as the Jewish believers was a real paradigm shift for the new church.  For this reason, when the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans were converted and baptized, they went down personally to lay their hands on them so that they might receive the Holy Spirit.  This action established the fact that God was choosing to bless the Samaritans the same as He was the Jews and that there was no difference between the two groups going forward.  After this act by the Apostles, it was made clear to the church in general that God had fully accepted the Samaritans.     

It was one thing for the church to embrace the Samaritans, but it was much more difficult for them to understand how God could also include the Gentiles in His gift of grace.   In order to make His intention perfectly clear to the early church, God worked in a unique way with the Apostle Peter and also with a Roman centurion by the name of Cornelius. 

According to scripture, Cornelius was a devout man who, along with his household, feared the Lord, prayed constantly, and gave much money to those in need around him; but he was a gentile.  God, willing to bless this man and show him the way of salvation, allowed him to see a heavenly vision.  In his vision, an angel appeared to him and told him to send men to Joppa to the house where Peter was staying and ask him to come back with them to Cornelius’ house in Caesarea.  The angel told Cornelius that Peter would show him the path of salvation.  He said, “…he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do” (Acts 10:6).  In the meanwhile, God was also dealing with Peter.  He had gone up to the roof terrace to pray when he too had a vision.  In his vision he saw a large sheet that was drawn together at the four corners and full of many unclean animals.  He heard a voice that said, “Rise, Peter; kill, and eat,” but Peter protested saying, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”  To that the voice responded, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common” (Acts 10:15).  God showed this same vision to Peter three times in a row to emphasize the importance of the message and confirm that it was indeed God that was directing him.  It was also a gentle reminder to Peter that he could not always trust what he thought was right, but must always depend on God’s assessment of how things really are, and how they ought to be.  After all, it was Peter who had insisted that he would never be offended with the Lord even if everyone else was -   and then he denied that he knew Him three times. 

As Peter thought over what he had seen, Cornelius’ men showed up at the door asking for him.  At the same time the Spirit told Peter, “Behold, three men seek thee.   Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them” (vs. 19, 20).  When he went down from the roof he found the men that were sent for him and they told Peter why they had come.  Peter agreed to go with them, and they left early the next morning.  Cornelius had gathered together his family and close friends in anticipation of Peter’s arrival, and when Peter got there he addressed the group in this way, “Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (v. 28).  This reveals the gravity of the situation for Peter.  He was a pillar of the new formed church and had been taught all his life to shun the gentiles and not have any social interaction with them at all; but now God had revealed to him that all of that was changing.  God was doing a new thing again!  Then Peter opened his mouth and spoke a simple but powerful message to those gathered together (Acts 10:34-43).  As Peter spoke, the Holy Spirit fell upon all of the gentiles and they began to speak in tongues.  All the Jews who had come with Peter were astonished at what they were witnessing.  They could not have guessed that God would pour out His Spirit on the gentiles as He had on the Jews.  Peter then addressed the Jewish believers that were present saying, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” (v. 47).  There was clearly no objection (who could argue with God?), so they baptized them all in water and stayed with them several days to guide and instruct them in the ways of the Lord. 

What God did with the house of Cornelius was different from the norm.  It was backwards compared to the pattern of repent, be baptized, and receive the Spirit; but God was willing to do this just once in order to get the church past this formidable hurdle concerning the gentiles.  After proper doctrine concerning this was established for the church, it was no longer a question whether or not the gentiles could be saved, baptized, and filled with the Spirit.  God had helped them with their prejudice and now it was clear. 

There is one more exception in Acts chapter 19 where Paul encounters some believers in Ephesus who had not received the Holy Spirit.  Paul asks them by what means they were baptized, and they answer that they were baptized with John’s baptism.  Paul tells them, “John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”  After hearing this, they were all baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus,” (Acts 19:5).

It is very probable that these Ephesian believers had been baptized by some of John’s disciples who had been scattered out of Judea and into Asia Minor after John was beheaded.  These disciples only knew John’s baptism, and so they still baptized in John’s name.  They were much like Apollos, a man who was “mighty in the scriptures” but familiar only with John’s baptism until Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and instructed him concerning the Christ and His gospel (Acts 18:24-28).   We see then that one important difference between John’s baptism and Jesus’ was in whose name they were baptized.  John’s ministry was all about directing men to Christ where they would find true salvation.  John was a burning light for a time, but he was meant to decrease while Jesus increased.  There is power and authority in the name of Jesus!  Salvation can come by no other, for there is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved!

Paul asked these Ephesians directly whether or not they had received the Holy Ghost since they had believed, and they said that they had never heard of the Holy Ghost (Acts 19:2).  Immediately after they were baptized in water, Paul laid his hands on them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.  Paul was establishing the normal doctrine of baptism in this “out of the ordinary” case.  Once these believers were baptized in the name of the Lord, then they were free to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit also.

Another question of doctrine is whether or not a soul may be saved if they are not baptized.  The answer is simply, yes they can, but it is very dependent on circumstances.  The one example that we have in scripture is the thief on the cross.  Jesus assured him a place in paradise because of his faith.  Obviously, he could not be baptized in water, but he was about to be baptized into death in a very real way.  He was about to be delivered from this world by means of his physical death and so it was not practical or necessary for him to be baptized in the likeness of death.  There was no need for him to reckon himself dead, for he was in fact dying.  It was only necessary for him to repent and believe.  This is true of those we may minister to who are on their death bed also.  They are experiencing the deliverance from sin, the world, and the devil all in a very short time. 

There is also a baptism of suffering or of death that Jesus alludes to in Matthew 20:20-23.  The mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons and requested that they each be given thrones on either side of Jesus in the Kingdom.  Jesus asked them, “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” What He meant by this is that they would have to endure a similar passion to what He Himself was about to endure in order to secure such a place of honor in heaven.  That passion would involve much suffering and, ultimately, death.  They thought they were able, but Jesus told them that they would indeed experience such things but that it was up to God to assign those positions.

In summary, there is but one baptism, and it is comprised of a few distinct parts.  There is the water portion that places us in Christ Jesus and in the likeness of His death and resurrection.  It also speaks to the casting away of our fleshly vanities and being cleansed both inwardly and outwardly by the Word of God.  It speaks to our deliverance from this world and our victory over sin.  There is also the baptism of the Spirit and of fire that empowers us to become over comers in this dangerous and adversarial world.  By His Spirit we are baptized into the one true body of Christ, and whereas man may seek to divide us, in Christ we are one.  We also who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  His story has become our story; His victory has become ours.  It equips us with, and teaches us to use, the weapons of the Spirit in order to do battle with the enemy of our soul.  It also takes us through the refining process that purifies our faith and works the impurities out of our character.  Like Moses’ burning bush it consumes what is perishable and yet renews at the same rate that which is eternal.

The lessons contained in Christian baptism are lessons that we need every moment of every day.  It is faith in these promises and principles that secure us the victory in this life.  Paul exhorts us to, “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all” (1 Timothy 4:15).  Baptism isn’t just some ritual that we perform and forget about: it is an integral part of our daily walk.  I pray that you will be challenged and encouraged by this study of baptism and that it will change the way that you look at this subject forever for the better.