2 Kings 13-14 / Acts 18:23-19:12 / Psalm 146 / Proverbs 18:2-3
As I stated recently, we at Bethesda Springs Church are studying about baptism. I thought I knew all about baptism, but I’m finding out that I had a lot of partial truths and that there is much to learn about these foundational pieces of my Christian faith.
We’re studying water baptism, baptism into Christ’s body, baptism of fire and baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Today, as I read Acts 19:1-6, my understanding was further expanded. I knew that John’s baptism was one of repentance because it could not have been more until Messiah came. Jesus had to be crucified and raised again before salvation could be offered. So, when John was baptizing others, they were not being saved. Maybe it seems too simple to state that.
In these 6 verses, we’re hearing about Apollos who came from Alexandria in Egypt. He was a gifted and accurate teacher of scripture who taught at Corinth. While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled to Ephesus in Turkey and found several believers. When he asked them about having received the Holy Spirit, they said they had not, and that they had received only the baptism of John, which was repentance from their sins.
They did now yet know – possibly because they did not have the letters and scriptures that we have today – about the baptism that Jesus brought. But as soon as they heard, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, receiving salvation and water baptism. It may have been they were not aware Messiah had come, and the salvation John spoke of was now available for them to receive. Afterward, Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
Now these believers have received the gift of repentance, the gift of salvation and the gift of Holy Spirit. There is so much to experience in God and if you’re like me, you don’t want to miss any part!
Just to clear up any confusion, let’s look at the word for baptism. Baptism is baptisma and refers to immersion or submersion. The Strong’s concordance says of John’s baptism – that purification rite by which men on confessing their sins were bound to spiritual reformation, obtained the pardon of their past sins and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah’s Kingdom soon to be set up. This was valid Christian baptism, as this was the only baptism the apostles received and it is not recorded anywhere that they were ever rebaptized after Pentecost.
Of Christian baptism – a rite of immersion in water as commanded by Christ, by which one after confessing his sins and professing his faith in Christ, having been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church.
Not every detail of what happened is written in the body of scripture we have available. Maybe the apostles were baptized after Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, or maybe they weren’t. Their lives, however, did prove they had made Jesus both Savior and Lord of their lives. And while the text is not perfectly clear, it appears as if the believers at Ephesus were saved and baptized to receive salvation all at once.
The particulars are not what matters. The important fact is whether or not one has made Jesus Christ their Savior through faith and their Lord by declaration and obedience to His Word. Following with water baptism is a matter of obedience and an outward display and celebration of what has happened within one’s heart.
So, if someone has no desire to be baptized, perhaps their salvation has not yet occurred. As I said earlier, we have enough of scripture available to us so that we understand the way to the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.
Have you been baptized since you believed?
