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What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (vs. Water Baptism)?
Paul makes a major separation between the baptism of water and that of
the Holy Spirit. I would cite 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 as a proof text:
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though
all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or
Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
In my view, Paul is clearly speaking of the baptism of the Holy Spirit
as the all-important means of being placed into the body of
Christ. When we are baptized (identified) by the Holy Spirit,
we are placed "in Christ" (identified with Him). Romans 6:3
says, "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death?" This was clearly
prophesied by John the Baptist in Luke 3:16: John answered them all, "I
baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will
come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." This
indicated that something greater than water baptism would come--the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16, Jesus promised the
coming of the Holy Spirit, "16 And I will ask the Father, and he will
give you another Counselor to be with you forever."
By contrast, water baptism is a beautiful symbol of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit which occurred previously when the sinner believed the
gospel. Acts 16:30-31 says, "30 He then brought them out and
asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "believe in
the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your
household." John 3:16 says, "16 "For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life." John 3:36 says, "36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the
Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." The
water symbolizes Jesus, with whom we are identified when we believe the
gospel message.
As a proof text here, I would offer Acts 10:47-48:
"47 'Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They
have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.' 48 So he
ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they
asked Peter to stay with them for a few days."
Obviously, these people had previously been baptized with the Holy
Spirit and entered the body of Christ when they had believed, and now
it was legitimate for them to offer a public symbol of what had
happened to them through water baptism. It is through
believing (repenting, or changing one's mind) through faith (and the
associated baptism of the Holy Spirit) that places us into the body of
Christ, not through water baptism or any other physical (work) ritual.
Some would ask then why does Paul use the allegory of washing in 1
Corinthians 6:11, "11 And that is what some of you were. But you were
washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." He probably does so in
order to stay consistent with all the other allegories in the
Scriptures, such as physical circumcision being a symbol of the removal
of the flesh from the heart. Romans 2:28-29 says, "A man is
not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely
outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and
circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the
written code. Such a
man's praise is not from men, but from God." Just as the
baptism of the Holy Spirit is the real baptism, and water baptism is a
symbol of it, so is physical circumcision a symbol of circumcision "by
the Spirit."
In Galatians 6:15, Paul says, "15 Neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation." He also
said, in Philippians 3:3, that we shouldn't put confidence in these
fleshly rituals: "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship
by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no
confidence in the flesh." In John 6:63, Jesus said, "The Spirit gives
life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are
spirit and they are life."
In fact, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 in itself contains an allegory: "... we
were all given the one Spirit to drink." Why does Paul use an
allegory? To help us understand something we can't see
physically by comparing it with something that we can--a normal use of
allegories.
Furthermore, 1 Peter 3:21: "and this water symbolizes baptism that now
saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of
a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ..." What is the water? Peter plainly says it's a
symbol of something that actually has saving power. What is
it a symbol of? The baptism that has already
occurred: the baptism of the Holy Spirit, when the sinner
believed the gospel. In fact, he's emphatic to state that
he's not talking about the baptism of the body into water:
"not the removal of dirt from the body." This baptism (of the
Holy Spirit) saves one through faith, through the power of the
resurrection of Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by
grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."
Galatians 2:16 says, "know that a man is not justified by observing the
law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in
Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by
observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be
justified."
Owen Weber 2009 |
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