The good news of the doctrines of baptisms is very important. We want to participate fully in all God has for his children. That what disciples do, surrender to all Jesus has prepared for them.
HEBREWS 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms,
Hebrews tells us part of the elementary principles of Christ is to know about the doctrine of baptisms. There is baptism into Christ, baptism into water, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. All three are distinct experiences and yet the imperative one is the baptism into Christ. Without being fully immersed in the truth of who Jesus is, the other baptisms hold no value.
BAPTISM INTO CHRIST
Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
The one exclusive way to become a son of God is through faith in Jesus Christ and there is no other way. Here in Galatians it is identified as being baptized into Christ!
Ephesians 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
I had to ask God, what do you mean one baptism? I knew of the baptism into Christ, baptism into water and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. God opened my eyes to this: One Lord is Jesus Christ! One faith that is the object of your faith being exclusively in Jesus the Messiah. One baptism being immersed into the truth of Jesus Christ and His finished work at the cross. Without being baptized into Christ the water baptism means nothing and the Holy Spirit baptism is not possible. Paul preached I am determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified!
Mark 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
When the good news of the gospel is being preached it produces faith in Jesus. Faith comes by hearing of the word of God. He who believes and is immersed into the truth of who Jesus is will be saved, much like the thief on the cross. Unbelievers are condemned, in fact the wrath of God abides on them.
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
The Spirit of God baptizes us into the body of Christ at faith in Jesus Christ. This indeed is the most important baptism, the baptism into Christ.
1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
At the genuine confession of faith God abides in the believer and the believer abides in God! Erroneous teaching dismiss this passage by exalting other verses as having the power to cancel this passage out. We must be aware of the false teachers and rightly divide the whole of the Word of God.
1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
John the beloved puts the baptism into Christ as paramount! Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God! What you believe about Jesus that determines your destiny!
Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 14 So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
The church is built upon this rock of confession that Jesus Christ is Son of the living God.
Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
Here is the bible definition of what constitutes salvation! All teachings that falls outside this truth is bible taken out of context or it is a doctrine of man.
BAPTISM INTO WATER
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Repentance = Baptized into Christ; Baptized in the Name = Water Baptism; Gift of the Holy Spirit = Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Acts 2:38 describes the three baptisms all in the same verse. God has called every believer to partake in the fullness of the gospel. Believers must be obedient to every baptism to fulfill the will of God for their life.
Matthew 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?“ 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. 16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.“
Jesus was our example of water baptism and teaches us that it fulfills all righteousness!
1 Peter 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us; baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God),through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Peter who preached the Acts chapter 2 message also penned this passage to the believer. This antitype now saves us! Water baptism is a prototype of what happens in the believer. Water baptism does not literally wash away the filth of the flesh, the blood of Jesus did that. However it symbolically washes sin away thus giving a good conscience toward God. Water baptism pictures the believer identifying with the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Where ever the new testament church ran into believers water baptism was preached.
Acts 19:3 And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism.“ 4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.“ 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
This group of believers had only been baptized into John’s baptism. Paul preached Christ and they were baptized in His name. They went down in the waters of baptism identifying themselves as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Acts 8:31 And he said, "How can I unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.“ 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?“ 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?“ 37 Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.“
If you have not placed your faith in Jesus the Messiah the water baptism will mean nothing! Water baptism is symbolic for what has happened at the confession of faith. It identifies with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The believer has put the old man to death, once for all dying to sin and raised in newness of life. Romans 6:3-11
BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Matthew 3:11 "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.
It is through the scriptures themselves we have called the gift of the Holy Spirit the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the baptizer of the Holy Spirit!
Mark 1:8 "I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.“
Luke 3:16 John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
John 1:33 "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
Acts 11:15 "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. 16 "Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.‘
Over and over the scripture declares Jesus to be the baptizer of the Holy Spirit. At least 7 times you can find this truth. How unusual to find the same truth repeated this many times. God wants every believer to know the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for them!
Luke 11:13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Some declare the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an automatic at faith in Jesus. Not so! Jesus taught us to ask for the Holy Spirit. When the Apostle heard there was new believers they sent Apostles to go lay hands on them that they might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Acts 8
Acts 2:1 When the D ay of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
This is the record of the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The 120 people waiting on the promise of the Holy Spirit did the speaking as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. … 32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
This is that which the prophet Joel spoke! The promise is to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh! It is for you, your sons, your daughters, all menservants and maidservant of God! When Jesus ascended He received from the Father the promise of the Spirit. Peter said this you now see and hear! They heard them speak with other tongues and seen them acting drunk. This indeed is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 19:2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.“ … 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
The Apostle Paul asked believers did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? You must be baptized into Christ 1st; have you received the Holy Spirit when you believed. This still needs to be the question on our hearts when we run into believers.
1 Corinthians 14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
There is one scriptural defined way to pray in the spirit. When we pray in that unknown tongue we pray in the spirit. I will pray with the spirit and with understanding. I will sing with the spirit and with the understanding. Praying in our prayer language is so important. Paul ’s testimony was I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all!
Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 47 "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?“
This is the account of the 1st Gentiles being saved. The seven Jewish believers that came with Peter were astonished. They knew the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit for they heard them speak with other tongues. The Gentiles had all three baptisms They were baptized into Christ when they believed Peters message about Jesus. The Holy Spirit fell upon them and they spoke in tongues at the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They baptized in water those who believed! This should be the doctrine of every church just as it was in the early church!
Luke 24:49 "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
Jesus commanded the disciples to go and tarry to be endued with power from on high! While we need not to tarry for the first outpouring we need certainly to yield and ask for the gift just as Jesus commanded in Luke 11. Holy orchestration ask of you: HAVE YOU RECEIVE D THE HOLY SPIRIT SINCE YOU BELIEVE D ?
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