HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM
By Wendell Tenison
(John 3:3-8) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [4] Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? [5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. [8] The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
This is the first time that it was made known to man that the Holy Spirit would be the major factor in conversion to Christ. Our Lord plainly said that we must be born of water and the Spirit: man has no problem with the water part, but has plenty of trouble with believing that the Spirit has much to do with it. It is because man does not believe it, or he does not understand it. Generally, disbelief is the result of ignorance.
One very important point that Jesus made was, that which is born of Spirit is spirit. In other words, the new birth is spiritual because of its spiritual formation by the Holy Spirit of God. I have discussed many times the spiritual birth process and will not belabor the point any longer. Our Lord also said that the spiritual man is heard and not seen as opposed the literal man being both heard and seen. We know how we are born of water, but how are we born of the Spirit? I have also addressed this question before, but we will address it again later in the chapter.
(Mark 16:15-16) And he said unto them,Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. [16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Go preach the gospel and baptize; that was the command that our Lord imposed on every disciple. This command was fulfilled as prophesied by our Lord, who said that the end of Jerusalem would not come until first the gospel of the kingdom had been preached in all the world (Matt. 24:14). Confirmation of this prophecy that the gospel would be preached unto every creature is recorded by the apostle Paul in Colossians 1:5-6, 23.
(Joel 2:28-32) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: [29] And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. [30] And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. [31] The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. [32] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Peter, in his address on Pentecost, quoted this prophecy of Joel (Acts 2:16-21). He continued his sermon, and his appeal to those who murdered our Lord was:
(Acts 2:38-41) Then Peter said unto them, 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. [39] For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. [40] And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. [41] Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
The church of Christ was established with the conversion of the apostles. Those who heard Peter and the rest of the apostles were baptized and the Lord added them to the apostles in the newly established church.
Just one other passage concerning baptism into the church:
(Gal 3:27) For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
(Acts 10:1-6) There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, [2] A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. [3] He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. [4] And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. [5] And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: [6] He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
This was the first conversion of a Gentile who was not a proselyte Jew, because there were proselytes listed as being there and no doubt some of them were converted on the day of Pentecost. It is very obvious that God had good reason for sending an angel to Cornelius, seeing that he doesn't normally approach man in that fashion. The key verse in this reading is the latter part of verse six, that "he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." This is almost identical to what Christ told Paul to do on the road to Damascus; "And it shall be told thee what thou must do" (Acts 9:6).
(Acts 10:15) And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
While Peter was in the trance, he answered this voice, "Not so, Lord: for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean;" The voice responded by saying, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." We all understand as did Peter, that God was telling him to go to the Gentiles. The thing of importance here is, "What God hath cleansed." In others words, God has now made the Gentiles acceptable for the kingdom of Christ.
(Acts 10:22) And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.
Again, the key part of this verse is, "and to hear words of thee."
(Acts 10:33) Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.
And again the key to the verse is, "to hear all things that are commanded thee of God."
Now let us consider what we have learned:
Cornelius was told by God that he needed to do something; God has now cleansed the Gentiles; Cornelius was told that he would hear words from Peter. The only thing that Jesus told the apostles to do was, wait. To this point, we do not read of anything that Cornelius had yet been commanded to do.
(Acts 10:44-48) While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. [45] And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. [46] For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, [47] Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? [48] And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
A careful search of the message of Peter, to the point where the Holy Ghost fell on them, does not reveal anything that Cornelius was told to. The Holy Ghost being poured out upon Cornelius was in keeping with the promise that Peter made to the Jews on the day of Pentecost to everyone who was baptized. However, the Holy Ghost has long since deleted the spiritual gifts after conversion. I cannot find anywhere in the reading that Cornelius was immersed as the apostles were immersed by the same sound, or anything else equivalent, by filling the room. Cornelius wasn't baptized until Peter said, can any man forbid water? This was commanding him to be baptized, or being told what he ought to do.
In the next chapter of Acts, we find Peter recounting to his brethren back in Jerusalem what things had happened:
(Acts 11:13-16) And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; [14] Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. [15] And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. [16] Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
The conversion of Cornelius differed from that of the apostles, and that of those on the day of Pentecost. The apostles were immersed in the sound and then received the Holy Ghost. Those on Pentecost were baptized and then received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Cornelius and his house received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then were baptized. Verse 14 states, " Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." Salvation here was on the condition that they heard what Peter had to say, which was equal to telling Cornelius what he ought to do. If it had not been for the fact that God told Cornelius that he had to do something, there could be an argument that Cornelius was baptized by the Holy Ghost as were the apostles.
When Peter asked, "Can any man forbid water . . ," this does not mean that he told Cornelius nothing else. The last verse in the reading states that, "But ye shall be baptized by the Holy Ghost." Cornelius was baptized by the Holy Ghost, but not as He had baptized the apostles! Under no circumstance was Cornelius baptized twice. There is no authority for any baptism after the cross being used to represent anything, such as the common explanation that water was used to baptized Cornelius just to show that all other baptisms were to be in water!
(1 Cor 12:13) For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
And that settles it! We are all baptized by the Holy Spirit, whether as the apostles were immersed in the sound, or as all the rest afterwards who were baptized in water.
Now we come back to the baptism of the children of Israel in the Red Sea. Paul says that they drank and ate of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. We, according to the passage just quoted, have been all made to drink into one Spirit. We know that we also drink of God and Christ, but the point is made of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God now accomplishes all things in the church for the brethren, especially the eating, drinking, and breathing the word of God.
(Rom 2:28-29) For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: [29] But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Here Paul is talking about what is a spiritual Jew, or spiritual Israel, that is, those who now are the children of God. The Jew under the Law of Moses was commanded to be circumcised the eight day after birth. That was called circumcision of the flesh. But now in Christ and under his spiritual law, spiritual circumcision of the heart is required but is performed by God. In both cases, it was for the cleansing of the flesh, and now, for the cleansing of the heart. That prompts the question as to how it is done?
(Col 2:10-12) And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: [11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: [12] 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.
Now the picture is quite clear. As opposed to those who used surgical instruments to circumcise the flesh, or cleanse the body of this flesh, God uses the instrument of the Holy Ghost to do the clinical surgery, to put off the body of sins, and cleanse the heart. Verse 12 plainly says that this is an operation of God. This is all accomplished by the act of baptism, through the burial and resurrection in water, constituting the circumcision of Christ, by the means of the Holy Ghost actually performing it.
We conclude that baptism both saves and destroys, and that there were only two modes of baptism after the cross: the first, immersion in the sound, and the second, immersion in water. The scriptures indeed have provided the answers. Amen.
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